Ross

Underwater. Adjective. [uhn-der-waw-ter]. Existing or occurring underwater.

I can't keep my eyes off of Riley's wide, freckled smile and pale eyes that glow against the black of the Atlantic night. Her hand is warm and soft in mine as she tugs me after her. She takes off at a sprint and I follow her, the icy sea water splashing against our legs as we collide with the ocean and each other.

Once we're knee deep, I expect her to stop running or let go of my hand, but she does neither. She pulls me into the waves with no resemblance of fear for the ocean that almost choked the life out of her. Once I'm chest deep in the ocean and it reaches Riley's chin, she finally stops and turns to smile at me. With her pale eyes, perfect freckles, and wide smile, she's practically sucking me underwater and for a minute I struggle to say anything.

"The ocean's not so bad when you're not caught in a riptide, huh," I say, recalling her futile attempt at escaping the tide.

She glowers back at me. "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

"Not if I can help it. It's not everyday I have to rescue someone at six in the morning."

"Apparently it's so uncommon that you told all your friends about me," she says, paddling her arms around her to stay afloat as a wave washes over me.

I fight to keep my gaze on her face and not the long legs that flutter kick beneath her. Get a grip, Ross.

"What can I say? You make an impression."

She scrunches her freckled nose. "Yeah, I love being known as the girl you had to rescue. The hot girl."

Crap. Screw Javier and his stupid big mouth. I shouldn't have told him and Ernie that I thought she was hot; I'm certain I'll never live it down.

"Don't let it get to your head," I grumble, flipping onto my back and floating on the undulating waves.

"Too late," she says, swimming beside me on her stomach and entrancing me with her eyes.

I was wrong when I said she was hot; she's more than that. She's intriguing and mysterious and beautiful. And maybe a little annoying. But still, there's something completely captivating in her reckless outlook on life.

"So you're a lifeguard, huh? That explains some things."

"Yep. I've been a lifeguard for eleven years."
Her eyebrows shoot up as her dark hair floats in a halo around her. "Eleven years? Are you serious? You've known these guys for eleven years?" She gestures to Ernie and Lucy, making out in the ocean, and Javier trying to flirt with a few new lifeguards. When I nod, she continues, "I don't think I've even known anyone besides my parents for eleven years. That's crazy."

I sigh. "We have a lot of history."

"I'd love to have history," she murmurs under my breath and I wonder if she meant for me to hear her.

I don't know what it's like to not have history. This entire island is drenched in layers of memories of my mom and dad and brothers and sister and friends. On almost every block, I can share an anecdote or an experience. Everyone knows me and I know everyone. Sometimes I hate it.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," I say, but I know I should be grateful.

Compared to Riley the nomad, my life has been idyllic and grounded, but I think I could do with a little bit of chaos.

Riley swims a little closer to me, her hair glued to the side of her face and eyes luminous. She touches my shoulder with an icy hand and her eyes close halfway.

"Hey, Ross?"

"Yeah?"

My head buzzes with the nearness of her and I blink to try to clear the fog.

"Race yah!" She squeals, shoving me underwater by the shoulders.

I power my way back to the surface and swim after her, laughing as I take huge strokes to try catch up. Her lithe form cuts through the water like a knife, and even though I insulted her swimming before, I can see the sinews of her legs and back in the crystalline glow of moonlight. She's a swimmer at heart. Still, I have eleven years of experience swimming in the ocean and at least fifty pounds on her, so I catch up in a few strokes.

I reach for her bare, slender shoulders and shove her underwater. Her shriek scares off a colony of seagulls and I laugh as she kicks and flails at me. When I let her come back to the surface, she spurts water out of her mouth and blinks back huge bubbles of water from her dark eyelashes.

"You're such a butt!" she screams, kicking me in the chest and propelling herself backwards.

With her hair pooling in the water around her and turned silver by the moonlight, I lose my train of thought and I can't come up with a retort. She looks spectral floating there and I wonder if she's even from the same world as me. Despite underlying similarities, we are so different. My life doesn't even compare to hers.

"What are you staring at?"

Crap. I'm normally not so awkward and graceless with girls as I am with this one, or at least I'm a little more subtle, but I can't help it. I'm acting like a middle schooler who just made it through puberty.

"You," I answer, stunning myself with my honesty.

"Take a picture. It lasts longer."

"Maybe I will."

Riley cranes her neck to stare at me, as surprised by me as I am by myself. "I don't get you, Ross Montgomery."

I give her a lazy smile. "There's not much to get. I'm a lifeguard and warehouse worker who's barely left the island."

"I didn't mean what you do. By that definition, I'd be a soulless college dropout without a future."

"We both sound pretty pathetic."

