Underwater by Maayan Nahmani Page B

distance, perhaps sensing how dangerous I was. Eventually she’d slowly warmed up to me, and because of my issues, I had to warm up to her too.
    “I don’t want to watch anything anymore,” she murmured.
    “Okay, so what do you wanna do, Smurfette?”
    With the mention of her nickname, she broke into a grin that lit up her whole face. I turned off the TV and placed the remote on the table.
    “Let’s talk!” She clapped her hands together.
    Talk? I wasn’t good with talking. I loved Lizzie more than anything in this world and I would do anything for her, but talking wasn’t my… well, I just wasn’t good at it.
    “Okay,” I said reluctantly, trying to sound enthusiastic at the same time. After a long pause, I cleared my throat. “So...what do you want to talk about?”
    She put her finger over her chin, patting several times while her eyes narrowed as she concentrated hard on finding a topic for our conversation. After a few quiet beats, she said, “I don’t like my teacher.”
    I tensed. I didn’t know much about Lizzie’s school, but as far as I knew the teachers were decent.
    “Why?” I asked. “Did something happen?”
    “She didn’t do anything when I told her Zach was pulling my hair and shoving me into the sand,” she whined, her lips pouting.
    Relieved, I nearly laughed, positive this Zack kid may have a crush on my sister.
    “And that’s not all,” she continued. “He kissed my cheek before he ran away!” Her face twisted like she tasted something sour. “And when I told my teacher, she only smiled and said we were cute .”
    I coughed to hide the laughter that slipped out. Well, fuck me. What could I tell her about that? I surely couldn’t tell her this kid had a crush on her. I didn’t want to give her any ideas. She was a handful without adding boys to the mix.
    “And what do you think about this Zach?” I asked carefully.
    She appeared deep in thought, closing her eyes while contemplating my question. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes and grinned. ”I guess he’s a little bit cute. And annoying.” She made a funny face. “But cute.”
    “Hey now, you can’t date boys!” I blurted.
    “What should I do? Date girls instead?”
    What. The. Fuck?
    How did I get myself into this mess?
    “You shouldn’t date anyone.”
    “Why?”
    “You’re too young. That’s why.”
    She sighed, then got up and left the room without a word.
    That went well.
    I leaned back and closed my eyes in defeat. When I heard a soft chuckle, I didn’t need to turn around to see who it was, but I did. My mother was leaning against the wall with her hands folded over her chest, an amused expression on her face.
    “How long have you been standing there?” I groaned.
    “Long enough. And someday soon, you are the one that’s going to explain the ‘birds and the bees’ to her.”
    Now it was my turn to laugh. “Shit, where did she come up with that stuff? Dating girls?” I shook my head, still stunned. When did my little Smurfette grow up? I felt like I missed so much of her life. “Please, for both of us,” I pleaded, “don’t ever leave us alone again.”
    Her eyes twinkled as she crossed the room and sat beside me. She placed her hand over my thigh. I tensed and held my breath. It was important for her to touch me when she saw me, at least once. I was sure that knowing she could touch me whenever she wanted was more important than the actual contact. Horrific images tried to sneak into my mind, but I fought them with everything I had. After a few seconds she let go. I breathed a quiet sigh. I was better, but I wasn’t cured.
    “How are you, sweetie? We’ve missed you around here. Paul hasn’t gotten to see you in so long.”
    Paul was there for my mom when she needed someone the most. I was grateful to him. He had no idea how much I owed him.
    “Sorry, I’ll try to come over more often. I’ve been really busy lately.”
    “Everything good with everyone?” When she