Logan, John, and Mason all ran into each other as they came into the house for dinner. “Yo guys.” John said patting them on the back. “How’d your days go?”
“Incredible.” Logan said. “Tara is perfect. Oh, and she also schooled me in longboarding.”
“Wait a minute, the king got schooled? By a girl?” Mason asked, making fun of Logan.
“Yea, yea, yea whatever. John, how was Kaitlin? I saw you were up and out early this morning.” Logan said.
“She was amazing, as always. Yea I taught her how to “surf”” he put air quotes around surf, “and then we had a picnic on the beach, then I totally beat her in our sand castle contest.” John couldn’t believe how amazing Kaitlin was. He was really starting to think that this was a lot more than just some summer fling. He wanted it to become something more than that.
“Well, you sound happy. Mason, how about you? Did you have a nice day bonding with your granny and grandpa?” Logan asked.
“Actually, I uh, I spent the day with someone else.” Mason said. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Wait, Mason has found a new girl and he hasn’t told us about her?” John was impressed.
“Wha- no! It wasn’t a new girl! It was, uh, it was Lauren.”
“Lauren? But I thought you two weren’t talking to each other. Remember, the whole ‘stuck up thing’?” Logan said.
“Yea well you guys miss a lot when you turn in early. We made up last night, but there’s a bit of a problem.”
“Oh god, dude what could be wrong between you guys now?” Logan said crossing his arms.
“Well, I’m going to University of Florida, and she’s Florida State. We’re supposed to be enemies!”
“But I thought she didn’t get in yet? Kaitlin said none of them have gotten their letters yet.” John crossed his arms and expressed a concerned look on his face.
‘Shit’ Mason thought to himself. Lauren told him not to tell anyone. “What? Oh yea I know that but I mean if she does get into Florida State, then we’ll have a problem.” Luckily, Mason was able to cover it up.
“You’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. Now let’s eat.” John said, heading inside. The boys all ate their dinners and went to sit in the living room. “Wait a minute. Since all of us are getting along with each other again, why don’t we take them on the boat?”
“Woah, dude. You mean, the boat?” Logan said. They had been coming down for years and they had always talked about meeting girls and bringing them on the boat, but it had never actually happened before.
“Yea man. I mean, we’ve always joked around about it and made a pact every year, but we’ve never actually brought anyone on it before. Logan’s right. That’s a serious step.” Mason said. They take the boat very seriously.
“I know it’s serious, but just think of how much fun it’ll be. All of us with our girls and relaxing on a boat…” John was trying to convince Logan and Mason to get on board.
“John does have a point Logan.” Mason said, “I’m in.”
“Yea, you know it would be fun. What could go wrong?” Logan said.
~ ~ ~
“Why do you think the boys had us meet them here at the pier this early?” Lauren asked. Last night, the girls had received a note under their door that said:
Pier. 8:00 am. Be there or be square.
At first, the girls didn’t know who it was from, but Lauren read it right away and knew it was from Mason. The girls were ready for the surprise, but they didn’t know what they were doing there. The girls all looked very nautical, making them look like the ultimate clique. Lauren was dressed in white shorts, a navy lace strapless tube top, and her Sperry’s, with a peach string bikini and black bottoms. Kaitlin was dressed in navy shorts, a white flowy top and her flip flops, complete with a turquoise fringe, strapless bikini. Tara completed the clique by wearing red shorts, a white crop top, and navy converse and underneath was a white string bikini with pink bottoms.
“Do you think they’re taking us on one of these boats?!” Tara asked excitedly.
“I think that’s a very strong possibility.” Kaitlin said, “I mean, we are on a pier after all.” The girls stood there, looking around like lost puppies. Suddenly, Kaitlin felt someone’s hands over her eyes.
Kaitlin squealed and the voice behind her said, “Guess who.”
Kaitlin removed the hands from her eyes and turned around to face John. “You know, I could’ve just fell in! I hate surprises!”
“If you fell in though, that would give me an excuse to be your lifesaver.” He winked and Kaitlin grabbed his hand.
“Aw! You guys are just too cute!” Lauren said, “John, I hate to be rude, but you’re not here by yourself are you?”
“Nope.” Mason said coming up behind Lauren and wrapping his hands around her waist, pulling her in closer to him.
“Well hello to you too Mason.” Lauren said, in a sarcastic tone. Mason just rolled his eyes and continued to hold Lauren close to his chest.
Logan walked onto the pier after Mason and immediately headed over to Tara. “Hi there.” He said leaning in and kissing her cheek.
“Hi Logan.” Tara said with a humungous smile on her face. There were simultaneous “oooo’s” from the other girls and boys, which made Tara and Logan blush.
“Ok so, you guys going to tell us what you brought us here for?” Lauren said, untangling herself from Mason’s arms.
“Alright, but first we have to tell you girls something important. This is serious.” Mason said.
“This is a very big and serious step.” Logan said.
“This is the first time we’ve done this before. It’s that big of a deal.” John said. Simultaneously, all the boys crossed their arms.
“Oh, for goodness sakes can you just tell us what we’re doing?” Tara said.
“We are taking you lovely ladies for a day on the high seas!” Mason said.
“I knew it!” Tara screamed excitedly. Logan laughed and the boys led the girls down the pier.
