Ashley and Brandon go

"I wonder if they need a hand or something?" Brandon said.

"Yeah, what d'ya think?" Ashley said, looking at him.

Madison looked up toward her brother, lifting her sunglasses and raising her eyebrows. "Better go check," she said.

"Okay, c'mon Brandon," Ashley said. They waded back to shore, patted their feet dry and put on flip-flops before heading back toward the cabin.

Madison sighed, smiling at Brandon and Ashley as they walked up the path hand in hand. Buh-bye! she mouthed to her brother's backside. Madison sat up and stretched luxuriously, sizing up the guys and gals still present. Kurt, Zack, Gavin. Lisa, Victoria, Chloe. And herself.

Gavin climbed up on the platform and set up for another dive. This one was a simple spinning tuck.

Kind of a surprise, Madison thought. He comes off like Nerdkins of Nerd City, but he actually has a couple of moves.

Madison picked up a bottle of sunscreen, chose a place where everyone could see her easily, and started giving herself another coat of the glistening lotion, rubbing it into her arms and legs with long strokes, seeing whose heads turned.

Ashley and Brandon flip-flopped up the path.

"What do you think is keeping them?" Brandon asked.

"Dunno, maybe Hannah is giving Heather the Secret Wisdom of Cheerleaders Past and Taylor is guarding the door," Ashley said.

"Or maybe the toilet's clogged," Brandon said.

"Heh. Or Heather popped her blow-up bed," Ashley said.

"Or her dad called to make sure she had the cabin drill down," Brandon said.

"It's tacked up in the kitchen," Ashley said.

"He'd still call," Brandon said. "Did you really volunteer us both just to check on Heather and your sister?"

Ashley laughed. "What do you think?"

She slipped her hand out of Brandon's and ran up the path, her foam sandals slapping at her heels. Brandon started after her, stumbled, fixed his sandal and flip-flopped along as best he could, his eyes on Ashley's trim butt.