13. Andrea

CHAPTER 13

Andrea

I can still remember sitting in awkward silence for hours while my parents traded death glares with each other in the years before their divorce, but I don't think I've ever sensed as much friction in a room as I do watching Naomi and Priya avoid each other's eyes tonight.

You'd need way more than a knife to cut through the tension hanging in the air. Whatever is going on between them feels like it might need more of a sledgehammer situation to smash it apart. The two of them barely spoke at all over dinner, leaving Shal and I to carry the conversation as we all ate way too much of the food their mom sent over with them.

At least, I ate way too much. It wouldn't surprise me if this best friend feud kept Priya and Naomi from eating more than a few bites.

"Should we watch a movie or something?" I ask from where I'm sitting cross-legged in an armchair in the living room.

Priya and Naomi are sharing a couch, but they're both huddled up against the arms at either end.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Naomi says, darting a glance at Priya when she grunts in agreement before dropping her gaze back to the floor.

I hung back in the kitchen after our meal to ask Shal if she knows what the hell is up with them, but she said my guess is as good as hers before disappearing to the basement to call some guy who seems to be her half-hearted attempt at a summer fling.

I get up and hunt around for the remote and then turn on the huge flat screen hanging above the fireplace. I scroll through the top picks on a few different streaming services—my dad and Sandy seem to be subscribed to all of them—but I just get a few nods and vague mumbles in response to the titles I read out.

"Speak now, or I will seriously press play on the fourth Shrek movie, which seems to be trending for some godforsaken reason."

I slash the remote through the air to indicate how serious I am, but Naomi just lets out a soft, distracted chuckle while Priya shrugs and says, "I won't stop you."

I fight to keep from rolling my eyes as I hover my finger over the play button.

Naomi is sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on her kneecaps, her dark blonde hair falling forward to shield the sides of her face. Her lips are pressed tight together, and two little creases have formed between her eyebrows.

"All right. You two asked for it."

I hit the button, and the very unnecessary fourth addition to the Shrek saga starts to play on the screen.

We get through enough of the movie that I wonder if Shal has ditched us to go have phone sex. I've even become invested enough in the story that I don't notice she's back until she's standing next to my chair and demanding to know why we're watching Shrek.

"Actually," I say, craning my neck over my shoulder to look at her, "it's Shrek Four, AKA Shrek Forever After. You have to give them credit for the title. They really outdid themselves with that one."

She grimaces. "I repeat: why are you watching this?"

I sweep my arm out towards the couch. "Because these two zombies just sat there after I threatened to make us all watch it if they didn't stop me."

"Huh." Shal puts her hands on her hips and takes a couple steps closer to the couch. "Are you two ready to stop being weird and tell us what the hell is going on?"

They both shift around on the couch like little kids being interrogated by their mom.

"Nothing is going on," Priya says with a shrug. "Maybe you're the one being weird. Why were you on the phone for so long?"

Shal scoffs. "Ha. Nice try, sister. I'm not letting you avoid my question."

Priya groans and drops her head against the back of the couch. "I answered your question. There's nothing going on. I don't have to be in a chatty mood all the time, which is maybe not something you would understand, sister ."

I try to catch Naomi's eye to share an amused look about the twin fight that is clearly about to go down, but she's still staring at the carpet.

"Well, excuuuuse me." Shal holds her hands up in mock surrender and makes a show out of backing away from the couch. "Whatever you say, I guess. If things are so totally normal between you and Naomi, I guess you won't have a problem with my brilliant idea to knock another item off the list tonight."

She tosses her hair over her shoulder before looking at me for back-up.

"Right, Andrea?"

I have no idea what she's talking about, but I still nod. Shal is the kind of girl you just go along with.

"Right. Exactly."

She nods. "Good. Now turn off Shrek, and let's all get naked."

I don't know how Shal does it, but twenty minutes later, she's got us all standing at the edge of the pool wrapped in towels with nothing underneath, ready to complete bucket list item number one: skinny dipping.

I shiver as I watch the water lap at the blue tiles glinting in the glow of the underwater lights. My nose is filled with the scent of chlorine and a hint of rain in the air. They're calling for a storm tonight.

