They reached the raft and John grabbed her under the arms lifting her out of the water. Tommy pulled himself up onto the raft.
"Now, do you trust me, John?" he asked.
"For now." John said.
"I trust him." she said.
Thay all looked at her and laughed. She had this horrible feeling sweep over her. She couldn't believe that they laughed at her. She hadn't drowned. Tommy got her there safely. What more did they want?
"You just met him and you let him swim you out to a raft you couldn't swim to yourself." John said.
"Yeah." she said.
"What would you do if we left you out here by yourself?" John asked.
"You wouldn't do that, would you?" she asked.
"Maybe." John said.
"Why?" she asked.
"To prove to you that you're too trusting." John said.
"Man, that's mean." Tommy said.
"She's got to learn some time." John said. "Why not now?" John asked.
She stood there looking at them. She couldn't tell whether John was kidding or not. She didn't want to find out. She walked over to the other side of the raft and sat down.
Tommy started to get up and John grabbed his arm stopping him.
"Let her be." John said.
"Why do you have to be such an ass?" Tommy asked.
"Why do you have to keep finding a way to touch her?" John asked.
"Whatever John." Tommy said. "Is that what you think I've been doing?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do. I think you can't keep your hands off her. I believe you've got it in your head that she's going to be yours. You just met her and you've held her hand, put your arm around her and tried to kiss her. Think about it, Tommy." John said. "How do you think it looks?" he asked.
"I don't know but I've got a feeling you're going to tell me." Tommy said.
"It looks bad. I know you're lonely but that doesn't mean you grab the first girl you see especially when it's my baby sister. She doesn't know what she doing and you don't need to teach her anything new." John said.
"What do you mean by that?" Tommy asked.
"She's only 16. What you want from her, she's too young to give." John said.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah. That's what I think you're doing." John said.
"I thought you knew me better than that. That's not what I"m up to at all. I just thought it would be a good idea to have some fun for a change. You're always telling me I need to have some fun. I thought it would be ok to have some fun with Shelby." Tommy said.
"Well, it's not. Someone's going to get hurt and I don't want it to be her." John said.
"Why do you think I would hurt her?" Tommy asked.
"That's what you do, Tommy. That's all you do. You've hurt so many others that finally someone's hurt you." John said.
"Don't give me that fucking bullshit. You know that's not true." Tommy said.
"Yeah it is." John said.
"No it's not. You're just pissed at me because you can't even get a girl." Tommy said.
She sat on the other side of the raft by herself for a long time. She listened to what John and Tommy were saying to each other. All she wanted to do was have fun. That's all she was trying to do. For some unknown reason, John tried to turn it into some lesson she needed to learn.
"He didn't feel that way last night when I jumped on his back. No he didn't!" she thought. "It's ok for him to touch me and not anyone else."
"She's my sister." John yelled.
She turned her head. John was yelling at Tommy now. She had zoned out and missed part of the conversation. Sonald and Vince were looking down into the water not saying a word.
"Wonder what Tommy said to piss him off?" she thought.
"So what. She just wanted to have some fun." Tommy said.
"I don't mind her having fun. She can have all the fun she wants just not with you alone." John said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tommy asked. "I'm not allowed to have fun?"
"I don't care if you have any fun or not. Just make sure you don't have too much fun with Shelby." John said.
"So you just want me to leave her totally alone. Is that it?" Tommy asked.
"Yes." John said.
"Why won't you trust me?" Tommy asked.
"She's my sister and you're not going to do anything to hurt her." John said.
"He cares about me. He's just trying to protect me." she thought.
"I didn't mean to be a problem." she said.
They shut up and turned to look at her. She was facing the other way looking across the lake. She felt like crying.
"I shouldn't have come. I didn't mean to cause yoou two trouble." she said.
"You're not a problem." John said.
"You're fighting because of me. If I wasn't here, you two wouldn't be fighting at all." she said.
"He'd find something to fight with me about." Tommy said. "It's not your fault. He's beenon my case since my breakup."
They sat there on opposite sides of the raft. Donald and Vince were still looking into the water. They had nothing to say at all. No one said anything for quite a while.
"Maybe we should head for th shore." John said.
"You going to let me get Shelby back to shore?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah. I'n sorry for yelling at you." John said.
"It's ok." Tommy said.
Donald and Vince slid off the raft into the water. They started swimming toward the shore. John walked to the other side of the raft and touched her on the shoulder. She looked up frowning.
"I'm sorry ok." John said.
"Why did you let me come if you knew that it would cause trouble?" she asked.
"I wanted to show you a good time. I knew you'd be bored at the house." John said.
"Yeah. Gracey doesn't have much to do with me." she said. "I was having fun though. Just so you know, Tommy didn't try anything."
"He won't believe you." Tommy said. "That's just the type of guy I am he thinks. I try something on every girl I meet."
"You get too friendly too quickly." John said.
"So what, am I not allowed to move on. I'm just supposed to be alone forever." Tommy said.
"No, just don't get with my sister." John laughed the dove into the water. When he reappeared at the surface, he said, "I mean it. Not with my sister."
"I think he means it." she said.
"You think." Tommy said.
She smiled at him and he smiled back at her. He got up, walked over to her and held out his hand. She took his hand and walked over to the ladder.
"Use the ladder and we'll get this done and over with." he said.
"You sound like this is a chore or something." she said.
"I just don't want John on my case again." he said.
"Sounds like he does it all the time." she said.
"He does." he said. "Seems like I can't do anything right."
"You did something right today." she said.
"What was that?" Tommy asked.
"I did have fun." she said.
"Come on. Let's get to shore. They're waiting." Tommy said.
She climbed down the ladder and Tommy dove into the water. She waited for him to come to the ladder to get her. She let go when he wrapped his arm around her waist. She closed her eyes and relaxed. He swam them to the shore. She stood up and took his hand. He helped her out of the water and onto land.
John, Donald, and Vince had put their socks and shoes on already and were waiting at the car. She sat down next to Tommy and put her socks and shoes on. Tommy did the same. He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. She took it. They started back to the car.
"Thank you." she said.
"For what?" Tommy asked.
"A great time. Fight and all." she said.
"You're welcome." Tommy said.
He reached and took her hand as they walked to the car. She didn't mind. By the look on John's face, he did.
"I think he's mad again." she said.
"Oh well." Tommy said.
They got to the car and got in. John stared at her in the mirror. She didn't care. Tommy was not that bad of a guy. At least, he didn't seem to be to her. John started the car and they drove back to the house.