Nils knew who Gunilla was, of course. They were both seniors, and they’d had more than a few classes in common. She was very bright and very talented—played violin and was going to a prestigious music conservatory next year. Her performance at the talent show won her a first. Nils got one too for his photographs. She was scheduled to give the girl’s speech at commencement; Nils the boy’s. But they didn’t really know each other. They ran in much different circles. Or maybe it was that neither of them ran in circles at all. They’d barely said a word to each other through their years at school until this evening at the awards party—a dozen seniors, at Principal McDermott’s house. As the party wound down (though Nils would say it never really wound up) Mr. McDermott got Nils and Gunilla together in a quiet corner and suggested they find time to go over each other’s speeches to make sure there were no awkward conflicts. “Eradicate any duplicate cliches,” he said.

“That was embarrassing,” Gunilla said to Nils after the principal left.

Nils nodded.

“This room is embarrassing too, don’t you think?” she said. “I mean the orange door is wild, but it and the walls really clash with the rug. Yikes! I do like this fish painting, but the poor fish has got to be embarrassed out of his mind. If I’d known about this rug I would have worn a different dress. Do you think I’m too opinionated?”

“No,” Nils said. “I’m surprised the fish hasn’t thrown up. Or maybe he has. Fish vomit would probably blend perfectly with the rug.”

Gunilla laughed. “What we should really do is flood this room. Give the fish a chance to escape. To swim off to friendlier waters.”

“Some cool blue lagoon,” Nils said.

“Where he could find a fish friend. Possibly a mate. Yes, we really need to rescue this fish.”

“We do,” Nils agreed. “But wouldn’t flooding McDermott’s house be a bit drastic?”

“I know,” Gunilla said. “You create a distraction, and I’ll kidnap the fish.”

“What kind of distraction?” Nils asked.

“Okay, I’ll create the distraction, and you grab the fish.”

Without waiting for Nils to object, Gunilla strode off. Nils wasn’t sure what it was she did, but there was a gasp and then a cheer, and then loud sustained clapping. Quickly Nils unhooked the painting from the wall and hustled it out the door and into the trunk of his car. When he returned to the party all was calm.

Gunilla gave him a high sign. Nils found her grin delightful. His grin matched hers. “It’s in my trunk,” he whispered.

“Can you bring it over to my house tomorrow?” she asked. “I have just the spot for him in my room. And we can go over our speeches. How about one o’clock? My parents will be in the city for some all day hospital charity thing. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” Nils said.

Until this evening, Nils had thought Gunilla wasn’t very attractive. Her jaw was too big, her eyes too small. Her nose too long, her breasts barely there.

“What is it?” she asked. “Regrets?”

“No,” Nils said. “I was just thinking...”

“What?”

“Um, that I really like your dress.”

“Even if it clashes with the rug?” Her eyes grinned. An infectious grin.

“Even if,” Nils said.

“What do you like about it?”

Now Nils wasn’t sure what to say. That it showed she had breasts, beautiful breasts? That the flowers, especially the one right in the middle, made him think of sex, of a woman’s sex. Of her sex. “Um, it’s very sexy,” he risked.

“Thank you,” Gunilla said. “Now we’d better go, before McDermott realizes his fish has been hijacked. Pilfered. Absconded with. Swiped. Filched. Purloined. Stolen. Thieved. Nicked. Snatched. Grabbed. Took. And that rhymes with hook, which starts with H, which stands for High School, and we’ve got ... What have we got?”

“A fish?”

“Right. I’m so happy. Think of a name for him. Or her. See you tomorrow at one.”

Nils made sure to arrive right on time. He’d been thinking of Gunilla all night and all morning. He hadn’t had much luck thinking of names for the kidnapped fish. Red Tom, since its letters were in McDermott, but the MCT were left over. He hoped Gunilla wouldn’t think less of him for not being clever enough.

When Gunilla opened the door, her smile made him forget about fish names. She led him into the house, sat him on a wide couch in a big room, poured him a tumbler of water, set out a plate of carrots, sat next to him on the couch, right next to him, and told him she had an idea for their commencement speeches. “We should give each other’s speech. Just to see if anyone...”

Nils got it. “I love that idea.”

“Then it’s settled,” Gunilla said. “We don’t have to waste the rest of the afternoon. It’s too nice for speeches. It’s too nice for practicing the violin. We can swim. Last one in’s a rotten egg.”

“Um, I didn’t bring a suit,” Nils said.

“Who needs a suit? The water’s steamy and there’s no one to see.” Her dress was over her head. She was naked. “Strip and meet me in the water.” Nils watched her go. He looked at the untouched carrots. He took off his clothes and followed her.

The water was steamy. Gunilla was like an otter, sleek and playful. They played tag. They raced. They rested. They frolicked some more. They sat on a low stone wall drying off.

“That was fun,” Nils said.

“You’re fun,” Gunilla said. “I like how you do the breast stroke. If I had bigger breasts...”

“You have lovely breasts,” Nils said.

“You think so?”

“I love your breasts.”

“Good. I’m going to put that in your commencement speech.”