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Cindy stood behind me. Silent now as I twisted the first valve. Water burst from the sprinkler heads near the chow hall. Then I opened the second valve. The spray reached across the firepit in bright, glittering spurts, soaking the wooden chairs that surrounded it. The third valve controlled the north side.

I hesitated. For a second. Then I opened the third valve. The sprinkler heads near the trees sputtered to life. Water swept across the grass. The spray missed the blanket completely.

Until the sprinkler head turned, and a clear sheet of water struck the edge of the picnic basket, sending it tipping onto its side. Omar jumped up. Alvin shrieked and scrambled backwards, dragging the blanket with him as water soaked through his shirt.

The spray turned again. This time it hit both of them.

Alvin stood with his arms raised, yellow fabric plastered to his chest and his hair falling out of its tie. Omar grabbed the basket and tried to move it away from the stream, but another burst caught him across the back.

Alvin looked towards the hill. He couldn’t see me through the trees at this angle, though.

“Darius,” Cindy hissed.

“What?”

“You just sprayed them.”

“The sprinkler sprayed them, not me!” I insisted.

“You aimed it at them.”

“I just turned the valve. I didn’t aim anything!”

“Same thing.”

I continued to peek out the door and watched Alvin throw his hands in the air and shout something I couldn’t hear. Omar laughed. Loud and obnoxious. Then he grabbed Alvin around the waist and tried to pull him farther from the spray.

A second later, Alvin turned and pushed Omar directly into the path of the sprinkler. Omar stumbled, soaked from his shoulders to his knees, and Alvin bent forward laughing.

I hadn’t ruined anything. Fuck me, I’d just given them something else to bond over…

Cindy tapped my shoulder, forcing me to look at her. “Feel better?” she asked.

“No,” I answered. Truth was… I felt a-whole-lot worse now.

“Good.”

I shut off the north valve. The water slowed, then stopped, leaving the two of them standing in the dripping grass. Alvin wrung out the bottom of his shirt and said something to Omar. Who nodded towards the basket, which was now lying open beside the blanket. Omar shook his head, smiled, and stepped closer. Alvin’s expression changed. The laughter disappeared. Omar reached for his hand. Alvin let him take it without hesitation.

I turned away.

“Hm, look at that,” Cindy said.

“What?” I asked her.

“Alvin’s holding Omar’s hand.”

“He’s allowed to.”

“Of course he is,” she agreed.

“He can do whatever he wants.” I shrugged.

“Then why do you look like you’re about to punch the shed?”

I glanced down at my hands. One was wrapped around the metal valve. The other was clenched into a fist. I made myself relax both. “He’s on a date,” I told her. “It doesn’t concern me.”

Cindy went quiet for a moment. “You told him to go.”