What A Useful Lake

Nick walked down towards the beach and scanned around slowly; he could see Lilly by the docks, her hands wrang at her top as she glanced between all the other girls and while letting her feet hang in the water. Nick's eyes went soft, insecurity always had a tight hold on Lilly, but she was about to let it beat out heatstroke. Nearby Noah sat in the shade by a tree, just fiddling with his phone essentially as far as he could be from anyone else in the group. A few minutes passed as he thought things through and Jayden made his way back down from the lodge joining the only three that were outside the water Journey, Alex and, of course, Mackenzie.

If this was only an hour ago, Nick would have taken this chance to enjoy the view of Leah's gorgeous body wet and dripping with water, making her nearly look like a supermodel. Maybe he would have spent some time looking at Ivey, reminding himself how much of an idiot he was to blow things up. Or hell, he'd even probably spend half the day ogling his former, not so former, crush Haley. Yet, even with the memories of the busty brunette bare for him to see still fresh in his mind, Nick was much more interested in the petite redhead who he nearly was inside only minutes ago. His eyes ran over her distant tone body, drinking in her sun-kissed skin and long orange hair that ever so slightly blew in the wind.

Nick slowly started to pace along the beach, making a small trench in the sand, his mind pleading with him to go to Mackenzie. He wasn't sure how it happened so quickly but now he was replaying over every little interaction they shared before this trip. Thinking over the short glances she'd given him, the occasional touches to his arm when he told a joke. And now, Leah, Ivey, Haley, they were all like white noise and the only thing he wanted to do was get back over to her. Hold her. Kiss her again. Do so...so much more.

After a few long minutes, Nick wet his lips and started to take a few steps towards the trio, in his head trying to come up with some weak reason to hang out with them without rousing Alex's suspicion.

I'll...I'll as for my sunscreen back. Yeah, that's good.

Suddenly he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, "Ah, don't dude, I'm telling you, don't." Jayden's voice was firm like a brother

He jumped, having missed Jayden circling back behind him. "But-"

"You're letting your dick think for you right now, trust me, I know what that's like. I did the same thing and got my ass kicked for it. You gotta listen to rule number one, Don't. Get. Fucking. Caught." Jayden said as he pulled the brown haired teen over, sling an arm over his shoulder while making him walk away from Mackenzie, "Now, you want to spend time with her, right?"

"Of course I do Jayden, I told you that all of three fucking minutes ago," Nick replied while continually glancing over at the object of his affection,

"Right, now tell me, what was your plan? How were you gonna explain why you wanted to hang out with Alex's sister?" Jayden merely asked as they got some distance from the others to talk freely,

Nick's faced pursed with irritation, "I...I was working on something!"

Jayden let out a chuckle, "Sure, working on getting caught," He muttered out while shaking his head, "Here, let me tell you this in a different way. If you want to spend time with your girl when her brother's around, you need to have a solid plan already. You can't just act on impulse and throw together something last minute, it just will not work."

Nick ran a hand up and through his hair. "Why's he gotta be such a fucking prick about her -- " He grumbled out, "Okay, well what's a plan I could use?"

"You tell me," Jayden spun around so he was now directly in front of Nick. He almost looked annoyed as he crossed his arms. "This is your girl, you gotta come up with the plan. How you ever gonna do this on your own if I'm holding your hand?"

Nick wet his lips and started to scan the beach, his eyes jumping over to his friends, the girls in the water then back to Mackenzie, "The water, what if I start pulling everyone to the water first then I can go over and convince Mackenzie to join in," He said with a rather proud smile, "Good, right?"

"No, wrong," Nick's brow narrowed as Jayden shook his head. "You do not ask Mackenzie anything,"

"What?" Nick asked in confusion, "Why wouldn't I ask, Mackenzie? She'll probably get pissed if I make a whole plan and obviously ditch out on her."

"Wrong." Jayden chuckled. "She's not gonna get ditched because whatever you plan, she's already gonna be on board with, idiot. What you need to do with your plans is convince Alex. So you need to ask Alex to join, and Mackenzie will follow. Get it?"

Nick arched a brow, "But wouldn't Alex start getting suspicious if I disappear with Mackenzie at some point?"

