Obviously, I was the first one down the lake. I didn't run as fast I could have because I didn't want James or Case getting any odd thoughts in their heads. Such as, "Hey, my girlfriend just ran down to the lake in less than two milliseconds, you think there might be something wrong with her?" Yep, that'd go over real nice.

The lake was a fairly good-sized area of water. It was settled in the middle of a valley with tall trees and hills as a border. There were a few other people in the water, but not many, which was good.

I sped down the hill, barefooted, as the grass poked up in between my toes. Without a moment's hesitation, I threw my towel on the ground and jumped off the edge of the pier.

For a moment, everything was so dark and quiet, I believed myself to be unconscious. Yet, I quickly shook the feeling off and surfaced underneath the early afternoon sun, sending the water flying as I laughed gleefully.

Case was already standing beside the edge of the water, removing his worn leather sandals. In the background, I could see Max coming along, followed by James.

I dog-paddled over the edge of the water and grinned up at Case. "Looks like James is the one getting dunked-huh?"

He glanced behind him and nodded slowly as if he had to think about what I was asking him. "Yep." Then he paused and looked closely at me, attempting to understand what he could not. "That was some run there. You made it down here pretty fast."

"Yeah I was in track at school," I told him. Then, before he could question me further, I added, "Also in the swim team." And with that, I plunged back underneath the water and disappeared from his view.

From my position under the water, I could look up through the glassy surface and see Case standing above with Max slowly coming up to him. I wondered if she had told him about me. Most likely not. Even though she could be rude and ditzy sometimes, I don't think she would have betrayed such a secret without my permission.

I waited under the cool water until I saw James approaching. Then, with a giant kick, I propelled myself out of the water and grabbed him by his ankles.

"Yaaahh!" he screamed in surprise as my cold hands made contact with his skin.

"Time to get dunked!" Max laughed.

Case came up behind James and grabbed James by his shoulders. "You want to plead for mercy?"

"Never!" James defiantly cried.

"Ok, Alanza! You got him!" Case told me. Then, he gave James a push, while I pulled him in. James flew over my head and landed in the water right behind me. He sputtered before surfacing and shaking his head to get the water of out his eyes. It was the second time I had seen him soaked since we started dating only yesterday.

Case ran to the end of the pier, tucked his knees up and cannon-balled into the water. Meanwhile, James was sneaking up behind him and pushed his head under water as soon as Case surfaced. Both guys went underwater, spitting and laughing. Soon, I heard their playful screams as they challenged each other to an underwater duel.

Max was sitting on the edge of the pier, swinging her feet in the water in an utmost lazy matter when I swam up to her. "Having fun?" I asked her as we both watched the boys go at it.

She laughed. "Yeah."

"Max?"

"Hmm?"
"Have you told Case about me?"

"No. Why?"

"I was just wondering," I admitted.

"Nope. Haven't told him nothin'."

"He's Tinga's son-isn't he?"

"Yep."

"That's what you meant when you said that you've only found one another person-right?"

"You're too smart, 'lanzie, girl."

"I try." At that moment, James and Case emerged from their underwater battle and swam up to us.

"You want to play Chicken?" James asked us.

I looked at Max, shrugged, then back at James. "Why not?"

We moved to a shallower end of the lake where James and Case could touch the bottom. Hesitantly, Max and I got on their shoulders as they danced around each other. "Don't you dare drop me," I warned James as we moved around the water, creating splashes.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Unless of course, Max gets to you first." He tightened his grip around my ankles just for added security.

I laughed. "Let's hope not."

Max and Case came at us, ready to fight. She tried to push me off, but I stood…er…sat my ground. I wouldn't let her win.

James headed back at Case, and I grabbed Max by the shoulder. "Hang on, James!" I told him. With a hard shove, I sent Max flying into the water with a splash, and Case toppled over right behind her.

James laughed loudly and gave me a high-five. I raised my arms above my head in triumph and gave a war cry. "Great job, Alanza," he said to me. With that, I pushed myself off his shoulders backwards and landed in the water.

