June 5, 2018

On the bus home from the last day of my sophomore year of high school, I clutched my yearbook in my hands, anxious about what the summer had in store. I had spoken to Véro a handful of times over the last several days, but I had never worked up the nerve to ask her to be my crew for the regatta. Today was the registration deadline, and I was beginning to fear that I wouldn't be able to enter.

"Hey Sylvie, will you sign my yearbook?" Eden asked from the seat across the aisle.

"Sure," I said. "Will you sign mine?"

"Are you kidding?" Eden said. "Of course I will." The two of us traded notebooks, and I wrote her a rather long message filled with inside jokes. Eden did the same for me, and as the bus drove down the twisted road that led to the north side of Clearwater Lake, I passed Eden's yearbook back to her.

A few minutes later, the bus arrived at our stop, and I climbed off the bus. At last, summer was here, and Eden and I were free. As I walked to my house, Brooke asked me to sign her yearbook. Despite my resentment of the fact that Eden had agreed to crew for her, I said yes, and while I wrote a message telling her to have a great summer, Brooke wrote her name in huge, cursive letters on the cover of my yearbook. I didn't care - Brooke and I were friends, and now I could always remember her.

When I got to my house, I quickly unpacked my backpack, making sure to save some of my homework so that I could use it for Eden's annual end of the year bonfire. I placed my yearbook and the other things that I wanted to keep on my desk, and then I went out to the living room. Everett, who had been home for a little while, was already busy playing video games, but since neither of our parents were home, I told Everett that I was going sailing.

"I don't care," Everett responded. "Just let me play."

I rolled my eyes - my little brother could be such a jerk sometimes. I went back into my room and changed into a bright yellow Clearwater Lake Yacht Club T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts and then headed into the garage to pick up some of the things that I needed to go sailing. Once I was ready, I walked towards the pier, but I stopped when I saw Véro sleeping on her hammock. As I walked by, Véro bolted up and starting shouting at me in French.

"Véro, what's going on?" I asked, unsure of what I had done to make her so angry.

"I'm sorry, Sylvie," Véro said as she adjusted her glasses. "You woke me up."

"Sorry about that," I said. "I wasn't trying to wake you up."

"I'm sure," Véro said, rolling her eyes.

"I'll let you get back to sleep," I said as I kept walking towards the pier.

"No," Véro said. "Stay here."

"Why?" I asked, turning around to face Véro again.

"I like talking to you," Véro said. "Also, I won't sleep again after you woke me up like that."

"I'm sorry, Véro!" I exclaimed, and it was true. All I wanted at that moment was to please the gorgeous purple-haired girl on the hammock in front of me.

"It's okay," Véro said. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm going to go sailing," I said, smiling. Sailing always put me in a good mood, and this was no exception.

"That's cool," Véro said as she lay down on the hammock again.

"Véro, I've been meaning to ask you something," I said.

"What is it?" Véro asked.

"There's a regatta coming up..." I said.

"I don't sail," Véro interrupted.

"It's right here on the lake," I said, undeterred. "I want to enter, but I need a crew because the boats that you use to sail in the regatta require two people to sail. It's on July 15th, July 22nd, and July 29th. Will you please be my crew?"

"Why should I do this for you?" Véro asked.

"This is the last year that I can compete in the junior regatta," I said. "Next year, I'll have to sail against adults. I placed in second last year, and I want to win this year."

"If you want to win, you should not sail with me," Véro said. "I don't know how to sail."

"You can learn," I said. "It's really not that hard."

Véro sighed and said, "I suppose that I can sail with you."

"Great!" I exclaimed. "Let's get started right now!"

I ran out to the pier, but Véro stayed put in her hammock. "I don't want to sail now," Véro said.

"Come on," I said. "The sooner we get started, the better."

"I'm tired," Véro complained.

"It won't take that long," I insisted.

"Fine," Véro said. She followed me out to the pier and got into the boat with me. "What do I do now?"

I quickly taught Véro all of the different parts of the boat, from the rudder to the mast to the tiller to the boom. It wasn't long before Véro became confused, but I did my best to explain everything to her. "Let's go sailing," I said once Véro seemed like she understood the basics.

I continued to explain how the boat worked as I sailed out to the center of the lake. At first, Véro seemed panicked, but she calmed down as we sailed further from shore. "This is kind of fun," Véro said as the wind ruffled her light purple hair.

"Isn't it?" I said. "Just be careful. I'm going to tack pretty soon."

"What does that mean?" Véro asked.

