The Discovery (8 page)

Muffled in my hair he says, "I was thinking..." His lips move to my earlobe.

"Yes?"

"...of doing something outrageously fun."

I tense up a little bit, thinking he might be talking about doing
that.
I'm totally in deep with this guy, but I don't think I'm ready to take
that
step yet. Certainly Patrick wouldn't expect me to do that here at my house. Or worse, at Father Mass's rectory. Right! Like that's going to happen.

Patrick bolts up and his chocolate eyes darken. "Kendall Moorehead! You nasty little thing, you."

"What?"

"I wasn't suggesting we hook up."

OMG! I totally forgot for a sec that he can hear my thoughts when we're this close.

Fire engulfs my face as I am mondo-embarrassed.

He hugs me back to him and laughs. "You're adorable when you get all red like that."

"Stop!" I say, ashamed of myself. I want the earth to swallow me whole. He tickles me, though, and I giggle something fierce. "Patrick!"

Patrick stops, sits up, and pushes his shaggy hair out of his face. "The outrageous thing I had in mind was to take you away from Radisson for a day at the beach."

"The beach?"

"You heard right."

I know I'm looking at him like he's insane in the membrane. "Dude, we live in the middle of the state. The beach is like five hours away." I motion outside through the curtain. "Besides, it's April and it's in the fifties and raining big old chunky droplets that are pounding like tribal drums on Mom's elephant ears on the side of the house."

"O she of little faith," he says as he gets us both up off the couch. "Go upstairs and find your swimsuit. And trust me."

He stoops low and lays a warm kiss on my waiting lips.

A dazzling smile and a twinkle in those Hershey Eyes of his and I'm a goner.

"Okay, whatever you say..."

"All right. This is
the
coolest place ever," I say with a huge grin.

Patrick plops a kiss on my shoulder. "Told you to trust me."

"I will from now on. Promise."

Because he and his dad live in Gwinnett County, we can use the indoor water park and aquatic center here in Bethesda Park as residents. Even on a rainy day like today, where the droplets on the top of the car sound like applause, we can enjoy the fun of splashing around in the water like it's spring break again. It's like a beach and a water park all rolled together.

This place is insane! According to the information at the check-in counter, it's over thirty thousand square feet of indoor water fun with a gigamonic leisure pool, a hundred-foot slide that exits and then reenters the building, a river channel, tumble buckets, a vortex, and ceiling spray. I am all over this place. Let me in—woot!

"I lurve it! How did you find this?"

"A guy at school told me about it. He's on the swim team and uses the lap pool a lot for practice. I've come a few times to get my sea legs back."

Patrick had a near-death experience in Barbados way before I met him; it resulted in his blooming psychic awareness when he came to. Because of his being all freaked out about things, he decided to stay out of the water. That is, until he saved my life when I was bodyboarding in California and got dunked all the way to the bottom of the ocean.

I take his face in my hand and turn him toward me. "I'm so happy you're getting back in the water. Do you think you'll start doing SCUBA again?"

"Don't rush me," he says.

"You'll know when the time is right."

"I'm trying, Kendall." He pays the modest fee at the counter for a resident (plus guest) and then walks me over to the glass wall so I can look in. "It's mostly for families with little kids, but hey, we're still kids, right?"

"Damn skippy!"

I wrap my arms around his waist and bear-hug him. "You're the best, Patrick."

He moves back and smacks me with the corner of his beach towel. "Let's get going, missy."

I'm so happy right now I can't even describe it. I'm not thinking about any of that you-know-what stuff. I'm focusing only on having an awesome-filled time with my new boyfriend, Patrick.

He gives a squeeze to my hand as we part ways to head into our respective locker rooms. Once inside, I stash my purse, clothes, and shoes in a secure locker. I check my tankini—not bad—in the mirror before stepping out into the main area. I'm not even going to worry about my hair, just put it up in a messy bun.

