Chapter 12: The Vampire Pirate's Daughter by Lynette Ferreira
I notice it is a great distance, so I retaliate, “Chicken!”
“Let’s race to that rubber boat over there.” He points his finger a short distance away.
Laughing, I dive into the water and when I come up swimming freestyle, I hear him yell, “Cheating!”
I hear him splash behind me and pace myself. I only needed to win by a stroke. I was not going to let him beat me.
Touching the rubber boat just before he does, he exclaims breathlessly, “You cheated.”
Pretending to be sorry, I say, “Sorry. I am a girl and you should give me a head start anyway. That is how it works, isn’t it?”
He replies indignant, “Maybe in the fifties.”
He hauls himself over the side of the rubber boat and then he extends his hand to me. “I’ll row us back to shore,” he offers.
“Let’s swim back.”
He looks back at the shore and then back at me.
I convince him, “It does not have to be a race. We can float back.”
He contemplates for a moment and then he dives back into the water. The water splashes into my face and I turn away from him. I feel his hands around my waist as he comes up and turn my face around to face him and he smiles at me brazenly. I move away from him, laughing and kicking water up into his face playfully and then I start swimming away from him.
He follows me and I hear him call after me to wait for him.
I slow down and turn onto my back. I lay there floating, drifting on the water and I wait for him to reach me. When he catches up with me, we slowly drift toward the shore.
When we are shallow enough to stand up, we wade out of the water, and he asks me casually, “Do you have a boyfriend?”
I smile, fleetingly remembering a time when decorum was everything, and now boys, some boys, did not hesitate to come straight to the point. I did not want to complicate things with him, so I say, “Yes, I do.” I do not want him to feel awkward. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
He answers, smiling shrewd, “Not yet.”
We walk to Carmine and she is arguing with Andrew. When Andrew sees us coming, he turns away from Carmine and moves closer to the fire Lionel is building in the barbecue area.
Carmine turns to look at us. I instinctively know she likes Duncan by the way she looks at him accusingly.
Duncan walks to her and wraps his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly to him. “Oh, Carmine. How I have missed you.”
She pushes him away and says adamantly, “Leave me, Duncan. You are such an ass.”
Laughing he lets her go and then he follows Andrew.
I soon hear them talking about rugby. Carmine suggests we go back into the water, but I decline, and I tell her I would rather lie down on the blanket for a while. I add jokingly, without thinking, “That the race against Duncan had exhausted me.” I notice immediately the pained expression on her face, and I want to reach out to her and explain that where I am concerned, she does not have to worry, I have no inclination to encourage Duncan. I am just about to say something when Jessica walks toward us and says, “Carmine we are going for a walk. Do you wanna come?”
Carmine looks at me expectantly, but I smile and reiterate, “I am going to stay.”
Duncan says, “Come on you two, let’s go. You need to walk off all that meat we are going to be eating soon. Lionel and Andrew are going to stay and man the fire.”
I say, “Not me, thanks.”
Carmine smiles thankfully.
I look at them as they walk away. Although I predict Carmine could become a pain with all her exuberance, she is a nice person and I would not mind being a friend of hers. We could never be close friends because sooner rather than later, she would outgrow me and move on.
I walk to the blanket and I lie down on my back. I close my eyes against the glaring sun and let it soak uselessly into me. Sighing deeply, thinking of the meat I will be eating soon, I wonder how rare I could get away with.
A shadow falls over me and then I sense someone lay down next to me. I grimace, thinking it is Duncan. Opening my eyes, squinting against the sun, I bring my hand up to shade my eyes and I see Andrew’s face, close to mine. He is laying on his stomach, resting on his elbows. I see his dark brooding eyes and I realise despondent no matter what I said or ever did, he would never really know the effect he has on me.
Softly he says, “I wanted to talk to you. If that’s okay?”
“Ya, sure.” I want to sit up but decide to stay where I am. Later I could fantasise and imagine he leant down and kissed me as if he loved me.
He asks, “You never came the other afternoon to work on the project. I wanted to apologise for attacking you in class that day.”
“I am sorry I got you in so much trouble. I did not presume to know everything, and I do not have the answers to all your country’s problems, but...”
He interrupts me, “I said I was sorry, and you do not have to explain yourself. Besides, I have something else I need to ask you.” He looks down at me and then he smiles mischievously. “I have been thinking and I cannot understand how you caught that glass so fast the other day at the café?”
I close my eyes for a moment and without thinking I say, “Reflex?”
He smiles brilliantly, unbelieving. “Your reflexes are very good!”
I laugh, despite my apprehension. “When you are clumsy, it is good to be quick.”
“It sure is.” He looks down at me pensively. “I see Duncan likes you.”
I do not know if it is a statement or a question, so I reply, “I don’t know, does he?”
“You must be a goose not to notice the way he was carrying on this morning.”
“But. Carmine likes him, though?”
He frowns. “She sure does, and she always falls for his charms. She is an idiot to be so fallen for him.”
I do not want to ask, but I have to know, “Is this like a love triangle? Carmine likes Duncan, but you like Carmine.”
Continue reading Chapter 13/23
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