Five

        Where We Swim

        There’s something different about Jacoby Grey.

            Well, besides the fact that he has facial piercings.

            Every time I’ve tried to say hi or have seen him in the last week around town, he refuses to even look at me. And when he does, he quickly looks away and makes a beeline for the nearest exit from Stevie-ville.

            “What’s with him?” I ask Grandpa over buttermilk pancakes at the diner. Belle watches in disgust beside me as I shovel them into my mouth. “It’s like he hates me. He used to be my best friend.”

            “Stephen,” Grandpa says quietly, setting down his coffee. “A lot has changed since you left. A lot.”

            “But what has that have anything to do with him hating me?” I ask with my mouth full. Grandpa gives me a look and I quickly swallow. “Why can’t he just be nice to me?”

            “Why don’t you go ask him?” Grandpa says, just as I hear the chime of the diner door open behind me.

            Slowly, I turn around and see Jacoby walking to the counter. He hasn’t seen me yet, so I quickly whip back in place and pretend I’m not here.

            “Oh come on, Stephen,” Grandpa chuckles. “You’re acting like the shy girl you’ve never been.”

            I roll my eyes. “Well, I’m still not going to just prance over there and ask him why he dislikes me so much.”

            “Then maybe I will.”

            My eyes grow wide as Grandpa takes a quick sip of his coffee and then raises his hand, waving. “Jacoby!”

            I hunch down in my booth, trying to disappear.

            “Hey Mr. Greenwood,” his voice says, growing louder with every word as he comes closer. “It’s really hot today, isn’t it?”

            “Yes indeed,” Grandpa replies, a smile on his lips. Now Jacoby’s standing at the end of our booth and I pretend to be too busy cutting my pancakes to notice. “That being said, I was wondering if you were taking a trip to the pond today.”

            “I was thinking about it,” he says honestly.

            “Great! I was wondering if you mind taking Stephen? She’s been sitting at home for the past few days and I don’t think it’s good for her.”

            “Gee, thanks for making me look like a loser,” I mutter under my breath. Even if it is true, it’s only because Lark has been sick for the past few days and I really don’t have anyone else to hang out with.

            I don’t expect a lot of things to come from this conversation, but the one thing I do expect is for Jacoby to say no. “Oh, sorry Mr. Greenwood. I was planning on taking Dove Miller, my much prettier, blonder girlfriend.” But instead, his next words surprise me.

            “No problem. I’ll pick her up around two?”

            “That sounds perfect!” Grandpa says enthusiastically. When Jacoby’s gone, I finally raise my head. “See? It wasn’t that bad.”

            “You made me look like I have no friends and then basically set me up on a date with a taken boy.”

            Grandpa rolls his eyes, something I rarely see him do. “You’re being dramatic. It will be fun, you’ll see!”

            “I don’t even have a bathing suit,” I tell him, resting my forehead on the edge of the table. I slide my plate of buttermilk pancakes away. I’ve lost my appetite.

            “We’ll get one before we head back home.”

            Like what just happened wasn’t awkward enough, now I have to go shopping for bikinis with my grandfather.

            “Great,” I mutter. “Just great.”

©

            “So,” I mumble, filling the silence. I stretch the word out until I have to take a breath. “I like your Camaro. It’s really nice.”

            “Thanks.”

            I steal a peek at Jacoby and see that he’s looking at the road. His black, choppy hair is just beside his eyes that refuse to even glance my way. He’s wearing a light blue band shirt and only has one hand on the steering wheel. Since the moment he arrived at Greenwood, he hasn’t been much of a talker.

            “Where is this pond?” I ask curiously, watching as we start to pass through town. I’ve been thinking all day and I can’t remember any form of water source that wasn’t a blow up pool from my childhood.

            “Outside of town.”

            “Is it nice?”

            “I guess.”

            I shut my mouth, having no more questions. Correction- no more normal questions. I have a ton about why he’s with Dove Miller, why doesn’t he hang out with Lark anymore and why he’s being so weird around me, but I choose to keep quiet.

            At least for the meantime.

            As we drive down Main Street, everyone turns to envy the extremely nice car I’m sitting in. They go to smile at Jacoby, but their lips quickly falter, turning into a puzzled expression. I bet they all are wondering what plain old Stevie Greenwood is doing in the passenger seat, rather than pretty Dove.

            Which gets me thinking- what ever happened to Dove and I? If the news got around to Lark, one of my old best friends, I’m sure it got around to Dove, right? Why hasn’t she stepped up and come to say hi too? Is she not excited, like Lark was? Or does it have to do with the fact Jacoby is acting like we just met last week.

            Well, I guess we kind of did if you forget the fact that we had a childhood together.

            Finally, after another round of silence, we reach the pond. It literally is outside of town, in the middle of nowhere. After you go down a bunch of country roads, you end up at a fairly large pool of water for this area.

