The Senior Trip

Chapter 18

ASHER

Of course, I bought the hat. I also bought a cheap pair of sunglasses, a bottle of booze with a worm at the bottom, and a poncho. I didn't need any of it, but it's fun to shop when you're shopping with Harper. I love her laugh. She has something witty or sarcastic to say about each item I held up. Shopping with Jess had always been tedious, but with Harper, it's amusing.

"I'm melting," she says as she swipes her forehead beneath the movie-star like sun hat she bought.

"It's hot," I reply.

We take the last few steps on the busy street, and I reach for the hotel's large door. We look like tourists, but that's fine with us. In fact, I think we played that up a bit for the fun of it. Tonight we have to attend a lecture about the trip and all the rules, but we have a little time to take a dip in the pool before we have to be to the conference room.

"Let's drop this stuff off and then get to the pool," I say, pressing the old button for the elevator. We step inside when it opens and turn around. Jess and her friends are on their way back into the lobby. My eyes meet hers, and it makes my stomach drop. The joy of the last few hours instantly seems to seep out of my body through my feet.

"Oopsy," Harper says as her finger quickly, but not innocently presses the button to close the door.

My gaze leaps back to Jess as the doors begin to close. She's watching us, her heels off and hanging from her finger. Harper was right. I can't help but smile as my view grows smaller and smaller between the closing doors.

"Told you," Harper says with a small shrug.

"You did," I confirm with a chuckle.

We drop our bags off in the room but leave our ridiculous new hats and sunglasses on. Harper tucks her real pair of sunglasses into a bag on her bed and leaves the funny ones we just purchased on. She tucks her phone into her pocket. I also decide to bring my phone down to the pool and slip it into the back pocket of my swim shorts.

The pool is packed when we finally make it down there. Kids are playing loud music from portable speakers, and many must have been enjoying the legal drinking age while Harper and I had shopped. I feel bad for the captain of the soccer team who is apparently passed out on a lounge chair, working on a seriously bad sunburn. It's unsupervised chaos.

"My parents would freak out," Harper whispers as we grab pool towels.

"They had to know it was going to be like this," I tell her.

She shakes her head. "They knew there would be some partying, but not that I'd be around it. Ezra and I convinced them we'd be out sight-seeing. If they saw this, they'd make me come home."

"My dad is vacationing somewhere in Africa, and I haven't talked to my mom in a year," I tell her the truth. I know a lot of people heard the story of my parents' divorce, so the sting of saying it out loud faded a while ago.

"Sounds like you have a lot of freedom," she says.

"Too much," I answer honestly.

She shimmies out of her shorts.

"Can I put my phone in those?" I ask, not sure where else to keep it.

"Sure," she says as she takes my phone and slips it into her other pocket before folding her shorts and setting them with our towels.

I don't miss the way she captures the attention of the other boys in the pool. Her beauty is unassuming, and that's refreshing. She isn't flaunting or trying to draw attention to herself, she's just comfortable in her own skin, and it shows.

"I'm sorry your canon ball won't be as impressive as mine," she says nonchalantly before turning and running toward the edge of the pool. It takes a second for me to process what she said, but I'm not about to be outdone.

With one hand on her hat and the other around her legs, she throws herself into the open space at the deep end of the pool. The splash was phenomenal, getting the first row of drunk and sleepy teens wet.

"Watch and learn!" I shout as I too, hold my hat and throw all my weight onto the surface of the chlorinated water.

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