the small town that aaron lived in was parted into its old town and the new, more industrial-looking rural neighborhoods by a lovely river

in the winter it was mostly a brown or grayish, pale green, but as soon as the forest at its sides began to grow its leaves again, reflecting the sunlight off of them onto the surface of the water, it began to shine a bright turquoise or light green

when there weren't pollen and small insects that had mistaken the colorful surface for a leaf floating on its surface, it was aaron and his friends

the very second the red bar of his analog thermometer started to climb above 77°, aaron was out the house, spending long afternoons at the small hut his friend group had built in the forest, getting brutal sunburns that made his skin peel, eating fruit and drinking lemonade or the occasional beer while blasting his playlist that sammy had dedicated to this place

now, in july, with school done for the year and no other worries beside what swimming trunks to wear and whether to go by bike or skateboard, aaron often found himself in the solace of the bright green canopy of leaves, flickering shadows reflecting onto the soft forest floor

his two close friends were chilling on the blanket next to him, the tall, darkskinned robin dragging on his watermelon flavored vape for the nth time today, earning a distasteful look from samuel, who was popping frozen grapes into his mouth, occasionally plucking the stems off and placing them down on the root next to his elbow for "the ants to take"

it was dawning already, the sound of their spot's playlist mixing with the increasingly loud chirping of the crickets around them

and then he heard it; a small splash, then several others, before he could make out the continuous sound of someone's even swimming strokes near the shore they were sitting at

aaron leaned forward to try and take a peek from out underneath the trees

he couldn't quite tell what was making these sounds, until you appeared between the leaves just above the water's surface