SIMPLE TO THE MIND
Tyler
rapped impatiently on Val's door. "Are you coming or not?"
"You
know, Tyler," Val yelled through the door, "I would think if you were grateful
for me to come, you'd give me a break and realize you just told me we were
going on the boat two minutes and thirty-nine seconds ago. And please remember
that I couldn't find my swimsuit, so…" She threw open the door and tossed him a
towel.
"Thanks,"
Tyler said, before registering clearly that she was wearing a light yellow
swimsuit with a pale blue sarong tied around a slender waist. Of course, that
wasn't the issue. The issue was that the swimsuit was a two-piece. As in,
revealing stomach. As in, Tyler had a distinct feeling he was going to die
somewhere along the way of seeing his crush in a swimsuit. And it didn't
exactly help Val had a very nice, long torso. A very pretty torso.
"What are you
wearing?" he inquired. Val looked down.
"A
swimsuit. Usually worn by females, going swimming. And you know, that sounds
familiar. Well, minus the Cheerios."
Tyler
didn't answer, trying very hard to look at Val's face. Of course, that meant he
had to look into her eyes, and it wasn't easy to escape the capture of Val's
eyes unless she let you.
"Tyler?"
Val said, waving a hand in front of his face. "You there?"
"Yeah?
Yeah. Right. Let's go."
"Ready to go, kids?"
William stood up from his crouch examining the wood polish. Tyler briefly
covered his eyes with his hand, as if he was getting a migraine.
"Sure,"
Val chirped. She ran to the boat, Tyler following her.
"Tyler,
you've took the medicine, right?" William asked. Tyler nodded and put his head
in his hands as Val stifled a laugh. Tyler sat down on one of the seats and
leaned back, trying not to think about churning green water in relation to his
stomach. Of course, the churning wasn't purely because of seasickness.
"Tyler,"
Val whispered loudly, "I thought we were going on the sailboat?" Tyler opened
his eyes.
"Well,
we were," he told her, "but William's friend loaned him the speedboat for the
week, so, joyfully, we get to go on this." Eyelids fell shut over blue eyes as
Tyler's stomach protested sailing. "Val?" Tyler asked, eyes still closed,
"could you pass me the bottle of pills in the grocery bag? The one with all the
drinks in it."
Val
laughed and handed it to him. "Why is your medication with"—she checked the
bag—"vodka and brandy and… tea?"
"William
likes to have a 'cocktail' on the boat," Tyler said, popping two white tablets
into his mouth and swallowing them. "Apparently it relaxes him. The tea's my
mom's… and the medicine is mine." Val laughed again.
"Does
little Tyler need his medicine? Huh?" She started to tickle him. Tyler's eyes
flew open.
"Don't
you," he said between squirms, "dare…" He turned on Val and started to tickle her
in return, sending her into fits of giggles.
"Tyler!
Ow! TYLER!" was pretty much the sound of things for a few minutes until the
boat started. Well, there was also "You idiot!" and "Stop! Val! Come
on!" and of course, the usual "You are so dead!"
Things
rolled to a stop once Tyler found out they were going. He gagged over the side,
looking into the clear turquoise water.
"Please,
Tyler, don't puke," moaned Val, who was sure that she, then, would regurgitate
her breakfast at the sight of his.
"I'm
not," Tyler replied, swallowing the churned-up feeling in his stomach. "I'm
watching the fish."
"Right,"
Val said. "That's… nice." She sighed with relief as Tyler sat up again.
"I'm
okay now," he reassured her. "Just fine."
Silence.
"It's
beautiful," Val breathed, not aware it was as audible as she thought.
"Just
like you," said Tyler under his breath so she couldn't hear him. But sound in
wind carries, and voices are heard. Val looked at him oddly, wondering if her
ears had deceived her.
"I
bet the view's better at the front," Tyler said suddenly, changing the subject.
He grabbed Val's hand and pulled her forward until they stood at the rail,
watching the boat cut the water effortlessly into waves, parting the way for a
white diamond of a boat in the vastness of the sea.
"Doesn't
it make you more seasick?" Val questioned softly into Tyler's ear, the wind
blowing her blond hair into blue eyes squinted slightly against the wind. Tyler
tucked it behind her ear and whispered back.
"Not
when I'm with you."
Val
leaned into his chest as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
William,
behind them, driving the boat, nudged Charlotte Connell, Tyler's mother.
"Call
me crazy," William said, "but I think those kids have got it very bad for each
other."
"Not
crazy," answered Charlotte. Her blue-brown eyes watched the couple. "Tyler's
head over heels, and Val doesn't seem to be protesting."
"Someone
should set them up."
"Don't
even think about it," Charlotte told him firmly. The eyes moved to him instead
of the sixteen-year-olds. "Tyler may be gradually warming to you, but one blow
and that'll come tumbling. Especially if Val gets mad at him. Then you'll be in
for it."
"True."
William's answer agreed with her line of thinking, and he didn't want to have Tyler think of him as an
enemy again. Life would be very strained.
"Watch
the turn!" Charlotte's voice pulled William out of his thoughts, but Val and
Tyler barely noticed, watching the boat cleanly cut the waves and turn them
into frothing bubbles that raced behind them and then quieted, turning the
ocean once more into a calm mirror.