Jenny

When we arrive at Foster's Pond, the usual mix of junior college kids are already there; Tadhg, Caoilainn and Brody, members of the I-S club, Courtney and Nick from our pet therapy group, and Archer, Pearl, Pete and Ruari who spend a lot of time with our gang practicing at the public range.

After introductions, I notice Ruari looking at me a little longer than the rest of them. I start to feel a little uncomfortable. Just as I begin to wonder if I have something on my face, Ruari looks away. Maybe I am imagining things.

I sit down to take off my shoes and glance up at Cian and Walker. Siofra is hanging on Cian's shoulder and Fionn is ribbing him about a bad play Cian had called during last night's rugby game. They are laughing at their own jokes when I look away and notice Walker. He is unusually quiet, and is starring over to where Ruari and Archer are standing. Pete walks up to them and they start laughing and looking in our direction. I see Walker tense and relax, before walking over to join in the conversation. He looks back at me and smiles, before moving closer to them.

I stand up and stretch. I ask Siofra if she wants to go get changed behind a large bolder nearby. In reality, we don't actually have to get changed. We're both wearing our bathing suits under our clothes. I feel a little self-conscious, though, about taking them off while everyone watches.

"Sure," she replies. "Let's go." We walk away and I hear someone, who isn't Cian, comment that Siofra looks hot today. I look at Siofra and know she heard the remark, too. We both laugh nervously and get undressed.

"So, Jenny," she whispers. "Are you going to ask him out or what?"

"What?" I ask, taken by surprise. I pull the straps of my sun dress down, slipping the garment down my waist, lifting my feet out of it one by one.

Rolling her eyes, Siofra replies, "Walker. How long are you going to wait before you ask him?"

As Siofra steps out of her shorts, I try to think of a response. "I don't...I don't know how to do this. We're just friends, Siofra. What if we mess that up?"

"Hey, I see how you follow him with your eyes," she says. "Either you ask him out, or you're going to self-combust. You've got it bad. And anyway, didn't you see his wrist? Hell-o!"

"Siofra, stop!" I laugh, a blush running up my chest

"Ok. O-K," I say, knocking my hip against hers. "I do have the hots for Walker. OMG! He's my best friend, Siofra! How should I do this?" I ask, trying not to jump around like a crazy person.

"Het-hem, I'm going to overlook that whole best friend comment, Jenny. Seeing as how I'm your best friend," she lectures, giving me the stink eye. "I think we can figure something out here tonight."

"What, now?" I squeak. "Here?"

"Yes, here," she counters. "Don't worry, I'll think of something. Besides, I do owe you one, you know."

"Owe me one?" I ask, bending over to grab my flip flops and then slide my feet into them.

"Yeah, hello? The snake?" she replies.

I start laughing. "I'm so sorry, Siofra. I didn't know that was going to happen. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up."

"Mmm-hmmm, well, we'll just see about that tonight, Missy."

Oh, boy. I'm in trouble.

"Look, I don't want to mess things up with Walker, Siofra. I mean, he's a little older than me, and maybe he just sees me as his friend. He might be joining the Marines soon..."

"That's probably, like, two years away still, Jenny!" Siofra interjects. "You know he wants to get his bachelor's degree first. He's only just now finishing up at the junior college."

"I don't know," I say, whining. "What if it ruins our friendship? What if we..." I stammer off, smoothing out my tankini top with my nervous hands.

"Are you kidding me?" she yells loudly. "Jenny, just stop with all these what ifs."

I leap over to her and put my hand across her lips.

"Shhhh! Siofra, they'll hear you!" I squeal, looking over the bolder to see if anyone is standing close enough to listen in on what we're talking about.

"For real, maybe I should wait a little longer," I whisper.

"No way, Jenny. Walker is SO into you. How can you not jump on this? He's always right by your side. And, did you see the way he looked at Ruari when we arrived?"

"What, no, why?" I ask, peeking over the bolder at everyone again.

Siofra rolls her eyes at me.

"Your eyes are going to get stuck inside your head if you keep doing that." I tell her.

Siofra laughs.

"Jenny, you're so blind. Ruari looked you up and down like you were a piece of juicy beef at a bar-b-que."

"Ew, Siofra, that's gross. Thanks a lot. Now I feel like a fat cow or something."

"Jenny, you're not a cow. You're gorgeous. And Ruari noticed. Not only that, Walker noticed Ruari noticing. He was not happy." Siofra reaches down and grabs her clothes to take them with her. I do the same as she links her arm around mine.

"Come on. Let's get back. It's stifling and I'm looking forward to a swim in the cold water."