The gathering clouds have taken care of most of the remaining daylight. The property has been designed for maximum privacy, but I'm sure we're all glad for the darkness as we stand clutching our towels around our chests. I don't know if it's the threat of lightning in the air or the look at Naomi's bare shoulders I got while we filed out of the house, but the hair on my arms is standing on end and my heart is beating so fast I'm scared she'll be able to hear it where she's standing less a foot away on my right.

"Are we doing a countdown or something?" Priya asks from Naomi's other side.

The two of them still haven't said much to each other, but the fact that we're all naked in the backyard seems to have eased some of the tension between them.

Being naked next to Naomi has the opposite effect on me. My ears strain to catch the sound of her breath as she shivers next to me. My arms are coated in goose bumps. Being this close to her feels like getting zapped by a hundred tiny static shocks shooting off her skin.

I shift my towel a little higher up my chest and suck in a breath, ordering myself to pull it together.

I'm not supposed to be into this girl. I'm supposed to be spending a few weeks at this house to clear my head before getting serious about my new life in Toronto. I already gave myself a year to find some other plan, and I came up with nothing but a few fleeting glimpses of an alternate future that always slipped away so fast I'm starting to think they were never real at all.

My stomach twists at the thought, hard enough to make me wince and ball my hands into fists around the edge of my towel. I see Naomi turn to give me a look out of the corner of my eye, but I step forward instead of looking at her and curl my toes around the edge of the pool.

"On three?" I ask.

I'm about to start counting when I realize I can't jump in the pool with a fresh piercing the aftercare sheet emphasized it would not be safe to swim with for at least a couple weeks.

"Wait," I say as the other girls shift up to join me. "We totally forgot about our piercings."

"Oh my god, you're right," Priya says, reaching up to cup her ear. "How did I not even think of that?"

She starts to back away from the pool, but Shal latches onto her arm to hold her in place.

"We'll just keep our heads above the water," she says. "It'll be fine. The piercings won't even touch the pool."

I gesture down at my chest. "That's going to be a little more difficult with this situation."

"You could just stay in the shallow—"

Shal cuts herself off as we all turn to stare at Naomi, who's darted over to the pool shed. She disappears inside for a couple seconds before returning with a bright pink inner tube slung over one of her arms.

"You can swim with this on," she says, panting a little by the time she gets back to us.

She grins at me and holds the tube out. A fresh patch of goose bumps flares on my skin when my fingers brush hers before she lets go of the plastic.

"Get your boob protector on, and then lets get in," Shal barks, hopping from foot to foot to stay warm.

I turn my back to the pool and shimmy my towel down to my waist before sliding the inner tube over my head and arms to settle around my chest. My piercing twinges a little during the process but stops protesting once my boobs are resting against the curve of the tube.

Thankfully, the tube is on the tighter side and sitting so high up my chest my boobs are pretty much hidden from view, with just my head peeking out like some weird new breed of hermit crab.

I turn around, and everyone bursts out laughing.

"It's called fashion ," I say, jutting my chin up as I march back to the edge of the pool. "Are we getting in or what?"

I count down from three. When I get to one, we fling our towels aside. A surge of adrenaline floods my body as the cold air hits my bare skin.

I squeeze my eyes shut and shout, "Go!"

We all scream as we leap into the water. My tube hits the surface with a splat that sends rippling waves surging out away from me. The pool is heated, and my skin sings with relief as the water warms me.

Priya is shrieking about her piercing while Shal laughs and splashes her. Naomi giggles while she treads water and watches them from a few feet away.

The water is too choppy for her body to be anything but a shimmering outline beneath the waves, but my heart still thuds at the flashes of bare skin I see reflecting in the underwater lights.

I force myself to look away and pretend I'm focused on Shal and Priya's battle as I do an awkward doggy paddle towards her. The sound of the tube squeaking makes her turn and laugh at me instead.

"I know, I know," I say. "I look ridiculous."

"I think the pink suits you," she says with a chuckle.

I let myself float in place once I'm a couple feet away from her. "Well, thank you for selecting it."

We stare at each other for a few seconds, Shal and Priya's shouts filling the silence between us. Water has beaded into glimmering droplets on Naomi's hair, like she's a mermaid all decked out in shiny pearls.

