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I set Juliet on her feet The water lapped at her stoue in her navel She fluttered her hands through the water and stared at the ripples

“You okay?” I asked

She cast a furtive glance around, then leaned up on her toes to whisper in my ear “I’ve never worn a two-piece before I’”

“Trust me, I won’t let that happen”

I crouched until the water was up to h the water “Let’s do a lazy lap to the end and back”

“All right”

We pushed off the edge and navigated our way through clusters of our classht on top of us Finally, we reached the other side Both of us clung to the ces back and forth

“This would be fun without everyone else here,” she said

“Uh-huh” I wanted to kiss her in the worst way Under the water, I grabbed her waist with my free hand and pulled her closer

“Hands above deck, Mr Hawkins!” someone shouted The principal? I wasn’t sure and didn’t bother to look Juliet drifted out ofheld at gunpoint

“Whoopsie!” Juliet whispered She slapped her hand over her hter

She pushed off the wall, slowly paddling toward the shallow end I followed behind her

In the middle of the pool, Vienna hooked her arm around Juliet’s shoulders and whispered in her ear

“Listen up!” one of the teachers shouted It took a few more tries for the noise to die down so she could be heard “We’ll be starting group tours down to Ladder Falls in about an hour It’s an easy hike but you’ll need sneakers or hiking boots”

She droned on and on with more information and a list of rules Most people seemed to tune out after the initial announcement

“Let’s grab lunch,” Vienna said She turned and splash-ran through the water to the steps

I stayed as close to Juliet as huainst each other under the water Juliet slipped on the first step out of the pool I was close enough to grab and steady her, keeping my hands on her hips all the way out of the water For safety purposes, of course

One of our class in ”

“Get out of my way,” I warned

He chest-bu to establish hi order I stared hio there, bro?”

He flinched Hesitated Glanced over his shoulder, looking for backup His buddies looked away, pretending to see nothing

“Hope she puts out,” heaway