Isla
We find Jack already asking his dad for the fireworks. Daniel seems so thrilled to have the guys join him in on his fun that he says, "Here. You guys can help me out."
"Thank you, dad," Jack says, and before Daniel can give him the firework, he reaches forward to throw his arms around his father. His father chuckles out of shock, but then I watch as his eyes close to savor the hug. Jack pulls back with a grin and says, "You are the best."
That makes Daniel let out a large smile as he reaches back on the porch and hands him a firework. "I can light it for you, but you have to have your mother or brother wait for it to work."
"That's okay," Jack says, and Daniel uses a match to light up the firework. It's one of the sticks that light up so quick that Jack has to run a few feet away from his dad and then sit down. Julian joins him, and I do too, amazed to see how fast the firework will go. Julian crouched down and said, "Okay, so. You just let it sit for a second and move back."
"Yeah," Jack says, and as he moves away, Joe taps him on the shoulder with an eager smile. "I will do it next time."
"Sure," Jack says, and that causes the eight-year-old to break out into a long smile. Julian watches the exchange with a smile before it drops, and he says, "We need to talk though."
"Oh," Jack says, wiping his hand on his swimming shorts. With the quilt-ridden look on his face, I knew that the little boy had an idea of what the conversation could be about. Julian nods. "I know you guys were thrilled to help out this year, but we don't swim out in the dark, especially alone, do we?"
Jack hangs his head low as Joe says, "No."
"That's right," Julian says, reaching over and squeezing Jack's shoulder. "You're lucky that Isla and I were right behind you. Be more careful next time."
"I understand," Jack says, finally looking at Julian in the eye. He seems so apologetic as he says, "I didn't mean to."
"I know it was just excitement, buddy," Julian says, but has a more serious look on his face when he adds, "But I cannot have anything happen to you, or Jack, you know? Not after what happened with dad."
"I know," Jack says, and I wish that I could reach over and hug him, given how much emotion he wore on his face. The firework on the ground a few feet from us lights up, and in a moment, it completely erupts with a loud noise. I place my hand on my ears to conceal the noise, and I watch in amazement as it shoots through the air and vibrant colors come to life in the dark night air.
There isn't anything as beautiful as this moment where the firework continues to go, a different array of colors brightening up the sky. I hear the cousins on the boat cheering at the kids for putting it out, and through that, I hear the sound of utter happiness. Everyone here was happy and excited to be able to come together and enjoy this day. It was such a nice feeling to be around.
As the fireworks go again for the last time, I avert my gaze from the sky and immediately find Julian's a good few feet from me. Even in the dark, his eyes shine as he gives me a long smile that I cannot help but reciprocate. It's not hard when I genuinely feel excited to be surrounded by him and his family. He pulls his eyes away from mine, and I follow his gaze to where the last bit of color shoots through the sky.
After the last firework dies out and the entire world becomes quiet again, Joe breaks through the silence. He gets up from the floor and runs straight to Daniel. "Hey, Uncle Daniel, can I do it this time?"
"Of course," Daniel says, and as he hands the little kid the firework sticks, he seeks out his older son. Julian doesn't need to be asked to know that his dad is silently asking him to do as he gets up and heads over to the younger cousin. He places a hand on Joe's shoulder as Daniel says, "Very carefully, okay? After I light it up, go back to the original spot."
Joe gives his uncle a grin and says, "I got it."
Daniel lights up the firework, and as instructed, Joe holds on to the sticks tightly and runs straight to where the last one was placed. He puts it on the ground and moves back to where Jack was sitting. "Is this one going to be cool?" he asks Jack with enthusiasm. Jack gives him a nod. "Of course. My dad only buys the best ones out there."
"He is the best," Joe says with a nod, and then looks up at the sky. "My dad is always busy with work."
"Mine too," Jack said with a shrug. "In the daytime, he is always at work, so they have me stay home with a babysitter."
"Oh," Joe says, "my mom stays home. I think she works at home."
"My mom is very busy now," Jack says with a sad look. But then he smiles and says, "But that means Isla gets to come over and play with me. She is actually really nice."
I feel touched as the conversation dies down when the firework goes off. It's as if I'm seeing the fireworks for the first time; it seems so magical. It's a very cool thing to look forward to every Fourth of July. And here on the other side of town, it was only better. To look at fireworks and be so close to the water without having to drive to the beach was such a great thing to have.
I watch as the last bit of firework dies down, and this time, Julian suggests he wants to do the honors. That makes the little kids frown, but Julian only laughs as he asks, "What? I don't get a turn?"
The kids continue to frown, but Julian laughs as he heads over and gets his fireworks sticks. He comes back with it lit up and places it on the floor. He moves back fast enough, and this time, instead of going back to his spot across from me, he takes a seat right next to me. He places his hands out behind him, positioning himself as he looks out at the sky.
But as he waits, his eyes drift off to my face, where he says, "My one is going to be the best, right?"
I laugh out loud, despite myself. "You're so not cool competing with little kids."
"I am," he says to me in retrospect, with a large grin. "Around here, competing with little kids is how you show your real coolness."
"In that case, maybe you're not really that cool," I say as, when he raises his eyebrow at me, I nudge his shoulder. "You would know," I say with a smirk, "because you aren't able to beat them many times."
Julian laughs at that, giving me a roll of his eyes as he looks back at the sky. Sure enough, this time the fireworks go off with a loud shooting noise, and within seconds, the night sky is erupted with beautiful colors. It's peaceful watching the fireworks continue to go on and on, keeping the sky a pretty mix of oranges and purples.
