Page 58 of Them Bones

“They don’tthrow themselvesat me. They show me they’re interested. And I show them I’m not.”

“Mm…” Laney said, her eyes twinkling. “Are you perhaps attracted to the stronger sex?”

“Only Jerry. Ours is a forbidden love.”

Laney snorted. “To forbidden love,” she said, raising her chicken wing.

Dustin bowled two strikes in a row.

LANEY

On the last day of school, Laney was invited to an end of the year pool party. She didn’t really want to go, she wanted to hang out with Shane while pretending that she didn’t want to be hanging out with Shane. It was her favourite game, acting like she couldn’t care less that he was there while secretly obsessively replaying the feeling of his mouth on hers all those months ago. But she’d been feeling lonely, and said yes.

The girl, Holly, had been talking about it in class. Her folks had just finished a fancy new pool withhardscape –she had said the word hardscape at least a hundred times – and she wanted everyone to come over afterwards.

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” Kyle complained.

“So just go in your boxers!” Holly had said with a wink.

Kyle looked at Laney. “Are you coming?”

Laney looked up from her notebook, surprised. The other kids didn’t really talk to her much; she mostly kept her head down, headphones on, extra batteries in her backpack for her Walkman always at the ready.

“Um… Am I invited?” she asked.

Holly looked like she wanted to say no, but Kyle interrupted. “Of course you are. Come, it’ll be fun.”

“Well alright then…”

They walked to Holly’s in a group, more kids joining them as they made their way to her house. It was a big executive style place in the new subdivision. Laney thought it was kind of ironic that a house with that much marble had a view of the Walmart parking lot but didn’t say anything.

Several of the kids had dropped their bags, stripping off their shirts and diving in or doing cannonballs. Others were waiting to change in the bathroom, having brought their swimsuits.

Laney’s headphones were on but hanging around her neck, unidentifiable music pouring out of them. She sat at the edge of the pool, her bare legs hanging over the side, and swished her feet through the water.

“What are you listening to?” Kyle asked, pulling himself up onto the side and sitting beside her, his plaid boxers dripping wet.

“Alice in Chains,” she said.

"Can I have a listen?”

Laney handed him the headphones and he popped them on, nodding along for a few minutes, before handing them back.

“Kinda heavy, eh?”

“Not really,” she said.

They sat awkwardly for a moment, before he cleared his throat. “So… are you going to go swimming?”

Laney hesitated, but there were other girls swimming in their shorts and bras. She wouldn’t be the only one.Why not,she thought.

She stood up and pulled her Temple of the Dog t-shirt up over her head, tossing it on her backpack. She was wearing a thin cotton training-style bra, her boobs too small to really bother with anything fancy like some of the other girls had on with laceand underwire, but it was purple with little spaghetti straps and she thought it was cute enough.

Kyle seemed to agree, as he was staring at her belly button ring, his cheeks pink.

A few other kids were looking at her, some of the boys obviously checking her out, and she grimaced at the surprise on their faces.

Did they think I had leprosy under my shirt or something?

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