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My dad sawto happen He jued up the stairs, toward the shore, so I wouldn’t ruin his business suit His tie flapped over his shoulder He didn’t warn Mr Vader, who took a sip of beer as I slid past, spraying water probably fifteen feet in the air behind ht on top of him I didn’t want to turn my head to look, lose my balance, fall, and ruin the effect (chicken salad on bikini, hello) But I saw him out the corner of my eye, T-shirt and shorts soaked, beer halted inall the way up in the boat Sex-y I tried to calm myself and concentrate I wanted to try an air raley, which I’d been working up to last suood reason for Sean never to askout after an air raley Done correctly, I would hang in the air behind the boat for a few seconds with the board above my head I would then sail down the opposite wake and land sweetly Done incorrectly, it was a high-speed belly flop

When I busted ass (or tummy), Sean and the other boys would make fun of me for the rest of the boat ride, and would spread it around their party that night But they were so far away in the toy boat, and the drone of thecould hurt estured upward, which told Adam to tell my brother to speed up Adam knehat I planned to do and shook his head at ue with him about it He didn’t consult anyone before he tried a trick and busted ass If we stopped, Sean would insist my turn was over, and I’d be done for the day I wasn’t done So I noddedThen he turned around and spoke to her as the boat sped up I relaxed, relaxed, relaxed and let the boat and the wave do the work for me My muscles remembered what they’d tried to do last suht lance at the boat: four boys with their mouths open Then I alh point behind ravity down the opposite wave

Immediately I arced out and back to pick up speed, and did a 360 with a grab Landed it Then a 540 Landed it

I thought Iback into the boat Also, I didn’t want my arms to be so sore the next day that I couldn’t ride at all I signaled to Ada and dropped the rope The handle skipped away from me across the surface of the lake

As the echo of the motor faded away and I sank into the ater, I could hear the up in the boat, facingfor me "Yaaaaaaay, Junior!"

I had never been so happy in ot better

4

I bent over in the water to loosen the bindings, slipped my feet out, and kickedin front of me As I pulled myself up on the platform, Sean put out one hand to help me--totally unnecessary, since I’d climbed up on the platforht her everything she knows," he said loudly enough for the other boys to hear, but looking only at ave me his beautiful smile, a secret sain

"That’s bullshit," Cameron said

"I was the one who helped her h act to follow," Ada on his life vest I would have treasured this coh on Sean

But I was So I peeled off my life vest and dropped it on the floor of the boat, sat daintily in the seat where Adaers had a mind of their own, they bent inward and rubbed ain at the thought Or led because my body was still jacked from how hard I’d worked my muscles out on the water Either way, I felt so lovely and sated just then, with the sun inin for his turn

Because watching Ada He wasn’t careful akeboarding Or in general He was the opposite of careful His life was one big episode of Jackass He would do anything on a dare, so the older boys dared hiame was to run and tell their ht have saved Adam from a broken arm, several cracked ribs, and a couple of snake bites

Knowing this, it ht not make a lot of sense that Mr Vader let us wakeboard for the radually When we first started out, it waschildren on water skis! How adorable One ti double, each of us holding up an A now I can take it

But Mr Vader was no fool He understood things changed After the second time Adam broke his collarbone, Mr Vader put us under strict orders not to get hurt, because it was bad for business Custoer to buy a wakeboard and all the equipment if they witnessed our watery death To enforce this rule, the punish in the boat was that we had to clean the boat Adam cleaned the boat a lot last sunaled that he was ready to go I told Ca now He started too slow, and Adaet up too fast "Down," I called

"Coht in front of hih I’d heard this joke one billion times and didn’t think it was funny, I hing He laughed too

Adam had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder This hy I didn’t see a lot of hi the school year I was in all the advanced classes, and he definitely was not Sean had lots of fun with this The boys actually called Ada Disability) They called him SAS (for Short Attention Span) and Sassy and Sassafras They told hi for him He had a prescription to help him concentrate in school, but he refused to take it because it made him feel dead In other words, he was perfectly happy with ADHD Or he would have been, if the boys had left hiht he took stupid risks toslow in school Or maybe he was just like that The skull-and-crossbones pendant was perfect for hiraduated he could apply to pirate school

Cahtened the rope I told hiot up Immediately he told me to speed up, and I told Cameron Adam did a tantrum to blind, which meant he backflipped where he couldn’t see and ended with his back to the boat He preferred tricks with a blind landing He told ain, and I told Cae of his board, and ed not to fall

"Good save!" McGillicuddy shouted from the front of the bow

"Duuilty later about laughing, as I always did when I laughed at Sean’s , and I couldn’t help but laugh

When I looked back at Adaain, he was in the middle of a 540 to blind, which was fine, but for the love of God, he hardly had time to land before he hit the rails on the pontoon boat I waved to get his attention, then swiped naled for me to speed up

I told Cameron, "Adam would like to spend this summer in traction Speed up"