Chapter 14

I followed Mom inside after our morning session on the porch swing. Again, she just watched. I was secretly hoping to watch her too, but it didn’t happen. Regardless, I was in a good mood today. I was supposed to go to the local clinic to have my stitches removed. Finally.

“Breakfast will be ready by the time you get done in the bathroom, Sam.”

“Okay, Mom.”

I went into the bathroom and turned on the water in the shower. I waited a moment for the water in the pipes to warm up. I was lucky today because Sara had still been in bed when I came back in. I heard the bathroom door open and then close. I looked to see who it was and saw Sara leaning against the vanity, watching me.

“I’ll be done in a minute, Sara.”

“It’s okay. Take your time.” She paused. “Are you getting your stitches out today?”

“Finally. It’s about time.”

“Do you want to hang out with me and Jenny when you get back?”

“Sure, that sounds great. I can’t wait to jump off the diving boards again.”

“Okay, cool.”

I heard the door open and close again. Sara left me alone to finish getting ready. I turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and dried off. When I came back out to the main room, Mom already had the food on the table for everyone. I sat down and looked at my plate. Boiled eggs. Yuck. I ate the toast, though.

“As soon as you’re done, get dressed so we can get back by lunchtime.” My dad said, his mouth partially full of food.

“I know. I’ll be ready as soon as Sara and I finish the dishes.” Dad just nodded.

The dishes went quickly. Thankfully, boiled eggs don’t make a big mess of the plates when you eat them. After heading outside in shorts and a T-shirt, I saw dad kissing mom goodbye.

“Ready?” He asked when he saw me come out.

“Yup.”

We climbed into the car and headed to the clinic in town. The doctor in the clinic looked at the cut on my head. He nodded and told me that it was healing nicely. I would have a scar, but it would be hidden by my hair. That was fine with me. He used a small pair of scissors and tweezers and cut the knots and then pulled the stitches from my head one by one. I didn’t feel a thing. That surprised me. I’d thought I would feel something being pulled out of my body. Nope, not at all.

When we left the clinic Dad said, “We need to go grab some things for your mom. Then we’ll head home.”

We stopped at the grocery store. Dad had a short list in his pocket of things Mom needed. The first item on the list: eggs. Go figure. I took the chance to go look at the books section. There never was a large selection but you never knew what might be there. I found a sci-fi book about aliens coming to Earth and asking for our help to defeat some space overlord guy. It looked interesting and the cover art was incredible. Dad saw me looking at it, reading the back cover. I looked at him and he nodded, knowing what I was going to ask before I even did.

On the drive home, I started to read the first chapter of the new book. To my surprise, I was immediately hooked. Sci-fi wasn’t my usual choice, but this one was really good. I didn’t even realize where we were until Dad put the car in park and got out. I quickly marked my place and closed the book. I hurried to help Dad carry in the groceries.

“Put them on the counter and I will put them away,” Mom called out when she saw us walk in with our arms full of bags.

Putting my single sack I’d carried in on the counter, I then tossed my book on my bed, “I’m headed for the pool.” I yelled over my shoulder.

“Be careful!” Mom replied, almost yelling, so I would hear her. I was already past the cabins.

When I got to the pool, I found Jenny and Sara standing by the edge of the shallow end. They were facing the water, so they never saw my approach. I kept running all the way until I was almost to the edge of the water and then flung myself into the air. I soared and did a shallow diving entry into the water once I had cleared the girls’ heads.

I popped up out of the water and turned to see both girls looking at me slack jawed.

“What?” I asked.

The two girls looked at each other and then turned equally scary grins on me. Oh shit. I swam to the other side as fast as I could. Sara and Jenny were hot on my heels. Sara was a really good swimmer, so was Jenny, but Sara was fast. I barely got to the edge and pulled myself free before Sara was able to get my foot.

“Corner tag?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“Yes!”

“Five second rule?”

They both shook their heads. Jenny then said, “Three.”

I nodded my agreement.

If you have never played corner tag in the pool, it’s a simple game. The one that’s “it” stays in the water. The ones who are running, or in this case swimming and running, can only be in the water or standing on the edge of the pool. So, if you get chased like I did by Sara and Jenny, you can jump out of the water and onto the edge. You only had 3 seconds though before you had to get back in the water. Also, if you’re running around the pool, you can’t just run on the edge around a corner. You have to get in the water and then get back out. If you get tagged by the person in the water, then you’re the one that’s in the water and the game starts all over again.

It was a fun game, and we picked up a handful of other players after a few minutes. The three of us were all holding onto one the edges together and resting. There was a girl about our age who was, at the moment, focused on some younger boys on the other side of the pool. Everyone that was playing was laughing and swimming for their lives and then laughing when they got out of the water or just got to a safe distance.

“I missed swimming with you,” Jenny said, smiling at me. Then out of nowhere, she leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Then she giggled and took off swimming to the other side of the pool.

Sara immediately followed her. That was risky. Especially if the girl in the middle saw them swimming. They would be easily cut off if she did. They were using an honored, age-old trick, though. They swam the whole way underwater. Sneaky. All three of us were “it” before everyone decided they were tired and didn’t want to play anymore. That was a perfect excuse for us to go get some lunch.