Six

Six

By Rafferty Parke
Stowe High School, Grade 11

It is midnight in June.

Six teenage girls sit on the edge of a lit pool, feet of various sizes and legs of various lengths dangling into the clear glowing water. Pajama bottoms are rolled up to the knees, and a blanket is draped across a few pairs of shoulders.

One turns to regard the rest, her thick blonde tresses flopping to one side. Their forms are darkly silhouetted, save for their faces which are illuminated in turquoise. They are laughing at a shared joke, each unique laugh resonating across the water to form a sort of haphazard harmony.

The blonde joins in, gasping for the cool summer air. Her stomach drops at the idea of leaving the others. She has half a summer of uncertainty ahead of her. As she would later realize, that half summer would be an unparalleled adventure that would open her up to new people, new places, and new sides of herself.
For now, though, she sits with these girls, her counterparts, her sisters. She listens as their voices fill the night, water splashing at their feet.