The Reservoir by Rosemarie Naramore

eyes.  “Kendall likes you too, you know.”
    “Kendall?”
    “Yeah, and you need to be sensitive to her feelings too.”
    “Well, thank you, Dr. Phil.  And you’re telling me I’m a Boy Scout?  Here you are trying to protect Kendall, despite the fact that you and Kendall typically fight like cats and dogs.”  Zack narrowed his eyes.  “Oh, my gosh.  You like her!”
    “Leave your gosh out of it, and yeah, dude, I like her.  There, I said it.”  He dropped his eyes and began kicking at the dock with the toe of his shoe.
    “Tell her!”
    “She doesn’t like me back.  Did you hear anything I just said?  I didn’t skip over the part about her liking you.”
    “Oh.”  Zack shook his head to clear it.  “I … don’t think Kendall likes me.”
    Daniel glanced up.  “Cut the crap.”
    “Hmmm,” was all Zack could manage.
    Daniel spoke up again.  “Unlike you, I’m no Boy Scout, as we both well know.  But what I do know is this…  If you flaunt—no, no, strike that word.  It’s the wrong word.  You wouldn’t deliberately ‘flaunt’ anything.  What I’m trying to say is, Kendall’s gonna be hurt that you like Holly and not her.  It’s going to create some uncomfortable tension between you and her, Holly and her, and maybe even with Niqui, who will likely be caught in the middle of her two friends.  And if I see Kendall feeling all dejected and rejected, I’m going to hurt for her, because, damn … love sucks!”
    “Love?”  Zack raked his hands along either side of his head.  “Ah, Danny Boy, you’ve got it bad for Kendall,” he muttered, glancing off across the lake.  “I hate drama.  I hate causing drama, but…  I like Holly, Daniel.  I think I always have.”
    “You can’t help your feelings for Holly any more than I can help my feelings for Kendall, or Aaron can help his feelings for…
    Zack’s jaw dropped open.  “Niqui!”
    “Bingo!”
    Zack laughed uproariously.  “Oh, dude, how did this happen?  Hey, does Niqui like Aaron back?”
    Daniel shrugged.  “Your guess is as good as mine.” 
    Suddenly, a loud thumping sound emanated from somewhere to the left of the dock.  Both boys startled, and then turned.  They didn’t immediately spot the source of the sound.
    “Is it her?” Daniel murmured softly.
    Zack took a step closer to the edge of the dock.  Daniel snaked an arm out and grabbed a hold of him.  “Zack, too close!”
    Suddenly, Zack gave a self-deprecating laugh.  “It’s a log—hitting against that other log over there.  Whew!”
    “Breakfast!” Niqui shouted from up above, causing the boys to nearly jump out of their skins a second time. 
    “Whew is right,” Daniel uttered, leaving the dock behind.  “I thought for sure it was the girl,” he said sheepishly.
    Zack fell into step beside his friend.  “I did too.  I was sure we were going to see her face below the surface of the water, looking up at us from the side of the dock.”
    Unbeknownst to them, she was watching them—from the other side.

Chapter Nine
     
    Zack and Daniel strode into the cabin and immediately smelled the mouth watering scent of bacon and eggs cooking on the stove.  Niqui was pulling biscuits from the oven, while Kendall and Holly were setting places at the small dinette.
    “Any ghost sightings?” Kendall asked.
    “Happy to report—no,” Zack said.
    He dropped into a chair beside Daniel, and then pulled out the chair on the other side of him.  He nodded toward Holly, who accepted the seat with a smile. 
    Daniel leaned back in his chair, resting an arm across the back of the chair beside him.  “Kendall,” he said, encouraging her to sit down by arching his eyebrows repeatedly and suggestively.
    “Something in your eye?” she said with a disgusted snort.
    “No!”
    Zack laughed.  “Well played,” he teased his friend.
    “I beg to differ,” Kendall said.
    “Good thing I like ‘em mean and feisty,” Daniel muttered under his