They walked all the way down to the end of the pier and the girls stopped suddenly. “This is your boat?” Lauren asked in awe.
“Um, yea. Grandpa takes pride in his boats…” Mason said looking at the ground.
“Holy crap this is amazing.” Kaitlin said. Docked in front of them was an elegant white sailboat that had big white sails, a mahogany wood inside, and an old fashioned captain’s steering wheel.
“Glad you guys like it,” John said taking Kaitlin’s hand, “C’mon mi lady and hop aboard.”
“Aye yay Captain!” Kaitlin exclaimed, saluting John, which made him chuckle. Kaitlin followed John onto the boat and Mason and Logan led Lauren and Tara onto the boat. The 3 girls sat on the ledge while the 3 boys raised the sails and undocked the boat from the pier. The girls were all thinking the same thing: ‘Damn they are so hot’.
Mason finished raising the sails and ran over to Lauren. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the steering wheel. “You ready?” he asked.
“Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. You’re trusting me to steer this boat?” Lauren asked nervously.
“Yes I am. But don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you to help guide you.” He smiled and placed his hands over Lauren’s on the steering wheel.
“So, do I get a captain’s hat or something?” she asked sarcastically. Mason just laughed and continued to help her steer.
On the other end of the boat sat Tara and Logan. “She gets a captain’s hat? No fair!” Tara laughed, and Logan suddenly got up and went to his bag.
“Here. You forgot this on our date yesterday. I thought you might want it back. It’s, uh, no captain’s hat, but I like it.” Logan placed the Superman snapback on Tara’s head.
Tara smiled at him, “That’s all that matters.” She said, leaning in for a kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch, Tara felt something wet on her arm. “Ew!” she screamed.
“Oh calm down! It’s just water!” Kaitlin said, pointing a mini water gun in the air and she continued to shoot Tara with it.
“Kaitlin stop! You’re going to make my hair get all frizzy!” The two girls just laughed as they ran around the boat.
Kaitlin was running away from Tara, but John grabbed her by the waist and spun her around to face him. “We don’t want you falling into the water now do we?”
“Well if I do then you can be my lifesaver.” She said, quoting what he had said to her before. John chuckled and held Kaitlin close to him. Kaitlin grabbed John’s hand and led him over to Lauren and Mason. “Alrighty captain, I’m here to relieve you of your duties.” Kaitlin said saluting.
“Arg, me hands were getting mighty tired mate.” Lauren and Kaitlin both started laughing and Lauren handed the captain’s hat. As Lauren and Mason walked away from the wheel, Lauren whispered to Mason, “We’re all in danger now.” He rolled his eyes and went and sat next to Logan and Tara, who were holding each other’s hands.
Mason sat down next to Logan and said, “So Tara, we heard that you totally schooled Logan in longboarding yesterday.”
Tara looked at Logan and said, “Well you heard right! He just couldn’t keep up with me!”
“That’s not true,” Logan said, “I was letting you go ahead.”
“Oh please.” Tara said smirking.
“Well aren’t you two adorable!” Lauren squealed, “Speaking of adorable, look at John and Kaitlin over there.” The 4 of them looked over in John and Kaitlin’s direction and saw that John had his arms around Kaitlin’s waist, while Kaitlin was trying to steer the boat.
“Seriously?” Mason said, “Ugh, girls are suckers for romance aren’t they.”
“C’mon! You can’t tell me that’s not adorable!” Lauren said.
“That’s not adorable. You are.” Mason said, pulling Lauren close to him.
The 4 continued to talk as John came over. “Alright guys, you ready to drop anchor for a little?”
Logan and Mason hopped up right away and the 3 boys started to lower the anchor.
“I feel like a pirate!” Kaitlin said rushing over to the other girls.
“I know right?! This is so much fun,” Lauren said, “Now, hand me the sunscreen. I need it.”
“Um, there aren’t any sharks in this water are there?” Tara said hesitantly.
“Tara. Seriously?” Kaitlin said.
“What? You know I don’t like open water!”
“Well, I do. CANNONBALL!” Kaitlin said as she jumped into the water.
“Kaitlin I’m coming!” Lauren said as she dove into the blue water.
“Woah! You went without us?” John said over the side of the boat.
“What are you going to do about it?” Kaitlin said smirking at John.
“I’ll show you!” John said as he flung himself over the side of the boat, creating a big splash in the ocean below. After John, Mason hopped overboard and swam up behind Lauren, causing her to scream.
Logan was about to jump in, but he saw that Tara was sitting on the ledge. He walked over to her and said, “Hey. Is everything ok?”
“Um, I just get a little nervous in open water…” Tara said looking at the ground.
Logan grabbed her hands and lifted her head, “I understand. And if you aren’t going in, then I’ll wait up here with you.”
“Logan, seriously, you don’t have to.”
“But I want to. I would rather be up her with you, then down in the water without you.”
Tara smiled and Logan leaned in and kissed her on lips. After the kiss, Tara said, “You know what, I want to try to go in.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have to do this.” Logan said.
“No, it’s fine. I want to! And as long as you’re here, I feel safe.”
Logan smiled and said, “I’m glad you feel that way Tara, because there’s something I have to tell you. You see, these past couple of days…”
“Yo! You getting in?” Mason yelled out.
“Um, yea. We’re coming!” Logan said and him and Tara both jumped in together.