“I really don’t know what you were saying,” I tell her. “I promise.”

“Come three inches closer, then,” Ivy says, all giddy. The goal is to figure out what they’re saying before they can reach out and touch me.

We all bob under again and this time I can hear their voices, but they’re still muffled and strange sounding.

We pop up. “Something about bikes?” I figure it’s a good guess because that’s pretty much all Ivy ever wants to talk about.

“Nope!” she says. They both swim a few inches closer, and we go under again.

“Blah blah me moo,” Ivy says.

“Wee wee wahhh,” Micah replies.

We pop up. “Something about cars?” I guess.

“Noooo!” Ivy says.

They both swim closer and are almost in reach.

“Last chance,” Micah says before we all dive under again.

I think I hear Ivy say the word cow. It sounds like a question. And then Micah clearly says something is for dogs.

We pop up. “Have you ever walked a cow? Leashes are for dogs!” I say.

They look at each other. “Close enough?” Micah asks.

“I guess,” Ivy says.

“You’re It, Ivy!” I say.

“I wish this place had a dock or something to jump off,” Ivy says. “It’s kind of boring here.”

“They should at least allow floats,” Micah says.

“Yeah! That would be cool.”

“What would be cool?” Sam, a friend from school, swims over to us. She looks different with her hair all wet and plastered to her face. She already has a tan.

“Hey, Sam,” Micah says. “We were just wishing there was more stuff to do here.”

Another girl swims over to us. “This is Sierra,” Sam says. “She’s new.”

“Hey,” she says. She has a smiley face drawn on her cheek.

“Where are you from?” Micah asks.

“Connecticut.”

“Why do you have a smiley face on your cheek?” Ivy asks.

Sierra juts her cheek toward Ivy. “It’s a clown,” she says. “Check out his nose.”

Ivy leans forward. “Is that a . . . pimple?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Sierra says. “I figured if I have to have this big ugly thing on my face, I may as well make the most of it.”

“That’s funny!” Ivy says.

“Wow,” Micah says.

“Hi, I’m Rachel,” I say when she finally turns my way.

The new girl is pretty. She has light-brown skin and eyes that sparkle when she smiles.

“I’m Micah,” Micah says.

“That’s an interesting name,” Sierra says, swimming closer.

“Yours, too.”

They stare at each other in a funny way.

Sam rolls her eyes.

“Sierra, stop flirting already. Sheesh. Also, Micah and Rachel are an item, so don’t go there.”

Ivy’s mouth drops open. “You’re an item?”

Micah looks at me uncomfortably.

“We’re just friends,” I say.

“Oh, please,” Sam says. “Everyone knows you’ve been in love since, like, kindergarten.”

Ivy giggles. “That’s true, Rach.”