(4) Fireworks on the Sound

As the evening sea air whips at my face, I pull my black cardigan more closely around my increasingly suntanned shoulders, and watch the water froth down below me at the edge of the boat. Charissa and I are waiting for the Fourth of July fireworks to start, as we move closer to the middle of the sound in her father's boat.

We are both silent for a moment, taking in the salty air and lost in our own thoughts.

"So how long do you think it's going to take to get him?" I turn around to face Charissa. After a second I figure out what "him" means and I smile.

"Who knows, maybe forever." I hadn't really thought much about Jeff Waters for the past few weeks.

Charissa laughs cheerfully. "1 think you just need to forget about him and enjoy the summer. Maybe you'll meet some other guy while he's away."

"Maybe," I tell her, rather doubtful.

"I think you and Jeff would make a great couple though." She glances up at the sky which is dimming by the second. I watch how her hair lift up on the wind, then fall back gently around her shoulders.
Charissa is one of the most loyal people in my life. So far she is the only person I have told about Jeff Waters and the only person I have never had had a tight with. She seems always to be the peacemaker in the group, not wanting anyone to be unhappy.

"What about you'?" I ask, nudging her slyly. "Who do you have your eyes on? The guy you sat in front of in Biology?"

She wrinkles her nose. "Oh gosh, no!"

Then she smiles, "There is this one guy who I've talked to a few times." "Charissa!!! You never told me!!"

"He's just the son of one of the guys my dad works with," she says, suddenly shy.

"Good guys are hard to come by," I sigh. "They're either too young, too old, too fat, too skinny, too gay, or too annoying."

Charissa bursts out laughing which starts me going, and soon we are both falling over on the deck of the ship, laughing until our stomachs ache. As we gaze up at the stars, we are clearly in a mood where everything is funny.

"Charissa?" We both sit up to see Charissa's dad standing a few feet from us. His hands are in the pockets of his crisply creased khaki pants.

"Yeah dad?" Charissa stands up.

"You'll never guess who just pulled up next to us! Don Hastings and his son, Rick! Perfect! Hastings and I have some things to talk about and you can entertain his son!" He whistles to himself as he patters downstairs in his faded, old topsiders.

I look at Charissa who is looking at me. For a second we are silent, then burst out laughing. And then, she freaks.
"Oh, my gosh!!!"

"That's him? Rick?" I ask.

"Do I look all right? Oh my gosh, if I knew he was going to come I would have worn my other pair of khaki shorts! I can't do this, I am soo nervous! Thank goodness you're with me! Oh gosh, that's him in the light blue, button-down shirt!"

"You look fine," I say laughingly. But I am growing kind of nervous, too. Three is always a crowd and I am not in the mood to be the odd one out. I watch the boat on the other side of us approach, and the two fathers tie them together side by side.
We don't have too much time to primp and prepare because after two minutes Rick and other figure step onto Charissa's boat.

Charissa kicks me excitedly. We both were still freaking out. I can't tell who the other person is next to Rick until they come closer and then I realize it was another guy - in navy blue shorts and a white button down.

"Hey Charissa," Rick calls out, flashing his perfect smile. He introduces his friend, Brett Hayes, from Greenwich and before I know it Charissa and Rick have run downstairs to get some soda, leaving me in the awkward position of sitting next to Brett.
But it doesn't take long before Brett and I have exchanged AOL screen names and he has invited me to a party with a bunch of his Brunswick friends next Saturday night at the Belle Haven Club.

Then as Brett and I talked mostly about playing lacrosse and summer possibilities, I study his profile. He is EXTREMELY ATRACTIVE! Blonde and tan of course, with perfect teeth and a boyish sparkle in his eyes that makes his easy to talk to, and very alluring. I can't stop watching those eyes.

Charissa and Rick return with the soda and soon we hear a loud boom and see the sky light up. As the fireworks shoot up displaying large rings of blue and red, we lie down on a blanket so our only view is the colorful flashes in the sky. Brett lays his head on the opposite side of the blanket from me so that when I put my head down it bumps gently into his, which just makes us laugh. His blond hair tickles my cheek and I get a whiff of his cologne which is probably Abercrombie.

I try to concentrate on the fireworks, but my heart seems to beat louder than the gunshot sounds from above. I glance at Charissa and Rick and I sighed happily. As a ring of blue explodes above a burst of purple, and the smaller flashes make a sizzling sound as they fell back towards the water I suddenly feel Brett’s hand over mine. My face is suddenlv hot, and when I look at him next to me, he's staring at the sky, but then glances at me and we both smile. I'm holding hands with a guy I’ve just met, on Charissa's boat watching the fireworks on the Fourth of July. It doesn't get much better than this.

Charissa turns her head to look at me and we both sneak a smile.

Charissa is right, I have all summer to worry about Jeff Waters, and right now I just need to be free and have fun. As another explosion of red,blue and green flashes across the sky, I make a mental note. "Operation Jeff Waters officially starts...tomorrow." Back at harbor, I thank Charissa and her dad profusely and walk to my waiting car.

"The fireworks were great!" I call out to Charissa.

"Yeah, and the ones in the sky weren’t bad either!" Charissa shouts back.