Happy Compromise

I hopped onto the side wall. On one side, a sheer rocky drop kissed the cold waves, lapping gently in the orange light. On the other, a holed pavement and lonely tarmac, Dublin city skyline in the background. He walked beside me, humming a tune, aware of my gaze without acknowledging- save, perhaps, for the small smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. I hated him for that smirk. 

'Here. We should be okay, I checked the tides online and we have about an hour.' At his words, I glanced skeptically at the rocky decent, and the narrow path that lead to a cement outpost. It didn't look very inviting, but there was no way I would admit that. 

'Looks good,' I conceded. His eyes narrowed slightly, stare challenging. 

'Great,' he countered. 'Let's go. I'll go first so you know where to jump- not too far to the left, the water's shallower there. You'd probably break both legs or something.'

'Okay, got it. No problem,' I shot back. No way I was letting myself be intimidated, not in that way. He already had one major advantage, one I could do nothing about but that he took enormous pleasure in thwarting, occasionally twisting. 

He pulled his shirt off, ran right up to the edge and dived off. I undressed more slowly- I'd put a bikini on that morning- and walked hesitantly up to the edge. Goosebumps crept up my skin and I shivered in the brisk evening air. 'So you're sure it's okay?' My voice wavered slightly, and he rolled his eyes with a smile. 

'Don't worry, Fred, you worry way too much. What are you, like 14 going on 40?' 

'Yeah, like you're much better, at 17,' I muttered back under my breath. 'Kay, here I go.' I sprang in, and hit the cold water with all the grace my gangling limbs could afford me. That is, not much grace at all. We spent the next hour jumping, laughing, teasing cruelly. Such was the nature of our relationship. If I couldn't have what I wanted, this would do.  A compromise, of sorts. 

'Don't you have a curfew or something? Like 9?' I teased. 

'Isn't that two hours later than yours?' 

And so we walked back into the sunset, myself content to indulge in a friendship because love was impractical, not reciprocated, and tainted with the awkward beginnings of adolescence. He threw an arm around my shoulder, belting out husky lyrics veiled in a thick Dublin accent. 

'Agh, you never sing out loud. Come out of your shell, Fred, what do I have to do to coax you out from under your rock?' I rolled my eyes, smiling, and shoved him away. He threw back his head and laughed. 

'You sounds like a dying hippopotamus,' I informed him coldly. 

He laughed harder, and my face cracked into a broad smile.