Less Than Three

Chapter 19: Soothing My Savage Beast

5:40 PM There is only one way to get out of fishing. It involves divulging things that are better off not divulged. I shall resign myself to the inevitable while vowing to keep an eye out for the bright side.

BTW, when my dad found out Madison and I were going fishing, he went all misty on me and offered the following advice:

a. Long pants (I am not wasting a leg shaving, sorry.)

b. Long sleeves (It's 94 degrees outside; is he kidding?)

c. Bug spray (Stinky.)

d. Cheese Bait (Also stinky.)

I remembered the vile cheese bait stuff from weekends at the lake. I told Madison 'NO! NO!' but she said, "If there must be bait, it will be vegetarian bait." So we toted the little jar of nastiness with us and left all the really useful stuff behind.

I was getting out of Dad's car and cracking a joke about hooking the big one when Brady shushed me for the first time that evening. He turned to me and crouched his knees a bit. He pushed his hands up and down in the air and his body kind of bounced along. I was still trying to figure out what this sort of greeting meant when he rolled his eyes and let out a long, "SHHHHHHHHH!" I'd never heard a person be so loud when trying to make someone else be quiet.

He did it in front of Madison, Craig, Kiersten, Dave, and especially J-a-a-y-cob. That made me feel sangry, sort of sad and angry at the same time.

I decided to be cool for my friends' sakes, so I shushed on the outside, but on the inside I was screaming. I mean, lately Brady seems like he's always trying to make me quieter, still-er, more normal. It's like he wants to fit me into some kind of better girlfriend box. Who wouldn't want to yell? 

But I didn't. I shushed.

We baited our hooks and stood by the creek's bank. That was fun for about five minutes. Then the mosquitoes started biting. I figured I was less likely to be eaten alive if I was a moving target. I laid down my pole, pulled out my phone, and started taking pictures.

Craig, Dave and Kiersten mugged for the camera. Brady (and even Jacob) looked handsome and manly with their pants tucked into their boots and their caps turned backward. The sun gave everything a beautiful orange-golden glow that made the world seem especially hopeful. There was one shot that reminded me how different things can look through a camera lens, how it can bring more than a picture into focus:

Madison had stuck her finger with a hook. She let loose a swear word and Jacob rushed over. He took her finger and squeezed out a drop of blood. He was explaining the importance of washing the wound when I snapped the photo.

Don't get me wrong, I still hate Jacob. But for a moment, I could see why Madison doesn't.

It didn't last long. "Are we fishing or what?" he said.

Jacob and Brady baited their hooks again. Kiersten followed their lead. The rest of us opted for 'or what'.

I practiced a few back handsprings while Madison tried to teach Dave and Craig to do cartwheels. We laughed some more and Brady shushed us (all of us) again. And again. Okay. We could do quiet.

We chased fireflies and Dave and Craig painted their faces with the phosphorescent guts. We played freeze tag. We were in the middle of a complicated game/dance of Crack the Whip when Jacob hissed, "Fish can sense movement too." I swear he made that up.

About that time I noticed the sky had changed from gold to periwinkle and was working its way to a deep, velvet blue. Madison and Dave had already missed the magic star-popping time but I hoped the Secret Plan could still be salvaged. I pulled on Dave's sleeve and pointed to the sky. He gave me the 'huh?' motion so I pointed at Madison, and I pointed at him, and then up to the sky. He still looked confused. I pointed at each of them one more time, then wrapped my arms around myself and gave myself a little hug.