CLAIRE'S SWEET SIXTEEN was about as eventful as she'd anticipated it would be.

Our family, along with a handful of her friends, gathered in her family's dining room, watching her blow out the candles as we all sang and clapped. I liked when we all got together. The room felt warm, and full, shouts of happy birthday filling the air, too frequent for Claire to properly thank each one. I knew she was thoroughly enjoying herself, despite claiming that the party would be boring. Claire was sociable, and family-oriented—get-togethers like this were her happy place, especially when she had the chance to be the center of attention.

I had fun too, infinitely more comfortable in a room surrounded by loved ones than I was walking into Duncan Fitzgerald's house on Saturday night. But I found myself wondering what it would have been like if Will had been able to come. I was sure he would've felt out of place completely, so it was probably a good thing he was busy. Still, I couldn't deny I might've had even more fun if he was around. The amount of times I'd thought of him since the party was starting to become embarrassing.

Growing up, I hadn't been one for crushes. I was a bookworm in middle school—most of my attention was focused on fictional boys, rather than real ones, because living, breathing boys were intimidating, and seemed to have a habit of seeing straight through me. My personality made me far too reserved to attempt any semblance of flirting, and it was rare for me to even find someone I'd want to flirt with in the first place. A romantic relationship felt like something that would only happen in the distant future.

But now, all of a sudden, I wasn't sure that I wanted it to be quite so distant.

I couldn't shake the feeling that it was all fleeting—it had to be. It was impossible for it to be anything other than temporary. Despite this, there was still a lingering giddiness in my chest at the idea of seeing him again.

I'd kept an eye out for him at school earlier, not bold enough to intentionally seek him out, but I hadn't even caught a glimpse.

However, before I could truly let myself believe that Saturday really was my version of Cinderella, and the clock had officially struck twelve, he sent me a text.

My family had just arrived home from Claire's, and Murphy was treating me as though I was gone for a couple years, instead of a couple hours. I'd taken up residence on the floor of my bedroom, flat on my stomach, laughing and crinkling my nose as he persistently tried to lick my face, when the feel of my phone vibrating in my pocket distracted me.

Squirming a little, I fished it out of my jeans, nearly dropping it when I saw the message was from Will.

How was the birthday party?

Moments later, another one came through.

Still bummed I couldn't make it :(

Inexplicably, I felt my lips pulling up into a smile, a swell of warmth in my chest. I pushed up onto my elbows, biting the inside of my cheek as I thought of a response. Telling him I wished he were there felt too revealing.

It was nice, I typed back after a pause. Claire had a lot of fun, despite all of her complaining. How was your game?

He wasted no time in replying.

We won!! You should come watch sometime

The feeling of warmth spread, though I was quick to tell myself—once again—he was merely being polite.

There was a large part of me that wondered if this could all just be chalked up to pity. He'd only spoken to me in the first place to rescue me from Wayne Jones, and then he'd offered to come to Claire's party after overhearing her whine about the guest list. When he realized he couldn't make it, he'd offered an alternative. And maybe after the party, when I'd revealed that I essentially didn't have any friends apart from Claire, he'd felt bad for me. The idea that I was his charity project for the remainder of the school year, something he'd immediately drop once it ended, made my feelings of happiness dim significantly.

But I didn't think it was true. He'd told me he liked spending time with me. Though I wasn't entirely sure why, it felt genuine when he said it.

I forced myself to push the negative thoughts away.

That would be fun :)

A message came through quickly. If you're free tomorrow, do you want to hang out?

My eyebrows furrowed as I remembered his invitation before he stepped out of my car on Saturday. With Duncan and Naomi?

This time it took him a little longer to reply, and my stomach twisted nervously, wondering if I'd somehow said something wrong. But then his answer came through, and my heart jumped a little bit.

No, just with me

Brief pause.

If that's alright with you, of course

Before I could stop myself, a grin had blossomed on my face, and Murphy sniffed at my phone curiously, wondering at my change in demeanor. I didn't want to make it seem like a big deal, or like I was overly excited, so I waited a few beats before saying anything, calculating how I could be as nonchalant as possible.

Sure, let's do it, I said.

Great, we can figure out a plan at school tomorrow :)

I'd never read into smiley faces so deeply.

I texted him a parting word, before standing and flopping onto my bed with a sigh of contentment, my smile rooted in place as the majority of my doubts floated away, disappearing into the air like whispers in the wind.

After much deliberation, we decided to go rowing.

The skies were overcast, but the clouds were a nonthreatening light gray, and I hoped we would have a decent amount of time out on the water before we would have to worry about any sort of downpour. Joe Mullin, one of my dad's friends from when he used to work down on the docks, rented out boats for cheap, and he always insisted it was on the house whenever I came around. It was a bit early in the year to be going; the air was still cool with the lingering remnants of winter, unwilling to completely let go just yet, but I didn't mind.

We picked up the boat from Joe's place, then tugged it along the shoreline with the thick rope keeping it tethered to us, until we were a safe distance from the marina. Will held it while I crawled inside, then hopped in behind me after giving it a shove away from the water's edge. Effortlessly, we began to glide across the cool blue surface, waves gently lapping against the wood. I passed an oar to Will, and he took it, somewhat hesitantly.

I used the moment to study him, taking in the oversized hoodie draped on top of his thin frame, the tattered drawstrings making it look well-worn and well-loved. His eyebrows were furrowed ever so slightly, his lips pursed as he dipped the oar into the water awkwardly. His confusion was endearing. Pursing my lips together, I held back a smile as I watched him.