A wolf whistle cuts through the air as I emerge from the ladies' and into the warm pool area in my black-and-white flowered top and black bottoms. I put my cell phone underneath Patrick's towel on the bench and do a fake curtsy before trotting over to where Patrick is standing. He's all tan and muscly in his baggy blue Hawaiian-print trunks. His tattoo, Boo, is prominent on his left shoulder, and I slide up to him, pressing my left shoulder against his so our matching tats can "kiss."

"You're so silly," he says. "That's what I love the most about you."

I freeze in my tracks. Wh-wh-what? Did Patrick Lynn just say he loves me? Oh. My. God. I can't believe it. So soon? Is it too soon? Or not? What do I do? What do I say?

Say you love me too.

Damn these shared thoughts. Or maybe not. With us, there's no games. No BS. There's none of that typical what-does-he-think-about-me garbage most normal teens go through. I don't need my best friend to question his best friend to get me answers on how he feels about me. He knows. I know.
We
know.

I love you too.

Somehow it's easier because we're saying it in our heads and not actually out loud. The time will come for the real words.

He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the beach entry area. "Come on. Let's play!"

At first the water is chilly on my bare feet, then it feels just right, like it's been heated to the perfect temperature. To our left is a water jungle gym with ropes and slides, steps, ladders, and waterspouts.

"I think this was designed for toddlers," Patrick says, tugging me up the stairs with him.

Giggling, I say, "We were once toddlers." Then I dodge the spray of water from the nearby cannon and slip into the spiral slide, which seconds later lands me in the shallow water below.

"Come on, Kendall!"

I shove my soaked hair out of my face and crawl behind Patrick, who's ducked under the water and is heading to the towering poles with buckets on them.

When he surfaces, he pulls himself up on the ledge under the buckets.

"What's going to happen?" I ask. Then I immediately figure it out. Water pours into the buckets and then—
kerrrrrrsplash—
down on us. "Oh my God!" Hence the name
tumble buckets.
Durr! I scream as Patrick cackles. Both of us are totally soaked and I know I look like a drowned alley cat.

"You look adorable," he says, sweeping his arm around my waist and tugging me into his chest.

"We could probably go a whole day without ever saying an actual word to each other, you know?" I say over my shoulder.

"What fun would that be?" Then he kisses me on my cheek and snuggles a little in the water before—
kerrrrrrrrrsplash
—we get zonked on the heads a second time.

Not wanting to get beat down again, I swim under the water next to Patrick. He's so strong and swift cutting through the pool. I'm so glad he's gotten over his fear and is doing what he loves best. Right before we surface, he reaches over for my hand and smiles at me. A goofy, bubble-filled grin.

We come up inside a circle of water falling from the ceiling.

"Simulated rainforest?" I ask.

"Something like that."

Like we're eleven years old again, we spin around in the small circle inside the simulated rain, splashing each other like there's no tomorrow. A yelp leaves my throat before I even realize how kiddish I'm acting. But it feels amazing. The tingling in my limbs isn't from anything psychic or paranormal. There's no spirit talking to me that I know of, and even if there were, this is
my
time. I'm enjoying life with my boyfriend. At a freakin' indoor water park. Whoever invented this place is totally my new best friend.

Patrick flips to his back and begins stroking away from me. "You have to check this out. Follow me."

I happily do as I'm told, kicking my feet hard in the water and almost knocking a pink noodle out of a little kid's hand. "Sorry!" I call out, although he still gives me a dirty look.

We swim toward the river channel that curves around and around. Patrick takes my arms and pulls me up onto his broad shoulders, almost as though I'm riding piggyback in the water. Strong jets under the stream keep the current swirling in a river formation, so we just—literally—go with the flow.

"Are you having fun?" Patrick asks as we float along.

"Ummm, yeah. Duh!"

"I had to ask," he says.

A sheet of water falls near us from nearby pipes, but Patrick steers us away and around the next bend. I cling to his neck and hold on, not even having to kick or anything for movement. I'm so amazingly relaxed right now that it's not even funny.

"You were right. I needed something like this."

I see his dark head nodding in the affirmative.

We circle back to the mouth of the river, and Patrick points to the left. "Head to the vortex."

Now from what I've learned in science class, a vortex isn't something one necessarily wants to head into. But I follow my boyfriend with great trust.

