Splash

    It started with “Hey.” Not “Hello.” Not “Hi.” Thankfully, not “Howdy.” The text message lit up Whitney’s cell phone in the dark of her bedroom: What’s up? Harper sat Indian style on her dark blue comforter covered in stars and outlines of the moon, munching popcorn as a young couple ran through the streets of New York in the pouring rain. Whitney squealed and showed her best friend the text message. Harper squealed back and leaned over as Whitney texted back, Nothing. What are you up to? The girls sat in tense silence as the couple kissed with the Statue of Liberty in the background. The orchestra swelled. More squeals filled the dark bedroom as Whitney’s phone dinged, Nothing… and then a second ding, Come to the pool. Whitney stared at her friend, blue eyes boring into blue eyes. It was a command. Not a request. Not a question. An order. Harper pursed her lips and screwed them to the left of her face, a habit she picked up from a rom com the girls had watched together. “Should we go?” Whitney asked her in the dark. Harper nodded. 

    The girls grabbed their bathing suits from the towel rack in the bathroom. Downstairs, the TV droned on. Whitney’s parents were engrossed in politics and the weather. Whitney nodded to Harper and departed for the bedroom. In the cold, white light of the bathroom, Harper changed out of warm and cozy pajamas into her bathing suit. It was red, with ruffles, her first bikini. The suit was cold, mostly dry, but still a bit shocking. She frowned as her nipples hardened in the AC. Harper met her friend out in the hallway who was holding a couple beach towels, her pale, freckled face lit by a soft blue light from an ocean night light. The girls wrapped themselves in the warm, fluffy, blue terry cloth. They tiptoed down Whitney’s winding wooden stairs. Whitney stood in the landing, pausing to decide which exit would be best. The deadbolt on the front door was loud. The garage door would mean opening the garage. The sliding glass door which led to the backyard would take both of their strength to open and shut, but it was relatively quiet. It was tucked in the kitchen which blocked visibility from the couch in the living room. Plus, they could always say they had snuck down for a late night snack. Whitney motioned with one long finger, pointing to the white kitchen. 

    They tiptoed the rest of the way. As they passed the living room, Whitney saw the shadow of her mother knitting. She could see that her father’s mostly bald head was leaning against her black, leather armchair; he was nodding off. She felt relief. Together, they crept into the kitchen and to the back door. Harper's pink toes slid into pink flip flops stored by the backdoor from earlier in the afternoon; Whitney wore her purple ones. Whitney flicked the switch to unlock it. The girls wrapped their fingers around the white handle and pulled. Slowly, the door opened. They made just enough room to slide out- Harper first, then Whitney. They turned on their toes and slid the door shut. Both girls looked at eachother and burst into giggles. They ran past the jungle gym and the trampoline into the neighborhood. Outside, crickets began to chirp and mosquitos found resting places on their arms, necks, and faces. The girls were blinded to the bugs as adrenaline filled their veins from their escape. They ran the block to the pool. Their cheeks were a bright red as they took turns gasping for breath and pointing while laughing at each other. Both of them scrambled to pull up and tie their towels around themselves. “Hey,” a voice startled them. Landon stood tall and lanky in the dark. He had a knowing smile on his face as his friend Theo hopped off of his green bike. The girl's laughter tapered off as the teens stood in the parking lot, eyeing each other. 

“I dare you to climb the fence and open the gate,” commanded Landon. His dark green eyes bored into her diamond blues. Silently, she shook her head. Landon cocked his head, his dark curls falling like a waterfall around his shoulders. “I’m in a bikini,” she whispered. He winked. Then he ran to the gate, past the girls who gasped and made room for him. His long, teenage body scaled the black gate effortlessly. Landon perched himself on top of it, pausing to wink down to Harper, despite the pain of the plastic spikes boring into his feet. He dropped down, bending his knees as he leapt to break the fall. He could feel his skin break on his big toe as it scraped along the warm concrete. He cursed, turned, and opened the gate. It swung open, silently. Theo stepped forward, tossed his bike against the gate, and joined his friend. He slapped Landon on the back and began to walk the perimeter of the pool. The girls were more timid, Harper stepped forward. She tightened the towel in an attempt to warm herself. Whitney trailed behind and Landon allowed the gate to shut with a loud clang! 

