Deep Betrayal

at his biceps. He wrapped his arms around myhips. I was waist deep before I knew it and tingling from toe to hairline.
    It was too late now. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. I dunked under, conscious of the muffled voices above me and the rush of churning water around me. The soft sound of leh, lee, leh, lee and then my name called out. “Lily.”
    I resurfaced with my chin up, my wet hair dragging down my back. A feathery touch glanced across my foot, and then someone was prying my legs apart and swimming through. My feet left the ground as I rose, involuntarily, out of the water, astride Robby’s broad shoulders. He started walking toward Scott while I struggled to keep my balance.
    “Chicken!” Colleen yelled as she scrambled onto Scott’s shoulders.
    Ah, crap, I hate this game . I’d had enough water wrestling for one lifetime—that was for sure. But before I could say no, Colleen and Scott were coming at me with better motivation than I could muster. Even though Scott could barely see without his glasses, he was taller than Rob so they had the advantage, and Colleen’s hands were like chicken claws, clenching and unclenching.
    “You’re going down, Hancock,” Scott said.
    No doubt .
    Colleen’s fingers laced through mine and her wrists bent to get better leverage.
    “Come on, Lily. You can take her,” grunted Rob from below. He held my feet like stirrups and tried to push me up to get the better of Colleen. All I could think about was how clumsy and awkward I felt with Rob struggling beneath me.
    Colleen rammed into me, and Rob staggered. The world pitched at a forty-five-degree angle and hung suspended for a second before I splashed into the lake, now deeper. Iron and silt tinted the dark water. The soft leh, lee, leh, lee filled my ears.
    “Again,” said Rob, but I backed away, treading water.
    “I don’t think Chicken is my game,” I said.
    “We don’t have to play, then,” Rob said. “Let’s do something else.”
    I sputtered water from my lips and pushed my hair off my face. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
    He put both hands on my arms and gave me a look that said something I didn’t want to hear. Oh, no. Oh, no no no . I turned one shoulder into his chest, laughing so I wouldn’t offend him. I looked to Colleen for support, but she and Scott had not-so-subtly turned their backs and were focusing on each other.
    “Listen, Lily, I was thinking—”
    “I already have a boyfriend,” I said, hoping it wasn’t a lie, hoping I wasn’t embarrassing myself by misreading where this was going. I turned toward the beach and swam until it was shallow enough to stand.
    Rob was still right there, but at least now it was his turn to look awkward. His cheeks flushed as the sun reflected off the water and up at his face. “That guy from up north?”
    “Jules told you?”
    “Yeah, but I guess I thought you were making him up.”
    “Oh, c’mon, Robby. Why would I do that?”
    “Well, you never dated anyone around here, and you weren’t up there for that long; I thought maybe you were only saying that because I hadn’t asked you.…”
    “My ego isn’t that fragile,” I said.
    “Oh, I know, I didn’t mean …” His hand was back on my arm.
    “Whatever.” I kept moving.
    “Don’t be like that. We’d be great together.”
    “Don’t be like what ?” I asked, spinning on him. “Reasonable? Not idiotic? We’re friends.” This would have been embarrassing if it weren’t so maddening. What was wrong with guys? It must by the Y chromosome. Even if this made sense, we were leaving for college in ten weeks.
    “Right! Friends!” said Rob. “We already like each other.”
    “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”
    Rob rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me?” He plucked at my bathing-suit strap, and I slapped his hand away.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “God, Lily, you are such a tease.”
    His words punched the wind out of me. “Take. That. Back.”
    “No,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “I won’t.”
    “What have I ever done to you?”
    “Exactly my point,” he said, his face turning smug.
    “Are you for real? Since when did you become such an ass?” I turned and slogged through the water, then marched up to the picnic table. Jules and Colleen were fighting over a chip bag. Sophie was nearby, burying herself in the sand. By the time I’d squeezed the water out of my hair, Scott, Zach, and Rob had resumed