didn’t care. I was here. Beside Jennifer.
David’s older brother, Cal, had picked me up in the station wagon. He was seventeen and had his licence. He’d brought one of his own school friends, and they didn’t have much to say to us. At the lake, they didn’t even want to put their towels near us. Right now they were down in the water, throwing a football around, showing off how hairy their chests were.
David was stretched out on my other side, tanning his front.
I was pretty nervous, being in my bathing suit around Jennifer Godwin. She was wearing a red one-piece. I was relieved to see she didn’t have really large breasts; I think that would have finished me off. She wore her hair in a ponytail.
Being so near her, I couldn’t really relax. I had a magazine, but I was just staring at it, not reading. It was all just letters and colours on the page. I couldn’t get over all her bare skin, all of her, stretched out on her stomach. She was reading a book called
I Capture the Castle.
“Is it good?” I asked.
She nodded. “Pretty good.”
“What’s it about?”
“These two sisters who live with their crazy writer father in a castle. They both fall in love with the same guy.”
“Your back’s getting a bit red,” I told her.
She raised herself up on her elbows and looked over one shoulder to see. “Where?”
“Just near the middle, where it, uh, scoops down.”
She passed me her bottle of suntan lotion. “Could you put some more on, please?” she asked politely.
“Yep,” I said, trying to sound like girls asked me this practically every day.
I squirted some lotion onto my hands and rubbed them. I didn’t want my hands to be cold on her skin. When I touched her back it felt really hot, and amazingly soft and smooth. I didn’t push too hard. I rubbed the lotion in carefully. I wanted to make sure I covered every inch of exposed skin.
“I think that’s good,” she said, without looking up from her book.
“Yeah, I didn’t want to miss any spots,” I said. “It really is pretty red.”
“Thanks,” she said, and turned the page of her book. She seemed pretty involved in it.
David and I did most of the talking. He told me stuff about Windermere, which teachers were cool and which ones were total goofs. I was looking forward to going there now. I liked David, and Hugh and Evan had seemed nice too. It was good knowing I already had a couple of sort-of friends.
Later, when Jennifer went down to take a dip, I said to David, “Is your sister going out with anyone?”
“Why, thinking of asking her out?” he asked.
The way his lips curled told me I’d made a mistake.
“No, no, I was just wondering.”
“She’s not allowed to date till she’s sixteen. House rules.” “Oh, sure—that’s a pretty good rule,” I said. I didn’t care. I’d put suntan lotion on her back. We were practically dating.
A couple of days later, I woke up with the feeling something was wrong. I checked my clock radio and saw it was 7:20 a.m. Since Zan had arrived, I’d been waking up whenever he did, because the university had hooked up this radio monitor between Zan’s bedroom and Mom and Dad’s. When Zan woke up in the night, or in the morning, we’d hear him crying out for us, and someone would go down to him.
He was usually awake by seven, but I hadn’t heard a peep from the monitor. It was Saturday and Mom and Dad were sleeping in.
I waited another ten minutes and then went downstairs and let myself into his suite.
He was still asleep, which was unusual. Before I even touched his little body I could feel the heat coming off it. He stirred and made a moaning sound. When I picked him up he was limp, and trembling. Right away I carried him upstairs to Mom and Dad.
“I think Zan’s sick,” I said.
Mom and Dad sat up in bed, and I passed Zan to Mom. “He’s got a fever,” said Mom. “A big one.” Dad was looking really worried, and he almost never looked worried. That made me freak
David’s older brother, Cal, had picked me up in the station wagon. He was seventeen and had his licence. He’d brought one of his own school friends, and they didn’t have much to say to us. At the lake, they didn’t even want to put their towels near us. Right now they were down in the water, throwing a football around, showing off how hairy their chests were.
David was stretched out on my other side, tanning his front.
I was pretty nervous, being in my bathing suit around Jennifer Godwin. She was wearing a red one-piece. I was relieved to see she didn’t have really large breasts; I think that would have finished me off. She wore her hair in a ponytail.
Being so near her, I couldn’t really relax. I had a magazine, but I was just staring at it, not reading. It was all just letters and colours on the page. I couldn’t get over all her bare skin, all of her, stretched out on her stomach. She was reading a book called
I Capture the Castle.
“Is it good?” I asked.
She nodded. “Pretty good.”
“What’s it about?”
“These two sisters who live with their crazy writer father in a castle. They both fall in love with the same guy.”
“Your back’s getting a bit red,” I told her.
She raised herself up on her elbows and looked over one shoulder to see. “Where?”
“Just near the middle, where it, uh, scoops down.”
She passed me her bottle of suntan lotion. “Could you put some more on, please?” she asked politely.
“Yep,” I said, trying to sound like girls asked me this practically every day.
I squirted some lotion onto my hands and rubbed them. I didn’t want my hands to be cold on her skin. When I touched her back it felt really hot, and amazingly soft and smooth. I didn’t push too hard. I rubbed the lotion in carefully. I wanted to make sure I covered every inch of exposed skin.
“I think that’s good,” she said, without looking up from her book.
“Yeah, I didn’t want to miss any spots,” I said. “It really is pretty red.”
“Thanks,” she said, and turned the page of her book. She seemed pretty involved in it.
David and I did most of the talking. He told me stuff about Windermere, which teachers were cool and which ones were total goofs. I was looking forward to going there now. I liked David, and Hugh and Evan had seemed nice too. It was good knowing I already had a couple of sort-of friends.
Later, when Jennifer went down to take a dip, I said to David, “Is your sister going out with anyone?”
“Why, thinking of asking her out?” he asked.
The way his lips curled told me I’d made a mistake.
“No, no, I was just wondering.”
“She’s not allowed to date till she’s sixteen. House rules.” “Oh, sure—that’s a pretty good rule,” I said. I didn’t care. I’d put suntan lotion on her back. We were practically dating.
A couple of days later, I woke up with the feeling something was wrong. I checked my clock radio and saw it was 7:20 a.m. Since Zan had arrived, I’d been waking up whenever he did, because the university had hooked up this radio monitor between Zan’s bedroom and Mom and Dad’s. When Zan woke up in the night, or in the morning, we’d hear him crying out for us, and someone would go down to him.
He was usually awake by seven, but I hadn’t heard a peep from the monitor. It was Saturday and Mom and Dad were sleeping in.
I waited another ten minutes and then went downstairs and let myself into his suite.
He was still asleep, which was unusual. Before I even touched his little body I could feel the heat coming off it. He stirred and made a moaning sound. When I picked him up he was limp, and trembling. Right away I carried him upstairs to Mom and Dad.
“I think Zan’s sick,” I said.
Mom and Dad sat up in bed, and I passed Zan to Mom. “He’s got a fever,” said Mom. “A big one.” Dad was looking really worried, and he almost never looked worried. That made me freak
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