"Wheeeeee!"

We're zipped into a swirling whirlpool circling clockwise (or counterclockwise, depending on which way you look at it) and just go around and around and around. Patrick hoists me up a little farther on his back and we swing around together through the crystal blue water. I hold his neck and shout like a little girl who has her favorite ice cream sundae presented to her. Everyone here is laughing. Shouting, screaming, playing, and enjoying the thrill of being in the pool on such an icky spring day.

"This was the best idea evah," I say with a laugh as we keep going in circles.

"You're not getting dizzy?" he asks.

"Nope. I could stay in the vortex all day."

Patrick reaches forward for two abandoned swim noodles. "Here, try these." He has me lie on my back, and then he bends the pink one under my armpits and the blue one under my knees. "
Voilà!
Instant floating chair."

I beam at him. "You're a genius."

I haven't been on many dates other than with Jason, but this is the most incredible one of all. Fate totally brought Patrick and me together. We're the same. We understand each other. We're meant to be.

I can't believe it ... I'm in love again.

And I'm not letting
this
one get away.

W
E SPIN A BIT MORE IN THE CURRENT
, and I glance up and see a line forming at the base of a red staircase that leads up to the ceiling. "Is that the water slide?" I ask, craning my neck to get a good look.

"Yeah, it is. You'll love it," he tells me. "It exits outside and then reenters the building."

I shove the noodles aside and stand up. "We've
got
to do that. Like right now," I state, my eyes so wide, I know I must appear as eager as a kid on Christmas morning.

He kisses me soundly on the lips and smiles from ear to ear. "You seriously
are
the cutest thing ever."

I grab his hand and pull him along with me toward the slide. "Come on, you cutie, yourself."

Can't believe I just said that out loud, but he can hear it in my head anyway, so what's the point of playing coy?

Impatiently, I tap my foot as I wait in line behind about six little kids. At least two of them don't meet the height requirements for this ride, but no one seems to care at all. We linger until we see the person spew out of the bottom of the tunnel and into the wading pool to the right of the staircase.

Patrick points up and then to the side. "You jump in up there and it slides you through this tunnel maze outside and then you end up there."

I clap my hands. "I can't wait!"

This is awesome. I'm not stressing about anything at all. Not Mr. Haunted Sandwich or Xander the Doll or anything else that might be trying to speak to me. Today, I'm just a normal teenager on a date with her boyfriend. End of story.

Patrick moves forward a step. "I'm next!"

"Why can't I be first?" I say with a pretend pout.

"Because I want to see you when you get to the end."

"Awww, that's sweet."

"Not really," he says. "I want to see your expression."

I elbow him and laugh. This boy knows how to make me happy.

When a roly-poly eight-year-old slides into the waiting pool, Patrick flashes me a grin. "I'm up! See you at the end, schweetheart."

With that, he bounds up the spiral staircase and out of view. But not entirely out of my vision. I close my eyes and concentrate, seeing that Patrick is sharing his ride experience with me.

Here we go,
he says to me.

And away!

The tube is filled with about six inches of water and I'm riding down the tunnel with Patrick, seeing what he sees. He takes a right curve first, then a sharp left. Light from the dingy day outside brightens the tunnel in the third turn where the water churns up like a small tidal wave. Left, right, straight, and then—
swooooooooosh
—into the tidal pool.

I open my eyes to see my boyfriend flat on his back in the shallow water, shaking off the ride. Pounding up the staircase, I call down to him, "Now you can ride with me."

He gives me the okay signal and I continue up.

At the top, a bored teenage girl—probably my age—sits on a stool, picking at the split ends of her hair. She must be hard-core loco if she doesn't enjoy this job.

I smile and say hey to her, but all I get is a grunt in return. Whatever. I'm celebrating life today! Patrick has given me a gift and I'm going to take the pleasure of the day to the bank, annoyed fellow teenager aside.

There's a flat landing with a wide mouth that opens into the slide tunnel. I crawl in and position myself forward, feet first, like the instructional poster indicates. God forbid Ms. Split Ends does anything to earn her paycheck other than sit there and look bored to tears.