Dave jumped off Clint's shoulders and dove in to find me. When he did he grabbed a hold of me and I did the same, but not able to realize my strength clung onto him and pushed us down to the bottom of the lake. By that time panicking and being underwater for so long began to pay its toll. My air supply was pretty low. Dave had to think fast. In one hand he grabbed both my arms so I couldn't move them and keep us underwater for longer, and he put his other arm around my waist and stood up and brought me to the surface. I clung onto him for fear he might drop me and gasped for air. I was finally able to reunite with it.
"It's okay, Melissa, I've got you, your safe" he said in a reassuring voice.
I couldn't say anything though the coughing fit I was having and the tears I was crying. He carried me all the way back to the beach before he set me down. I didn't really want to let go of him, but I had to. I could see he really cared about me. He had a really scared look in his eyes. Once he set me down he told me, "Melissa, don't you ever do this to me again."
I nodded my head agreeing. After a few minutes I was okay again. I reassured everybody that I was fine and insisted we stay at the beach. We decided to quit our chicken fight game and move onto something else.
Bob approached Karin, "do you want to go for a boat ride with me, I'll do the rowing?" We had brought a dingy along with us.
"Naw Bob, I'd rather stay with Melissa to make sure she's alright."
"No Karin go, I don't want to tie you down, besides I have Dave here if I need anything," I answered.
"Sorry Bob, I don't really feel like going for a boat ride now. Maybe next time," she let him down in the nicest way possible.
Bob looked a little hurt, but it only showed for a second. "Fine, suit yourself," he said and turned to Clint and said, "come on Clint, lets go play Titanic."
"Okay, but I get to be Jack and you're Rose because you have long hair," replied Clint.
"Remind me to cut my hair sometime," said Bob, obviously a little disappointed that he had to be Rose, and with that they were off.
We stayed at the beach for a few more hours, building sandcastles and playing in the shallow water. At about supper time we packed up and went back to the campsite.
~*~*~
That night around the campfire Karin and Scott brought their guitars out and we did some singing. We passed the guitars around and everyone had a chance playing them. Even I had a guitar lesson. I don't play guitar, I found it quite difficult to switch from one chord to the next, but they informed me that it takes practice, so I'll take their word. After that we roasted marshmallow's again, and then Karin decided she wanted some hot chocolate . "Hey you guys, you didn't happen to bring some hot chocolate did you, we forgot ours?"
"Yeah, it's in the cupboard above the sink. Do you want me to come with you?" asked Bob.
"No that's okay. I'm a big girl I can do this by myself. Besides I was just going to put the water on to boil, but if you want you can help bring everybody's hot chocolate after it's made."
"Okay."
"So who wants hot chocolate?"
"Me."
"Me."
"Me."
"Me."
"Me, myself and I," answered Clint.
"Sorry Clint, you only get one."
"I know, we're all the same person."
"Last year you weren't." We all laughed.
She took a little longer than expected. She probably got the cup and stuff ready so she wouldn't have to spend too much time with Bob.
"So Melissa, do you want me to teach you how to swim tomorrow?" asked Dave.
"Is it hard?"
"Naw, it's Wednesday tomorrow and it's supposed to rain on Thursday, so it's now or never."
"Do you have to be in the deep water?"
"Only if you want to pass the test I give you?"
I felt challenged, but I also didn't want to risk drowning again. "I don't know."
"You can decide that once you know how to swim, okay?" he said smiling.
"Okay."
Karin came back and then a little later her and Bob left to go get the hot chocolate. After she finished her drink, Bob asked her if she wanted to go for a walk, and she again brushed him aside, and said she was tired and went to bed, as did the rest of us.
The next morning Karin and I slept in. The guys were up and Clint, Dave and Scott had just come back from their showers. The problem was they couldn't sit still as if they were itchy or something. Karin broke out into laughter.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh, you know when I went to make hot chocolate yesterday, well while I was in the trailer, I put itching powder in their boxers,"she explained.
"That's funny, but why?" I asked seriously.
"Last year they snuck into our trailer and took all my underwear, and hung it up for everyone to see, plus it was raining."
"Oh, I see," and I began to laugh.
"What?" whined Scott who saw us laughing.
"Think really hard about last year," she answered.
"Oh, I get it," said Clint.
"Get what," asked Dave.
"Why we can't sit still. She put itching powder in our boxers."
"Yeah, but why isn't Bob affected.....Ewe you didn't change your boxers yet?"
"Sue me, for not going for a shower yet. I didn't want to wait in line then have no hot water," he complained.
"That's okay Bob you can come with us," I invited him.
~*~*~
That afternoon we headed out to the beach again with one thing in everyone's mind: to teach me how to swim.
