Change of Plans

by Djuana Elkan

I ran my hand through the cold water. My legs began to tense because of the repetitive motion I was putting them through. My mind wandered to the future. My Parents and I had decided to cut Lair short this year. We planned in its place to take a twelve-hour car ride to Oregon to check out colleges. Whenever I thought about it my stomach curled. I didn’t want to leave my friends, not now or ever. I needed something good to come of my summer. It had been filled with crew and the death of a close relative. I hoped Lair would somehow make me happy and give me hope for the future.

My foot flew off the pedal, and I snapped back to the present, regaining my balance. I was in a boat with my good friend Emma. We were the first ones to take a paddle boat out in our group of teens. We had been going for a while and were now in the middle of the peaceful Pinecrest Lake. The rest of the boats were filled with boys who had decided to come with us. They all seemed pretty athletic save my friends Mac and Geoff, who were drama geeks.

Emma and I jumped into the water. I hoped the coldness would numb my feelings of dread, but it didn’t. The boys just watched us. I felt awkward, but I didn’t want my friends to see. I put on an awkward smile trying, to deceive them. I kept looking in the water, hoping to find fish before they found me, fearing their scaly touch. Beau, the only brave man there, jumped in.

“Oh my God this water’s freezing!” he exclaimed. A few minutes later he got out.

Soon the Lair of the Bear staff came by. They told us that it was time to go back to the dock. They made the deal even sweeter by telling us that whoever got there first would get a free lair burger. I could taste the mouth-watering flavor of perfectly seasoned meat, molded with love and care that makes your taste buds explode, and your eyes water with joy. Its juices slowly drip down your chin, but you could care less because of the delectable taste that is a Lair burger. To get a free one is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

We extricated our boats from each other. I moved quickly, jumping onto the back of my original boat. I turned around to see what I could do to help my boat move faster. That’s when my heart sank. I saw that someone else had joined our boat and taken my place. I remembered the staff saying that we had to go out and come back into the dock with the same number of people in our boats.

“What did you do?! This is our boat!” I screeched at them.

“What? It doesn’t matter,” said my friend Rachel. Emma looked at me sympathetically.

“UGH!” I cried out.

The adrenaline began pumping in my veins. I had to find another boat to join so I could get back first. I was born competitive. I have been on different sports teams since I was 5. Two years before, I had joined the crew team at my school, which gave me an even more competitive edge. I wanted to win. I wanted that burger!

I jumped off the boat, looking around for the next closest one. Luckily it was Beau, Mac, and Geoff’s boat. I quickly swam over. Geoff and Mac were pedaling to their hearts’ content while Beau sat relaxed in the back. I sighed internally; Beau is the friend who loves everyone and everything.

“I’m commandeering your boat!” I said, hopping on the back, dripping cold water onto the floor.

“Right on!” he said, welcoming me to the crew. They were paddling slowly, relaxed. We were losing. I dove back into the water, kicking furiously, hoping that we would go faster. I could see that we weren’t going to win. Each of the other boats were quickly passing us. I hopped back into the boat.

I had observed earlier that when the boats are turned around they go faster. It seemed like basic logic to me.

“Why don’t we turn around?” I suggested.

“Why?” asked Mac. “It won’t help.”

“Fine. Why don’t we switch then?” We weren’t going any faster and I could tell that Mac and Geoff were getting tired, but Beau and I were fully energized and ready to peddle.

They agreed, not realizing that part of my plan to switch was to get my way. We switched clumsily, taking up precious time.

“HAH!” I said. I was now in the controlling seat, and they couldn’t do anything to stop me. I quickly turned the boat around.

“You’re wrong,” said Mac. He was our age, but a genius. But I didn’t care and shrugged off his criticism; I was going to show him that I was equally smart.

We started slowly, picking up speed as we went. I was steering. We quickly passed my original boat, which seemed to be having problems. They saw how fast we were going and tried our strategy, getting stuck turning around and failing to move for a good five minutes. My adrenaline hit another gear I wanted to go faster. I realized that the burger wasn’t the only reason I wanted to win, it was the pure joy and pride of proving Mac wrong. I pushed harder, we passed boats one by one, each of them trying and failing to turn around. The guys then chuckled and said, “Thank god we have a crew girl in our boat.”

Soon after we passed the last boat my legs began to ache. I hadn’t had a hard workout in over a month and I didn’t have the energy to finish the race. I began to complain, so Mac offered to switch with me. We switched again, this time not worrying about how much time we were taking up. Mac and Beau had control of the steering now and I could see they needed help. We swerved from side to side like a drunk driver. This situation wouldn’t get me that feeling of accomplishment or that burger.

“Do you want me to steer?” I asked calmly.

“Yes, please,” they both replied simultaneously.

I took over the steering again this time with a better idea of where I was going. I was going to thank my dad for teaching me how to drive and my coach for teaching to be a coxswain (the person who steers and inspires rowers to work past there limit) for a month while I was injured. This was a breeze for me. We slowly went into the dock, beating the rest of the boats by a good ten minutes. We got out of the boat; I looked around and realized then that I had left my shoes and shirt in the other boat. They didn’t seem important. We had won and that was all that mattered.

“Thanks Djuna,” they said.

“I guess I was wrong,” said Mac.

“Its all good,” I replied, laughing with joy. We walked along the dock until it took an abrupt turn, the metal glistened in the hot sun. I put one foot on the metal slowly walking forwards. Suddenly a flash of pain ran up my legs.

“MOVE!!!!” I screamed, pushing the guys out of my way. My heart was pumping. I could feel my feet blistering from the heat. I franticly searched the premise while I ran, hoping there would be a shaded spot. One caught my eye and I jumped on it quickly, sighing a cliché sigh. Joy had been restored until, I heard the boys laughing hysterically behind me.

“Its not funny!” I said, “That really hurt!” They just laughed harder.

The boys decided they didn’t really want a burger, they just wanted to go back to camp. I begged them not to leave me alone. I had helped them win, so they had to stay with me. I convinced them to keep me company. They skipped rocks on the water, showing off.

Once the other boats pulled in they decided to leave. Emma brought me my shoes and shirt apologizing for what had happened on the water, I told her it was fine. She also came with the bad news that the promise of lair burgers was false.

“AW MAN!” I said sarcastically, not caring about the burger at all anymore. I was disappointed that I would have to spend my own money on something to eat, but I didn’t care. I had won and that was all that mattered. I felt a smile creep onto my face. This day had totally been worth it. For being my last year at Lair I had the time of my life.

I found a few dollars and I got myself some onion rings.

Full and satisfied I went home, a winner.