"I'm going to change directions," I explained. "Just duck so the boom doesn't hit your head."

"What?" Véro said, but it was too late. I had already let out the sheet line too much, and the boom was heading straight towards Véro's head.

"DUCK!" I shouted as I ducked and moved over to the other side of the boat. Véro screamed, but she did duck her head and follow me to the starboard side.

"Why would you do that?!" Véro shouted.

"I needed to turn around to keep going in this direction," I explained. "We're going upwind, so I need to move in a zigzag."

"That makes no sense," Véro said. "Why can't the boat go in a straight line?"

I tried to explain it to her, but it was clear that Véro wasn't going to get it. We continued to sail around the lake, and after a while, Véro started to enjoy herself. She told me endless stories about her friends back in Paris, and I told her about everything that was going on in the yacht club.

After a few hours, we returned to shore, and I told Véro, "We still have time for one more lesson."

"What else is there to learn?" Véro asked.

"A lot, but there's one more thing that I should probably teach you today," I said.

"What is it?" Véro asked, seeming genuinely curious.

"We're going to learn how to tip over," I said as I pulled the sail so far in that the boat turned on its side, and both Véro and I fell into the water.

Despite the fact that the water was shallow enough that she could touch, Véro yelled at me in French. I couldn't understand a word that she was saying, but I could tell by her tone of voice that I didn't want to know what she was shouting at me. "You are the worst, Sylvie!" Véro exclaimed, returning to English.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should have given you more warning."

"I hate you!" Véro shouted.

"Do you really mean that?" I asked, heartbroken.

"No," Véro said. "I am mad though."

"I can tell," I said. "Come on, I'll show you what to do if this ever happens in a race. It's pretty hard to tip over with this boat, but it can still happen."

"What should I do?" Véro asked.

"Stay where you are," I instructed. "Start pushing down on the board on this side, and I'll do the same on the other side. If we do that, then the boat should right itself."

Véro did as I instructed, while I swam to the other side of the boat. Véro complained the whole time about how short she was and that she could barely reach the board, but before long, the boat was in the correct position again and the two of us were able to climb aboard.

"That was terrible," Véro said. "I don't want to sail anymore."

"We're done now," I said as I steered the boat towards the pier. "You don't have to sail again today unless you want to."

"I don't want to," Véro said. "I don't want to sail ever again."

"Why not?" I asked.

"It's too scary," Véro said.

"It will get less scary as you practice more," I said.

"I don't want to practice more," Véro said.

"Come on, Véro," I said. "I need a crew for this regatta."

"You can find someone else," Véro said.

"No, I really can't," I said. "All of the other eligible sailors are already registered. I need you."

"Fine, but do not expect me to sail again after your regatta," Véro said.

"I'm okay with that," I said. As much as I wanted Véro to spontaneously realize her love for sailing and for Clearwater Lake, I knew that I couldn't change her. If she wanted to quit sailing as soon as the regatta was done, that was fine with me. I just needed to be able to sail in the regatta, and I had succeeded in that. "Do you want to sail around for a little longer? I promise that we won't tip over again."

Véro thought about it for a few minutes, and she said, "Yes, but only because I need the practice."

I smiled and steered the boat away from the pier. I sailed the boat in circles around the lake, and as we continued to practice, Véro started to improve. She no longer needed me to tell her when to duck, and I even let her take the tiller and steer for a little while. Although she occasionally mixed up her left and her right, sailing seemed to come naturally to Véro. "It's like you were meant to be a sailor," I told her.

Véro simply responded by saying, "No, not at all," and perfectly turning the boat around so that we were heading towards the shore again.

When we reached the shore a few minutes later, I asked Véro, "Do you want to practice again tomorrow?"

"I should," Véro responded.

"I'll see you again tomorrow then, assuming that the weather's nice," I said.

"See you later, Sylvie," Véro said as she headed back towards her house. "It was nice sailing with you."

I didn't have a chance to respond before Véro disappeared into the house next door. There were so many things that I wanted to say to her, but instead, I headed into my house to eat dinner and dry off. I greeted Mom and Dad before I went into my room and changed into dry clothes. I then crashed onto my bed, unsure what to do.

It was at that moment that I realized how much I liked Véro. Something about her presence made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and even though I had just sailed with her, I wanted to do it all over again. It wasn't just her pretty face - it was the way that she picked up the basics of sailing, even with my horrible teaching skills, and the way that her eyes lit up when she was on the water. She tried to conceal it, but we did make a good pair. The real question was whether she felt the same way about me.