"First of all you can't be afraid to get wet," instructed Dave.
"I'm not."
"Okay, water fight everyone," yelled Scott.
So that's what we did. Then everyone decided to teach me, and they were all showing me something different and I didn't know what to think. Then the guys were getting mad at each other saying, ‘you're not teaching her right.' And then they got into this huge argument. Dave got pretty disgusted. "Look, I was the one who asked her if she wanted to learn how to swim, so I'm going to teach her," he yelled.
"Spaz why don't you," said Karin keeping her cool.
The rest of them left, and Dave was free to teach me. "Okay this might sound stupid, but first we are going to show you the flutter kick. Now since we don't have a flutter board, I'll hold your arms, and all you have to do is kick okay?"
"Sure."
So he held my arms and I kicked.
"See it's not that hard is it?"
"No," I smiled.
"Okay, next you have to paddle your arms like this," he said, showing me in the air the what he called ‘bent arm pull stroke,' and I copied. Then he had me try the stroke kneeling in the water. Once I got the hang of it, he demonstrated how you put both actions together. "Now you try."
"Do I have to put my face in the water?" I asked stalling for time. I wasn't afraid of putting my face in the water, but afraid of the outcome of the question, what if I can't swim?
"Are you sure I can do this?"
"Yes you can!...now go before I drown you," he said in a joking manner.
"Okay, okay, don't get your girdle in a knot," I muttered.
So I tried it. It worked a little! I was swimming!
"Okay, good try, now all you've got to do is relax. You don't have to move your arms so fast. Your not going to sink. It's not a race. Your kick is good though."
I tried it again. This time more relaxed, it felt better and I went farther. It was more graceful. Dave was pleased. After that he showed me how the breathing worked. I practised that a bit and caught on quickly. Last he showed me I could do the front crawl without putting my head in the water, which was really easy. I could finally swim!
"So your lesson is over now. I taught you the very minimal of swimming. One thing always to remember in deep water is to kick your legs. That will keep you pretty much afloat. So do you want to take your test now or later?"
"Um can I practise a bit?"
"Sure, take as much time as you need," he answered, obviously a patient guy.
We went back to the beach and joined the others. "So Melissa, you want to show me your swimming?" asked Bob, as he did this wink, wink, nod, nod, thing indicating he wanted to talk to me.
"Sure, you'll help me practise right?"
We wet off for the water. "What's up with Karin, why won't she do anything with me, and why is she such a fun person to be around in a group?"
"I don't know. You know on the plane when I said I thought she liked you the best, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there is someone she likes that she hasn't told me about, and doesn't want to hurt you be turning you down."
"Yeah maybe, but how does she know I might ask her out, unless you told her."
"I didn't say anything. I never even told her you like her, but it's kinda obvious you do, unless she actually likes you but is too scared to admit it, and if you asked her out, she wouldn't be able to turn you down, and she's scared to go out with someone."
"Hmmm, I like your second theory better, it makes more sense. She's never had a boyfriend before..."
"And she's also told me, that if she was to be in a relationship, she would want it to be a lasting one, so she may be scared that if something happens and you guys and you break up it could ruin your friendship. And what about the fact that your never around, and have thousands of girls in love with you."
Bob nodded his head, "I guess I have a lot to think about and consider. It seems that I'm the bad guy."
"No your not, maybe not being in each others faces all the time is a good thing, she's never been in a relationship before, so it won't be too much for her."
During our conversation I practised my swimming. Bob even had me swimming in the deep end a bit. Soon I figured I had enough practise. We went back to the beach, where I told Dave I was ready for his test. He said he had to quickly get something from the campsite and when he was back he'd give me the test. Before he left he pulled Karin aside and talked to her for a minute. When he was gone, Karin and I decided o go for a ride in the dingy.
Once we were out at sea, Karin asked me, "so what did you and Bob talk about for so long. You weren't swimming for the entire time. You don't like him now, do you?" she teased.
"No I don't like him," I stated firmly.
"I'm curious, what were you talking about?"
"Your not jealous now are you?" I said teasing her back, and trying as hard as I could to avoid the question.
"No, tell me!!!"
"Stuff."
"Like what?"
"Oh, you know swimming, life, you, music, etcetera, etcetera," I answered as plainly as possible.
"That wasn't so hard was it....wait a second, you talked about me?"
Darn she noticed, "Yeah."
All the sudden a head appeared from the water infront of the boat. Karin and I were too busy talking and were caught off guard. He gripped the tube and said, "your test begins now. Swim to shore." While saying that he flipped us off the boat and into the water!
"Dave you psycho hose beast!!!!" I yelled before hitting the water.
