Surviving My 19th Summer Ch. 01

"For fuck's sake, Dana! I don't care! I. Don't. Care. Look, I don't mind that you know. I thought I might, but I really don't. Besides, I suppose it makes sense that my beta is actually you; you're both hopeless teases."

I got up slowly and stepped backwards out of the tent. I was pleased to note that Dana's eyes latched onto our hands as I drew Robin up with me.

"By the way, I remembered why it was a bad idea..."

Dana looked up at me as I said that. Her eyes hardened and suddenly she was bold again.

"Well, what is it?"

I felt bad at having chewed her out so thoroughly, but at the same time, I didn't want to encourage her to irritate me. So I figured I'd come up with a solution for both.

"Isn't it obvious? Sarah would kill me if I did anything with one of you girls."

As the last word flew from my mouth, I knew I'd made a grave mistake. Time spluttered out and I experienced the same lack of pace as I had while fending off the shark. I saw Violet and Mandy's eyes widen in synchronicity. Mandy's mouth dropped open before it twisted into a savage grin. At the same time, Violet swung a hand up to slam her face into her palm. My eyes flicked over to Dana in time to see the beginnings of her smirk before they caught Robin's expression. It was torn between outrage and resignation.

'Oh flip-flops and flag-fangles, time for some damage control.'

As subtle as possible, I turned away from the tent and whispered in Robin's ear.

"Besides, you've got her beat. Quick, pretend you're upset, slap me, then meet me near the boat."

I was lucky to catch her relieved smile before she masked it with anger and slammed her fist into my jaw.

'Damn, I told her to slap me! But, she knows how to punch. She really knows how to punch...'

Rubbing my jaw, I watched her storm across the sand. I was interrupted from admiring the view by a scoff from Dana.

"Well, looks like that ship has sailed. Besides, you shouldn't worry about Sarah; I bet I can talk her 'round"

I rolled my eyes and limped after Robin to the tune of Violet's uncontrollable laughter.

As I approached the shore where I'd moored The Swift Fox, I noticed that Robin wasn't the only one waiting. Standing in front of my ship were Robin, Cleo and Sarah. Peals of laughter drifted up the beach to greet me. It was pretty obvious that Robin was relaying the evening's events to the other two.

'Well fuck. That is less than ideal'

Sarah was the first to notice me and it was clear from her face that she was there to apologise. Jogging uphill, she met me halfway to the shore and fell into step beside me.

"Listen," she began, "I was way out of line. It's been a long couple of days and... I'm sure you heard about what happened to Jacob. I know that it was wrong of me to drag up old shit like that and I don't think I ever actually thanked you for saving us. For saving me. Twice... So, are we cool?"

For a moment, all I could think was, 'what would happen if I said no', but I knew I'd never do that. It was just my sarcastic nature baring it's teeth at the idea of contentment. But I also knew something of what she was going through. I had lost my sister just two years ago, so the conflict I felt during that time was still fresh in my mind.

"Look, I understand. I'm not just saying it to placate you. I don't know whether Violet told you or not, but a few years ago Cassy died. I can understand a little bit what it must be like... I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, but you need to understand a couple of things."

I had stopped walking and faced Sarah with a supportive smile, but I couldn't stop my face from hardening as I lay down the law.

"For instance, this island? This is my domain. You may not agree with some of the things that I advise, but I always make safety a priority. If you have an issue, come talk to me first. Also, I want you to understand that I might not be able to get you all home right away, but I will do my best to do so soon. You have to understand, I had originally planned to stay out here for —"

"Look, I get it. Your island, your rules." Sarah had a broad grin on her face and I could tell that she had had a complete change of heart. "And I think that the girls and I can wait for a while, as long as we are sheltered and fed we'll be fine."

I wondered what she would say if I'd gotten a chance to finish telling her how long I planned on staying, but before I could say anything, Cleo and Robin approached us. With their arrival, Sarah's smile took on a far darker quality.

'Uh oh, this could get bothersome...'

"Jimmy, just one more thing..." I watched Sarah shoot me a beatific smile, masking the threat in her words. "You had better not take advantage of any of these girls, as you put it."

'Yep, I called it. But still...'

With a sly smirk creeping across my face, I wound Sarah a little further.

"So does that mean you don't mind if I take advantage of you? You know, since you're a woman, as I put it."

Sarah blushed for little more than a second before smacking me in the chest. It wasn't a particularly playful smack either.

"Look, if anything happens between you and me is different. If I remember correctly, I'm older than you anyway... But those girls are only Violet's age, I don't want to see you hurt them."

My face hardened to give Sarah an equally serious response.

"Look, Sarah... I don't know how you think I was growing up, but I can assure you that I am not the type of guy to go after easy prey."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't an equally serious response, given that I winked at her when I said 'prey'. Of course, the point became moot as Cleo and Robin finally reached us. Still, I enjoyed the flush on Sarah's face as she struggle to recovered from the sudden turn about.

Then Robin had to ruin it.

"Oh I see. I'm not enough for you, am I, big boy?"

She was only teasing me, but in that soft, pouty voice of hers she sounded like she was about to start crying. Sarah had been studiously examining the sand as she reined in blush, so she didn't see the smile Robin wore, or the mischievous glint in her eyes. With an eerie aura, Sarah turned that false beatific smile on me again.

"Care to explain, big boy?"

Her eyes were creased shut in her smile, but when she opened them it was like her entire face changed. The broad smile became gritted teeth and her open eyes glare daggers at me.

"Wow, where did that come from."

