Page 61 of Caged in Flames

I probably would have let him air blow them all himself if it weren’t for the fact we’re in a rush.

We finish everything just in time. The inflatable pools are waiting by the edge of the giant school competitive swimming pool filled with pillows, blankets, snacks and drinks.

“Wait, each pool holds three. Who's getting stuck in the sausage wagon?” Sawyer asks.

“You losers. Now be on your best behavior. No fighting. No insulting anyone. And no shitty reminders of the past.” There’s no time for either of them to argue with me as the other three are entering the room.

My Blue looks around the place nervously. She checks out the floating arrangements and the movie queued up on the wall.

Sweet Home Alabama has always been her favorite and lucky for me I have never forgotten that tidbit of information.

“This is….,” her voice trails off before her eyes meet mine. There’s just enough moisture there to make me think she hates it, but right before I can apologize, she gives me the biggest smile. That sight is better than anything else in the world.

She runs over with a small yelp and leaps right into my arms. “I love it. Thank you so much.”

I set her down on the ground but keep her right under my arm. “For you, Blue? I’d do anything. Now pick your float. Me and Jane are with you.”

My cousin takes that moment to lighten the mood and I’m grateful for it.

“Fucking duh, I’m with Nix. I’m not about to be in the man meat sandwich. Definitely not a fantasy I’ve ever been interested in.” Jane grabs a hold of Nix’s hand and leads her over to the pink float.

Then she looks over her shoulder to the other guys with an evil curl to her lips before pushing Nix into the blue one and climbing in right behind her.

“Shit.” Charlie hates pink with a passion. I have no idea why, but it makes me laugh out loud when I see the small look of horror on his face.

I lean over and push the girls out into the pool to start floating before jumping in with them.

I watch as both Charlie and Gunner settle into their pink float, but to my absolute delight Sawyer runs and dives on top of them both shouting, “cannonball!” Their float gains enough speed to bumper-car into ours which sends the girls into giggles.

Water splashes around the floats, but luckily, we all stay afloat. Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into a Titanic situation. At least we all know there’s room for two on these doors. Or floats. Whatever. Plus, the water isn’t too deep so we could always swim to safety.

Grabbing my phone, I hit play on the movie. I’m awarded another smile when Nix sees what I’ve picked out. “Okay, two for two. But where’s the snacks?”

I reach over and pull out the options. There’s chocolate, cookies, and…

“Sour Patch Kids! Jane, if you don’t like these then we can’t be friends and you better walk the imaginary plank and swim your ass out of here.” Nix grabs the box and picks out a hand full. She separates the colors out and eats them one by one.

“You mean the holy grail of movie snacks? What the fuck do you take me for?” Jane grabs the last box of the sour candy when she sees me reaching for it. She sticks her tongue out at me and I flip her off.

Part of me is happy that Jane and Nix have settled into such a fast friendship. I know that neither of them has ever had a close friend to confide in and they have certainly met their match in each other.

The other half of me wants to push Jane into the water so that Nix will lean into me instead.

“Attention members of the Pussy Pool, shut your face holes for the duration of this showing.” Jane cackles when she finishes her announcement, sending Nix into another fit of giggles.

“Why are we the Pussy Pool?” Charlie asks her with a serious tone.

“Your boat is pink and you’re all a bunch of pussies,” Jane says dryly.

Sawyer laughs at her, “Luckily, pink is one of my favorite colors.” He winks at Nix and she gives him an eye roll in return.

“I fucking hate pink.” Charlie says loud enough to send us into another laughing fit just in time for the opening credits to end.

“Why does he hate pink?” Nix whispers so he can’t hear her.

I shake my head at her and shrug.

Surprisingly, no one talks through the credits. People who skip them are absolute psychos. I don’t care if they are almost two decades old, they’re still vital to the experience.

---