Boys of West Denton ✓

chapter twenty-seven

He wrinkles his nose. "Fuck that," he says. "Wanna get out?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

We swim towards shore, immediately lying down on the rocky banks when we reach them. Stones dig into my back, but I don't care. My chest is heaving, and so is Seb's, and suddenly, without warning, I start laughing, and I can't stop.

Seb joins in too, like he can't help it. "What?" he asks. "What is so funny?"

"I don't know. I just, being here with you, like that, and then ... fish."

"Fish." He sighs and rolls onto his side to face me. I follow suit, ignoring the gravel scraping my arm. "It's pretty funny that you'd be afraid of fish."

"Umm, I'm not afraid of anything, actually?"

"I highly doubt that. There's gotta be something."

Liam's face pushes its way into my mind, and for a split second, I have to remind myself to breathe. It's fine. That's never going to happen again. "Mushrooms. I am deathly afraid of mushrooms."

"What, like, to eat? Or to microdose or whatever?"

Microdose. Like I'd have the balls for anything other than weed. "Um, neither, but also, both? Mushrooms in general."

Seb settles his head down onto his hand and smiles softly. "Is there a story behind your great fear of mushrooms, or are you just silly and goofy like that?"

"Oh, dear Sebastian, I have a reason for everything. Didn't you know?"

"Well, pray tell, just what is your tale of devastation and woe in regard to ... doth shrooms?"

I shrug, still smiling. With one hand, I shake out the front of my hair so it doesn't dry too crazy, even though I'm sure we'll be headed back in any minute now. "So, my mom is a doctor, right?"

"Right."

"And my grandma is, like, a total Fireside Girl."

"Niche reference, but okay."

I roll my eyes at him. "Anyways, I was out for a walk with my grandma and mom, and apparently four-year-old me found this batch of wild mushrooms. And neither of the adults present could figure out what they were. All they knew was that—"

Seb sighs, eyes shut tight. "You ate them?"

"How did you guess?"

"Because that is literally the most you thing you could have done."

"Yeah, probably." I stretch my legs out and flinch when a chilly wave touches the tip of my toes. "So, long story short, I get rushed to the emergency room, but my mom and my grandma are absolutely furious with me, and—"

"As they should."

"Ummm, who asked? That's right. No one."

"So that's why you're afraid of mushrooms," Seb says. "Because four-year-old you thought you were going to die?"

"Yep. Pretty much."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it's a pretty Doctor Doofenshmirtz background story."

He squints his eyes nearly shut. "What is with the Phineas and Ferb references today? You're two for two."

"Three for three, actually. Only real ones will spot the third. And, how dare you—that is my earliest hospital memory, thank you."

"Mm, speaking of hospital," Seb says, "you'll never guess who was taking glam shots from their hospital bed?"

"Oh, I like this game!" I stretch my arms and legs out, forming one big 'X' against the dirty beach for a moment. I'm still soaked, so dirt clings to me, but I don't care. "Ummm ... Liam?"

"If only."

"That was my only guess."

Seb mimics my stretching. Our fingers brush, and I try not to laugh at how unexpectedly ticklish it is. "Elana Doorsey."

"Oh, dude, what the fuck?" I wonder what it could have been—a bad cliff jump seems most likely. Elana has an obsession with diving into Wetspring Quarry. She says it's fun, though, and she's been doing it for years. So maybe it was something else? Yeah. Yeah, it must have been. "Is she okay?"

"Seems to be. Her duck face is intact."

"Oh, well, good for her. That's her most valuable asset."

Seb sighs and sits up. It gives his stomach these cute little stomach rolls, and I'm consumed by the urge to put my head on his lap, even here, shivering and exposed in the warm summer air. It's this unstoppable force, this wanting to be close to him. Yet somehow, I refrain, thankfully.

"You're a goober," Seb says. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Hmm, what's in it for me?"

"Who knows?" He walks over to a rock near the shore and scoops up his cerulean beach towel. I hold back laughs at his bow-legged, "the rocks are hurting my feet" stance. "Maybe we'll find some wild mushrooms along the way."

"Not funny. I was traumatized."

"Yeah, I am so sure."

I stand too, and he tosses me my ancient red-and-white striped towel. It hits me full on in the face, but it doesn't hurt. I sling it over my shoulder like nothing embarrassing just happened, and suddenly, I've got something I need to try. "Wanna go look out at the quarry?"

It's impossible to really see the rich green foliage surrounding the lake, or the green sheen of its algae-touched surface. The sky is blue and cloudless, the sun is bright, and even the lake's smell isn't terribly overpowering. And yet, all I can focus on is Seb. Seb's smiling face, the little crinkles near his eyes, how his lips curl up more playfully at the edges than anywhere else.

"You read my fucking mind."