I splash him and go back under and swim away from shore, out to where the rope line is. I’m going to be the first to touch it this time. As I push my arms through the water, it feels like I’m swimming through another world. Underneath me, I can see the sandy bottom, with a few rocks. Above me, the sun shines on the surface, making it look like a ripply window. The underwater sound echoes through my ears in a peaceful way, and it feels as though, for this brief moment, this is all there is and I am the only one here. Ahead, I make out the rope line and swim toward it, just as I feel a hand on my foot, pulling me back. I cough and breathe water and have to break the surface.

“Hey!” I say, sputtering.

Micah laughs and swims past me.

“Cheater! That doesn’t count!”

I cough again. My throat and nose sting from the water going down the wrong way. I swim as fast as I can, but I can’t catch Micah. He grabs the line and lifts it up a little, smiling. He doesn’t even have to say I win.

The lifeguard blows her whistle at him.

“Hands off the line!”

“Sorry!” he calls at her. “Sorry not sorry,” he says to me as I swim up to him. He grins.

“You’re a jerk,” I say.

We float on our backs and squint up at the sky.

“Wouldn’t it be great if life could always be this easy?” Micah asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “Imagine if I didn’t have to get a summer job and we didn’t have any chores, and we could just come here every day all summer.”

“Do you think we’d get bored?”

“No way. We could swim, sleep, have picnics. Maybe get a boat . . .”

“How would we get a boat?”

“Maybe we’d inherit money from some long-lost rich aunt we never knew existed. And we’d never have to work a day in our lives.”

I think of all the relatives I know. I’m pretty sure none of them has a secret stash of money.

“Or maybe we could just win the lottery,” I say.

“I watched a show about people who won the lottery, and they all ended up miserable and poor.”

“What? That’s crazy. If I won the lottery, I’d be so happy. I could pay off my parents’ mortgage and give them enough money so they could quit their jobs. And then I’d buy my own house, with a big barn with wood floors for Rainbow.”

“Yeah, you could buy him one of those fancy blankets horses wear for the winter!”

“Only he wouldn’t need it because the barn would be heated.”