Rai, Richie, and Virgil had become more comfortable with each other. They joked and talked as if they had been friends for years. Richie and Rai had no longer acted awkward around each other. They still kept their feelings to themselves, but they were becoming painfully obvious. They stood closer than usual, and sat closer, and laughed a lot. It was now springtime, and everyone in Dakota was lovesick. It made things between Richie and Rai a bit tenser, but they tried their best to ignore it. The comfort was nearly shattered after a fateful trip to the pool.
It was one of those spring days that felt like summer. The pool was open, so Virgil, Richie, Rai, and Daisy all went to the pool. As Richie and Rai both knew, Virgil had invited Daisy because he had a crush on her and was hoping to go out with her. He was hoping this would be counted as a date. What Richie and Rai didn't know was that Virgil intended to stay with Daisy and leave them together. He hoped that even if he didn't get anywhere with Daisy that he and Rai could get somewhere.
They got to the pool and were thankful it wasn't too crowded yet. They went over to a table to put down their stuff and take off the clothes they wore over their swimsuits. Richie and Virgil took off their shoes and Richie took off his glasses. Rai glanced over at Richie and looked away quickly. She hoped he didn't see her blush. He looked scrawny in his clothes, but…without his shirt…he was…hot. He was actually pretty fit and well-toned. He was far from the scrawny boy she thought he was. Rai tried to shake the image out of her head. She took off her flip-flops, cutoffs, and tee-shirt. Richie glanced back at Rai. Now it was his turn to blush. Her years of tomboyish athleticism had given her a perfectly toned, curvaceous body. At that moment, in that red two piece, she looked nothing but feminine. He looked away quickly.
The situation was not helping either of them right now. Right that moment, all they could think about was each other…and what they'd both wanted to do for over a month. Go somewhere and kiss each other like there was no freaking tomorrow.
Virgil had disappeared somewhere with Daisy, to the disappointment of both Rai and Richie. "Hey, Richie, race ya to tha deep end!" Rai said. "You're on," he replied, racing into the pool after her. As soon as they got far enough out in the pool for decent takeoff, they plunged under the water and swam as fast as they could to the deeper end of the pool. To both of his surprise, Richie won. He came up and waited for Rai to do the same. He didn't know why, but he really liked the way she looked soaking wet. "For someone from a city with just a public pool, yer pretty good," she said, smiling. "Thanks, I'm actually kind of surprised myself," he said, smiling nervously. Rai smiled at him. "Don't be. I didn't git to really swim a lot back home cuz all we were close to was the Mississippi river. You can't swim past a few feet out in the river cuz'a the current," she said. "Race you back?" he asked. "You bet, Blondie!" she said, taking off into the water yet again. Richie quickly followed her. Rai managed to win the race back thanks to her head start. As Richie tried to come up, Rai pushed his head under the water. He pushed her off and into the water. She came up and splashed him in the face. They went on like that for about ten minutes.
By that time, more people started coming. Richie noticed the eyes of several teenage boys intently following Rai's every move. It made him furious. Even though he did the exact same thing when she wasn't looking. He knew what they were thinking, because he'd probably thought it once or twice himself. The only difference was that Richie wasn't just another horny teenage boy. He was a lovesick teenage boy. He cared more about Rai then he cared about getting in her pants… er…swimsuit in this case.
"Hey, sweetie, you wanna come party with me?" one of them said. Rai ignored them and grabbed Richie's hand, pulling him to their table. They heard wolf-whistles from the direction they had just come from. The boy who had called out to Rai earlier came up behind her. He leaned on the table and both Richie and Rai could tell that he was looking down her top. "Come on, gorgeous, we can go somewhere private and have a special party, just us two," he said. "Leave her alone, moron," Richie said. "Why should I? She doesn't mind, do ya sweet thing?" he said. "If you weren't an idiot you'd see she does mind," Richie retorted. "Why's it matter to you? You screwing her?" he asked. Clearly he saw no need to filter his thoughts into non-offensive language. "That's none of your business. She's a girl not a piece of meat you can have your way with," Richie said angrily. Rai stood up and turned around. She locked the guy in a death glare and spoke in a voice that, in all honesty, Richie hoped he would never have to hear again. "Remember Mr. so and so, remember I'm a lady, not a sex object. You wanna screw a random girl, buy a hooker, but if you'd like to keep your manhood attached, I suggest ya leave me and Richie alone," she said. "Fine, maybe I'll get with a real hooter's girl instead of a hillbilly look-a-like," he said, trying to hide the fact that he was scared of Rai. Rai punched him once in the stomach. "I am not a hillbilly, you Yankee deadbeat jackass." She sat back down.
"That was awesome," Richie said. "Thank eight grade English. We worked on tha play Diary of Anne Frank," she said. "Nice," he said. Every day Rai got more amazing, although, now he would have to hide his stares even more carefully or risk castration…or possibly worse. "It was pritty sweet what you did. Thank you Richie," she said sincerely. Richie blushed. "Uh…no biggie, he was a jerk," he said. Rai smiled.
The moment was interrupted when they heard the chorus of "Gunpowder and Lead" coming from Rai's shorts. Rai grabbed her new cell phone from the pocket and looked at the caller id. She pushed the red end call button. "Who was it?" Richie asked. He'd never seen Rai hang up on someone before. "Someone I'd rather forget. I don't even know how she got my number," she replied. Richie was worried about Rai. If one of those jerks from her past had her number, she could be in big trouble. The same kind of trouble that gave her those scars. "Uh…does this person have a name?" Richie asked, hoping to get information. "It's really not somethin' I feel like explainin' right now," she said. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's alright. I just don't want her ta be the reason I cain't enjoy myself like a normal teenager," she said. "You're not normal?" he joked. Rai smiled and rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant, Richie," she said. "Let's get back in the pool," she suggested.
As they were getting up, Rai's cell phone rang again. This time, it played "Stand by Me." That was the ring tone she chose for Virgil's number, but he was still at the pool…somewhere. She answered the phone. "Hello?" she answered. "Hello, Rai. This is Virgil's father. Is he with you?" Mr. Hawkins answered. "Oh, Hi Mr. Hawkins. Virgil's here at the pool with me, Richie, and Daisy, but him and Daisy disappeared on us," she said. "I see. Well, could you find him and tell him he needs to come home for me?" he asked. "Yes sir, Mr. Hawkins. We'll tell him as soon as possible," she replied. "Thanks. I'll let you go so you can find Virgil," he said. "Yer welcome, Mr. Hawkins. Bye," she replied. "Goodbye," he said before hanging up. "What was that about?" Richie asked. "We have to-oh never mind, I see 'im" she replied. She went up to Virgil and told him what his father had said. "Alright. I'm just gonna walk Daisy home first then I'll head straight home," he said, "Guess you two are on your own." He and Daisy left together and Rai and Richie exchanged questioning glances. "That boy…he set us up. He just wanted ta git Daisy alone an' leave us by ourselves. I'm 'a give him the lesson of a lifetime tomorrow," Rai said. Richie put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. It's no big deal," he said. "Ugh, I know. Sorry," she replied. She turned to Richie and smiled. "Hey, let's get outta here. I feel like playin' Street Fighter now," she said. "Sounds good to me," he replied. They put their clothes back on and headed to the arcade.