5 comments/ 8689 views/ 11 favorites Surviving My 19th Summer Ch. 01 By: Vulpes_R_Gentleman "Jimmy, what are you doing this Summer?" "Plenty." "No, come on! Tell us! Are you going on holiday with your girlfriend?" 'Perhaps if I had one,' I thought. "Why, are you hoping to be on my To Do list Sasha?" "Only if you're free..." Sasha fluttered her eyes at me and I gave her the obligatory 'I'll think it over' look. These girls were always doing this. I wasn't too worried; I'd worked at the beauty salon long enough to learn the tricks. Most of the regulars were the petty, pampered kind. They were the kind of girls that you avoided on the playground when you were in grade school, the kind that insulted you with their eyes and complimented you by showing attention in a crowd. I always thought of them as 'Needles', because they were usually thin and generally had a prickly attitude. I suppose that 'Cactus' would be a slightly less flattering term. I hated that kind of attitude, but I quickly learnt to deal with it at the salon. We got plenty of customers and it wasn't like they were all terrible. Occasionally some of my mum's friends would drop by and snicker softly at the shameless flirting that went on. The first time it happened I nearly got myself fired. Surviving My 19th Summer Ch. 01 "Well, it was worth a shot. Can you tell I took Drama?" "Holy crap, dude!" Tara punched me in the shoulder, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" The three of us carried on for a while, as we made trips to and from the ship. I learnt that they were both friends of one of the people I knew, but I didn't want to let on yet that I knew them. Of the 8 survivors I had rescued, 6 of them had been on their way to a camp at Lord Howe together. There was also a group of boys who were on the same plane (including the brother I had overheard them talk about) who were supposed to meet on the way to the campsite. The boys weren't seated any where near the girls, so they had no way of knowing if they made it out alive. I didn't want to bring up the sharks or the lack of whole bodies that I saw while I was rescuing them, so I just kept silent. At around 2 in the afternoon, we finished unloading the boat and had set about making a late meal for ourselves and the other girls. I had already eaten breakfast while sailing, so I made Tara and Dana sit on the beach and eat some sandwiches while I prepared the ingredients for dinner. I hadn't packed a large amount as I planned to live off what I could catch as much as possible, but I had still packed a month's worth of non-perishable food and had some leftover fresh food from the sea trip. Fresh food is always easiest on deck. I was in the middle of adding some chopped carrots and onions to the stew I was making (I always making stew the first night, it's a good way to use up leftovers from the journey out), when I heard screaming and saw Dana sprinting toward me. She look terrified. "Jim, the girls woke up and tried to swim to shore," she panted slightly, but I was already moving with her, sensing the urgency. "What happened?" Running towards the beach wasn't helping Dana with her panting so she stopped and motioned for me to run ahead. A second later I heard her yell. "Shark!" I swore silently and put on a burst of speed. arriving at the shore, I could see the 6 remaining girls huddled on a tiny sandbar. Tara was kneeling on the beach crying. As I got closer I heard her. "Not again! Not again! Not again..." I swore out loud this time and shucked off my jacket. I draped it over her shoulders, prompting her to look up at me. "I'll save them. I swear it on my life." Tara gave me a teary smile and clutched my jacket closer. I tossed my shirt to the side but hesitated before I jumped into the water. I wouldn't be any good to them dead, even if the sharks left after that, the girls would still be stranded... Plus, I didn't really want to die 3 days before my 19th birthday. As I searched for a way to save them, my eyes caught on the canoe. It was worth a shot, hell, it was the best chance I had. I pushed the canoe into the water and hopped in. Immediately, the shark circling the sandbar reacted. It stopped swimming in tight circles and began to lazily sweep the sandbar. It was waiting. "Stay where you are! It's not gone yet!" I knew how people tend to act in situations like these; they don't think about anything except escape. I needed to get there before one of them tried to bolt. Dipping the paddle into the water, I realised that it was barely waist deep where I was. If I could lure him towards me, the girls could escape while he struggled in the shallows. "I'm going to toss you girls a paddle! I need one of you to grab it and then tell me when the shark moves towards me!" 'Once I'm in the water I won't have a good view of the shark until it's close enough to bite. I'll throw one paddle, slip into the water and push the canoe to them. Hopefully I'll get enough warning to get back to the shallows.' I flung the paddle low, splashing the water with my other paddle to draw the shark's attention. Once the girls had the paddle I jumped from the canoe and splashed around some more. A shout from one of the girls told me the shark was on its way and I turned away from the sand bar and the ship. Kicking hard, I slid through the water parallel to the beach, struggling to swim with the paddle in one hand. This plan would be for nothing if they didn't have time to get in the canoe and get to the shore. My heart was pounding and I cut right, closer to shallow water. As soon as my fingers grazed the sand I stood and raised the paddle above my head. I swung hard, eyes wide at how close my feet were to those teeth. I connected with the spot above his gills and stumbled backward. The shark thrashed and turned away. I turned to see the girls run the canoe ashore and start getting out. Suddenly, one girl tripped and fell back into the water. Acting on instinct, I shoved my fist in mouth and bit until I tasted blood. I dropped the hand back in the water and stirred it around. then I flipped the paddle around to hold it only slightly above the blade. The shark came back at a terrifying pace and I swung the paddle, hammering his nose with the handle. He slowed down but only circled once before coming back. Raising the paddle high, I waited. I didn't have time to check if the girls were safe, only time to