Riley paddles closer to shore and stands, a wave breaking against her stomach. "I meant I don't get who you are."

I don't know who I am either. I like to think that whoever I am is still out there, that I have to discover myself. For now I'm a lifeguard, an older brother, a caretaker, a friend. I'm a sideline character. Maybe if I leave, if I take the global internship, maybe then I'll figure out who I am.

"Yeah, well, it adds to the mystery," I say by way of deflection, staggering through the waves to stand by Riley.

Her shoulder blades and arms are covered in goosebumps and she wraps her arms around her chest. Almost everyone else, except for Earnest and Lucy who are caught up in their own world, has gone back to the campfire and I see a lot of people are already drifting home.

"Holy crap, you're freezing," I say, touching the small of her back and guiding her out of the water.

I can tell how cold she is when her teeth start to chatter and she doesn't bite back at me with a fiery retort.

"Did you bring a jacket?"

"It's the s-summer. I didn't think I'd n-need one."

"Well, you thought wrong." I set Riley on a beach towel a few yards from the fire. "I'll be right back."

I jog through the sand to where my jacket and phone lay next to a lounging Javier and reach for the fleece zip-up.

"Having fun, Rossy?" Javier teases, eyes glinting gold in the firelight.

"She almost left thanks to your big mouth."

"But she didn't. She's hot, and you're lucky. Invite me to the wedding."

I kick sand at Javier and he lifts his forearms to block it, cackling like a witch on Halloween. I leave him behind and return to Riley, her chin resting on the knees clutched to her chest.

"Here, put this on," I say, unzipping my jacket and draping it over her icy, pale shoulders.

She rolls her eyes at me. "Why do you keep saving me?"

"Why do you keep needing saved?"
"Good point." Riley grasps the edges of the jacket and pulls it closer around her.

My jacket dwarfs her slender frame and I watch her as she watches the fire, the reflection of the flame dancing in her glassy eyes.

"So do you still hate my island?"

She grins up at me with her soft rose lips. "Your island? Maybe not as much as I did when I first got here. You guys are like a...a family."

Family. For a few minutes, I'd forgotten about my deadbeat dad and the three kids. I'd been just another 20-something guy hanging out with a girl on the beach. But I'm not that guy; I'm somewhere between a kid who can't grow up and a man weighted down by his family.

"So tell me something," she continues. "Do you always like to play the hero or is that just with me?"

"I'm no hero," I mumble under my breath.

But in some ways, I am. At least for other people. I take care of Dad and the three kids and sometimes even Earnest and Javier. And now Riley.

"Maybe not, but you do seem to have an uncanny instinct to look after other people."

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. I don't even know this girl, but she's psycho-analyzing me like I'm a test subject in a sick experiment. She's not really wrong though; I have this gut response to look out for others. I blame it on my parents. They didn't give me any other choice.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you're forced to raise three kids on your own."

She tilts her head to look at me, pulling her dripping hair over her shoulder and wringing it out. "I don't think I've ever been anyone's hero. Except for the guy I saw with a mullet the other day--I gave him some fashion advice that will save him from eternal singledom." I snort. "That's cool, though. That you take care of them."

I can't look her in the eye, the compliment cutting straight to the quick. "Not as cool as traveling the world your whole life."

"Yeah, well, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Let's agree to disagree." Riley stands up and shrugs off my jacket. "I guess I'll head home now."

She glances around at the dwindling crowd, and I realize for the first time that we're pretty much alone. Despite her nosy questions and annoying intuition, I appreciate the way she looks past the facade I put up. The last thing I want is for her to leave.

"Wait. Let's take a walk instead," I suggest, gesturing down the beach. "I still have to convince you how great this island is."

Riley's lips quirk at me and she cross her arms over her chest, one hip cocked. "Fine, but I'm pretty stubborn. I doubt you'll change my mind."

"I've picked up on that, but I can be pretty persuasive."

She grins at me and spins away from me to walk down the beach. "We'll see."

I can't help but smile back as I jog to catch up with her--I'd like to change her mind more than I'd care to admit, not just about the island, but about me.

"I have a serious question for you," she says as we put distance between us and my friends at the campfire.

"What a surprise."

"What's your favorite dinosaur?"

The question shocks me so much that I lock up my knees and stare at her. "Dinosaur? Seriously? Is this some weird psych test you're conducting on me?"

She stops too and turns back to me. "No, I just honestly want to know your favorite dinosaur."

I laugh at her. "You're one of a kind, Riley Olson."

"That's not an answer."

"Triceratops."

"Much better."

~~~~~

What an adorable pair of weirdos. Thanks for reading and for the 400+ views! Please continue to vote and comment and thanks for supporting this story :)

~ Hannah