"How's it going?" I asked, voice light.

It seemed to take a second for him to discern whether or not I was teasing. With a proud look, he switched the oar over to the other side, causing droplets of water to splash onto our shoes. "Great, thanks for asking. How are you?"

My smile spread as I paddled with ease. "Great," I repeated.

A brief silence fell over us.

"Would you believe me if I told you I've never done this before?" he asked.

I lifted a shoulder, watching the water ripple on either side of my oar. "I wouldn't believe you if you told me you have."

My eyes flitted up to his, and I saw the startled look on his face, his mouth falling open at the unexpected jab. He laughed, and something danced in my stomach. "Hey," he protested. "I'm not that bad!"

I gestured to the water with my chin. "Here, watch me," I said gently.

He closed his mouth, gaze intent on me as I paddled, and we slowly eased into a soft rhythm, drifting further away from the docks.

"There we go," I remarked, nodding once. "You're a natural."

He smiled. "You're a good teacher."

I glanced up at the sky as a seagull cried overhead, and Will followed my eyes. When I looked down again, we made eye contact. Heat rose to my cheeks. At times, he could seem so carefree, and laid-back, but then at others, every inch of him seemed to have a purpose. It was as though when he looked at me, I could tell he really saw me, and wanted to make sure I knew I had his full attention. It wasn't something I was used to—I had grown accustomed to being invisible—but I liked the way it made me feel.

"I'm assuming you've done this a lot?" he said, and I nodded.

"My dad used to bring me out here all the time when I was younger."

Summers spent among the lapping waves were distant memories, and I cherished them. Hours on the water felt like minutes; I was content to lay down with my eyes closed as we drifted, and Dad fished off the side of the boat, humming hymns under his breath. It was one of the things that had changed after he got his injury.

Will read into my silence, and I realized my eyebrows had furrowed. "He must be busy with the shop."

I gave him a fleeting smile. "He is," I confirmed, my mind lingering in the past.

"Then we should come out here more often," he told me. "I like it. It's peaceful."

"I like it too."

We stayed relatively close to land, following along the shoreline, and I watched the cattails skitter with the breeze. I squinted at the sky again, trying to keep an eye on the clouds. They were already beginning to grow darker, and I felt a pang of disappointment. It seemed we wouldn't have as much time as I originally thought. The storm clouds were still a great deal of distance away, but after growing up in Cape Vincent, I knew how quickly they could roll in and catch you off guard.

Pursing my lips, I breathed deeply. "Hey, we should probably—"

I stopped abruptly when I felt the boat rock, squealing instead. Wide-eyed, I latched on to the sides of the boat, turning to stare at Will. He was grinning cheekily, both hands braced on the edge of the boat as well, and I gasped as he rocked it again.

"What are you doing?"

"Disturbing the peace," he said simply, shrugging.

"Stop!" I laughed.

He ignored my words, doing it again and causing me to shriek, but I quickly dissolved into laughter once more, and his grin grew impossibly larger. Waves splashed up as we swayed, spraying the sleeves of my raincoat, and leaving dark spots on Will's hoodie. I found that I couldn't seem to stop laughing, and it made me realize that it'd been far too long since I'd laughed that hard. Will was laughing too, unperturbed by the large ripples we were creating, and I imagined the fish beneath us were terrified.

"We're going to capsize," I managed to say, my cheeks beginning to hurt, and finally Will seemed to heed my words, bringing us to a stop.

"Alright, alright," he said. "I think I've been enough of a nuisance for one day. What were you saying?"

With a meaningful look, I pointed at the dark clouds overhead, and he made a disgruntled face. "Oh, shit," he said.

Moments after the words left his mouth, I flinched as a raindrop landed on the tip of my nose, and it was soon followed by more and more, until we were in the middle of a steady flow of rainwater. Will yanked at the hood of his sweater, pulling it over his hair as he winced, and I did the same with my raincoat. Gripping tightly onto my oar, I dipped it into the water and pulled with all my might.

"Paddle!" I called, still laughing.

"Aye aye, captain!" he called back, letting go of his oar momentarily to give me a mock salute.

Between the two of us, we were able to catapult ourselves back to shore against the downpour, through bursts of laughter, and low visibility. Joe Mullin was a small dot in a red jacket further down the shoreline, keeping an eye on us to make sure we got in alright. The second we got close enough to land, Will leaped from the boat, grabbing onto it and tugging it until it was secured in the sand, and I had to hold on to the sides tightly to keep from toppling over.

He held out his hand to help me climb out, and together we dragged the boat back to Joe's shack. My hood did little to protect me, and sections of my damp hair clung to my cheeks. I was wet, and cold, water squishing in my socks, but I found that I didn't seem to care.

Once inside of Joe's place, Will fished for his wallet in his back pocket, and when he reached forward, trying to pay for the boat, his hand brushed against mine. Of course, Joe didn't accept his money, sending us away with a dismissive wave of the hand and a smile, and we ducked back outside, heading in the direction of my car.

My heart was beating with adrenaline, and I didn't think I'd stopped smiling. Feeling bolder than I normally would in the cover of the rain, I reached for Will's hand, breaking out into a run and tugging him along behind me, laughing as he scrambled to keep up, warmth blooming in my chest at the sight of his smile.

I reminded myself that this was temporary.

But maybe temporary was okay.

┅

song: bella - angus & julia stone

thanks so much for reading ミ☆