Conrad, who was treading over by the side, said, "Ready, set, go."
Taylor and I stretched our arms out to each other, pushing and shoving. She couldn't stop giggling, and when I gave her one strong push, she said, "Oh, shit!" and they both fell backward.
Jeremiah and I burst out laughing and high-fived each other. When they resurfaced, Steven glared at Taylor and said, "I told you to hold on tight."
She splashed him right in the face and said, "I was!" Her eyeliner was smudged and her mascara was starting to run. She still looked pretty, though.
Jeremiah said, "Belly?"
I said, "Hmm?" I was starting to get pretty comfortable up there, so high.
"Watch out." Then he lurched forward, and I was flying into the water, and so was he. I couldn't stop laughing, and I swallowed about a jugful of water, but I didn't care.
When both of our heads popped up, I went straight for his and took him by surprise with a good dunk.
Then Taylor said, "Let's play again. I'll be with Jeremy this time. Steven, you can be Belly's partner."
Steven still looked grumpy, and he said, "Con, take my spot."
"All right," Conrad said, but his voice said he didn't want to at all.
When he swam over to me, I said defensively, "I'm not that heavy."
"I never said you were." Then he stooped in front of me, and I climbed on top. His shoulders were more muscular than Jeremiah's, more weighty. "You okay up there?"
"Yeah."
Across from us Taylor was having trouble getting onto Jeremiah's shoulders. She kept slipping right off and laughing. They were having a lot of fun .Too much fun. I watched them jealously, and I almost forgot to be aware of the fact that Conrad was holding on to my legs, and as far as I could remember, he had never so much as accidentally grazed my knee before.
"Let's hurry up and play," I said. My voice sounded jealous even to my own ears. I hated that.
Conrad had less trouble moving into the center of the pool. I was kind of surprised by how easily he moved around with my extra weight around his shoulders.
"Ready?" Conrad said to Jeremiah and Taylor, who had finally managed to stay put. "Yes!" Taylor shouted.
In my head I said, You're going down, Jewel . "Yes," I said out loud.
I leaned forward and used both of my hands to give her a hard push. She swayed to the side but stayed on, and said, "Hey!"
I smiled. "Hey," I said, and pushed her again.
Taylor narrowed her eyes and pushed me back, hard but not hard enough.
Then we were both pushing at each other, only this time it was so much easier because I felt steady. I pushed her once, firmly, and she tipped forward, but Jeremiah was still standing. I clapped loudly. This was pretty fun.
I was surprised when Conrad held out his hand for a high five. He wasn't a high five kind of person.
When Taylor resurfaced this time, she wasn't laughing. Her blond hair was matted to her head, and she said, "This game sucks. I don't want to play anymore."
"Sore loser," I said, and Conrad lowered me into the water.
"Nice job," he said, giving me one of his rare smiles. I felt like I had won the lottery from that one smile. "I play to win," I told him. I knew he did too.
Chapter seventeen
A few days after we shared Twizzlers at the movies Jeremiah announced, "I'm gonna teach Belly how to drive stick shift today."
"Do you mean it?" I said eagerly. It was a clear day; the first all week. A perfect day for driving. It was Jeremiah's day off, and I couldn't believe he was willing to spend it teaching me how to drive stick. I'd been begging him since last year to teach me--Steven had tried and had given up after our third lesson.
Steven shook his head and took a swig of orange juice from the carton on the table. "Do you want to die, man? Because Belly will kill you both, not to mention your clutch. Don't do it. I'm telling you this as your friend."
"Shut up, Steven!" I yelled, kicking him under the table. "Just 'cause you're a terrible teacher ..." Steven had refused to get into a car with me again after I'd accidentally gotten a teeny-tiny dent in his fender when he was teaching me how to parallel park.
"I'm confident in my teaching skills," Jeremiah said. "By the time I'm finished with her, she'll be better than you.
Steven snorted. "Good luck. "Then he frowned. "How long are you gonna be gone? I thought we were going to the driving range."
"You could come with us," I offered.
Steven ignored me and said to Jeremiah, "You need to practice your swing, dude."
I glanced at Jeremiah, who looked at me and hesitated. "I'll be back by lunch. We can go after," he said.
Steven rolled his eyes. "Fine." I could tell he was annoyed and a little hurt, which made me feel both smug and sorry for him. He wasn't used to being left out of things the way I was.
We went out to practice on the road that led down to the other side of the beach. It was quiet. There was no one else out on the road, just us. We listened to Jeremiah's old Nevermind CD from a million years ago.
"It's hot when a girl can drive stick," Jeremiah explained above Kurt Cobain. "It shows she's confident, she knows what she's doing."
I put the car into first gear and eased my foot off the clutch. "I thought boys liked it when girls were helpless."