You Can't Do It Alone

The Decision

    (Y/N) was finally getting used to being on the island and away from the family she grew up around. She didn’t go many places; sometimes, she would go to work or into the park with Owen, but she was too nervous about going anywhere by herself; she was perfectly content staying at home. She was sitting at the end of the little dock reading, but she wasn’t really paying attention to what she was reading; there was so much other stuff to distract her.
    “(Y/N)! Time for supper,” Owen called from the deck.
    “There is no way you actually cooked,” (Y/N) said jokingly as she got up.
    “Mm, no. I could if I wanted to. I got pizza,” Owen replied.
    After supper, they were sitting outside, not doing much, but it was too nice to be inside.
    “I got a call from Claire today. She was wondering if you’d be interested in some sort of new camp-type thing. They’re calling it Camp Cretaceous, and they wanted a kid from the island to be there; there’s only going to be six other kids there,” Owen explained.
    “Do I have to?” (Y/N) asked, her shy side showing a bit more than usual.
    “I think you should, but I won’t force you if you don’t want to,” Owen answered.
    She said nothing, just sat there looking out past the lake and to who-knows-what, it was hard to tell what she was thinking.
    “At least think about it. Who knows, it might be fun,” Owen said after a few moments of silence.
    Again, she sat still, staring, saying nothing.
    “Alright,” Owen said, getting up off the ground.
    He stood in front of her, clapped his hands, and held them out to her, “Come on.”
    “What?” (Y/N) whined.
    “You gotta lighten up; you’re being too serious again. Now come on,” Owen repeated.
    She let out a sigh before putting a hand up to him. He took it and pulled her up with relative ease and led her to the end of the dock.
    “Okay, I stand here just about every day. How is this supposed to help?” (Y/N) questioned.
    “Oh, so naive,” Owen said, putting an arm around her shoulders, that stupid, mischievous grin slowly making its way across his face.
    “Now I’m just scared,” (Y/N) said.
    “Don’t be. You know how to swim,” Owen said before pushing her into the lake.
    “Hey! That wasn’t very nice,” (Y/N) said, half scolding, half-joking, completely soaked from head to toe, the bottom of the lake just a foot below her feet.
    Owen just laughed at her.
    “Alright, you’ve made your point, now help me out,” (Y/N) said, holding her hand up to him.
    Without really thinking, he grabbed her hand and ended up in the lake himself.
    “Now, who’s not being very nice?” Owen joked.
    “You started it,” (Y/N) joked back.
    They joked back and forth for a while before going back inside just before it got dark.
    “So, when do I have to decide about that Camp Cretaceous thing?” (Y/N) asked after they changed into dry clothes.
    “Tomorrow night,” Owen replied.
    “I’ll think about it,” (Y/N) said, but in her head, she had already made up her mind.