Learning to Swim(25)

“I know exactly where it is,” he said. “I go to school in Frostburg, so we drive through Hagerstown all the time. What made you guys decide to move here?”

It felt as though something was lodged in my throat. Now we were getting into uncharted territory. The last thing I wanted to do was come across as some sort of crazy sap, which I was, but he didn't need to know that now, did he? And how could I explain our constant moves without giving away too much information?

“Stef?” Alice peeked her head out and rescued me as if on cue. “Could you help me with something?”

“I'll be right back.” I hurried back inside like a boxer retreating to his corner.

“How's it going?” Alice whispered. She handed me a glass of ice water.

“Exhausting,” I replied before gulping it down (even though I knew she had intended it for Keith). “Who would think that making conversation with a guy would be so hard?” I said when I was finished.

“It's not just a guy, though,” Alice said with a lilt in her voice. “It's Keith.”

I wasn't sure if I was glistening from the heat outside or what, but I was feeling rather dewy all of sudden. “I know. But Barbie makes it look so easy.”


“When it comes to flirting, your mother's in a league of her own,” Alice agreed. “But she has years of experience. You just need some more practice.” She paused for a minute and then asked, “Do you feel up to inviting him for dinner?”

I hesitated, and Alice said, “We'll never eat all that food by ourselves. And besides, the pickles I made the other day are ready.”

Alice was right. Keith had mowed her yard. As nerve-wracking as I found the whole concept of his staying for dinner, the least I could do was reward him with some pickles.

I took another deep breath, handed Alice back the empty glass, and returned to the ring. Keith was leaning against his lawn mower with his head back and arms crossed, soaking up the last rays of sunshine.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” I blurted out.

He opened his eyes and stood up straight. “I'm sorry, I can't. I'm having dinner with my dad. But thanks anyway.”

“Sure,” I replied, secretly relieved. Due to the sudden itchiness of my chest, I was pretty certain I was breaking out in hives.

He looked at me and smiled as we endured an awkward silence. Dinner with his dad or not, he was obviously in no rush. His seeming reluctance to leave was confusing. Not that I was anxious for him to go, but why was he gazing at me like that? Oh God, was there something hanging out of my nose?

“We should schedule another lesson,” he said finally. “How about tomorrow night?”

“Warthog… I mean, Mr. Warzog didn't talk to you?” I asked.

“About what?”

“He found out about me being at the pool when it was closed.” Considering that Keith's father was one of the club's best golfers, I wasn't really surprised that Warthog had not even bothered to mention this to Keith. “He told me it was against club rules.”

“What?” Keith said tersely. He was visibly surprised. “When did he tell you that?”

“This morning.”

He swiped back his hair as his eyes narrowed. “How did he even know you were there?”

I was tempted to accuse Mora, but I could hear my elementary school teacher's voice in my ear reminding me that no one liked a tattletale. “I guess somebody complained,” I said graciously.

“Mora.” He shook his head in seeming disgust.

I shrugged. “He didn't say.”

The muscles in his jaw tightened. “I hate all this bullcrap. I mean, why the hell do they care if you're at the pool when it's not open? You work there.”

I shrugged again.

“Not to mention that you're around that pool all the time. And you almost drowned in it. People should mind their own damn business.”

I couldn't believe how irate he was getting, and it was all because of… me.

“All right,” he said resolutely. “We'll just move our lessons to the bay.”

My heart dropped. We were once again way off script. How could I tell him that there was no way in hell I was going into that bay? It was one thing to be at the pool when there was at least the slightest sense that “the man” was watching over us all the time. But the bay? We were just asking for something unexpectedly romantic to happen. This was not an option. I would just have to let him down easy and tell him under no circumstances could I allow myself to be vulnerable to the likes of love lunacy, or the jellyfish, crabs, and other squirmy, smelly creatures that were lurking in the bay.

“How about Friday night?” he asked. “I can meet you at Crab Beach after I get off work around seven.”

I looked into his deep brown eyes and smiled in spite of myself. “Sounds good,” I said.





10


On Friday morning, I went to work and soon found out that life as I knew it was no more. I was no longer invisible.

How did I know this?

Because of the Cola Catastrophe.

Shortly after lunch, I headed to the pool for the daily sanitization of the bathrooms. As I made my way through the crowd of bathing beauties, I saw Mora lying on a lounge chair in her thong bikini (so overkill) and sipping a diet soda (food and drinks were prohibited in the pool area—but because she was the Mora Cooper, she could have eaten a lobster on the sundeck and nobody would have cared). Our eyes locked and she sneered at me in a way that made it extremely clear she was not happy to see me. I felt a little chill prick my skin, an almost extrasensory hint of disaster. But I decided to ignore her and the chill. And just to prove that I wasn't intimidated by her godawful stare, I walked right past her.