"That's part of the trick Nick, you need to pick your moment," Jayden nodded, happy that Nick was at least thinking this through now, "The plan is already gonna start to distract Alex, but you need to decide if he's distracted enough to slip away with your girl for a few minutes. Now there's gonna be a bunch of us in the water; you need to find something that will keep him completely occupied." Jayden finished before giving Nick a little slap on the shoulder, "Don't worry man, it'll get easier...well as long as you don't fuck up too early,"

Nick nodded and shook his head slightly, "Thanks, Jayden...I almost fucked things up," He said with a slight chuckle,

"Happy to serve," Jayden smirked back, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get in the water, duty calls, you know?" Nick gave a small toss of his eyes as he watched the blonde teen lightly jog towards the shore, tossing off his shirt before diving into the lake, swimming towards the group of girls.

Nick took a slow breath and started walking across the beach straight towards Noah, along the way he passed by Alex, Journey, and Mackenzie and used almost all his will to act as if he didn't even notice them. Mackenzie was doing the same, but part of her felt a cringe in her chest that she didn't catch Nick even glancing at her. Moments later Nick was kneeling down next to his slightly geeky friend who took out his earphones, "What's up?" Noah asked curiously,

"Up, in the water," Nick said while motioning his head to the lake,

"Oh come on Nick, I'd rather just sit right here," Noah sighed back, "You go ahead, I'm all good,"

"No, you're not wasting the day on your phone, you're getting in the water," Nick firmly said while grabbing Noah by his arm and pulling him up, "C'mon, how are you gonna argue with all those girls in bikini's anyway?"

Noah scoffed and shook his head, "I've seen..." His words trailed as he took a long moment drinking in the sight of Haley bouncing her way through the water, "Okay. Point taken."

"Hey if you're lucky you may even be able to get a handful," Nick joked with a quick couple raises of his brow,

"Shut up," Noah retorted as he gave Nick a small shove with one hand before sighing and pulling off his shirt and glasses before dropping his phone on top of it, "I swear to god Nick if I end up getting messed with the whole time though, I'm gonna kill you,"

"Relax man, you got this," Nick assured his friend while giving him a little slap on the back. Noah nodded and made his way down towards the water, "Okay, one down, one to go," Nick muttered to himself while turning his attention to Lilly.

Nick took in a slow breath and made his way towards the docks, getting Lilly in the water would be tough. Lilly was always fine when they were at home, jumping into a pool with a few friends is a lot easier than trying to match up to some of the prettiest girls on campus. By the time Nick reached Lilly, he had put his plan out of mind, merely wanting to help her at this point. "So...how's the water?" Nick asked while plopping down next to his red-haired friend,

"Nice...refreshing actually..." Lilly mumbled back, sounding genuinely sad,

"Then maybe you should get in, hmm?" Nick lightly pressed,

"Nick...just don't, okay? I appreciate what you're gonna say, but it's not worth it today," Lilly dejectedly replied,

"Lilly," Nick sighed while he looked her over, "You're fucking sweating right now, just cool yourself off for a few minutes," He pressed again,

"Not happening, maybe later when more people head inside or something," Lilly muttered back,

Nick pursed his lips and quickly grabbed Lilly by her waist, "Let's go!" He happily exclaimed causing Lilly to let out a yell as he pulled them both into the lake. Lilly flailed wildly against Nick's hold as they sank under the water before finally resurfacing, "Ah, that feels great, huh?!" Nick exclaimed with a grin,

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Lilly yelled back while swimming after Nick who quickly swam away from her. Lilly swam forward for a few moments before stopping, not seeing Nick anywhere, "Oh where are you, Mac, come take your beating like a man!" She exclaimed before Nick quickly resurfaced behind her, pulling her shirt up and over her head, "Nick!" She yelled out while quickly pulling her shirt off completely, as the wet fabric clung to her face, "You fucking dick!"

"Sorry, Lilly, but it was for the best," Nick grinned back,

Lilly's hand shot out, grabbing Nick by the neck, while she pulled her other hand back, "I'd knock you the fuck out if I wouldn't have to drag you out of the lake," She growled out,

"Lilly, look around," Nick merely replied with a smirk causing the redhead to look around the water quickly,

"What?! What am I suppose to be seeing?!" She barked back,

"Exactly, no one's looking at you; you don't even have your shirt on anymore, just your bikini top," Nick replied with an easy smile,

Lilly quickly looked down at her breasts that slightly floated above the water, "Oh...you fucking prick..." Her face turned flush, "Nick, why'd you do that?"

"Because you need to stop comparing yourself to everyone else. You have nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of Lil." Nick smiled back, "C'mon, you don't really hate me do you?"

"I said you were a prick; I never said I hated you," Lilly coyly returned as she tried to stifle the smile he caused.

