Page 4 of Thick & Thin

Around us, our classmates splashed and laughed. A few guys swung from a tree rope and into the deep parts at one of the banks. Still, Josh and I stayed put, gliding along the brown river water without words, knowing that somehow things were about to change.

Not just the end of high school or the fact that he was leaving for the military and I was leaving for college. Something else slid along the glassy water with us. An unspoken thing that made me feel tense and awkward, which I had never felt before with Josh.

“I can’t believe this is almost over,” he said, his fingers dragging into the water.

I couldn’t believe it either. It felt sad and depressing. Even after years of waiting to be done with school, all I could think about was how badly I wanted things to stay the same.

“I know.”

“Think we’ll be okay?”

He turned his head my way, but his eyes were hidden behind his shades. Still, I could see the sadness in his brow.

I nodded, swallowing hard since I knew I was about to lie. “Yeah. I think we’ll be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

I hoped I was right, too, but I knew I wasn’t.

Once we walked across that stage and went our separate ways, we would be altered. Living lives the other wasn’t familiar with it and meeting new people the other didn’t know.

We would be strangers.

We floated for an hour, the clouds above us covering the sun and then revealing it while it moved across the sky. When we finally reached the first bank break, I was glad to get up and stretch my legs. Stopping, we worked together to pull our linked floats up and onto the sand.

The first bank break was a small patch of land located right below Jones Bridge, an old bridge that was almost in the center of town. It was higher than most of the bridges that went over the river, which meant it was one of the few no one could fish off. Still, that didn’t stop people from climbing up to the bridge for the thrill of jumping off.

I sat in the sand, the clumps clinging to my wet shorts, and watched as a few of the guys in our group climbed the rock-covered hill to the bridge. Jumping from the side of the bridge was supposed to show how brave you were, but really, it showed a bit of stupidity. Not that I wouldn’t do it. Everyone thought it was dangerous, but it didn’t look all that bad to me, and I happened to know the part of the river below the bridge was deep. It used to be my daddy’s favorite fishing spot on his little John boat.

I didn’t realize someone was standing close to me until they shifted and blocked the sun. Looking up, I sighed when I saw JJ grinning down at me. He held out a Mason jar full of a clear liquid.

“Here. Drink some of this.”

Taking the jar from his hand, I shook it a little and watched the liquid slosh around. “What is it?”

He chuckled. “Just drink it. It’ll put some hair on your chest.”

I tilted my head to the side and peered up at him. “Do I look like I need hair on my chest?”

At my words, he laughed and shook his head, sending droplets of river water sprinkling over my legs. “I don’t know. Lift your shirt and let me see.”

I was about to stand and dump the liquid over his head when Josh stepped up and slugged JJ in the arm.

“Hey. Chill out, man. Stop trying to see Jenny’s tits.”

The group closest to us snickered when JJ said, “Jenny ain’t got no tits.”

Fire sizzled at the end of my spine, sending a wave of anger up to my brain.

Asshole.

“How do you know what the hell I got?” I asked, ready to stand and punch him in his conniving smirk.

“We’re done talking about this.” Josh pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well, are you going to drink it or not?” JJ asked again.

I lifted the Mason jar to my nose and sniffed. The smell singed my nose hairs and made me flinch.

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