This was what summer was all about.

With my eyes closed, I basked in the sun and let myself get lulled by the water while the sound of winds rustled all around us. I sighed, embracing the moment of peace and quiet. I loved moments like these.

"This is not so bad."

I opened my eyes, glancing at Anders sideways. A small smile spread across my lips, as I replied, "Wow, you just admitted that staying still is fun."

"No, I said it's 'not so bad.'"

I grinned. "Progress."

When I told him that we'd be having a little road trip this morning, he was totally game. So imagine his excitement when I told him that we'd be going out to the lake. He practically dragged me to the car so we could go on our way.

He was disappointed when he found out I didn't have a wakeboard, but he was stoked we were at least out in the water.

This boat Anders and I were using was owned by my grandfather. He liked going out here sometimes whenever he wanted to be isolated. He used to take us here all the time, before Halo went off to college.

He was the one who taught me how to drive it. Technically, I needed a license to operate this. But since it was a small lake and not that many people went here, he wasn't as strict about it. Not like he was whenever I brought up having a car.

I wished he'd let me drive Halo's blue mustang. It wasn't like she was using it. I mean, she had her own personal driver for a boyfriend.

I quickly looked around, in case Oz was nearby and he read my mind.

"I guess..."

My eyes landed on Anders when he spoke.

He raised his head and faced the sky, his hands were behind his head and he was wearing those classic black sunglasses. He looked so comfortable and at ease. It was nice to see him this way – relaxed.

He sighed. "I've just been so focused on getting as much as I can out of life that I forgot to just take a pause and enjoy the moment."

I stared at him, and admitted, "There's nothing wrong with your speedy lifestyle. But just remember to take things slow every once in a while. You don't wanna wake up one day and realize that life already passed you by."

He was quiet, letting my words sink in. Until finally, he nodded.

"And you shouldn't take things too slow, or you might find yourself stuck there forever." He grinned. "Look at that, we're learning from each other."

"Who would've thought?"

"It's a miracle."

"We make a great team."

I chuckled, facing the sky again with a smile on my face.

"Except you would sacrifice me when a zombie apocalypse comes."

I gasped, sitting up and facing him. "Hey, that was an accident! I didn't mean to push you down and run away." I really didn't.

He laughed. "But you did."

"Not intentionally."

"Sure."

"I'm telling the truth!" I laughed, shoving him lightly.

He was laughing now, too. "Tell that to your drunk self."

I scoffed, staring at him with determination in my eyes. Not being able to find the right words, I used my hands instead. Without giving him a warning, I pushed him off the boat, which caused him to yelp.

"Oops."

He rubbed his face, swimming upright. "Buckley!"

"Tell that to your face, your highness," I said sweetly.

He shook his head in disbelief, but smiling despite himself. "Sometimes, I miss the timid girl who couldn't utter a word to me for weeks."

"This is the real me."

"Ah, the price of getting to know you."

"Sorry, sir. We have a no refund policy."

He smirked. "That's alright. My credit card is limitless."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, it is."

"Are you really going to stay there and not enjoy this glorious lake?"

"You've contaminated it."

He barked out a laugh. I grinned, turning on the portable speaker I brought and connecting it to my phone. I played my Indie Good Vibes playlist from spotify. I thought it was perfect for our very sunny and chill day at the lake.

Anders breathed out a sigh of relief, making me look at him.

"For a moment, I feared you might play my sister's albums."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to?"

"No thanks, I've heard quite enough of that in school." He swam backward, facing the blue sky. "They even play it at parties the second they see me."

"Aw, they teased you?"

"I made them stop," he said, with a little smug smile.

I looked at him, leaning forward in curiosity. "What did you do?"

"Let's just say... they're very much enjoying their boarding school life now."

"You blackmailed them?" I guessed.

"I don't blackmail. I give people options – and sometimes blow things up."

I shook my head and chuckled, noting that he didn't give me any details. A part of him must not have been proud of what he'd done. I got to my feet and stood on the edge, before jumping off the boat and diving into the lake.

When I came up for air, I saw Anders watching me. He was looking at me the way he did the other night at the carnival. I was dying to read his mind.

I could confidently say that I already knew him pretty well. But only because I'd seen the patterns through his expressions. And with that, I was able to guess how he was feeling or what he was thinking at the moment.

But right now, I had no clue.

"What?" I asked, not being to help myself.

"You're so..." he trailed off, taking a long pause, "pale."

I pressed my lips together, definitely not expecting that.

He looked thoughtful, and added, "Like Snow White."

"Um, okay?" I chuckled, slightly confused but decided to go along with it. "Is this your way of trying to get me to call you Prince Charming?"

He winked at me. "Only if you think we'll live happily ever after."

