Page 94

Tea

A week after birth, loon babies can already dive and swim, but their favorite mode of transportation is riding on the backs of their parents. They rely on their parents quite a bit during the first weeks of their life. They are fed by their parents for the first six weeks, and they don’t take flight until week eleven or twelve. By the end of the summer, the juvenile loons leave the nest and habitat in coastal regions until they are ready to breed and claim a lake environment of their own.

She wondered if it was a stupid idea. Then she remembered this was Archer, whom she would have never hesitated to do this to before. She grinned and stood there in her swimsuit, watching him sleep soundly in his bed. Then she took a deep breath and jumped on him.

Archer bolted upright and grasped her arms, eyes wide, hair sideways from sleep. When he noticed it was her, he relaxed. “You monster. What time is it?”

“Midnight.”

He groaned, letting go of her and falling back onto his pillow. “You better have a good reason for waking me up an hour after I went to bed.”

She crossed her arms. “Archer Vincent, what day is it?”

“The day I kill you,” he grumbled.

“Nooooo. The day.”

“Um.” He twisted to his right and tapped his phone screen. “August twenty-second?”

“Not the date. The day.”

He looked at her with a quizzical expression. Then she watched the lightbulb go off, his face full of glee. “Move.”

She did as she was told, giving Archer space to jump out of bed and open up his dresser. When he stripped off his boxers, she slapped his bare butt.

“You little—”

She didn’t wait to hear the rest. She bolted from the room and ran out of his cabin. In a matter of seconds she heard the slam of the screen door, then pounding feet as Archer chased her from behind.

It was pitch-black outside. The cabins were dark and no one was out on the lawn. Smoke swelled from the fire pit that had been snuffed out. The moon was the only light to guide her as she ran for the lake, not stopping as her feet reached the water. The water made her slow, but she kept at it until she was able to dive in, Archer close at her heels. When she came up for air, hands grabbed her ankles and yanked.

“Eeek!” she shrieked.

Archer pulled her closer and covered her mouth. “First rule of the night swim?”

“Don’t wake everyone up,” she mumbled into his hand.

The night swim had been their tradition for years. It started when they were ten. Tea had looked out her bedroom window in Cabin B and noticed Archer’s lights still on in his room. He waved at her, then made a swimming motion. She cocked her head, then patiently watched as Archer snuck out of the house and ran for the lake. She changed into her suit and joined him for a secret night swim, a tradition they kept going every last Saturday of their summer at Wild Pines.

Archer smirked and dropped his hand. “Second rule?”

“Float under the stars and contemplate how much life is going to suck for nine months until we’re back.”

He chuckled. “And third?”

She pursed her lips. He lifted a brow.

She sighed. “Confess your deepest, darkest secret.”

“Bingo.”

“I don’t think either of us truly followed that last rule if we were pining for each other for years.”

He paused then tipped back. “We eventually got there.”

They lost track of time, the two of them floating in the water, eyes on the sky. The lake water felt warm compared to the chilly air, with fall lingering among them like an omen. The night swims were always her favorite part of her summer, but they also made her sad. The same was true even eight years later.

“What’s your deepest, darkest secret?” he asked her.