Josh floated free on the surface. Cool water soothed his feet and back. The sun caressed his chest. He heard his name.

“Hey Josh!”

Nadia called his name from atop the diving cliff. The sun reflected radiantly from her hair as she stood atop the diving hill in a modest light-blue one-piece swimsuit patterned with dark blue stars. A long pair of matching swim trunks covered the bottom portion.

“Here goes nothing,” Nadia yelled before diving head first into the water, which reflected resplendently from the spot where she surfaced.

“Wow, this feels so great! I’m glad you threw a tantrum!”

Once underwater again she swam stealthily until she surfaced in front Josh. A fierce splash stung his cheeks, but Nadia was under again before Josh could return fire. She surfaced cautiously beyond his range, giggling before breaking into bolder laughter.

“What’s the big idea? You gone soft in the head?”

“You were the one who told me to lighten up. Can’t you take your own advice? Haven’t you ever had a splash war?”

She swam back to the shore from underneath the water, came up where it was shallow, and pushed herself into the deeper water again. Josh floated in place, ignoring her while she swam back and forth past him. Once his guard was down, she sprang from the water with a giggle and splashed him again. Instead of falling back into the water, she dodged his splash and tagged his shoulder.

“Tag, you’re it,” she announced before swimming away.

“Don’t really want to,” Josh smirked, “My feet are killing me.”

“That’s because you’re not fast enough. My little sister is faster than you,” Nadia stretched her lips with her fingers and stuck out her tongue.

“I don’t chase after girls.”

“Does that mean you chase after guys?! It doesn’t count if you’re only a girl temporarily. Look, are you going to chase me, or float around like a dead log all afternoon?”

“Dead log. My feet hurt. And I don’t rough house with girls; besides, I already know you’re faster than me.”

“Tag me once and I’ll stand on the pegs until we get to the port.”

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly serious. I won’t even leave the water.”

“Then prepare to play some tag.”

Even at full speed he couldn’t match her, he knew that just from watching her take a few leisurely laps around the lake. She swam like a water nymph. His only chance was to predict her moves, plan a superior strategy, and outmaneuver her. He kept his eyes open under the water, saw her coming, stayed to right, but then she veered to the left. After turning beneath the water, her tongue came out mockingly as she kept her eyes open.

They both surfaced, stared one another down, and then swam to opposite sides of the lake. Josh turned away from his side first and swam to the middle of the narrow width of the lake’s eastern half, where Nadia floated in place above the water. He had the advantage now. If she stayed put, he would corner her by reducing her area, because if she swam past it would be a short dive to her from either side.

By keeping track of her speed, he could catch her. He moved in for the final strike. A pair of wet swim trunks smacked against his face. Nadia swam past him while he was distracted, so close he could have caught her feet. The other side of the lake bordered by the beaver dam was rounded off. It wouldn’t be so easy to catch her on that side. Nadia laughed as Josh threw the swim trunks that had left a red mark on his face ashore.

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“I really didn’t need them anyway. What I’m wearing is modest enough, don’t you think?”

“You laugh like a girl!”

“Well, I can’t really help that right now, can I?”

He ran the shallow waters despite aching feet and launched himself from the shore fiercely as she sunk herself to avoid him. Then he chased her in a circle, a complete waste of energy on his part. Soon he broke from the circle, reversed, and swam straight to the dam to launch himself from it. She swam away too fast for him to catch her, but she didn’t get as much distance as she thought. While she made fun of him, he sprung from the water to jump for her ankle. She backed away, safe from the tag by inches. That confidence breaker sent her back to the middle, and Josh even splashed her before she got away to the shore.

“You said you wouldn’t leave the water.”

“My feet are still soaking. I haven’t left anything.”

He chased her around the outer edges of the lake. She splashed him before going back into the deeper waters, but he didn’t follow. There was no prohibition on him leaving the water altogether, so he dashed for the diving cliff and waited near the top, ready for an ambush. That’s when Nadia lost track of him and began to get nervous. Water submerged her feet as she returned to the shore and scanned the lake three times between wringing out her hair. Ripples of displaced water came forth as she waded deeper.

“Have you given up?” Nadia thought he could be way too stealthy when he wanted.

She walked and then swam into the deeper water near the small cliff where he waited. She drifted a few meters forward, getting closer. Two clumps of dirt fell into the water before Josh dove in feet first, giving her enough warning to swim just out of reach.

“You can’t leave the water like that!”

“You can’t make up new rules.”

Nadia swam away backwards, and even so she was still too fast. They continued the chase in shallow water for a while and lost track of time. An hour passed in the lake with intervals of resting and tag. Nadia teased a bit, often letting him get close only to dart backwards. Josh made a habit of punching the water’s surface. Finally, he tried to pull her back by the hair, but with one swift turn of her head and a glow from her pendant she sent it into his face with a smack. He backed up in a bit of shock. She left it fall over the front of her swimsuit and ran it between her fingers while swimming backwards one-handed.

“Now you’re just showing off!”

Tagging her from behind didn’t work either, she always jumped away and turned to face him. He tried a desperate run on the shore. She jumped backwards as Josh chased.

“Tag me and I’ll kiss you,” she mocked.

Whenever he thought he had her, she dodged to the side and leapt away either backwards or right past him. This continued until Josh, out of breath, collapsed on the shore and gave up. He watched the afternoon clouds as she knelt beside him and smiled.

“You lose,” she said with a smile.

“No duh.”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, I’m just going to relax for a few minutes if you don’t mind.”

She smiled again, “Not at all. We can spend the night here. How are your feet?”

“Hopefully not as bad as they feel.”

She went back to treading water when Josh finally pulled himself ashore to dry. It was pleasant to hear her splash around and let loose, even after being unable to catch her. The swim trunks were still on the shore. They were already fairly dry, so he took them and soaked them in the water.

“Hey Nadia. These belong to you?”

He gave them a good fling, but she caught them with her right arm before they could hit her face.

“I said I don’t need these.”

The trunks flew back to smack Josh twice as hard as they did the first time. As he peeled them off his face, she came ashore. For the first time, Josh found himself unable to fight the temptation to stare. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, she stood while balancing herself on her heels in front of him. Hands folded over the center of her thighs as she stared at him with a smile.

“Do you think I’m pretty?” she asked, blinking twice.

“What does it matter to you, you’re g-g-going to be a g-guy soon,” he stammered.

“Tell me anyway.”

“I can’t lie to you.”

“Tell me the truth then.”

“No.”

“Really!?” she said, still smiling but slightly less, “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you were staring at me.”

Josh grimaced, “I meant I’m not going to talk to you about it. But how about this. I wouldn’t stare at you if you were the last the woman on earth. I swear on my honor.”

She slapped him and he fell back against a tree, hitting his head.

“Why are you so violent?”

Nadia pumped her fist, “Because violence is the essence of manhood!”

“Oookay?”

Nadia braced his shoulder with her grip until he regained his senses, yet kept a satisfied grin, “See, you're strong, you can handle it. I told you couldn’t catch me. Bandage your feet and let’s try to fix your shoes. If you can help get a fire ready, I’ll heat up some noodle soup. Let's eat!”

As she walked away Josh realized he'd never seen her act like this, so unguarded. He rubbed his pained cheek, but couldn't supress a smile as he went to get bandages from the supply bag.