'I am a fearless bastard; I am a fearless bastard... fearless... bastard. Oh fuck, I'm just a bastard...'

"Anyway! Robin was just teasing." I frantically tried to get that creepy smile off me, "Look, she's smiling! Really!"

Cleo was hiding a snicker behind one hand and making whipping motions at me with her other hand. I had always resented people who claimed their friend were 'pussy-whipped', but I was beginning to see that the phrase had merit. Hell, I was barely on speaking terms with Sarah and she still had me dancing to her tune.

Sarah's face relaxed after getting a glimpse at Robin, but it didn't last for long. All of a sudden, the exertions of the past few hours caught up to me and I felt my left leg spasm. The girls were still talking to each other as we walked back to camp. I barely had time to get two words out before I collapsed face down, in the sand.

"Well fuck,"

My eyes fluttered slightly, but I couldn't bring myself to open them. I began to panic when I realised I couldn't feel my left leg. A shudder ran through me and I felt an odd swelling in my throat. Tears caught in my eyes tried to stream down my cheeks, but I refused until I could actually see the damage. With a groan that sounded more like a whimper, I willed my eyes to open.

Suddenly, there was movement all around me. I felt something press down on my shoulders and something else start stroking my hair. It took me a second to realise that I wasn't the only one there, or the only one making noises.

Soft cooing was drifting down to me from somewhere above me. A short distance to my left, someone was making 'shh'ing noises over someone else's crying. Someone was attending to something right beside me They were quiet about it and I felt phantom pains where my left thigh should have been. I groaned again and winced internally as it sounded only slightly more masculine. I tried to wriggle my toes and felt a brief connection before the person beside me did something.

Fire shot through my thigh. As if to compensate for my unmanly groans, I release a grunt and my eyes shot open. I glimpsed my tarp overhead and strands of dark brown hair impeding my view before I squeezed my eyes shut in pain.

"Is someone pouring hot sauce into my wounds!"

It suddenly got very quiet with the exception of my panting and a few wayward hiccuping sobs from my left.

"Foghorns and frangipanis, that hurts!"

I heard the hiccuping sobs transform into a hiccuping laugh. Slowly, my eyes opened to show Sarah's smiling face leaning over mine.

"Welcome back, big boy."

My face twisted into a wry grin as looked around. Sarah and Robin were pressing down on my left and right shoulders respectively. My head was resting in Dana's lap as she stroked my hair and Cleo was crouched at my waist. She shot me a quick grin before continuing to tend to my leg. Mandy and Violet were sitting off to my left. I could see that Mandy had been comforting Violet. I caught Violet's eye as she hastily wiped the tears from her face.

I was still in a great deal of pain, but I could tell the girls (except possibly Dana) were really worried. Even Sarah had only given me a small smile before turning her troubled gaze back to Cleo's work. I needed to lighten the mood.

"Hey! What's Cleo doing down there?"

I hammed it up as much as possible and was rewarded with some giggles and a soft smile from Robin. Not really expecting a response, I continued.

"Sarah, are you seeing this!? And you were worried about me taking advantage!"

More giggles and an indignant blush from Sarah. I saw a stifled smile flit across Cleo's face. It wasn't enough.

'I need a pratfall partner, I need —'

My thoughts interrupted by a stroke of fortune. And a particularly strong stroke of my hair.

"Of course, big boy. Why do you think we've been calling you big boy?" Dana scratched my head reassuringly, "Once we cut those shorts off you, everyone else got a good look at that monster you've been hiding."

My face paled as I realised she wasn't just trying to cheer everyone up. A quick glance around confirmed it; the girls were all blushes or smirks. I started to panic for a different reason, but Dana didn't stop talking.

"I never realised that you had been basing your characters around yourself. Why did you think Violet was crying? She was just thinking about —"

Dana's words had taken a moment to sink in, but the moment they did, I heard Violet shriek. Dana started to chuckle at that. She clutched her sides and leaned back. In that moment, I jerked my body up, surprised Sarah and Robin enough that their hands slipped off my shoulders. Just as managed to get a glimpse of my shark bite... and exposed fishing tackle, Dana managed to get a hold on my hair and dragged me back down.

"You don't need to see that, tough guy..." I saw a brief grimace flit across her face and knew that she was trying to help in her own way. Maybe not cheering up, but she was definitely a distraction. However, just as I started to praise her mentally, a wicked gleam filled her eyes.

"You know, your face looks pretty good with my thighs on either side of it. We should do this again sometime."

I was about to retort when I heard Cleo gasp. I looked down at her, but she just kept working. A small blush was growing on her though and it almost seemed like she was avoiding my gaze.

'She actually looks really cute like that...'

Dana had been stroking my hair but she suddenly stopped. At the same time, I heard a chorus of gasps from the girls. I was worried for a second before I saw Stacy and Tara approaching with a pot and a stack of paper cups. I incorrectly assumed the other girls were reacting to the new arrivals. Well, they were responding to an arrival, but it wasn't them.

"Well, well, well..."

Dana's soft muttering caused me to follow her gaze. What I saw made me close my eyes in defeat. Rising into my line of sight from where my head lay on Dana's lap was... My dick.

'Fucking hell, you always pick the worst times...'

A far more exasperated groan left my mouth as my dick languorously rose. It didn't make it all the way, which was probably worse. Due to the lack of rigidity, my semi wove back and forth, threatening to swing into Cleo as she dressed my thigh.

"The fuck..?"

I didn't need to look to know that Stacy and Tara had gotten close enough to see around Cleo.

END PART 1