I kept myself underwater long enough to make James forget that I was even there while he began to keep on the lookout for Max and Case. Most likely, those two were looking to get us back for winning the game.

Hovering underneath the clear water for a minute-due to my increased lung capacity-I swam slowly up to James' ankles. Quickly I grabbed them and pulled him under. I heard his scream of protest and then he was facing me underneath the water.

From our position in the water, I pointed the Case and Max, both who were ignoring James and I at the time. I balled my hands into fists and made a jerking motion downwards, indicating for us to pull them under. James gave me a thumbs-up in the water, and we both began to breast stroke to our unsuspecting victims.

Fortunately, the water was clear enough that we could see their ankles without having our eyes being burned out from staying opened underneath the water. James and I were about three feet behind Case and Max when he glanced over at me for affirmation. I gave a curt nod, and we both pushed forward violently.

There was a loud scream as Max tried to twist of out of my grip. I just pulled her down harder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James surfacing for air while Case swatted him and white froth spewed everywhere around them. Max was attempting to push me away and managed to do so because I wasn't trying that hard, and I came up for air.

She glared at me, "What were you doing? Trying to kill me?"

"Trying," I replied sarcastically. We both burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, James had wrapped his arms around Case as if in a poor bear hug, preventing Case from hitting him. "Let me go!" Case cried right before James pulled him under the water. There was a big splash, which was large enough to hit Max and I even though we stood a good distance away. Case's head appeared above the water, and he was frantically kicking his legs underneath the water. I could see James desperately hanging onto his friend's ankles so that Case too, would be forced underwater. There was another large splash and both of them disappeared.

"Boys," Max groaned.

"Will be boys," I finished for her.

We swam over to the pier and crawled out of the water so that we could jump back in.

I let Max go first. She entered the water with a perfect pike dive and there was barely a splash. Propelled by her powerful dive, she floated out to the middle of the lake where she surfaced and treaded water, grinning up at me. "C'mon, 'Lanza."

"I'm coming," I told her. I took a deep breath and ran off the end of the pier. At the very end, I pushed myself upward before curling into a tiny ball. Unlike Max, the entrance I made wasn't nearly as subtle. Water splashed everywhere. Even James and Case, who were standing on the sidelines, became more soaked than they already were.

I came out of the water next to Max, and she grinned wryly at me. "Nice dive," she commented, but watched James and Case approaching the pier.

"I can only try," joked.

James went before Case and walked very stoically to the end of the pier. He curled his toes over the worn wood and dived in with one powerful thrust.

But when he entered the water, I must have been the only one to hear his outcry of, "Shit!"

Confused, I was about to swim over to him to see if he had hit his head or something had happened to him, but stopped when I saw what was really wrong.

A pair of red trunks with faded pink spots bobbed to the surface of the water-without anybody wearing them. James scurried over to try and capture his lost shorts, but they had floated over to the shore where Case was. Seeing his friend's distress, Case bent down and picked the trunks up.

James, meanwhile, was sitting underneath the pier, his body as far underwater as he could get it. His hands were also underwater to provide some protection against anyone seeing him.

"You want these back?" Case called to James.

"Very much so."

"Here then, I don't have much use for them." And with that, Case balled the trunks up and tossed them at James. They hit the water with a sickening splat, and James timidly went over and got them. He stood upright and slid them on. If I had wanted to, I would've been able to see his bare rear from my point of view. But, I figured the second date wasn't appropriate for that kind of intimacy.

We all swam for the rest of the afternoon until the mosquitoes grew so bad that we were forced to retreat back up to the camp. Wrapping my towel around my cold body, I began to walk back up the hill. James came running up to me and rested his arm around my cold shoulder. "You're so warm," I told him.

"I'm still burning from em-bare-ass-ment," he told me.

I pulled him closer and felt the heat radiating from his body. "Well in that case, you can stick with me for the remainder of the night, 'cause I'm freezing."