The pool was well lit by lights in the pool. However, the lifeguards had shut off all the lights surrounding the small backroom and the bathrooms. Theo loved the thrill of the diving board. He was the first born son of a lawyer and a doctor. Two individuals who were more in love with their careers than the boy their love had created. Theo had known Landon would open the gate to his neighborhood pool. They had grown up with Landon choosing all the adventures; Theo would happily trail behind, relieved all eyes weren’t on him. He considered an hour ago when Landon, out of breath from a bike ride and excitement, told him that Harper and Whitney were a few blocks from them at a sleepover. Landon’s teenage brain had conspired to get them into the pool. Theo had walked confidently out the front door, calling to his absent parents that he was out on an adventure. Together, they biked through the quickly cooling balmy summer air. Now, Theo stared up at the diving board. He fondly remembered his mother, helping him climb the ladder as a child. It was at the pool he had the most attention; water is dangerous, afterall. Although he could climb the ladder like a pro, he wished he couldn’t, so he could feel his mother’s warm hands boosting him up. As Theo climbed, the lump in his throat grew to the size of a baseball. With fury, Theo wiped the tears from his eyes, swallowed his fear, and belly flopped. The sting of the landing made him feel alive. More importantly, it was an excuse for the hot tears falling down his face.

The girls let out a scream as the splash of the diving into the deep end echoed in the night air. They turned to see a gleeful teen boy bobbing to the surface, spitting out water. Landon led the girls to Theo’s side of the pool. Harper stared in amazement as Landon climbed the diving board. His thin biceps flexed slightly as he pulled himself up the metal ladder. He walked along the platform and gazed down at Harper. Her red hair glistened in the dimly lit pool light. Her blue eyes gazed up at him. Landon hoped he saw a sparkle of adoration. He held her gaze and winked before stepping back for a running start. Landon stepped along the diving board, leapt into the air, and balled himself up. His arms wrapped around his legs and he tucked his chin in, thinking back to the first time he ever made this jump. Ladon’s older brother, Tony, taught him to cannonball the summer he left for bootcamp. Tony had assured him that, “The cannonball makes all the girls swoon, Landon.” He remembered watching in amazement, standing on the edge of the pool. There were a few girls who called and shouted their excitement at the show and Landon let out a giggle when the cold water hit his bare stomach. As per the routine, Landon felt the rush of the warm, summer air and then the startling embrace of cold pool water. His blood began to rush all around him. His toe stung. In the silence of the water, he could hear the echoes of Theo’s cheers. Instinctively, his right foot reached for the bottom of the pool as he propelled himself to the surface. The cold air felt bitter against his face and he began to tread water next to Theo. 

Harper stood next to Whitney as they giggled at the boys. She slowly untied the towel from around her bust. She tossed it to the tan pool chair, feigning confidence. Harper bit her lip, a move she had seen a million times in the movies. It was a move that made boys like Landon want girls like Harper. She placed her right foot on the first step of the ladder, slowly, purposefully. Her fingers tighten on the cold metal handles of the ladder. She was surprised that, as she ran her hands along them, she felt memories of warmth, from the boys before. As she reached the top, she stared at the board. It was flat, white, with flecks of brown dirt from adventurers who came before them. She felt naked standing so high in the dark. She felt Landon’s eyes on her. A splash echoed from down below as Landon slapped his friend’s shoulder softly as he whispered, “Stop staring.” Harper swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath. She stepped to the edge of the board, wiggling her toes while she stared down at the boys bobbing along. She waved her right arm and they shifted to the wall, clinging for relief from treading. Harper stared at the stars. She identified the big dipper, the little dipper, the moon as her father had taught her from a young age. Harper had grown up at the pool. She was a swimmer and a strong one at that. Over a meatloaf supper the night before her first time she dove from a diving board, her father had told her to look to the sky. He promised her that even if she couldn’t see the stars, they were there, just like he was. It was a promise she clung to every competition.  She pulled her long, dark hair into a ponytail. She bounced, bounced, bounced, and dove. Headfirst. In a beautiful dive. She, too, relished in the summer air before embracing the shock of the pool. 