I only snorted.

"Oh, shit. What was that?" he asked, suddenly alarmed as he tried to see through the water.

I laughed. "What, did a little fish swim by you?"

His forehead creased. "It felt pretty hard."

"Pretty and hard like your abs?" I teased, wiggling my eyebrows. "Hubba hubba." Yeah, I was teasing him about his abs. We reached a different level of friendship now.

The corner of his lips twitched. "Did you just objectify me, Buckley?"

With a straight face, I looked at him. "I wouldn't dare, your highness."

He shook his head as his grin turned wider. But then, he frowned again. And this time, I felt something brush my legs.

I gasped. "Whoa."

He looked at me. "You felt that, right?"

I nodded, looking just as confused as he was.

As though we read each other's minds, we took deep breaths at the same time and went underwater. At first, we saw nothing but a little fish from afar.

But then we watched as that little fish turned bigger... and bigger... until it was the size of a—

We screamed.

At the top of our lungs.

While we were underwater.

In pure panic, we came up to the surface as fast as we could. The moment we were breathing air again, we didn't waste time.

"GO!" he ordered, pointing to the boat. "BACK TO THE BOAT! NOW!"

"Oh, my God—We're gonna die," I mumbled, as I quickly swam towards our boat with him following close behind me.

We needed to get out of the water. FAST.

"This is really happening in real life—Is it chasing us?"

He looked over his shoulder, and mumbled, "Fuuuuuck."

"Is that a yes?" I squeaked.

"Swim faster," he grunted out, putting more power to his kicks now.

"Oh, my God—That's a yes—Lord, please—I don't wanna die a virgin."

"You won't die a virgin if you just keep swimming."

We were getting really close to the boat now. But then he glanced at me, watching my mouth as I chanted something under my breath.

"Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming..."

"Meadow, now is not the time to sing that song! We're going to die!"

"I'm sorry!" I whined. "I can't help it! And you said we won't die as long as we just keep swimming!"

"It doesn't matter! We're almost there!"

Finally, we reached the boat. With both hands, I grabbed the metal ladder on the side and climbed up. I quickly turned around and reached out to him.

"Come on!"

"Start the engine!" he said, gripping the handles as he went up. But before he could fully get out of the water, something yanked him back down.

"ANDERS!" I yelled, sobbing hysterically as I called out to him. When he didn't come up, naturally, I started to freak out. "Oh, my God. He's dead. Anders is dead."

We were going to end up in the news. Everybody would think I deliberately took him to a secluded lake and killed him. Oh, my God. I was going to jail.

I looked around for my phone and frantically dialed 911. My feelings were all over the place. I was panicking, crying, and shaking all over. I knew what I was supposed to do but at the same time, I didn't.

Suddenly, I felt something grab my ankle.

I screamed and whacked whatever it was that took hold of me. My eyes squeezed shut from being too terrified, and I yelled, "Go away!"

"Ow! What the hell, Meadow?"

My eyes that were filled with tears shot open when I heard his familiar voice. His wet hair was all over his face as he looked up at me.

All the fight inside of me left as soon as our eyes locked.

"Anders!" I knelt down and helped him climb up.

He sat on the floorboard of the boat and nursed his leg with light pink bite marks on it, looking dazed in shock. "Fuck."

I couldn't help myself. I just wrapped my arms around him and sobbed. I felt like a huge rock of worry was lifted away from me.

"You're alive! Thank God!"

"I thought I died," he whispered, hugging me back tightly. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, before adding, "Are you alright?"

I sniffed and nodded.

"That's good," he breathed out. "Let's get the hell out of here."

I didn't know how to tell him that I didn't want to let go of him yet. I wanted for the time to stop so I could devour the relief of seeing him safe and well.

But then a girl's voice called out to us from a distance.

"Hey, we heard screams!"

I pulled away from Anders and turned around, seeing a familiar couple in a boat approaching us. I wanted to cry all over again. We weren't alone anymore.

"Connie!" I cried.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Meadow!"

It was weird not seeing her in her trademark silver gray hair. Although it was still shoulder-length, she was back to being a brunette. It made her look softer – but no way was I gonna tell her that. She liked being dubbed as the bad girl.

"You kids okay?" Scout asked, wearing a worried expression.

"There's an alligator!" I told the town's celebrated golden boy, who also happened to be Connie's boyfriend. His infamous red hair was covered with a white cap.

Scout shook his head disapprovingly, as their boat came closer to us. "I told Earl he shouldn't let out Wally when there are people around."

"Who's Wally?" Anders and I asked at the same time.

"The alligator," he replied, their boat floating right beside us now.

"It bit me," Anders clipped out, gesturing to his leg.

"Nah, it just wanted to play with you. Look, your leg's still intact."

