Gathering Water by Regan Claire

bewilderment until Dove reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out. He shot a very evil look at Cash and it was only then that I noticed my cousin’s shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. It might have been a childish prank, but it was a hilarious childish prank and I laughed so hard I got stitches in my sides. That set Cash’s silent laughter to the not-so-silent kind, and before we knew it Dove was glaring daggers at both of us. He left the room to talk on the phone and that made us laugh all the harder.
    “Are you guys done yet?” Dove said as he popped his head back in the kitchen.
    “Maybe,” I said, wiping the corners of my eyes.
    “No,” Cash said at the same time.
    “Seriously, Cash, you need to give me the password to change the ringtone. This is way worse then “I Feel Pretty”,” Dove said grumpily.
    “Wait, you mean you can’t change your own ringtone?” I asked.
    “Not since your wonderful cousin here changed the password.” Hearing Dove say that just set me off again.
    “Yeah, laugh it up now , doll-face. He’ll do the same to you if you ever give him the chance.”
    Tears were streaming down my cheeks, and I knew it wasn’t that funny. I really did. But I just couldn’t stop myself. Every time I’d slow down a bit, something else just seemed to set me off, like the look on Dove’s face, or the sound of Cash giggling next to me.
    “Ok ay children. As much fun as this has been, I’ve got to head back now.” Well, that was sobering.
    “Jeez, don’t be such a baby ,” Cash said.
    “No, that was my uncle. He needs me in the workshop. I guess Jason called out or something,” Dove explained.
    “Ah, that sucks. Well, catch you later ,” Cash said with a string of cheese hanging out of his mouth.
    “Sure thing. See ya.”
    “Wait, Dove.” I grabbed him by his forearm as he was walking by, causing him to stop and stare at my eyes. “Thanks, you know, for all you’ve done.”
    He just looked at me for a moment, the sun shining through the window and hitting his eyes, making the copper in them stand out. Remember when I said I was mostly used to his prettiness? This wasn’t one of those times, and I was really glad it wasn’t my turn to speak.
    “Anytime, Della.” Was his voice deeper than usual when he said my name? Holy Libido, Batman. He stood there another few seconds before I remembered to let go of his arm. Being friends with a hunk-ahunk of burning eye candy was going to be fun.
    We got back to painting after he left, and worked until the su n went down too far to continue, which meant we skipped lunch, accidentally, but oh boy did Cash act like a little baby when he was hungry.
    His parents were going to pick us up and take us to dinner, and I wouldn’t let him wash the paint off his hands inside because I didn’t want to mess up the new sink. Yes, I know they make stuff that will clean it, but I was being stubborn. So, we’re outside just being snippy with each other, scrubbing our hands by the hose because we both knew Aunt Ellis wouldn’t let us in the car as covered in paint as we both were.
    And well, Cash really brings out my maturity, you know?
    Either way, he was annoying me, so I flicked water in his face. Which led to him flicking at me, which made me splash him, which had him retaliating by taking the hose and spraying me. Brat.
    Well, I had been practicing my awesome drying power, and here I was, completely drenched and that meant Ellis certainly wasn’t going to let me in the car. So I dried myself. Like, instantly. With Cash watching. And I made eye contact with him the entire time, smirking at the look on his face.
    “Hot damn, Della! That was awesome! Do it again.” He sprayed me again, this time more thoroughly. So I had no choice but to repeat my little trick.
    “Don’t you dare spray me again. So, uh… this isn’t like, weird or something?”
    “Not at all. I could Gather when I was still a kid. We’ve been pretty concerned about