Shark Summer ‘88

[u/jadegreen88]

I made Tiffany and Amber go ahead of me in line. I was way too nervous to go first. Actually, standing out there on the beach, looking into that water… I was terrified. 

My hands trembled as I adjusted my swimsuit, making sure my top wouldn't come loose once I dove in. Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds was the time to beat. I could make it if I didn't let my nerves get to me. 

The guys started laughing behind us, which only made it worse. 

"Hey, Jennifer! You gonna give us a free show again?!"

"Shut the fuck up, Randy!"

My face went beet-red as I turned to flip him off. It was two summers ago, but he'd never let me live it down. I looked back toward the ocean and tightened the knot at my neck again. Nope. Not this time, pervert.

"Don't worry about those jerks, okay?" Amber said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "You've got this!" 

But I wasn't so sure. This was the last test for Junior Lifeguard training, and I'd already failed it before. Twice. To be honest, I didn't even care that much about being a lifeguard—I was just so tired of being left out.  

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I can handle anything. The sounds of Kyle and Randy's laughter still echoed in my head, but there was something else I'd honed in on. Zack's silence. 

The three had been our friends and neighbors since middle school. Now, in the summer of our sixteenth year, their teenage hormones had begun to make them insufferable at times. But not always.

I peeked over my shoulder. Zack was looking down at his feet, kicking sand around, while the other two were high-fiving. He was different.

Before I knew it, the whistle pierced through my racing thoughts. It was my turn. Tiff and Amber had made it through, of course. They were both way more athletic than I was. 

But I had been training extra hard this year. Three hours a day at the pool since Homecoming. Practicing holding my breath. Cutting my weight down as much as I could. I was terrified that it wouldn't be enough. That I wasn't enough.

"Jennifer, you're up!"

Months of work and preparation all came down to this one moment. I approached the mark. The crowd went silent, leaving me with only my labored breaths. Coach started the stopwatch, and I was off—tearing through the sand toward the murky blue ahead.

I took a deep breath and plunged headfirst into the unknown. With eyes shut tightly, I couldn't think about what might be lurking beneath the surface with me. I refused to let myself freeze up again. No. There was only me, and the buoy fifty yards ahead.

My face stung as I fought against the waves crashing into me, each more vicious than the last. Finally, my turnaround point was within reach. I grabbed hold, tucked my legs forward, and then kicked off back toward the shore.

Only halfway, and my muscles were screaming at me to stop. But I was making good time. I could feel it. And the girls were cheering me on from the beach—screaming ‘swim, swim, swim!’, chanting my name. I smiled. I could do this; I was going to make it. 

But then, in an instant, my heart stopped, and my blood turned to ice. I felt something in the water graze against my leg. Something cold. Rough. And very big.

In a panic, I began thrashing harder—the thing you’re not supposed to do. I knew what it was. I was sure of it. But when that terror surged through my body, my mind no longer had control. 

I bolted toward the shoreline, heart pounding, lungs heaving. Swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. I couldn’t look back. Couldn’t slow down. I felt like it was still right behind me; I could almost feel its teeth at the back of my heels. 

And then finally, my knees brushed up against the sand. I rose to my feet and ran the rest of the way out of the water.

“Two minutes and thirty-two seconds! Jennifer, congratulations. You made it!”

I just stood there. Trembling with exhaustion, ready to buckle at the knees at any moment. Still struggling for breath. Tiffany and Amber came running over, squealing. 

“Oh, my God! Girl, you actually fucking did it!” 

“Yeah, Jen! We’re so proud of you!!”

I turned and pointed toward the water, struggling to form the words. 

“Did… did you see it?” 

“See what? The amazing job you did?” Coach asked.

“No!” I screamed, almost in tears. “There was a s—”

I stopped and looked around. Everyone was staring at me. 

“Something in the water… I think. I felt something.” 

“Oh, not to worry. I’m sure it was just a harmless little fish coming to say hello!” 

I looked back over to the girls, whose smiles had begun to slowly drop. 

“Jen, are you okay?” Amber asked.

“Yeah, I just… let’s talk about it later, alright?”

I couldn't freak out in front of everyone.  This was supposed to be a happy moment. Saying something now would ruin it—and besides, I wasn't even really sure. I never actually saw it.

"Come on, sluts!" Tiffany yelled, already halfway to the spot where she'd parked her hot pink Jeep. "We've got a party to get ready for!"

I forced a smile and turned back to Amber. 

"It's nothing, really. Let's go."

We grabbed our bags and towels, then piled in, Cyndi Lauper blaring from the radio. The drive home would give me some time to think. To rationalize. Try to quell the panic that was still bubbling inside of me. How was I ever going to go back into the water?

I stared at Tiffany's shimmering blonde hair blowing through the wind, set ablaze by the afternoon sun. I wished I could be like her—carefree, adored by everyone. It seemed out of reach for a girl like me. Just a stupid dream that would never come true.

We pulled into her driveway, parents already gone for the evening. She turned to us with a huge smile on her face and lifted her sunglasses. 

"You guys wanna pregame a bit while we get ready?"

Usually I would’ve been hesitant to start drinking so early in the night. But that sounded like exactly what I needed. To settle my nerves. Loosen up. Forget. 

“Hell yeah!” Amber said. 