save myself now. The shark rolled slightly to the side and I could see it aim for my left leg. I started to bring my paddle down as I felt everything slow down. In painful slow-motion, I watched the shark stir up the sand as he grounded himself, just before he began to close those powerful jaws around my leg. I saw my hands drive the blade of the paddle downwards, felt the fibre-glass bend slightly as it struck and watched it slide under the vertical slit of the shark's gills. Then I felt the fire in my thigh and everything sped up. I fell back, unable to stand on my left leg, as the shark thrashed about. He was practically beached and had my paddle imbedded in his gills. I staggered to my feet and tore the paddle free causing more struggling. Using it as a crutch, I propped myself up with my left leg lying on the shore. I then flipped the paddle and used the handle to hook the furthest of the shark's gills. I grunted as I heaved backwards, dragging his flailing body from the water by his gills. With my remaining strength, I gave a mighty yank and fell as the handle tore through the flesh of its gills. I landed on my back with a heaving chest. Moment later the shark's corpse landed in the sand beside me. Closing my eyes for a moment, I panted where I lay. I may have even passed out for a minute or two, because when I opened my eyes, I saw 8 pairs of eyes looking down at me in awe. I summoned an exhausted, but hopefully convincing, smile. "So who wants some shark fin soup?" Surviving My 19th Summer Ch. 01 "Man, if I'd known my summer would be like this, I'd have packed more condoms." I laughed as I imagined Kyle's present being a case full of rubbers and a note saying, 'Forget keeping in touch, just keep it clean ;)' - KB. "Oh, Kyle, I hope you're enjoying your Summer, because I am feeling the hea — Cold! " I'd gotten into the bad habit of thinking aloud when I was alone, which I suddenly regretted as I punctuated the end of my sentence with a less than manly squeal. "Everything okay?" I narrowed my eyes as my body got used to the cool flow of the waterfall. Dana's voice sounded far too close. "Yeah.. I'm fine, just surprised by how cold the water is." There was a suspicious pause and I waited for the answer I knew was coming. "I can always come down there and warm you up," Dana offered. I smirked and nodded having predicted her response. "I'm fine, really. I don't mind you waiting around, but try not to perv on me too much. You might end up giving me my swollen ego a fatal boost." "How much is too much?" I started to undress, rinsing my clothes as I went. I could still banter and shower. I removed my shorts, having ditched my shoes the moment I set foot on the sand. "Too much is when you've seen more of me than I have of you." "Then this would have been a lot less complicated if you let me shower with you." This girl had me on the ropes. My imagination started picturing what that would be like, much to my reluctance. I felt my cock stir slightly in my briefs as I raised my shirt over my head. Flinging my shirt on top of my other clothes, I was treated to a very distinct gasp and then a whole lot of rustling. I smirked again and called Dana on her peeking. "Apparently, someone's idea of playing look out requires looking in." "OH!" Dana's voice was more distant. She had likely tried to move away and then turned her back when she realised how noisy she was being. She gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, I guess I did look in, huh... Um, I'll meet you back at camp. It's a lot easier to get back than it is to get here. So, um, bye!" I chuckled to myself as I heard vegetation being swept aside and footsteps getting distant. "Looks like she has a bashful side after all." I chuckled some more as I started to remove my underwear. "Who'd have thought she get so skittish over just my bare chest..." I trailed off as my hands found my briefs. Looking down slowly, I sighed in acceptance. My cock had risen to half-mast tucked down the right side of my briefs despite the cold water and cool ocean breeze. I was in the middle of blaming Dana for the images that her flirting had given me, when I arrived at a realisation. Dana's sudden bashfulness made a lot more sense now. I hastily finished washing and got dressed, making it back to camp in record time. Surviving My 19th Summer Ch. 01 "For fuck's sake, Dana! I don't care! I. Don't. Care. Look, I don't mind that you know. I thought I might, but I really don't. Besides, I suppose it makes sense that my beta is actually you; you're both hopeless teases." I got up slowly and stepped backwards out of the tent. I was pleased to note that Dana's eyes latched onto our hands as I drew Robin up with me. "By the way, I remembered why it was a bad idea..." Dana looked up at me as I said that. Her eyes hardened and suddenly she was bold again. "Well, what is it?" I felt bad at having chewed her out so thoroughly, but at the same time, I didn't want to encourage her to irritate me. So I figured I'd come up with a solution for both. "Isn't it obvious? Sarah would kill me if I did anything with one of you girls." As the last word flew from my mouth, I knew I'd made a grave mistake. Time spluttered out and I experienced the same lack of pace as I had while fending off the shark. I saw Violet and Mandy's eyes widen in synchronicity. Mandy's mouth dropped open before it twisted into a savage grin. At the same time, Violet swung a hand up to slam her face into her palm. My eyes flicked over to Dana in time to see the beginnings of her smirk before they caught Robin's expression. It was torn between outrage and resignation. 'Oh flip-flops and flag-fangles, time for some damage control.' As subtle as possible, I turned away from the tent and whispered in Robin's ear. "Besides, you've got her beat. Quick, pretend you're upset, slap me, then meet me near the boat." I was lucky to catch her relieved smile before she masked it with anger and slammed her fist into my jaw. 'Damn, I told her to slap me! But, she knows how to punch. She really knows how to punch...' Rubbing my jaw, I watched her storm across the sand. I was interrupted from admiring the view by a scoff from Dana. "Well, looks like that ship has sailed. Besides, you shouldn't worry about Sarah; I bet I can talk her 'round" I rolled my eyes and limped after Robin to the tune of Violet's uncontrollable laughter.