We looked at Anders' leg. Sure, it was still attached to his body. But no one could deny the pink marks that were now on it.

"Earl unsharpened its teeth, so it wouldn't hurt humans."

I frowned and turned to Scout. "Is that legal? How does he chew his food?"

"Well, Earl told me alligators don't really chew," he explained thoughtfully. "They only swallow. He provides the food so Wally doesn't need to hunt." He shrugged. "That's all I know. I don't go out here much."

"And yet you personally know Earl," Connie remarked.

Scout grinned at her. "I'm friendly."

"Who's Earl?" Anders asked.

Connie answered this time. "Local nutjob who lives down the river."

"He's just eccentric," Scout defended.

"He has a pet alligator," Anders deadpanned.

Connie groaned. "Fucking hell, stop whining or I'll bite you."

Anders glowered. "I'm not whining. I'm stating an absurd fact."

"Who even are you?"

"Anders Ferguson," he replied flatly, which wasn't like him. But with what he had just been through, it wasn't a wonder why he wasn't in the mood to be polite.

Connie looked at me. "Friend of yours?"

I nodded, still pretty much out if it. I sat down beside Anders, breathing hard. I still couldn't believe that just happened. So much for a chill day.

"They're in shock," Scout murmured.

"No shit, Sherlock," Connie whispered back, before turning to us. "You guys need a drink?"

Anders raised his head. "Do you have anything strong?"

Scout shrugged. "Just a beer."

"That'll do."

Scout opened the cooler that was in their boat and threw him one. Anders caught it, popped it open, and started drinking.

"How 'bout you, Meadow?" Scout asked me.

I only shook my head, not being able to find my voice. Anders was quiet for the longest time, but then he started laughing. We all looked at him. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he continued to laugh.

"Did I really just get dragged underwater by an alligator?"

I nodded slowly, and he laughed even harder.

Scout cleared his throat. "I'll call Earl and ask him to get Wally."

Connie glanced at me and gave me a look before following her boyfriend on the other side of their boat. No words could express how glad I was that they showed up. I made a mental note to talk to my sister about her friends.

But for now, I had to make sure my friend was doing fine.

"Are you okay?" I asked Anders softly.

He mellowed down from laughing, with a smile settling on his face, before saying, "I just realized that something unfortunate always happens whenever I'm with you."

I looked down on my lap. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Maybe I'm your bad luck."

"I don't think that."

"Sure," I said, skeptical.

"Honestly," he insisted. "Look at me, Meadow."

I raised my head and met his golden brown eyes. His face was so close, I could feel his warm breath fanning my face. I'd never seen him look this serene, especially considering what we had just been through. But he was.

"You told me once that you hate how you're not fun enough."

I bit my lower lip, and waited for him to continue.

"It might not be most people's definition of 'fun' but... one thing's for sure." He lifted up my chin with his finger and made me look into his eyes. Then, he smiled the most radiant smile I had ever seen on him. "Life is never boring with you around."

I gazed up at him, feeling the back of my eyes sting as a warning of the upcoming tears. No one had ever said that to me. I didn't know I needed someone to tell me those words until he spoke them. I was so touched that I could just hug him right now.

But Scout and Connie came back just in time.

"Earl is getting Wally," he stated. "The waters will be alligator-free soon."

Connie snorted, crossed her arms, and cocked her head to the side as she looked at Anders. "That is, if you're not too chicken shit to swim in the lake again."

Anders smiled at me, before getting to his feet and facing them. He made a show of stretching his arms. "I'm good to go."

"Aw, ballsy." Connie raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to impress someone?"

"The gods," he replied easily.

Scout chuckled, and Connie looked at him.

He shrugged. "It's funny."

I watched Anders get along with Scout and Connie, glad to see him smiling and laughing genuinely. I wondered if he was this way with his friends. Aside from his vague stories of their shenanigans, I had no idea what his friends were like.

When Anders caught me looking, his grin morphed into a warm smile. It was The Smile, but an improved one – a swoon-worthy and get-lost-in-you-forever one.

All of a sudden, my heartbeat started pounding against my chest. Wait, what? I blinked and quickly looked away, startled by the rush of feelings I had inside of me.

Oh, no. Oh, no no no.

I knew this feeling. There was no way I could have it for—

"Meadow."

I gulped and looked up.

Anders gestured towards the water. "Ready to swim?"

Too speechless to find my voice, I could only nod. I hoped I was able to pull off an innocent face, because I was freaking the heck out deep inside.

Was I really starting to like Anders Ferguson?

_____________

Love how Meadow panicked when she realized her feelings, in contrast to Anders who was very chill about it. Hahaha :)

Four chapters left! What else do you think will happen?