‘Five minutes! Participants get into the water!’ Mr. Hank yells.
‘I haven’t seen her,’ I tell my friends. This has gone too far, really. I haven’t seen Florence since last night when I lost her in the woods and here I am, supposed to take part in some stupid challenge. Guess what, I don’t care about this game. Not as long as my mind is busy making up worst-case scenarios about her whereabouts.
‘She hasn’t picked up her phone!’ Benji tells me, running a hand through his hair.
‘Who hasn’t? Shouldn’t you guys be in the water already?’ a new voice speaks up from behind me. I whip around, startled to see Florence looking up at me, appearing perfectly fine.
‘Where the fuck have you been?’ I snap at her. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder and quickly apologize. Not that the girl seemed affected by my tone, she’s still smiling.
‘I felt like sleeping under the stars.’ She shrugs.
‘You couldn’t have told us that? We thought you were dead or something,’ Orion pushes.
‘I’m really sorry. I thought I’d be back at camp before anyone would notice but I kind of slept in. My phone died so my alarm didn’t go off,’ she explains. Meanwhile, I’m just glad she’s here and looking better than the last few days. I don’t mean her looks, she’s always stunning. Nope, it’s her smile, genuine smile, that calms me down. This is the Florence I’ve grown used to.
‘Well, it was really irresponsible,’ Marcus says but I cut in.
‘Either way, you’re fine which is all that counts. I’m sure we’d all love to hear about your adventure, Snow White, but we really have a challenge to get to,’ I tell her. The girl smiles at me while my friends make approving noises behind my back. Then Marcus, Orion, Jamie, and I join the other swimmers while our friends search for a good spot to watch.
Yeah, this super fun challenge is swimming. There’s a small island in the middle of the lake and Mr. Hank thought it a good idea to make 20 people swim around it at the same time. Note that the island is more of a big rock so this is about to be tight.
Our teacher starts counting back from three and right before he blows his whistle, I spot Florence in the crowd. Figures that she manages to sneak past everyone and ends up with the best viewing place.
The sound of the whistle rips me from my thoughts and as the spectators start cheering, I start swimming. I don’t usually take sports that seriously but with Florence watching, I feel the need to prove myself. That’s why I push my arms and legs to the max until I’m almost tied with Marcus. We swim around the rock and I risk a glance back.
We’re a comfortable distance ahead of the others so I allow myself to slow down a tad. Just enough to be able to breathe. After all, the top ten make it to the next and last challenge which means I’m in no hurry.
Ahead of me, I see Marcus come to a sudden stop.
‘You okay?’ I ask as I swim up to him. The closer I get the clearer it gets that he’s not. His face is pulled in a grimace and he seems to be clutching one of his legs while keeping himself afloat with his free arm.
‘Fucking cramp!’ he swears.
‘Shit. Come on, hold on to me. We’ll swim back together,’ I tell him.
‘Hell no. Just finish it, I’ll get there myself. At least one of us should finish as part of the fastest ten,’ my friend insists. I glance over my shoulder to see the other swimmers catching up. Marcus is right, if I help him, we’re both out.
I let my eyes wander to the people standing at the shore. I can’t see Florence from here but just knowing she’s there is enough. Marcus chuckles.
‘Just go, you idiot.’
‘Don’t drown,’ I tell him before leaving him behind to finish the race.
By the time I finally reach the shore, my legs and arms feel like pudding and my lungs burn.
‘First swimmer is back!’ Mr. Hank announces while I simply lay in the sand like a stranded whale. Oh well.
‘You did it!’ I recognize Florence’s voice amongst all the yelling and cheering and slightly turn my head to look at her. The girl kneels down beside me, beaming brighter than the sun, and gently wipes my hair from my forehead. I enjoy the movement though when she catches herself, she pulls back and chuckles awkwardly.
‘What’s wrong with Marcus? I thought he’d win for sure,’ Liam says from where he stands next to Florence.
‘He got a cramp.’ I’m faintly aware of our teacher announcing more arrivals but my attention stays on the emerald eyes keeping me captive.
‘That sucks,’ Benji mutters.
‘I could give him a massage later. My mom taught me how to do it so I could help her relax in the evenings,’ Florence tells us.
‘You definitely won’t do that,’ I say before chuckling it off. Smooth, really. What is it with me and acting like a jerk whenever it comes to this girl? My parents would hit me if they caught wind of this.
‘Is that so?’ she challenges me, raising an eyebrow. ‘In that case, you don’t want one either? I thought you could use one after doing such a good job on the race but if you don’t think I can do it,’ she trails off.
‘Oh, I don’t doubt your skills, Florence. I simply don’t think Marcus deserves your services. If you want to prove a point, I guess I’d be willing to be your subject though,’ I tell her.
‘I’m sure you would be.’ She breaks off with a squeal, getting to her feet and turning around at the same time.
‘Sorry, Flower girl. I meant to get Liam,’ Jamie apologizes hastily, backing away from the girl.
‘You’re lucky you missed. If you’d gotten that nasty water all over me, I would have sued you,’ Liam announces.
‘Naww, you’d do that to your oldest friend?’ Jamie pouts playfully.
‘Only friend,’ I hear Orion mutter, making me chuckle.
The guys keep up their banter but I zone out and watch Florence instead. She’s bending over, shaking her hair in an attempt to get all the seaweed out. Her dark strands shine in the sunlight before she stands back up. Her eyes meet mine and she smiles as she pulls her hair back as always, securing it with a clip.
Just why does she have to be so achingly pretty?
