Page 85 of Girls Will Be Girls
Lou drops his head close to mine from where he’s standing behind me. “Know what you want to do?”
I just shake my head. I have zero clue what I’m doing or how anything gets done, so I’m happy to just stay in the back quietly and take what’s given to me. Lou has other ideas and apparently knows what he’s doing because he’s the first to volunteer us both to be the trimmers.
I have no idea what that means.
Otto immediately volunteers for the same position, and after what can only be described as a heated death stare between the two of them, Skipper decides two of us can be trimmers, and one can assist.
I guess that’s me.
The two others who are with us seem super happy with our decision, as it means they get to be the navigator and the helmsman, who I’m assuming steers the boat.
Phil shows us a few basic things, running through the responsibilities of each role. Harper, who is now the helmsman, is shown how to steer the big wheel at the front. Naomi, aka. the navigator, sits up next to the skipper to learn how to use the compass, and then we three are shown the ropes — literally. Apparently, we’re in charge of the sails.
I must look slightly terrified because Lou comes up close behind me again. “It’s the best job, I promise.” He whispers. “I’ll teach you.”
I relax a little knowing Lou knows what he’s doing, so I can stop trying to remember the name of every single rope.
Phil asks us if we’ve ever sailed. I say no, as the two boys say yes. Phil asks how confident we are with our skills, I decide there’s no point even pretending I’m good at this, so say zero, Lou says pretty confident, Otto says very. I swear I see a suppressed eye roll from Lou, and it takes everything in me not to laugh. I’ve never seen him roll his eyes before — that’s my thing.
Phil shows us a few more things, but I struggle to take most of it in as he seems to be talking in sailing lingo.
I nod and pretend to understand.
Before I know it, we’re moving and heading out into the water.
“You ready, baby girl?” Lou bobs up next to me, his grin finally back where it belongs. “Want me to teach you?”
“Show me the ropes, teach.”
He smirks. “Cute.”
Lou takes me through everything as the boat moves at a slow pace, everyone getting to grips with their roles. Otto seems to be checking ropes at the front, and Lou unsurprisingly seems towant to avoid him. He points out the mainsail and the jib, the ropes around them, what to pull when, and even explains how sailing works exactly when I pepper him with every question, good or dumb, that I can think of. We take a slight detour in conversation when he tells me about the time he got knocked out by the boom when he was ten, because he thought he could limbo under it.
This feels nice. Lou’s a good teacher, and he doesn’t make me feel stupid or care that I’m clueless. He seems genuinely excited to teach me, so I let him without feeling shame about asking whatever I want. I know he won’t judge me.
Then, when Skipper yells out to drop the main sail, Otto nods over to Lou in some secret brotherly language, telling him to do it. Lou pulls me with him and shows me how to do it, having me do most of the work as he helps.
We seem to hit a good routine, with Otto looking after half the jobs, and Lou and I the other half. The way they work together, you could be mistaken in thinking there’s no animosity between them. They move around and communicate like they’ve done this so many times that it’s second nature at this point.
When my arms start to scream from the surprising amount of exertion required to sail, we pull into a small secluded bay where we’re given snorkels and flippers to swim freely.
Based on everything I’ve learned about Otto by this point, I’m surprised he hasn’t been overbearing today. He’s been almostniceand hasn’t tried to weasel his way into things any further than picking the same job on the boat. Even when we’re gearing up and hopping into the water, I would’ve assumed he’d be all over hanging out with us, but he strikes up a conversation with Harper and Naomi, helping them tighten their goggles, and swims off without us.
I’m excited that means I get to spend time with just Lou.
I’m still skeptical that this can work between us with the distance, but I’m definitely feeling willing to try. Because the idea of someone else getting Lou’s smiles after me hurts in a way that makes me feel like a cavewoman who wants to scream“Get away from my man!”at anyone who even vaguely looks his way.
I wouldn’t consider myself an overly jealous person, only the normal amount, but thinking about Lou with someone else makes the green monster rise up inside of me so hard I could be mistaken for Elphaba fromWicked. The resemblance is uncanny.
With his flippers on and his snorkel in his hand, Lou jumps into the water.
I mentally add diving to my ever-growing list of what I now consider sexy.
He rises from beneath the surface, flipping his wet hair off his face. He grins up at me, ushering me in impatiently as I lower down the ladder on the side before jumping off the last step.
He swims over to me as I’m trying to pull my goggles over my head, my legs kicking under the water to stay afloat.
“Need some help?” He asks.
