tongue tied - jake kiszka

19.

I sat in the grass next to Posy, who was sprawled out on her back smoking a joint. We were under the shade of the same tree, looking out at the water. Posy had insisted that I put sunscreen on even though I had no plans of moving from under the tree.

"The sun will still find ways to get to you." She had warned me, already pretty stoned. I had let out a girlish giggle as she applied the sunscreen to my face, patting it into my skin for me. I may or may not have been high as well.

The boys were in the water, Dawn splashing in behind them. She stayed close to Jake's side the entire time and I couldn't help but notice how nice she looked from farther away. How if I didn't know her, I'd think she was a pretty pleasant person.

She wasn't a great roommate, but she wasn't a bad one either. She was growing on me even though she drove me absolutely crazy sometimes.

I watched as she climbed onto Jake's back, him spinning her around in circles once she was situated. "I want to like her." Posy spoke up suddenly, propping the top half of her body up with her elbows.

I peered over at her only to find her looking out at them in the water. "It takes time." I commented, following her gaze. Posy inhaled from her joint before offering it over to me. I took it from in between her fingers, bringing it up to my lips.

"How do you do it?"

I still didn't like smoking weed all that much, but Posy said it might help with my cramps so I hit the joint, drawing the smoke into my lungs. I held it for a moment before exhaling as I spoke, "We can both be pretty awful sometimes. So we just get along, you know?"

Posy pulled herself up into sitting position, crossing her legs as she did. "I don't think you're awful. I like you and I also know for a fact that there is one boy out there right now," She motioned out towards the lake, "That won't shut up about you."

Oh God.

I pulled my sunglasses back down over my eyes, adjusting the chunky frames so they'd hide my flushed cheekbones. "I know you're not gonna listen to me, but you could at least pass that back." Posy grinned, shoving into me lightly with her shoulder.

I held up my hands in surrender and she took that as her opportunity to snatch the joint from in between my fingers. I snorted loudly, which seemed to heavily amuse her as she broke out into laughter.

It felt nice, despite me being a little uncomfortable from the sporadic cramps. I laid down on my back, Posy joining me only seconds later. We laid like that for a while, staring up into the leaf covered branches.

"How did you know you liked Josh?" I asked suddenly. I didn't want to pry, I was just curious. Posy was quiet for a while before finally answering, "He started to confuse me. He never confused me before. He'd always been my bestfriend's twin brother, just Josh."

   "And then one day he just wasn't anymore. I mean yeah, he was still Josh but he wasn't just Josh. It was confusing. And that's when I began to realize something."

"You can't be confused about someone unless they're more than just someone, you know? Shit, I'm too high to explain it good." I smiled at her, but I felt funny. High or not, her words made sense. Too much sense.

I heard footsteps crunching through the grass and I lifted my head up to see who it was. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was just Sam. He squatted down beside us, water droplets landing on my shades. I lifted them up and he grinned down at me.

   "Yes Sam?"

   "Look, I need to hit that real quick." He said, cutting straight to the point as he motioned towards the joint. "Also Po, Josh is requesting you in the water."

   "Good Lord, just finish it okay." Posy sighed, handing it off to him. She turned towards me, "Apparently my presence is being requested. I'll be back." She kissed her hand and slapped it against my forehead before disappearing off into the water.

   Sam took her place next to me, chuckling as she left. "The little kiss slap thing she does, it's kind of endearing. Don't you think?" I laughed lightly, "Yeah, she's great."

   He inhaled from the last bit of the joint before sticking it into Posy's empty soda can. "Let her know I put that in there in case it wasn't empty."

   "It's empty, don't worry."

   Sam grinned again, tucking his shaggy hair behind his ears. It made me think of Jake's hair which he still had pulled back in that bun, much to my surprise.

   We talked back and forth for a while, him telling me about band life and me telling him about college. He was a funny kid and he seemed pretty smart too.

   I caught sight of Jake staring over in our direction, but he was just a little too far for me to make out his expression. "He'll probably come over here in a second." Sam commented, taking notice of Jake around the same time as I did.

   "Why do you say that?"

   "I know my brother. Just wait."

   Sure enough Jake began wading back towards the water's edge, leaving Dawn in the water with Danny and them. She looked back at him as if deciding whether she should follow or not.

   Jake came over to us, water dripping off his body. A few strands of hair had come out of his bun, framing his wet face. "Mind if I join?"

   Sam patted the ground on the other side of him, but Jake plopped down right between us, shimmying his shoulders to make room. Water droplets landed all over me as he did and I sighed loudly.

   "You're insufferable." I told him to which he responded with a wide mouthed smile. "That's my cue." Sam said, standing up quickly, "Char, it's been a pleasure."

   "Come back anytime." I looked up at him, "Please."

   He laughed, patting my head fondly before heading back for the water. I waited for Jake to scoot over a little since Sam left, but he stayed close to my side.

   Best behavior.

   Best behavior.

   Best behavior.