It's the perfect night, and maybe I'm imagining it, but I feel eyes on me. It taints my cheeks red, and when I look to my side, Julian is looking at me. He clears his throat, turning back to the sky, and I wonder what that look meant. Usually we smile at each other, but this time he didn't smile; he seemed to be looking at me. I look back at the night sky, but I feel compelled to look at him. I catch him staring at the sky, beautiful colors reflecting in his blue eyes. His chin was turned up to the sky, and his side profile was nice from where I was looking at him. But then he feels me looking at him and turns around. I look away as quick as I can because I have been checking him out. I had been checking out how he looked and whether he was attractive.
It's weird how fast feelings can develop, but I didn't know what to do with them. We have only started to hang out on our own, without babysitting or me tagging along with his friends. I was moving too fast, and I needed to remind myself of that.
I swallow as I look back at the sky and focus on that. I don't focus on how our shoulders were touching or where our hands were so close; I could feel his warmth from here. If I don't focus on any of that, then it would only escalate my thoughts in ways I wasn't sure they could go.
After Julian's fireworks go off, Jack and Joe run back over to Daniel for me. This time, both of them have their own sticks, and when those burst through the air, there was a double amount of fireworks in the sky. I don't think I've ever seen fireworks this much or this pretty before other than the time I went to Disneyland when I was in fifth grade with my parents.
•
Fireworks go on for a long time, and once the entire world starts to stop with the fireworks and we run out of ours, we all start to head home. The cousins from the boat come back around, and Julian goes over to help them park it in its spot. I go over to grab my things, but before I can say goodbye to the boat, I take a picture of it with a flash. As I go through the picture, I find that the boat is the center point of the picture, and the water is calm and dark in the background.
It's perfect.
I look through the other pictures, and as Julian and Leo finish off their task, I look over and say, "I took a lot of pictures with you guys in them. You guys don't mind, do you?"
"No," Leo says with a shake of his head, and Harry follows suit. "Julian had let us know you were into photography, so it wasn't a shock when you pulled your camera out."
"Okay," I say, glancing over at Julian to figure out when he had the time to speak to them. He only gives me a smile, so I look back and say, "That's good. I just wanted to make sure I had permission, you know?"
"Do you post?" Harry asks, and I shake my head. Running a hand through my damp hair that was starting to dry with a frizz, I answer, "No. I never got into posting on social media, and now it seems weird to start."
"Maybe you should," one of your cousins, whose name I swear I had but cannot place now, says. "I want to see your art."
"I'll send the pictures to Julian so he can share," I say, but he only gives me a look. "Oh, and I guess I'm just taking pictures to add to my art portfolio for colleges next year."
"See, now that's cool," Harry says with a grin. "Hopefully I make it into your portfolio."
"We'll see," I say, which causes him to laugh out loud. "Yeah, or you can just use the ones you took of Julian. He had the most, no doubt."
"Uh," I say, noticing the teasing smirk on his face. "Not a ton. Just a little."
"Yeah," Leo says with a laugh. "More than us, significantly."
"That means we spent a lot of time alone in Hawaii," I defend, and that causes their attention. As I start to tell my story, Julian jumps off the boat and heads to the dock. He joins us as I tell a few stories on the walk back to his house.
As we make it back into the house, we pass by the kitchen, where Lorraine was sitting by the counter. She looked to be fixing up some food, and as the boys walked past, she called out, "Hey! Stop by for dinner."
"Mom, we were going to—"
"Eat a ton of snacks while you watch your classic family comedies," Loarrine supplies, leaving her older son in awe at how she managed to get all of it right. Lorraine rolls her eyes as she says, "But that's not a balanced meal. You guys had a lot of fun in the water, and there's no doubt you're hungry. You aren't allowed to watch a movie unless you eat."
Julian groans but then walks back toward the counter. "Fine, we will eat."
"Very well," Lorraine says with a nod. She looks over at all of the boys and toward me. "Isla, what would you like, sweetie?"
"Oh—"
"How come she gets the first pick? You know how it is with only leftovers?" Harry says, following Julian as well.
Lorraine gives him a shake of her head and says, "Because she is a guest and I've fed you boys long enough to know you guys will eat anything!"
Harry laughs at that as I start to think about how late it was getting. I bring my bag up to my shoulder and say, "I—uh, it's getting late. Maybe I should go home."
"After I feed you," Lorraine says, beckoning me over with her hand. "I cannot send you home hungry." Her eyes widened at an inner thought, and she cut her gaze to her son. "Wait, Julian, have you been sending her home hungry?"
"No," Julian defends quickly with a hand-up. "I got her food!"
"You better have," she says to him, and she eyes him for a moment longer. Julian just shakes his head in defeat as his mom stares at him in doubt.
I chuckle at Julian and say, "Yeah, um, he got me food. He said I should eat before I leave."
"Good," Lorraine says with a smile. "I taught my boy was better than that."
"Yeah," I say, glancing at Julian and knowing that there are a lot of things his parents did a good job of making him practice, or else he couldn't be this version of himself. A teenage boy is so thoughtful and kind to anyone he comes across. "And I guess I can stay for dinner." As Loraine cheers in happiness, I look at Julian and ask, "You will be able to take me home later, right?"
"Yeah," Julian says, pulling his phone out to check the time. "There's still a lot of time. When do your parents expect you back home?"
"Oh," I say, completely having forgotten that my parents were at home. "They aren't home tonight."
"Great! You can stay a long time."
"If you guys are still fun," I say with a shrug that causes the older cousins to laugh. I was kidding; I'd stay as long as I was still welcome.