Lavender Love (boyxboy)✅

Chapter 13

Alex and my brothers loved swimming in the rain. As I mentioned before, I hated everything about the rain even though rain was a necessary evil. While the three idiots continued to swim, I got out of the water.

"Hey, Jo Jo!" Jimmy shouted. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I hate the rain. I'll be in my tent."

"You're no fun," Jimmy said, flinging water at me.

I hadn't realized Alex followed me out of the water. He was so quiet; I didn't see it coming. My brothers were a bad influence on him. Alex turned into a little prankster. He thought he was so funny, yanking my bathing suit down to my ankles, exposing my butt for the world to see. The world was only Walter, Jimmy, and Alex and they'd all seen my butt a million times.

"Way to go Alex!" Walter laughed.

"Uh-oh, Alex. You better run!" Jimmy said.

As I pulled up my bathing suit, Alex sprinted into the woods. "I'm gonna get you, Aleksander Wolf!" Through the woods, I chased him. Once I caught up to him, I tackled him to the ground. We landed in a group of shrubs. I sat on the back of his legs, tickling him, but I gave up before he surrendered. I figured I'd tortured him enough, making him laugh so hard he cried. I knelt upright, allowing him to roll onto his back.

"Are you really angry?" Alex asked.

"Yes, very," I said with a smile. "No. I could never stay angry with you for more than a minute."

As I sat on his lap, I leaned over and kissed his mouth. Despite the rain, we nearly made love out there in the woods. We finished inside the tent.

The rain continued into the morning. Although we had a lot of fun these past few days, I was glad we were going home. I preferred sleeping in my bed, and nothing was worse than camping in the rain. Before we packed up, Alex sat in the tent, scratching his arms and chest.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked as he scratched his arm vigorously.

"I don't know. I'm very scratchy... um... itchy and red. Look." Red patches scattered Alex's arms, chest, and even his legs.

"Uh-oh. That's poison ivy."

"What is poison ivy?"

"It's a green shiny plant that makes you break out in an itchy rash. Dad always said 'leaves of three, let it be.' There must be some around here."

"It's your fault. You pushed me into this poison ivy. Will I die from it?"

"No. You'll just be itchy for a few days. When we go home, you can sit in a bath of calamine lotion. Going for a swim may help."

I, too, broke out in a small rash along my arms, but nothing compared to poor Alex. He scratched so much, he made himself bleed. Before heading back to Massachusetts, Alex and I took a dip in the river, hoping that would help ease our itchiness. By the time we got in the car, my rash spread to my chest, and I was almost as itchy as Alex.

"What the hell did you boys do out there yesterday?" Walter asked as Alex and I scratched in the backseat. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

After an uncomfortable long ride home, I ran into the house, demanding calamine lotion. I didn't even say hi to my parents. "Oh, dear," Mom said as me and Alex stood in front of her. "I haven't seen such a good case of poison ivy in years." She laughed lightly. "You should know better, Jo Jo."