            We pull onto the side of the gravel road and Jacoby turns the Camaro off. I expect him to say something but he exits the car without so much as a ‘let’s go.’

            I hurry after him, grabbing the beach towel I had been sitting on. From what I see, there isn’t much of a path except the way Jacoby’s walking, I can tell that he knows where he’s going. We weave through tall grass and I cover my eyes, protecting them from the constant smack of the ferns.

            “You know, there is this lovely invention called a weed-whacker,” I mutter as I gratefully step onto dirt and regular sized grass.

            Jacoby doesn’t respond.

            Instead, he pulls a towel off his shoulder and drops it onto the ground. I watch, not knowing what else to do as he strips off his t-shirt.

            Jacoby Grey works out.

            Oh, and apparently has a tattoo. It’s cursive writing, on the right side of his ribs. There’s an anchor underneath the words that I squint to read. “I have so many anchors, bound to my feet. It feels like I’ll forever be bound to the bottom of these seas.”

            “Take a picture.”

            “Huh?” I brush my hair out of my eyes, coming back into reality.

            “You were staring.” He doesn’t smirk.

            “Oh,” I mumble, embarrassed. Jacoby doesn’t say anything as he continues to get undressed. I carefully lay my towel on the ground, making sure I don’t look at him again. By the time I hear him splash into the water, I still haven’t gotten undressed.

            “If you’re expecting me to invite you, you’re wasting your time.”

            I feel my cheeks flush and I quickly turn away from him, facing the tall grass. From here, I can’t even see the road or the Camaro.

            “Stop being stupid,” I mutter to myself. I feel Jacoby’s eyes on me as I grab the bottom of my white tank top. Taking a deep breath, I pull it off and drop it to the ground. I do the same with my shorts, leaving myself in my brand new teal bikini.

            When I turn back around, Jacoby instantly dives under, trying to hide the fact that he was watching me. I’m thankful; feeling my face grow redder. Slowly, I sink deeper and deeper into the cool pond, until I have to tread water to stay afloat.

            If I thought the car ride was awkward, I was wrong. The fact that we’re the only two people here and refuse to talk to one another makes things horrible. I feel like I have to breathe quietly to not make a fool out of myself. The worst thing is that even though it’s just us, I still feel like a loner.

            Jacoby is the first one to get out of the water. After a few minutes of feeling incredibly stupid, I also pull myself to shore and sit on the edge of my towel. I wrap my hair over my right shoulder and stare at the pond, small ripples slowly dying down from when I got out.

            “Can I ask you something?”

            I feel caught off guard when I hear Jacoby speak. Slowly, I turn my head towards him and lean back on my hands. Raising my eyebrows, I shrug.

            “Sure?”

            He doesn’t hesitate. “How long are you here for?”

            His expression reveals nothing and I feel dumbfounded. Why does he care? He leans his head forward, looking at me as he grows impatient for an answer.

            “Haven’t you heard? Just the summer,” I mumble, moving my eyes down to my towel.

            “Good.”

            My head instantly snaps back to Jacoby, who’s still watching me. His expression now looks annoyed, but I’m sure mine now mirrors it.

            “Excuse me?”

            “It’s good,” he says, not missing a beat. “That you’re just staying for the summer.”

            “Well that’s pretty rude,” I snap, narrowing my eyes at him. We’re a car’s length apart, but I’m sure he can still see that he’s irritating me.

            Jacoby shrugs. “Just being honest.”

            “Okay.” I jump to my feet, feeling confident. With my hands balled into fists, I stride towards him and stand over his towel, hands on my hips. “If you’re being so honest, then answer a question for me.”

            He shrugs again. “Shoot.”

            For a moment, the words get caught in my throat, threatening to stay there. But as soon as I spit the first one out, the rest tumble after it. “Why do you dislike me so much, Jacoby? Ever since I came back, you’ve made it your mission to avoid me. I thought you were my best friend.”

            “Things change,” he says quietly, avoiding my eyes.

            “Apparently they did, because the Jacoby Grey I knew wasn’t such an asshole.”

            Jacoby looks speechless. But as quickly as I regret the words, he jumps to his feet. He moves towards me so that he towers over my thin frame, making my confidence disappear instantly.

            “You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is your fault,” he spits, his eyes narrowing at mine. He’s so close that I can feel his breath on me and smell the drying water from the pond on his skin.

            “How is it my fault?” I laugh bitterly. “What did I do that was so bad to you, my best friend, to make you hate me so much?”

            For a moment, Jacoby is silent.

            “Do you really want to know, Stevie?”

            I roll my eyes, folding my arms across my chest. “Yes, enlighten me. Tell me what I did wrong, Jacoby.”

            I watch as his jaw tightens and then he’s walking towards his towel. He grabs it off the ground and swings it over his shoulder before grabbing his clothing. Next he heads towards the grass and turns his head to call over his shoulder.

            “You left.”