I breathe a sigh of relief that he didn’t ask to see my ideas. Ni Putu materializes out of thin air to hand him a beer and he sits down beside us with an exaggerated sigh.
“I posted the schedule for this week. Junie, you’re coming on the clean-up dive tomorrow. It’s always a great time.”
“Awesome!” I grin as everyone takes out their phones to check the group chat. I’m excited to get back in the water again and to put my scuba training to good use.
“You’ll love it.” Juliette turns and slaps me a high-five. “Though we can get a little competitive.”
She wasn’t kidding.
*****
We’re up before the sun rises, creeping around the bunks and dressing in the dark. I can picture a life full of these pre-dawn rituals, scuffling to the dive shop while the tokehs screech, arranging my gear bag, watching the cherry red of the boat crew’s cigarettes burn in the wind.
I set up my equipment while we bob through the waves. Following Mason’s lead, I claim two tanks and attach my BCD to the left one. My hands buckle and tighten straps, moving as if they have a mind of their own. I’m grabbing weights out of the bucket near the aft when a shadow looms over me.
“Take an extra one today. We’re not scouting a huge area and you want to stay near the bottom.”
It’s no “Good morning,” but as far as Steven goes, it’s practically cordial.
“Aye, aye.” I salute and grab an extra pouch.
“You can tuck them in here.” His fingers brush mine as he shows me a pocket on my dive vest I’ve never noticed before.
“Thank you,” I say, pretending like lightning didn’t zap where we touched. It takes my breath away—how close he is, his presence,his smell. He towers over me, warm and solid. His long hair is tousled from sleep and his wetsuit is only zipped to his navel, revealing an oiled chest that gleams in the slowly rising sun. I have no quips or jokes left in me. In my sleepy daze, he is pure, golden sunlight.
He nods and stalks further down the boat, directing people into frenzied order like marching ants. Since it’s my first eco-dive, I try to stay out of the way and enjoy watching him work. When the motor slows to a dull whine, Steven calls today’s divers to the middle table.
We’ll split into three teams with assigned sections. There will be two dives with a break for snacks.
“Plastic bags, crisp wrappers, cellphones, all of it goes.”
“Phones?” I blurt. “How often does that happen?”
His face turns dark as he glowers. “More than you can imagine.”
“That’s one of the competition categories!” Thomas grins. “I’ve been winning that one since I got here.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re like a magnet for technology devices. But who always pulls the most weight?” Steven counters. My heart stutters at the cocky lilt to his lips. I’ve never seen this side of him.
“You’re just in the water the longest! Your air consumption rates are ridiculous.” Mason pounds a fist on the table.
“Just say I’m the strongest and move on,” he smirks, then focuses his attention on me. “We log everything for the data geeks, but for bragging rights and the occasional shout, you can win for most tech, highest weight, and the day’s weirdest find.”
“What makes it weird?” I ask.
“Bullets,” Juliette says with wide eyes.
“Once I found three moldy doll heads. Just the heads.”
“Sometimes there’s nothing really crazy, so we do it by popular vote.” Mike explains. “Last week it was a flask, but it still had liquor in it.”
“Tell me nobody drank that.” Steven’s eyes flash.
“It was a close call, but someone had the good sense to pour it out before it made its way back to the dorm room.” Mike winks.
“Thank god,” he sighs, then mumbles something about idiot kids that makes me stifle a laugh.
“I’ve taken the liberty of assigning groups.” Mike gestures to a whiteboard and because I’ve absolutely been staring, I notice the ripple of surprise on Steven’s face.