I haven't been this close to her since that day at the bookstore. We've barely talked since then. She's been working more hours than usual at her data entry job, so I've been keeping busy with my guitar and some reading.

"Hey, you two! We're playing catch."

I jerk my head around just in time to see a beach ball flying towards my face. I raise my hand on instinct and slap it away, sending the ball arcing over to Priya.

For the next ten minutes, all my thoughts get pushed aside as the four of us toss the ball around, laughing and making fun of each other the whole time. The tube restricts my movement enough that I'm the worst player by far, and my arms have gone limp from the strain of reaching for the ball by the time someone knocks it so far out of the pool we decide we're done.

The storm clouds have gotten even thicker, turning the edges of the backyard beyond the reach of the house lights pitch black. Priya announces she wants to go in the hot tub before it rains, and the rest of us follow after her.

I stare down at the water dripping off my legs to keep from watching Naomi as she lowers herself into the hot tub ahead of me. Shal laughs as I climb in next with the inner tube still slung around my chest.

"I think you could probably take it off now," she tells me.

All three of them are submerged up to their necks, the bubbling jets concealing their chests.

"I don't want to be the only one sitting around with my tits out."

Shal and Priya both snort, but Naomi keeps her head down as she searches for the best spot against the jets.

Once we're all settled, we end up lapsing into a conversation about our road trip plans for tomorrow. I've never been to the water park we're visiting, but the rest of them know it well enough to strategize about what rides we should prioritize waiting in line for and which of them will pose the most risk for our piercings.

I take the opportunity to tip my head back and close my eyes while the jets massage my back muscles. I have to hand it to my dad and Sandy; whatever they paid for this hulking, state of the art hot tub was probably worth it.

I flinch as a cold drop of water lands right in the middle of my forehead, followed by another on my cheek.

"Is it raining?" Priya asks.

I lift my head and look around the yard to see splatters of rain are now dotting the concrete and pinging against the surface of the pool. In a matter of seconds, the rain starts falling fast and hard enough I can feel my hair getting soaked.

"Guess that's our cue to go inside," Priya says.

She and Shal start scrambling out of the hot tub and then dart over to wrap themselves in their towels. I stay where I am even after Priya comes over to hand some now very damp towels to me and Naomi.

"I think I'm gonna stay out for a bit," I say. "The rain is kind of nice."

With the rest of my body nearly boiling in the hot tub, the cool water on my face is a refreshing relief.

"Me too," Naomi says, her voice so soft I almost don't catch it over the rumble of the jets. "I want to warm up a little more."

Priya shrugs and stashes our towels under one of the pool chairs. "See you inside, then."

A little of the frostiness has come back to her tone. I nod towards the house once she and Shal have disappeared inside and ask, "So do I get to know what's going on there?"

Talking about Priya seems a lot safer than sitting in silence until I can't help asking why she stayed out here alone with me.

She looks past me to stare across the yard as she shrugs. "Just…some stuff about school."

I shift a few inches closer so I can hear her better.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shrugs again. "I thought we had a rule to not talk about what happens in the fall."

I see the corner of her mouth lift into the hint of a teasing smile, and I chuckle.

"Yeah, well, it would be far from the first rule I've ever broken."

She laughs. "I don't have any trouble believing that."

I know she's just trying to tease me, but the words hit me like a punch to the chest. I wonder if that's all she sees me as: some crazy rule-breaker who just rolls through life wasting her time and dragging her belongings around in garbage bags.

I haven't given her a reason to see me as anything else. I haven't given anyone a reason to see me as more than that.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She leans a little closer to me, her head tilted to the side and her face pinched with concern.

"Oh, uh, I think the jet just hit a knot in my back. It's all good now."

She leans back and nods. "Yeah, they're pretty strong, aren't they? I'd turn them down, but there are like five thousand buttons, and I don't really want to run into the house to look for the instructions your dad gave me."

I force a laugh. "It's fine. I'll live."

We stay quiet for a few moments. I start to think I'm not getting any more information about Priya, but then Naomi sighs and starts talking again.

"Maybe if I broke some more rules, things would be better with Priya. I think maybe…I think maybe she's tired of me, like I'm just…too much, you know? I mean, it takes so much work for me to figure out what the rules in life even are, so once I get something right, I don't want to mess with it."

