Free Uncharted by Tracey Garvis Graves Page B

walked away, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the view of Calia’s backside in that tiny bikini.
    James stretched out on the sand. “I know you thought you were only inviting Calia, so thanks for not minding that I came along,” he said.
    “No problem.”
    “I couldn’t have let her come here alone.”
    Though he was only eighteen, I got the impression that James took his role as Calia’s protector very seriously. “Of course not,” I said.
    “And she really wanted to come.”
    “She did?” I asked. I tried to make my voice sound bored, as if I really didn’t care if she came or not. But something inside me perked up when he said that.
    “Yeah. She said it sounded like the experience of a lifetime. The only time I’ve ever heard her more excited is when she talks about Africa. She
loves
Africa.”
    I looked toward the water. Calia was doing handstands and somersaults, and diving under the surface. I’d noticed that she rarely sat still. She’d fidgeted throughout lunch and always seemed to be moving. She must have noticed me watching her because she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Hurry up!”
    James slowly raised his head when he heard her voice. Noticing his sister waiting impatiently for us to join her, he said, “Might as well get up. She’s relentless.”
    “Is she always this energetic?” I asked.
    He laughed and said, “Always.”
    Journal entry
    June 5, 2001
    James and Calia have been here for one week. I’m still not entirely sure why Calia wanted to come. She had to convince her brother to come with her, because there was no way he would have let her come alone. It would be great if part of the reason she wanted to come here was me.
    She loves the dolphins. James loves to snorkel. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time.
    Journal entry
    June 7, 2001
    I let Calia and James have the tent, and I’m sleeping in the house. I told them they were welcome to join me, but the tent is more comfortable and the house isn’t quite as inviting, especially at night. Maybe I can convince Calia to have a sleepover some night. I’m probably delusional.
    Journal entry
    June 8, 2001
    Calia and I went swimming today. Not just messing around in the water, like we do all the time, but lap swimming. She held her own as we raced across the lagoon. When we finally stopped, both of us were breathing hard. I noticed her chest rising and falling with each breath, and I couldn’t help but stare. She caught me looking, I know she did, but she didn’t act like it bothered her.
    I’ve never gone this long without sex, and I have never been this horny in my entire life, not even when I first figured out what sex was all about. But out of respect for James, I’m not going to make a move on his sister right in front of him. I can’t imagine that being anything other than awkward.
    But I will sure as hell capitalize on it if she makes one first.

Chapter 10
    T.J.
    The look on Owen’s face right now, as he tells us about Calia and how he felt about her, what he hoped would happen between them, reminds me of the way I felt about Anna. How as time went by I hoped that something might happen between us, as ridiculous as that sounded because how could she ever see me as anything but a boy? How could she ever love me?
    I remember watching her as I got older, searching for a change in the way she looked at me or the words she said. Anything that would let me know that she might feel the same way about me as I did about her. We lived under the constant threat of something going wrong, but nothing could erase the happiness I felt the day I discovered that Anna wanted me. When she told me it wasn’t a one-time thing. How each day after that became easier because she was mine.
    It all seemed so unfair, though. I loved her and she loved me, but our time together, as perfect as it was, would be cut short because we were both slowly starting to die. I remember Anna in her yellow bikini, so thin I could see