Fly With Me

8- Sunfish

 I’d never really liked the water much, so what Brandon was trying to convince me to do was like trying to convince a dog person that chickens have just as much personality as their beloved canines—stupid and pointless.
 

“C’mon, Calypso! The Sunfish is perfectly safe.” He was standing up to his shins in the greeny-blue water, a small, flat sailboat in front of him, beached on the slight shore.
 

I snorted derisively and eyed the miniature watercraft with distaste. “Yeah, Brandon, that totally looks safe…”
 
I couldn’t see his eyes from behind his glasses, but judging from the way his head moved, he rolled his eyes at my sarcasm. “Your lazy wit will do nothing to dissuade me from forcing you into that boat. Get in willingly or I will drag you kicking and screaming into it.”

 Narrowing my eyes, I crossed my arms across my chest and took a step away from the boat. “You wouldn’t dare.”

 Brandon’s dark eyebrows shot up. “Oh, wouldn’t I?”

 “Nope!” Taking another step backwards, I smiled smugly.

 There was absolutely no way this nerd of a guy thought he could actually drag me into a boat against my will. The thought was laughable.

 “You’ve got three seconds to get in this boat, Calypso. Three…”

 I stayed where I was.

 “Two…”

 Nothing.

 “One...” At this point, Brandon’s thin lips were pressed together tightly as he watched me—waiting for me to clamber onto his floating death-trap. When I didn’t, however, a sort of mischievous smile twisted his lips upwards. “You have chosen your fate then?”

 I blew a raspberry at him. “Bring it on.”

 Arms outstretched, Brandon bolted towards me, but I easily side stepped his lumbering advance. “You’re going to have to try harder than that.” I taunted, dancing away just out of his reach. 

 Our little dance continued on like that for several minutes until we were both huffing as we tried to catch our breath.

 “You… will get… on that boat… If it’s the last… thing I do.” Brandon was doubled over, his
hands on his knees

 "You... wish... bro..." My lungs hurt in my chest and my breath was coming out in wheezes. While both of us were winded, it sounded like I was the one who was laboring to breath more. Brandon took advantage of my momentary weakness and I soon found myself lying sloppily in his arms then dumped into the boat.
 
 "I...win." A tired smile of triumph brightened his face before he collapsed onto the boat beside me and shoved us off the shore.

 The boat rocked lightly in the slight waves, and with every move Brandon made we would tip farther this way or that. When I had caught my breath, Brandon handed me a small wooden handle that attached to something in the back of the boat.

 "What's this for?" I looked at the thing in my hands and frowned down at it.
 
 "That's how you steer." Brandon held a rope in his hands and he would keep it taut in his hands, though he would occasionally have to duck under the sail as it moved with the wind.
 
 "And you're trusting me to steer?"
 
 "Why yes, yes I am." He looked at me from behind his thick glasses. "Is that a problem?"
 
 "No..." My bottom lip slipped between my teeth, and I began to chew on it nervously. What if I tipped us over? What if I ran us into one of the trees that hung over the lake? What if--

 "...now take this rope, and--"
 
 "Wait, what?" I tore myself out of my reverie of 'what if's and focused on the boy in front of me who was holding the rope he had previously been handling out to me.
 
 "I'm going to get my own Sunfish. Now take this rope and I'll just--"
 
 "You're going to get your own Sunfish?" I stared at him disbelievingly as I felt my stomach twist with fear inside of me. "But that means I'm going to be on this one... alone."
 
 A sarcastic smile quirked Brandon's features. "Yes, it does. Do you think you can handle that?"