The sun was directly overhead by the time Kit and Edison got out on the water. Boarding the boat had been a rocky situation. Edison had had to swallow his pride for a minute, and allow Kit to help stabilize him as he climbed on the small boat.

The boat was white and blue, with two plastic seats and two sets of pedals in the floor. With Edison seated, Kit handed him a paddle and climbed aboard. The paddle boat attendant gave them a shove and they were off. She began to peddle, the movement kicking up water, and Edison joined in with the paddle.

Once they were moving, it didn't take long for the sun to warm their shoulders. But the strong wind on the water and a light spray from the peddles were cooling. It was an uneven balance between the peddles and paddle and they spent the first few minutes spinning in circles, much to Edison's annoyance, and Kit's delight.

"Kit, stop peddling!" he snapped.

He dug his paddle deep into the water as he tried to counteract the movement on her side of the boat. She laughed, but removed her feet from the peddles. She stretched her legs over the edge of the boat and rested back against the seat, closing her eyes.

A minute later, Edison let out a frustrated sigh.

"A little help," he huffed.

She smiled and slowly sat up. He had been so successful with his paddling, they were now spinning in the opposite direction. He glared at her when she didn't make any movement to help.

"I didn't hear a please," she said.

His glare was so strong, she questioned whether he would abandon the boat and swim back to shore.

"Fine, fine," she started to peddle, "but only because you have a busted ankle."

He grumbled under his breath as her peddling turned them from shore and he started to paddle. She slowed her pedaling and they were able to strike a balance.

The lake was busy with other boaters and paddle boards so they cut a straight line, directly away from shore, heading for less crowded water. They kept moving in silence until the shore was barely visible and there were only a few boats nearby.

Edison pulled his paddle out of the water and rested it between them before wiping his brow.

"Do you have anything useful in that backpack or did you just bring it because it matched your outfit?"

Kit looked down at the yellow backpack she had brought, then at the yellow shirt she was wearing. She laughed.

"Obviously, I brought it because it matches my outfit," she said.

She mimicked the ditsy tone Amanda always used. He looked annoyed before she pulled out a water bottle and handed it to him.

"I can honestly say, I haven't spent much of my life worried about whether my bag matches my outfit."

He shrugged and drank half the bottle of water. "Don't be offended. Half of what Amanda says is about her outfit or purse."

She nodded. "No, I understand your confusion. Amanda and I are very similar," she said.

For a moment, an annoyed looked settled on his face until he began to smile. He shook his head at his own mistake and she laughed.

"Thanks though, for the comparison," she said. "I'm sure Amanda would really appreciate it."

"You know, I forgot to get her a birthday present," he said. "Do you think the comparison will be enough?"

A full smile covered his face as Kit's laugh grew louder and she slapped her leg.

When her laughing calmed to a quiet chuckle, she managed to say, "the true thought and meaning behind the present might be lost on her."

He chuckled and finished off his water. She pulled snacks out of her bag and they ate in silence, as the paddle boat softly rose and fell with the motion of the water, turning in a lazy circle. She rested her legs on the front of the boat, her feet dangling over.

The warm sun was a sedative for her normal antsy energy, and she found herself enjoying the quiet, instead of finding it constraining.

After a while, she spoke. "Some of my favorite memories are on the water," she said.

Her voice came out quiet, matching the peaceful mood that had settled over them. It took Edison a moment to respond, and she wasn't sure he had heard her.

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded. "But I prefer the ocean to a lake."

"You like the gross, sticky feeling of salt water more than fresh water?"

"It's less about how the water feels and more about where it's going."

He frowned as he thought about it for a moment. "Where it's going? This is a lake, it's not going anywhere."

"Exactly," she said. "It's never changing. Yes, some of it evaporates and it rains, but for the most part, it is the same water its always been. And will always be." He looked at her like she was a little crazy and she continued. "But the ocean is always moving. The water I step into on the west coast could have come from across the world. And it keeps moving.

"I swim in it for a day and then it is off. I like the idea of something I've touched traveling around the world, forever. It will reach places I'll never be able to visit, and somehow I find that reassuring."

