Someone standing above us called, “On your mark, get set, go.”

I took off, not knowing if Jackson followed. Not really caring. My shoulders ached a bit, but I didn’t press them and the more I swam the more they loosened up. It was weird swimming in silence. I was used to having my music on for everything but races. It gave me a rhythm to swim to and kept my head clear of unwanted memories.

About halfway through the swim, I felt a movement by my foot and then suddenly it was yanked backward. I went under for a second and came up coughing. Jackson treaded water next to me. It was nearly black in the middle of the lake, but I could see his teeth glowing with a smile. He smiled way too much.

“I thought you were going to try, Moore. Make this hard on me.”

“What?”

“I thought you were on the swim team.”

I coughed again and wondered what the best way to dunk him would be.

“Lighten up. I was kidding. I could barely keep up with you. Couldn’t you give me a tiny break?”

It was only then I noticed him panting for breath. “Oh.”

“And I’m tired. I thought I was going to drown out here in the middle of nowhere and you’d be all the way to the island, leaving me with no help.”

His smile made it hard to tell if he was still kidding or not.

“That was the last chance I had to make a grab at your foot before you were gone.” He looked down at the water, his head bobbing with his movements.

The people back on the shore looked as tiny as insects. The island was closer. If he really was having trouble swimming, the island was where we needed to go.

“I think I can make it,” he said, probably noticing my analysis. “Do you think there are fish out here? I’m kind of scared of fish. At least there aren’t any sharks. Do you swim in the ocean a lot?”

“Rarely,” I said. Even though we lived within a five-minute drive of the Pacific, the waves didn’t mimic my race conditions so I didn’t practice there much.

“If . . .” His eyes got wide, then he looked down again.

“What?”

“Did you feel that?”

“No.”

“It must’ve been noth—” He went down fast, under the water, and out of sight.

I gasped, then reached forward, feeling around for him. I dived under, but between the murky water and the dark night, I couldn’t see a thing. I surfaced and propelled myself in a circle, panicked. The people back on shore couldn’t hear me through their loud music as I yelled for them. I gave up and continued to search around me.

A full minute later, Jackson broke the surface fifty feet closer to the island. “I think I’m going to beat you.” With those words he began to swim.

My heart turned from beating in fear to beating in rage. I couldn’t believe I fell for that after I had just reminded myself what he had done to Mindy in the cafeteria. “You are the biggest jerk,” I called. But he acted like he couldn’t hear me as he closed the distance to the island. I thought about turning back to shore but then I wouldn’t get to pummel him with no witnesses.

With a kick of my feet, I took off.

By the time I got there, Jackson had dragged himself onto the island and sat on one of the benches—his wet jeans making puddles below him. Hopping out of the lake, I lunged at him, punching him on the shoulder several times.

“It was the only way I could win.” He grabbed my fists, laughing.

“You are such a jerk. I thought you drowned.” I relaxed my arms and he let go of my hands.

“It’s nice to know you care.”

I hit him one more time for good measure, then plopped on the bench next to him.

He looked me up and down. “Do you wear your swimsuit everywhere you go, just in case someone calls for a race?”

“We had a meet tonight.” I looked at my bare feet, feeling a bit stupid now. Why had I done this? “What do we win for doing this dare anyway?”

“Win? What do you mean?”

I sighed. Now that the adrenaline was gone, the ache in my shoulders returned. I took in the distance back to shore.

“You think someone would come rescue us with a paddleboat if we yelled loud enough?” he asked.

“I think they lost interest.” Everyone back on shore was jumping around, dancing. My stomach let out a gurgle, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten after my races.

Jackson must’ve heard the sound because he said, “Should we start a fire? I can catch a fish.”

“We’ll swim back. Just give me a minute.”

“Most people find me amusing,” he seemed to say to himself.

I stood, shook out my legs, and rotated my arms a few times. “Have you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?” I asked.

“You think there are wolves on this island?”

“You fooled me once. I won’t fall for it again. I hope you can swim back.” With that I dived into the water, leaving him alone on the small island with his dripping wet jeans.

“The boy in the story got three chances,” he called after me.

When I reached the grassy backyard again, Amelia stood at the shoreline, holding a bag of chips. “I wondered when you’d be back. Was it worth it?”

“No.” I wrung out my hair.

“So there was no making out with Jackson Holt?”

“What? Gross.”

“Really? You don’t find him cute? I think he’s cute.” She crunched into a chip.

“You think everyone is.”

She started to protest through her mouthful but then said, “True, but he really is.”

“He might be cute but it’s hard to tell through all the annoying.” I snatched a chip out of her hand and bit into it.

“Annoying? Huh. I think he’s funny.”

“Interesting. He thinks he’s funny too.”

She laughed. “So I was talking to Katie while you and Jackson were making out.”

“You and Jackson should hang out. You both think you’re funnier than you are.”

She hooked her arm in mine and led me away from the water, ignoring my comment. “And she said Heath Hall is not just from around here; he actually goes to our school.”

It took me a couple seconds to catch up with her train of thought.

“The masked man,” she prompted.

“Fake Heath Hall,” I said. “So who is he?”

She shrugged. “That’s part of the mystery.”

“Mystery?” I stopped at the now-empty space of ground my clothes used to occupy. “Where are my clothes?”

She led me to a chair, where they were folded nicely. I pulled my shirt on, then stepped into my sweats.

“Yeah, he’s all over the internet, but nobody knows who he actually is. Or at least nobody is outing him.”

“If nobody knows who he is, then how does Katie know he goes to our school?”

“Rumors, I guess.”

“I need food,” I said, nodding to her chips. “Where did you get those?”

Amelia pointed, and we headed toward tables covered in pizza boxes and snacks set up on the patio. “So are you curious?” she asked.

“That guy made me lose my first race in weeks. So yes, very curious.”