Harper bobbed in the silence of the pool. She could hear the shouts of her friends outside, applauding her dive. Pride swelled in her heart. Below the surface, she could see the skinny, slightly hairy legs of the boys which swayed in the water like seaweed. She pushed off the bottom, stretching her arms out into a front stroke with her head above the water. Landon reached out a hand and pulled her in. She was pleasantly surprised at his strength. The water rushed around her, creating mini waves. He confidently wrapped his arm around her bare belly underwater. It was a secret for just the two of them. She bobbed beside him, close enough to smell the remnants of sunscreen and sunshine. Theo didn’t seem to notice what was happening, his attention was fully focused on the girl in the yellow bikini, slowly mounting the ladder. “That was incredible,” Landon whispered into Harper’s ear. His voice was slow, low, and confident. His breath was warm and Harper felt a shiver run down her spine and he smelled faintly of sunscreen and sunshine. Harper blushed as red as her bikini.

Whitney was busy staring at the pool from the diving board which felt like it was suddenly fifteen stories below her. She stood, quaking and shivering in the night air. Whitney didn’t have nice memories from the pool. Her parents got a membership each year out of guilt. They didn’t have much money so the pool was the most exciting activity they could give their daughter. Despite the fact that her father was the first to develop a horseshoe, Whitney’s parents were the youngest in the class. Sarah, Whitney’s grandmother had let it slip Whitney was a surprise when her mother was nineteen. Subsequently, Whitney’s mother got a job at a diner and her father worked retail. They weren’t in a space of luxury. However, these circumstances led to her friendship with Harper. She and Harper met in the lunchroom as elementary students. Whitney sat, timid and anxious, at the very edge of her seat with her half a PB and J, handful of goldfish crackers, and water bottle when Harper sat next to her. Harper, in her confidence and kindness, offered to split fruit snacks with Whitney. This morphed into a daily lunch arrangement, one Harper’s mother clued in on quickly. She added a second pack of fruit snacks a few weeks after her daughter met her best friend. Whitney caught Harper’s eye and she could see the same smile Harper had given her on that very first day. Harper stood back and assessed her options. She stepped off the diving board and stiffened herself like a plank. With a great splash she landed feet first into the cold pool.

The teenagers giggled and chatted until their fingers were prunes from the water. Until they were crying from the laughter. Their friendships warmed them against the cold, night air. Any adult who peered out of their windows because they heard the boisterous giggles from the pool hours past closing time probably saw a part of themselves they thought they had lost. They most certainly smiled at the teens, huddled by one of the underwater lights because it was warmer than anywhere else in the pool. Maybe they might have seen the girls pull the boys close and take a seat, wrapping themselves in the towels. Because it all started with, “Hey.”  In the blink of an eye, ten years passed. Theo walked Whitney down the aisle wearing a maureen bridesmaid dress. She’d take the bouquet of white lilies from Harper as she turned to face the man who had grown from the boy in the pool. They would exchange their vows in front of 150 guests. Whitney and Theo would bring up their beginnings during the maid of honor and best man speeches-they would tell their own versions of the night at the pool and all the double dates that came after. The crowd would erupt in laughter as the story of Landon, diving into the pool with a diamond ring to propose was recounted. Variations of, “What a lucky guy, what if it had been lost,” were whispered around the room as more champagne was poured. At the head table was an old, grainy selfie of the teens, standing outside the big, black gate.