She had become concentrated as she tried to put into words an idea that was hard to grasp. She looked over at Edison, hoping to find he understood even a little bit, and found him holding back a smile.

"Are you talking about your pee traveling the world?" he laughed.

She rolled her eyes and gave his arm a shove. Chuckling, she shook her head, her idea lost on him.

"What about those favorite memories?" he asked, after the joke had passed and the peacefulness had returned.

She was quiet as she thought back on them. The bad memories seemed to come right on the coattails of the good, but she did what she always did, and pushed them aside. There wasn't enough time to let them take up space in her head.

She smiled before she began to talk. "About nine months ago, my family was in Italy."

Edison's eyes went up in surprise, but she kept talking. She cared more about telling the memory than explaining the reason for their location.

"It was really early in the morning, before the sun had come up. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to sneak out. We were up on this cliff above the water, and I decided to climb down. It was a little stupid. The climb was almost straight down and slippery, but it was worth it.

"When I got to the bottom, it was water as far as I could see. It felt like I was the only person in the world. Just me and the forever expanding water. It made me feel infinitely insignificant and infinitely important, all at the same time." Kit focused on the water as she spoke.

She shrugged when Edison didn't say anything.

"It sounds pretty boring now that I've said it out loud," she added. She looked over and found him studying her.

"I wasn't expecting that," he admitted.

She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Were you thinking more along the lines of street racing or cliff jumping?"

"Yeah."

She waved her arms about, as if to do away with the somber mood that had settled over them.

"I'm being weird," she laughed. "I think it might have been the crackers. They tasted a little off. Do you think they are past their expiration date?" She reached for the box to find the date. "You really have to be careful."

He snatched the box out of her hands. "I've heard expired crackers can make you say crazy things," he said.

His tone was joking, but there was a serious note underneath, as if he understood her wanting to lighten the mood. And he understood her story.

She shrugged it off. "Enough about me. I'm curious to hear what Edison Reigns' favorite memories are? But if it involves a girl, then I don't want to know."

He laughed. "What if the girl is you?"

He looked at her with big, puppy dog eyes.

She scoffed. "I would say you are pathetic. We've only been hanging out for a week."

"Is a week too short to make memories?"

"No. And since most of your week has involved me, I have no doubt they are good memories, but I was there. I'm already bored. I want to hear about something else."

He pretended to think about it seriously, before he cracked a smile. "Okay, but just know it won't be anywhere as amazing as staring out at water. Really, I'm not sure how I can compete with you."

She shrugged. "Most people can't, but give it your best shot."

He grinned and began. "My story too, involves water. In fact, this very lake. And as you pointed out so nicely, we are probably in the exact same boring water as I was so many years ago."

She shook her head but smiled. The fact that he could joke about her philosophical ramblings meant he didn't think she had completely lost it.

He chuckled and continued, settling back into his normal cadence. "I think I was eight. I was out on a rowboat with my dad and we were fishing." She raised her eyes in surprise, and he shook his head. "I know, I don't seem like the fishing type and that's cause I'm not. Neither was my dad, but he had gotten the idea into his head that fishing would be a fun activity for us. Our neighbor, Mr. Benson, had been boasting about his father son fishing trip the month before and my dad thought we should give it a try."

Kit settled deeper into her seat and watched him talk. He gaze was unfocused as he laughed before he even got to the funny part, and for the second time, she thought she saw something in him she hadn't seen before.

"We'd been out for three hours and we'd caught more knots in our fishing line than we'd caught fish," he said. "I'd been bored since the moment my dad said fishing trip. I remember he was swearing under his breath at the front of the boat, trying to undo another knot. I was in the back and I decided to start dropping food into the water. There wasn't anything else to do, and I had already eaten way too many gummy worms."

His words quickened and she could tell he was coming to the best part. "Then my dad noticed what I'm doing and he lost it. He lunged towards the back of the boat to stop me and, with the shift in weight, the boat tipped and we fell in."

His laugh seemed to bounce off the water and reverberate back to them, and she couldn't help but laugh along. Their laughter rocked the paddle boat, sending little waves out into the lake.