I shiver just thinking about it. I need to cool off, too, but I know that water is going to be ice cold.

"Ok."

"By the way, Jenny?"

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I think Cian is smokin' today. Do me a favor, will you?"

"What?" I ask, laughing out loud at Siofra's comment. "Find a way to get us two together somehow, ok?"

We dissolve into a fit of devilish giggles. "Ok. I'll let you know as soon as I come up with a plan."

We walk back to find everyone already changed and hanging out by the pond.

Cian

When I see Siofra come out from behind the bolder with Jenny I lose my train of thought.

"Ah, hello. Cian? Where'd you go, man?" Fionn asks. He follows my line of sight and sees me starring at his sister. I know it sucks for him, but even though Siofra is Fionn's sister, I can't help myself.

"Dude! That's my sister you're burning a hole through," he sighs.

Breaking myself out of my trance, I look back at Fionn.

"Sorry, man. I just. Nevermind."

"Yeah, well, let's not go there, ok?"

"Hey, Siofra, can you wear anything less? How about putting a t-shirt on or something?" Fionn yells over to Siofra.

I can see Siofra rolling her eyes again from where we stand.

"No way, Fionn", she hollers back. "Chill out. It's summer. Bikinis are meant to be shown off, not covered up."

Fionn walks away, grumbling under his breath.

"Fionn", I call and he turns back in response. "grab me a cola will you?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever" he mumbles, walking towards the cooler we brought.

I know I'm skating on thin ice with Fionn. Siofra is his baby sister and he is extremely overprotective of her. No one is ever going to be good enough to date Siofra. He keeps an eye on her all the time and spends a lot of time fending off the dogs that try to chase her tail. Wincing at where my thoughts have gone, I realize he probably needs to spend some more time chasing me off as well. Then again, I'd never hurt Siofra like a lot of the guys around here would. I don't cheat, and one night stands aren't my thing. I really like Siofra. I'll treat her right. I just have to convince Fionn of that.

Waiting for Fionn to come back, I notice Ruari peeking glances at where Siofra and Jenny are swimming in the pond. Pete is standing next to Ruari. "Just look at the ass on that, man..." I hear them whisper.

Shit. This might not have been a good idea.

I can feel my blood pressure rise and we've only been here a few minutes. Is he freaking serious? I groan. I hope this night doesn't end in a fight. Ruari is an ok guy, but him and Walker do not get along. Ruari seems like he wants to start his shit early tonight, too.

"Yo! Lay off, man!" I yell over. "Not in the mood tonight, Ruari."

"No problem, Cian." He replies with a mock innocent smile. "No worries. It's all good."

"Yeah, let's keep it that way, Ruari." I stare back. "Just be cool tonight."

"Sure, Cian. Sure."

I can't make out what he says next, but whatever it is, Pete laughs again and shakes his head. Scratching the back of my neck, I look around.

There is a long, swinging rope over the water that drops into the pond. At the moment, Jenny is latched onto it tight. Ruari has his eye on her as she drops into the water with a cold splash. When she breaks through the pond's surface for air, I look past her and see Walker sitting on the bank of the pond. His eyes are dark and he is staring right at Ruari. Deciding to intervene before Walker does something to ruin the day, I walk over to where Ruari is hanging out.

"Hey, Ruari," I say. "Pretty good shooting last week with the 9mm S&M MP. You been practicing a lot?"

Ruari looks at me. I can see his mind turn; how'd I get next to him so fast?

"Oh, hey. Yeah, it's a beauty," he replies. "Real easy to fire."

Ruari drones on and I catch Walker's eye. I can see his gratitude from where I stand. Nodding my head at him, I lead Ruari over to the cooler, distracting him with more talk about ammo and targets. At the pond's edge, Nick has started gathering a pile of brush and sticks to make a small fire. The sun is going down and while it isn't cold at all, a fire would be nice to sit around and dry off with when twilight comes. Leading Ruari towards it (and away from Jenny) is a better way to focus Ruari's energy. Walker may be too chicken shit to tell her, but in his mind, Jenny is already his. I wish he'd just ask her out already. I return my focus to our conversation, and crack the soda Fionn tosses me.

Off to the side of us, I can hear Pearl and Brody's friendly argument over something nonsensical.

"Yo, Pete," I hear Ruari say. "You want some of this instead of that Kool-Aid you're all drinking? It's like a kiddie party here tonight."

Pete shakes his head at Ruari's outstretched hand. There is a silver flask in it. "Nah, 'sall right, Ruari. I'm good."

"Seriously?"

