Cain opened the door to his house and was displeased to see his Ma standing there with crossed arms.
"Good morning Ma," he said.
"Cain, I know I told you to be social, but you're being to exclusive and leaving out your cousin," Ma told him.
Uh oh, Cain thought. He really had nothing against Jazz (Jasmine) but he didn't want her to see his bracelets.
"We just don't have the same social circles," he said.
Ma nodded. "And that's why you're going to hang out with her today. You're going boating with her."
"I am?" Cain muttered.
"Yes you are. Get ready. I'll be leaving in fifteen minutes," Ma said.
"Okay." Cain raced to his room and took out his phone from his pocket. He opened Asher's channel and started texting frantically.
"Help!!! Have to go swimming with Jasmine!!!" the text read.
A minute later, he got a response. "Well, shit. Put the bracelets down to 0 and take them off. If I'm right, you might get a tiny bit sick but it'll be no worse then how it was when you first put them on."
"Thx! You're a lifesaver," Cain replied and followed the instructions.
Twenty five minutes later the car rolled to a stop in his cousin's driveway. Standing on the porch was Jazz. She was wearing a swim suit, and like most things she owned, it was a bright pink.
"Hi Cain," Jazz called. She seemed to be as excited as Cain was to see her, which was not very excited.
"Thank you Ma," Cain said to his mother as he got out of the call and said to Jazz who was going down the stairs, "So what are we doing?"
"Fishing. We have a tube, but probably fishing," Jazz told him.
"Are your friends there?" Cain asked.
Jazz shook her head. "Of course not."
Cain held in a sigh of relief, and Jazz laughed. "I know. They can be jerks." She leaned in and admitted, "Half of the reason I hang out with them is because my Mom tells me too. The other half if that they are funny."
"Funny?"
"Funny-dumb. So dumb it can be funny," Jazz clarified.
"Oh," Cain said. He couldn't imagine ever feeling that negatively about his friends.
"So lets go," Jazz said, walking around the side of the house.
There was a grassy slope to the dock, and beyond that was the murky waters of the lake which had been stirred up from the storm. The far side of the shore was almost out of Cain's sphere of vision and was a green blur.
The floorboards under Cain were full of chipped paint and creaked as he walked. They stepped onto the shiny boat. It was box-shaped with a canopy over half of it.
As Jazz sat down in the drivers seat, Cain asked, "Where's your Dad?"
"Oh, my Dad? I don't need him to drive this. I have a liscence," Jazz said, turning on the engine.
"I don't know if I feel comfortable with this," Cain muttered as he sat down.
"Too bad!" Jazz roared and the boat began to race across the water. Small droplets like sparks from a fire landed around the edges as the boat went towards the opposite shore.
"Jazz, slow down," he said, trying to put authority into his voice but failing.
"Don't worry," Jazz said, looking at Cain who was sitting behind her. "I've got this handled."
They were even closer to the other shore.
"Uh- Jazz?"
"What?" Jazz asked, and suddenly the vehicle drifted. And not as in the engine turned off and now they were slowly moving through the water, it was more of a car-like drift.
Cain let out a shrill screech as Jazz laughed maniacally. His stomachs did flips and he pressed his eyes closed.
"Now that wasn't so bad, right, Cain?" Jazz prompted, and then looked behind her to see Cain slumped over.
"You okay?" She asked, concerned.
"Yeah," Cain groaned. He wasn't sure if it was the boat or the lack of a bracelet that caused him to feel this sick, and he knew he'd only be able to tell once he reached dry land.
"Well, maybe a tiny bit of water will help," Jazz said.
"You got any on here?" Cain asked.
"No, we have some all around us!" Jazz exclaimed.
"You do realize we can't drink that?"
"Yesss."
Cain sighed. I thought that was a genuine offer but of course its not.
"I feel sick. Can we go back?" Cain asked.
"Already?" Jazz asked, stalling the engine and turning around to pout at her cousin.
"Yes. I'm just not feeling well," Cain said.
"Your mom won't allow you to leave so soon," Jazz said. "I'll park this thing for now and lets do at least a tiny bit of fishing."
As Cain opened the bait chest, he realized that there was ice in there. He began to eat the ice, and then turned around when he heard the click of a phone button and saw a phone in Jazz's hands.
Cain stared. "Do not post that," he warned.
"Or what?" Jazz taunted. "Not that I would post it. Right now anyways." She examined her nails and said, "Always gotta keep blackmail."
"Why are you like this?" Cain sighed.
"What a philosophical question. Nature or nurture -"
Cain wasn't ready to hear another Asher-adjacent lecture so he cut her off. "You know, that wasn't a question you were supposed to respond to."
"And I did anyways. What a rebel!" She exclaimed.
Cain suddenly remembered why he didn't like hanging out with her and crossed his arms. It's going to be a long day.