He still had a huge smile on his face as he continued. "When my father came up, he was cursing Mr. Benson and his stupid father son fishing trip."

A warm grin settled on his lips, and she became acutely aware of his looks. His warm, laughing eyes and tan skin. She pushed away the sudden attraction she felt for him, and focused on the end of the story.

"That was the tipping point." He paused so she could fully appreciate his pun. "After we climbed back into the boat, we rowed back to shore. We went to Al's for burgers and milkshakes, and my father explained why men who eat burgers are much better than men who eat fish."

"It sounds like a valuable life lesson," she laughed.

He nodded, but his smile turned melancholy.

"That was about the only one he taught me," he said, shrugging.

Kit could sense them heading into dangerous territory so she kept quiet and sipped her water. They sat in silence for a little bit, until Edison was the one to break it.

"He used to bring me out here a lot," he said. He distractedly twisted the cap of his bottle on and off. "It was our thing. We'd rent different types of boats and go all around the lake. At the end of the day, we would usually end up at Al's. But that was before he left."

She didn't respond right away, curious if he would keep talking on his own. When he didn't, she asked, "When did he leave?"

He looked over at her and it took his eyes a moment to focus, like he was returning to the present from a memory.

"When I was ten," he said. "My sister was only two. She doesn't even remember him living with us."

There was a long pause as he focused on a far-off point. "I don't know which one of us has it better," he said. "She only knows the dad who visits once a month. She doesn't have anything else to compare it to. She doesn't know it used to be different. I have some good memories of my mom and dad together, but now I just know what I'm missing."

He looked over at her and she returned his pensive gaze. She had tried to create the least amount of noise as he spoke, worried if he became aware of her presence, he would stop talking.

Edison talking about his dad was the last thing she had expected, but once he had started, she didn't want him to stop. It felt he was a puzzle she was trying to complete. She had pieced together the frame and parts of the edges, and he had just handed her a large part of the center. The full picture of Edison Reigns was falling into place.

His eyes focused on her, and it felt like he was seeing her for the first time since he had begun his story about his dad. He dropped his gaze and shook his head. He reached for the crackers and examined the box.

"I think you are right about these being expired," he said, speaking into the box. "Who knew bad crackers could have such a weird effect on you?"

"Who knew?" she said. "The stores really need to be more careful about the products they are selling."

He looked over at her, uncertain. She gave him a reassuring smile, and offered him a bag of cookies.

"Did you really forget to buy Amanda a birthday present?" she asked.

"Do you honestly think she would let that happen?" he countered. She chuckled and shook her head. "She gave me a list of pre-approved present ideas two months ago."

Kit's laughter scared away a few ducks that had been floating nearby, and just like that, everything was back to normal. The serious topics swept away.

"All this exercise has made me hungry," she said.

She sat up and started to peddle, turning their boat back towards shore.

"You barely peddled for ten minutes before we sat and ate snacks," he said.

"It was ten minutes of hard peddling, and we still have to get back to land," she argued.

He shook his head as he picked up his paddle. "I guess I could eat."

"How do hamburgers and milkshakes sound?" she asked cautiously.

He smiled. "Perfect."

**********************************************************************

Oatmeal cookie!
(Haha I heard you scoffing)

So I have three older brothers and the oldest sometimes lives at our house. He's a traveling choreographer so we see him every few months. (Kevin_Is_Tristan_ I still hate you for leaving, you jerk!) Anyways, he's ten years older than me and pretty tall. Why am I telling you this? Because he owns really big snow shoes.

Naturally as his younger sister I steal his shoes when I can't easily locate mine. I feel hilarious wearing his massive shoes! Seriously, I look like a video game character. Specifically a Kingdom Hearts character. So of course when I wear his shoes I feel I should be fighting monsters and searching for extra lives and whatnot! Ah the life as a little - odd, very imaginative - sister!

Tell me what you call your best friend?

My sisters are Murph and Gracie Face! (In return Grace calls me Joy Joy Face)

和平, 愛, 冰淇淋 (Chinese)

Something wonderful!

*dies of cuteness*