Chapter Fourteen: Skinny Dipping

I stretched my limps out, enjoying the sun. It was arm outside. Somewhere in the seventies. I wasn't one to complain. I was enjoying the sun quite a bit. My best friends and I decided to spend the day at Kira's place. She had a pool in her backyard, so we'd have a nice day out in the sun. Kira was in the pool, teasing Indie about Bradley. They had a full on make out session in front of Kira and she hasn't let go of it yet. Indie was just glaring at her.

I was laying out on a lounge chair. I was in a two-piece swimsuit. It consisted of a white top and a red high-waisted bottom. I added a white floppy hat and sunglasses for the effect. Even though it was November, I wanted to convince myself it was the middle of the summer. While Indie and Kira bickered, I relaxed, letting myself get lost in my thoughts. The last two Saturdays I've had, I wasn't able to sit back and analyze the world around me. Now that I could, I realized just how much I missed out on.

There was my break up. I always thought they were supposed to be harder than that. You always see girls in movies crying for weeks before even leaving their rooms. I cried a bit and moved on quickly. I knew it was because of the way he treated me. Micah wasn't all bad admittedly. He was protective of me, but that soon transformed into him being overbearing. He began treating me like less of a human and more of his property. I hated that about him. He also made me lose my way. I wasn't myself anymore.

Breaking up with him taught me some important lessons. I learned not to give someone so much power over me. It just made me useless. I also learned to be more assertive with douchebags like him. Making decisions myself makes me feel so much more myself. Having my own voice back makes dealing with people like Taylor much easier.

Then there's the whole Griffin situation. He's so closed off but interesting in that way. Not only that, he's the Grim Reaper. Well, one of them. It was astonishing to think I was casually hanging out with death himself. Something about him really intrigued me. I didn't quite know what it was yet. Learning new things about him was like an award to me since he's not one to talk about himself. Like the small dimple in his left cheek that I've only seen once or twice. Or the way he chuckles but doesn't really laugh. And if you look closely enough, you can see the small ring of blue around his pupils. Especially the way he-

"Kenzie!" Indie shouted from in the pool. I hadn't even noticed her get in. "C'mon! You have to join us!"

I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality. I was really lost there. I shrugged, needing a break from my thoughts. I was getting creeped out by my own thoughts. They were making me anxious. The only way I could know all of those is if I watched him closely like some sort of creep. What if he caught me being creepy?

I set my hat and sunglasses on the lounger and took a seat at the edge of the pool. My feet were fully underwater, which was enough for me. The water was cold. Too cold for my comfort. I looked up and sent my friends a smile. They shared a look before racing towards me. My eyes widened as I realized what they were doing. I quickly snatched my feet out of the water and rolled away like a possessed mermaid.

Indie hopped out of the water first, being the athletic one out of us. She grabbed a hold of my feet and Kira held me by my armpits. Together they carried me to the edge of the pool. I tried getting away, struggling as much as possible. I figured it would slow them down enough for me to escape. However, I quickly discovered my plan wouldn't work, so I resorted to begging.

"Please don't do this! I'll do whatever you want! I'll go to every party you guys wanna go to! Just please don't do this!" I pleaded.

Indie glanced up at Kira and smirked. Before I knew it, I was completely submerged. I came up spluttering. My mouth was wide open when I hit the water, so I ended up with a mouthful of chlorinated water. I shot them both glares, knowing I was no match for them. I'd just have to find another way to get back at them.

"You guys are assholes," I shot at them while climbing out.

After a while, we all ended up sitting on the edge, talking about our lives. The usual teenage girl conversations. Kira talked about the plans for prom. She didn't want a typical theme. She wanted to go all out for our last dance together. I was suddenly reminded that her words had a double meaning, even though she didn't know that. I was going to have a lot of lasts.

"Maybe we should go with a Wonderland-esque theme," Kira thought aloud. "People don't do that much, right? People wouldn't have to dress alike then. And it's fine if you don't have a date because it isn't centered around that. It would be more about having a good time."

I smiled, "That's a brilliant idea! No one has to feel excluded!"

"And it gives me an excuse to order people to be executed!" Indie chimed in.

Kira turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "No, honey, no."

"No? But-"

"No," Kira shook her head.

I laughed, "I thought it was a good idea."

Kira rolled her eyes at me before laughing too. We began talking about other things. Mostly drama at school. As much as I hate to admit it, I liked being caught up on the gossip. Being in the dark made me feel anxious. Apparently, people thought Griffin was a friend of mine, maybe even a cousin. I was glad they didn't think we were dating.

A while later, a crazy idea popped into my head. Try as I might, I couldn't get it out of my head. Since it was my last year, I had to start living life to its absolute fullest. I've had a bucket list since I was fifteen. Of course, I didn't think I'd be leaving this world so soon, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Now that I had a little less than a year, it was at the front of my mind.