Her eyes have gone unfocused, like she's in one of those states where she doesn't realize how much she's saying. I can tell she's kept this so bottled up it's ready to burst out of her whether she wants to share it or not, so I stay quiet and focus on just being here for her.

"Like making a friend, for example. I had no idea how to do that, even as a little kid, and it seemed to just happen for everyone else. Then with Priya, it just…worked, somehow, so I was like, ‘Cool, I did it. It's done. I don't need to worry about doing it again.' I always thought it was the same for her, but…it's not. Turns out I did get it wrong, and I've been, like, suffocating her with the burden of our friendship for basically our entire lives."

She clamps her jaw shut so tight I can practically hear her teeth grinding. Her eyes stay hazy for a few seconds before she blinks and seems to realize I'm still here. She cringes, but I shift as close as the inner tube will allow. I raise my voice so every word rings out loud and clear over the gurgle of the water.

"Nobody who is lucky enough to be your friend would ever call that a burden, Naomi."

Her bottom lip drops open with shock, but she doesn't look away.

"You are not too much, and whatever is going on with you and Priya is going to get sorted out. I can see how much she cares about you. You have something really special with her. Trust me, as someone who's pretty much only had friendships of convenience my whole life, I know the real deal when I see it. You have that with her."

By the time I'm done, Naomi's eyes have gone so wide they're almost perfect circles. Her bottom lip starts to shake, and I wonder if I got way too intense on her.

Then she lets out a squawk of laughter before clamping her hand over her mouth.

"Sorry," she says from behind her fingers. "Thank you. That was so nice. Really. It's just, you look so funny being all serious like that in a pink inner tube."

She laughs again, and this time I join in as I consider just how weird I look wearing an inflatable tube around my boobs in a hot tub.

"Seriously," she says once we've calmed down. "Thank you. That means a lot. I'm sorry I dumped all that on you."

I hold a finger up. "Hey. No apologies. What are evening skinny dips in the hot tub for, if not dramatic life chats?"

I haven't even finished my question before the air seems to crackle with the threat of lightning—not from the sky, but from the electric zing of the reminder that we're currently naked, alone, and just a couple feet away from each other.

I wait for her to look away. I wait for myself to say something that will cut the tension, but all we do is stare. I watch a raindrop slide down her cheek, and I notice how much darker her hair looks when it's wet. There's a lock of it plastered to the side of her neck. I want to sweep it back into place. I want to feel the soft skin of her throat under my fingertips.

I want to know if she's ever thought about kissing me.

I want to know if she's thinking about kissing me now.

"Naomi…"

Her name tastes like rain, fresh and sweet but laced with the potential to surge and swell into something destructive.

I don't know if I moved closer or if she did, but she's near enough that I could count every one of her eyelashes if I wanted to.

"Naomi," I say again, like the word is a spell I'm casting on us both.

She's so close. I'm braced for her bare legs to bump against mine any second now. I lift my arm to smooth her hair off her neck.

The shift in my weight makes the inner tube let out a squelching noise that sounds just like a loud and drawn-out fart.

We both freeze, and then Naomi pushes away from me so hard her back slams against the wall of the hot tub.

My heart is racing so fast I'm sure it must be a health hazard, but I still force a chuckle and say, "Hey, it was the tube, not me."

I expect her to laugh, or at least smile, but she has this horrified expression on her face that makes my skin crawl.

"Naomi? I—"

"I'm sorry," she blurts. "I…I'm so sorry."

She turns away from me and wades over to the far side of the hot tub. She hovers under the water with her hands gripping the edge for a moment before she clears her throat.

"I'm, um, getting out now."

I realize she doesn't want me looking at her.

My eyes sting, but I turn my back to her and stammer, "Right. Uh, yeah. Not looking."

I squeeze my eyes shut. My throat burns as I listen to the slap of her wet feet on the concrete as she heads for her towel.

"Naomi," I say, spinning around to face her once she's got her towel on.

She's already halfway to the kitchen door. I watch her yank it open. I can't tell if she didn't hear me or if she's ignoring me, but either way, she slips inside without looking back.