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It’s a sticky August day. Bees bump lazily onto flowers, and birds sing merrily in the trees. Riza sighs in relief as she and Roy reach the stream in the woods behind her home. Her shirt clings to her back with sweat and she can feel her face flushed by the midday sun. The stream sparkles in the sunlight, and Riza has never seen anything more inviting.
Roy groans. “Goodbye, Riza. I’m diving in and never coming back up.”
“No, you aren’t,” she laughs. “You’d ruin your hair, and you’re much too vain for that.”
He places a hand to his heart in mock pain. “You wound me.”
Riza shakes her head. “And if you dive in, you’ll crack your head on the rocks. Look at how shallow it is.”
“Where’s your sense of whimsy?”
Riza pulls off her shoes with a smile. “It’s too hot for whimsy.”
Away from her father’s watchful eye, they could drop their polite formalities and simply act as friends. The weight that lifted from Riza’s shoulders whenever she left the house is delicious.
They roll up the legs of their trousers and climb down the grassy bank, wading into the stream. Riza sighs as the cool water laps at her bare legs. “This is perfect.”
“I take back what I said.” Roy groans again. “You’re always full of good ideas.”
Riza glances over at him. He hasn’t rolled his trousers high enough, and the shallow water has begun to soak through the fabric. His eyes are closed and his head is tilted toward the sky; the sun shines through the trees and light dapples his face. Riza feels herself flush and she looks away. Ever since she turned fourteen she has found her gaze lingering on Roy in a way she knows is impolite. A splash of water rains down on her face, shocking her from her reverie.
Roy stares at her with a funny expression on his face: a little sheepish, as if he didn’t know if he had overstepped a boundary, but very mischievous, as if he was quite pleased that he had.
“You splashed me,” Riza splutters. Water drips down her hair and runs down the bridge of her nose. She stares at him, mouth agape for a moment, unsure of what she should do.“You shouldn’t have done that.”
The spark dims in Roy’s eyes. “Oh. Oh, sorry I didn’t mean—”
He cuts himself off when he sees her wicked grin and doesn’t have time to duck before she splashes a wave of water right back in his face.