Dedicated to the above because she's been commenting recently and all her comments are so super-de-duper nice and make me grin like an idiot (: thank you!
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Twelve
“It’s not that cold, Bam.”
I shake my head and keep my arms folded across my chest. The gesture must seem childish to Hadley, but I’m not trying to be defiant, I just do not want to get into the water.
“I’m good.”
“Bam,” Hadley sighs. “Just come in. At least up to your knees.” Just when I open my mouth, she cuts me off. “And don’t you dare say you’re good again, because you’re not.”
I narrow my eyes and try to hide my smile. “And how do you know?” I ask.
Hadley tries to splash me from the shallow end of the beach and I take a step back, hugging my sweater tighter to my chest.
“Because you’ve been in Mermaid for almost a month and yet you still haven’t been swimming!”
I smile and walk towards where the waves are lapping at the sand. Avoiding Hadley’s eyes, I raise my bare foot and touch it gently into the cool water. When I retract it, Hadley rolls her eyes.
“There,” I say.
Hadley frowns. “That doesn’t count.”
Eventually I end up wading into the refreshing water until it’s up to my knees. I keep my shorts and long-sleeved cover up that has more holes in it than cheese on, not daring to even tease my friend with going further into the water.
“How’s your mom’s painting coming along?” I ask, trying to change the subject. “She seemed really excited to get started.”
Hadley nods and turns away, watching her feet as she kicks at the sand on the bottom. “She was, but she hasn’t really done anything more. She’s stick for ideas.”
“Oh,” I mumble.
She looks up at me, pink and blue strands falling close to her eyes. “So what happened to you the other day? You seemed upset and just kind of left…”
I avoid her eyes and finger the fabric on my hole-y sweater. “I just saw somebody I thought I recognized.”
“And you didn’t?”
YOU ARE READING
As I Am
Teen Fiction"Do you want to talk? You know, about everything?" Evan asks. He's staring up at the star-covered sky as he holds our brown bag of French fries. I finish my sip of my vanilla milkshake despite not wanting to stop and follow his gaze. The stars twin...
