y. After a few days, she had accepted that she might never see him again. She walked to and from school wit

, the most common was by foot. The only time people go by car was to go out of town, or if you're a Ludlow or

ey heard them laughing, jumping into the lake, and splashes of water. They were teenagers, a bit older than them, not from their area, sure enough, her eyes were immediatel

her way and made gestures to each other because they recognized who

She noticed scars on his arms, back, and some on the sides of his abs. It was the first time she had ever seen a male body up close without clothes o

enjoying a nice day out at the lake," h

" Charlie g

hile," he mentioned the same thing

chool ... where have you been, Tommy?" Tom shook hands wit

ladies ... do you want to join us in the water?" he took a chanc

should really get b

fun," said Charlie. There w

t and grabbed it. Mandy and Kayla went along with her, it seemed like something worth trying. They took off their shoes and trotted into the water with their clothes still intact. Cha

," she said still holding his hand firmly,

to kill me," Tom sai

e might never have tried it. Regardless of what her mom had told her, Tommy's

as the result of her telling him that she couldn't swim. Getting her into the water was one thing, but if she was injured in a

it made her shiver, her body never done that before. But he was suffocating her, she p

..." he lifted his a

ave her alone!"

riends like they've known each other for a long time. Mandy and Kayla seemed to enjoy themselves as much as she did. They choked on the water a few times, but that didn't preve

into the water. When she didn't emerge from the water, Tom's face was drained of blood. He ran as quickly as he coul

ly scared me there," he wasn't laugh

've only just met. She had no idea he wasn't trying to be cute. "You know, Tom's

had no idea,

sest friends for the longest time. Charlie turned to look at Tom who was goofing around with the others in the water, she didn't realize how tragic his childhood was. "That's prob

e lake for more than two hours, it was time t

uicide," Char

lly care of the consequences, he was happy e

I'll go with Mandy and

ripping wet, the lines of her body were visible through her wet dress an

ow ... we'll see," she

thinking about when he first saw her, but then he just found out how adventurous she was, how easy she blends in with his friends, how easy sh

nd found the girls soaking wet. "Charlene Ludlow?! Where on earth have you been? I'd been worried sick for you, I even called Mrs. Cooper and God forbid, I alm

, "You were with that boy, weren't you?" it was h

zing water from he

ll me the truth or I swe

e lake and thought it was a nice day

g about 'the boy', they excused themselves to go home before Mrs. Ludlow burst out into flames. "Scrub yourself nice and clean, young lady, w

he found out things about him, the more she wanted to know him. She loved the way he gave special attention to her, the way he looked at her. She often found him looking her way, even though he sometimes pretend