"Ruar, I'm good." Pete replies. "Last time we were here the cops came. I'm still paying off the damn fines. Got three more sobriety classes to sit through, too. No, thank you."

"Yeah, well, if you could run faster, you'd have been alright."

"Whatever. This is a federal park. The damn rangers are everywhere. They come out of the woodwork around here. They catch you, it'll be your ass they bust, you keep drinking outta' that flask."

"Yeah, yeah," Ruari responds waving his warning off. "Bunch of pussies," he says, talking to himself. I take a deep breath and try to focus back on the party. What's his problem tonight? I think to myself.

I nod my head in time with the music someone is playing. I sneak a glance over to Siofra and see tiny beads of water glistening down her naked back as she climbs out of the water.

Talk about beautiful. I think my hormones are overloading.

Siofra's on the shore, laughing with Courtney and Caoilainn about something when I hear her say, "Aw, come on guys, it'll be fun."

Jenny's trying to tug on her arm and whispers something in her ear, but Siofra just shrugs her off and smiles.

"It'll be fun, Jenny. Really. You'll see."

I hear Fionn groan behind me. "Now what's she up to?" he asks himself, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. He looks like someone anticipating a headache.

"Yeah, Jenny, it'll be great. Nothing serious. Just a little game. It'll be fun." Courtney teases, winking at Siofra.

The two of them are trouble when they team up. Siofra and Courtney have been going to the same art classes for the last few years. Every now and then, they like to get things going, much to Fionn and Pete's frustration. If Siofra drives Fionn crazy with her sisterly antics, Courtney is just as good at getting to Pete with her girlfriend antics. They've been dating six months but the way they bicker, you'd think they've been married six years.

"Seriously, Siofra. Don't do this," I hear Jenny plead under her breath.

"Trust me." Siofra responds.

Uh-oh.

I look over at Caoilainn for a clue as to what may be going on.

Caoilainn only sits back. She keeps quiet; it's like she wants to see what happens before jumping into the conversation. You never know what Caoilainn's thinking. She's the shy, silent type. She can hold her own, though, when pushed.

I think back to my earlier suspicions from this morning at the creek. I hope Caoilainn and Tadhg are together. It'd be great for them both. Caoilainn's a good girl, and Tadhg would treat her well. They have such a special history between them.

Momentarily distracted, I'd zoned out, but now I see that the rest of our crowd has made it to the pond's edge. Nick feeds the now-lit bonfire and drinks a soda. He pokes his feet in the sand.

"What's up, girls?" he asks.

"Funny you should ask," Siofra answers. "Courtney and I found this bottle on the beach and thought we might play spin the bottle."

I blink.

Spin the bottle?

What is this? The 1980's? Did we suddenly travel back in time to the seventh grade?

Walker shoots a glance up at Jenny, and then over to Ruari. He's just in time to catch Ruari licking his lips in her direction.

I close the distance between Siofra and I.

"Siofra, I don't think this is a good idea," I tell her, looking around at the group.

Siofra reaches out to gently turn my chin back to her, "Why not?" she asks pouting.

"It's just...look, it's just not a good idea, Ok?" I try to convey some meaning into the silent look I give her, rolling my eyes between Walker, Jenny and Ruari all at once. Awareness dawns and I hear her say "Oh!" under her breathe. I let out a sigh of relief that she's finally getting it.

It's short-lived however, as she turns towards back to Courtney and says, "Listen, change of plans." She puts the bottle in a nearby trashcan, and turns back to us all.

"Let's play a different game."

"Siofra!" Fionn admonishes.

"Fionn!" she responds, mimicking his tone. Caoilainn lets out a laugh and puts her head down, shaking it.

"How about we play truth or dare?" she asks, looking pointedly in my direction for help. Crap. "Ok? Better?"

Before I can answer her, I notice the crowd looking at me, daring me to deny her. I don't want to be the only one putting Siofra off, but I remember what happened the last time Jenny played this game. She ended up in Walker's bed. This time, however, I don't believe it'll end up being the same chaste experience it was back then. Jenny is no longer a scrawny, little 13-year-old. I look at my brother for his silent input, but his expression is unreadable.

No help there.

Thanks a lot, Walker, I think to myself.

"Ok. Alright. Truth or dare it is," I give in.

"Yes!" she squeals, tugging on Courtney's arm.

"Come on, guys, let's go sit by the bonfire."

If I knew then what I know now, I would've nixed the whole thing before it ever started. But I didn't. I walked over to the crowd and took my place in the sand.

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Chapter 4A Photography Copyright 2018 A. E. F.

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