"Guys!" I suddenly turned to my friends. "This is our last year together like this. Our last year of high school. We need to live!"

"So, what should we do?" Indie asked.

"I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to go skinny dipping," I had a mischievous smirk on my face.

Immediately, Indie responded with an enthusiastic, "I'm in!"

Kira just shrugged and agreed to go along with us. We decided to go late at night at the lake. I didn't want anyone to catch us or the cops to arrest us. By the time night came, it was much cooler than earlier. The November chill was back and we were all left shivering. We brought towels, but they did little to warm us.

We were idiots and decided not to wear anything but our swimsuits. Now we were feeling the consequences. I was surprised Kira was walking alongside us. She's the goody-two-shoes, yet it didn't take much to convince her. Her parents reminded me of my grandparents on mom's side. They're usually very sweet. Then there's the side that we've all had to meet at least once. When I was younger, I decided I wanted to have dessert before dinner after they told me no. I learned not to defy my grandma again.

Kira's parents were just like that. She says it's because they're black and that's how things get handled. She loves to remind me how lucky I am that I have an easygoing dad. I know she just means he's white and he wouldn't treat me like my mom's side does. That was only half true. I liked to be rebellious as a kid and because of it, my mom forced him to punish me. That's how I learned to stay in line. Of course, mom mellowed out and prefers to ground me instead. Kira's parents don't believe in only grounding her. If they found out, she'd be done for.

Once we arrived at the lake, I knew we'd have to wait a bit longer. There were still a few teens here. Some from Applewood and some from Norwood High. To occupy ourselves, we talked among them. Una, a girl I've known since seventh grade, was there. I quickly made my way to her.

"Una! Hey!" I greeted.

She smiled, "Hey, Kenzie. What are you doing here this late?"

I felt like she was onto me. I took a deep breath, swallowing my anxiety down, "Indie thinks she left her shades here and we're here to get them back."

Her smile faltered, "But doesn't she have an entire collection? Designer and all?"

"Riiight. About that," I was quick to come up with an excuse. "These are her favorite. Bradley got them for her and she's gonna freak if we don't find them."

She shrugged, believing what I said, "I hope you guys find them. I'm heading home."

I waved goodbye and scurried over to my best friends. Little by little, people were leaving. I made sure to check and see if everyone was gone. Once I was sure, I let out a sigh of relief. We were finally alone. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. It wasn't every day we got to do things like this.

Indie was the first to strip and hop in the lake. I narrowed my eyes at her, thinking she had done this before. Probably with Bradley. Kira and I soon joined. It felt weird being bare, but after a while, the adrenaline came back. It wasn't like I was uncomfortable being naked around people. These two girls are my closest friends, practically my sisters. It just felt weird being so exposed to the world.

"It's cold as hell out here," Indie's teeth were chattering.

"That's an oxymoron," I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes, making her way back to the shore. Kira joined her, leaving me in the lake alone. Though I was freezing, I couldn't get myself to get out. I stared up at the starry sky. It was reflecting on the water. The small ripples coming from me were peaceful. It was all so beautiful at night.

As I was soaking in the moment, I felt something flop against my foot. Even though I knew it was a fish, I freaked. I waded through the water as fast as I could. Once I reached the land, I hurriedly put my swimsuit back on and wrapped myself in a towel. I was shivering worse and I was walking back home. The lake is closer to my house than Kira's, so I was heading home to warm up as quickly as possible.

I waved to my best friends, having enjoyed my time with them. My entire body was full of goosebumps. I was shivering so much, I was starting to have trouble walking. I contemplated stopping for a break but realized that would be stupid. It was entirely too cold to stop. My legs felt frozen. It had to be in the negatives by now. I was waiting for snow.

I couldn't move my nose and I was starting to slow down. This was a mistake. I should've waited until summer to act on impulse. I was two streets away from my house. I wish that would've provided me some sort of warmth, but it didn't.

"Late night skinny dipping? Maybe I should've kept you around," My eyes widened.

"Leave me alone, Micah," I muttered, trying to move faster.

"I would, but then I'd have to post these pictures of you and your friends," My blood ran cold. "Then again, people would love to see these. Especially your little boyfriend."

I spun around on my heel, "He's not my boyfriend. Neither are you, so why do you feel the need to keep stalking me?!"

"Because my pain is your pain. That's how it works," He grinned.

"We're not even dating! Leave me alone!"

"Ah ah ah, wouldn't want your scandalous pictures being leaked, would you?"

I sighed, "What do you want?"

//

"Ooh ooh! Scandalous!" -Gaylo (Josh Leyva). Yeah, this took a twist and I like it! Anywho, thanks for reading!

Tatty bye! <3