"Oh good, that'd make bunking together really awkward," Nick joked back causing Lilly to roll her eyes, "Just hang out with us Lilly, Noah's gonna be swimming, hell everyone's gonna be swimming. No one's gonna be gawking at you, I promise,"

Lilly let out a slow sigh, "Where's my shirt?" She sighed out while looking around, "Let me put it on the dock at least,"

"It's...uh..." Nick replied while spinning around in the water, "It's at the bottom of the lake I guess," Nick said with a small grimace, "Sorry..."

Lilly's eyes narrowed to slits, "Okay, now I hate you,"

"I'm sorry, what can I do to make it up to you?" Nick easily asked back while smiling at his friend,

"Oh, I'll think of something...soon, just you fucking wait," Lilly grumbled back before taking a slow breath, "Fuck it, doesn't seem like I got much choice now, looks like I'm staying in the water," She mumbled out while dipping lower into the water, when her hand resurfaced, she was now holding her wet shorts, "Put those on the dock for me, that's the least you could do."

"You got it," Nick nodded before quickly being stopped by Lilly's hand on his shoulder.

To his surprise, he felt her give him a quick, friendly peck on the cheek, "Thanks...I think I needed this," She finally admitted before swimming away. Nick smirked and watched her for a moment before swimming back to the dock and pulling himself up. He laid Lilly's shorts down to dry before heading over to his final targets.

"Okay, here we go," He whispered out, "Alex, yo, Alex!" Nick called out causing the jock's head to jump up from his laying down position,

Journey let out a slightly annoyed grumbled, half-asleep laying against Alex's legs, "Keep it down Nick, we're not deaf," Journey retorted,

"Sorry," Nick smirked, "I was just saying we should all get in the water, I got a plan for us all, so let's go," He said with a small clap of his hands.

"Sounds fun!" Mackenzie immediately agreed, Nick internally grinned, Jayden was indeed right about her always agreeing without needing even to know.

"I don't know Nick, I think me and Journey are just gonna tan for a while," Alex sighed back,

"Stick in the muds," Mackenzie mumbled out, "Well I'll join Nick, let's go," Mackenzie happily said, eager to get some alone time with Nick,

"No, come on Alex, get in the water. It'll be fun, Journey, please convince your boyfriend," Nick begged causing Mackenzie to narrow her eyes slightly,

"Nick, he says he doesn't want to join," She muttered out while pulling on his arm a bit roughly, trying to make him stop,

"Well, what would we be doing?" Journey asked back,

"That's a surprise, so if you want to know, get in the water," Nick goaded back making Mackenzie's eyes flare up,

Journey let out a long sigh and thought for a moment, "Fine...let's go, babe," Journey said with a grin,

Mackenzie pursed her lips as Alex slowly sat up, "Low move Nick," He smirked while getting up,

Nick nodded at him happily and watched as Alex and Journey walked past him and Mackenzie, heading right towards the water. Immediately the redhead's lips were at his ear hissing. "Hey, what the fuck was that idiot?"

"Trust me, it's all part of the plan," Nick assured, taking her hand briefly while leading her towards the water. Nick dove into the water, Mackenzie close behind, and started to swim towards the group that had slowly started to gather up. Mackenzie suddenly emerged in front of him from the water, pushing her soaked hair from her eyes, and glared at Nick hard. "I know what I'm doing, it's all a part of a plan to get us alone. Promise." Nick assured the almost furious girl,

"We almost did have alone time until you dragged my brother into it." She pouted.

Nick smirked, he had to admit, even while pissed knowing it was just for him was something else. "Well, I'd rather we have some actual time together rather than Alex playing brother eye on the beach." He grinned back causing a very sharp exhale to leave Mackenzie's nose, "I promise, I'll make this all worth it.," Nick whispered out while bringing his hands to Mackenzie's waist causing her eyes to close in contently,

"Mmm, keep talking," She whispered out, shutting her eyes contently. "I just want to hear your voice."

Nick smirked at the redhead before pulling his hands away, though he was just barely able to bring himself to do so, "Just a little longer and you can hear me talk all you want,"

Mackenzie finally let out an agreeing nod, "O-Okay, but you better be telling the truth, Nick...I swear to god, I'm not going to last long at this rate."

"I guess it really has been a while for you, huh?" Nick teased causing her eyes to open, immediately narrowing at him,

"You got yours twice, ass, don't even." Mackenzie retorted while slowly started to swim backward away from him. "Don't make me wait longer than I have too."

"Yes, ma'am." He gave a small wink and headed off toward the others.