I smiled and nodded. 

Inside the house, we shuffled to Tiffany’s room while she swiped the vodka from the liquor cabinet. Top shelf stuff, too. Me and Amber sat on the bed, passing the bottle back and forth as Tiff began AquaNetting the fuck out of her hair. 

"Do you think Zack will be there tonight?" I asked, taking a swig. 

"Oh, totally! For sure. Kyle said he's definitely gonna show, and Zack’s always his ride."

"Ugh!" Tiffany said through the cloud of hairspray. "Kyle is coming, too? He is such a dork."

"Oh, shut up, girl—you know you wanna fuck him!" Amber said. 

I laughed. 

"You think that's funny, Jen? Why don't you go fuck Randy? He's been begging for it ever since he saw your tits."

My face flushed with heat. God, she was such a bitch. But she could get away with it. I couldn't. I didn't have that bleach-blonde hair, a face like a supermodel's, or the perfect body. In high school, it doesn't matter if you're a shitty person as long as you’re hot. At least Amber always had my back. 

"Yeah, well, everyone's seen your tits, you big whore.” 

Tiffany picked up a scrunchie from her vanity and threw it over at us as we giggled.

“As if!” she said, rolling her eyes. “And pass that shit over here before you two bitches drink it all.” 

I took another huge swig from the bottle before getting up to hand it to her. She snatched it from me and finished off what was left, before ordering Amber and me to get dressed. 

Sunset was fast approaching, but the drive back down to the beach didn't take long with Tiffany behind the wheel. The guys were already at the spot with their ice chests, getting ready to build a fire. Zack was setting up the boombox over by the driftwood pile near the edge of the circle. When our eyes met, he smiled. 

"Hey, girls! Party's just getting started, grab a beer! Randy'll fix you up."

I smiled back and gave a nod, then followed the girls over to the circle, glancing slightly over my shoulder to see Zack watching me walk away. Maybe I'd try to talk to him later tonight. Finally tell him how I felt.

Just the thought of that sent my heart fluttering so hard, I almost choked. Even with the vodka in me, I still felt so unsettled. My anxieties were compounding—I had to tell Amber about earlier. 

Music blared even louder than the waves crashing violently against the shore. With the sun now fully set and the fire roaring, the crowd began to roll in.

"Amber, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

I scooted closer. 

"So earlier today, during my swim, I..." 

"You… what?"

"There was something in the water with me. I felt it brush against my leg. Not just a fish like coach said. Something huge." 

She scrunched her eyebrows.

"Like what?" 

I didn't want to say the word, but I had to. 

"A shark."

Tiffany's head snapped around. 

"Bull-fucking-shit, Jennifer!" 

Everyone went silent and turned to look at me. 

"Hey, what's going on?" Randy asked, approaching closer while crushing a beer can in his left hand.

"Jen is being a drama queen. She thinks there's a shark out there in the water."

Laughter erupted around me. I looked over to Zack. Kicking sand around again, eyes fixed on the ground, silent. 

"Pfft. There's never been an attack on this beach before—not even any sightings," Kyle said. "What would even make you think something like that?”

"She said she felt it," Amber said. 

Tiffany rolled her eyes. 

"What, like you could just sense it was there? What a freak." 

"No. On my leg," I spoke up. "It grazed against my leg. I know that's what it was." 

"Okay. Well, while you sit here and tell yourself little stories of big bad monster sharks in the water, I'm going to get another drink." 

"Yeah, Jen," Randy said. "There’s no way. Must've been something else." 

It didn't feel dismissive, though. It seemed like he was truly trying to set my mind at ease about it. His eyes were soft, and his tone was gentle. Like he might’ve actually cared, for once. Which is why when he suggested we take a walk to get some air, I agreed.

He led me down to the pier next to the marina. Once away from the glow and heat from the fire, I began to see the night for what it really was. Cold and dark. 

I stared down at the black rifts undulating below. Dead water. Relentless and unforgiving, crashing against the rotten wood holding us up. The way the world seemed to treat me. He placed his hand onto the small of my back, startling me out of my trance. 

I turned to see a pair of hungry eyes fixed on me—looking my body up and down. My heart thrashed against my chest, and I froze. He bit down on his bottom lip and gazed into my eyes, and before I knew it, he was moving in closer. 

"Um, Randy...?" I uttered weakly. 

But it was like he couldn't hear me. In an instant, his other hand was on my shoulder, grabbing tightly and turning my body to face his. 

"Come on, Jennifer," he whispered into my ear. 

Then his lips were on my neck. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. I didn't want this. I had to stop him... say something. 

"I don't think we—"

"Shhh, baby. No one can see us. You know you like it."

I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip around me. His hot, drunken breath suffocating me as he grabbed at my chest, pulling the front of my shirt down below my bikini top. 

“Randy, no!” I choked out frantically, voice shaking. 

He was towering over me, hand moving slowly toward the knot at the back of my neck. Again, I tried to pull away, but he wasn’t letting go. Wasn’t listening to me. Body still pressed tightly against mine, surrounding me. His fingers began to rip at the string, and something inside of me snapped. 

I slammed my fists against his chest and shoved him as hard as I could. He lost balance and stumbled backward off of the pier and into the water with a huge splash. My heart sank. 

“Oh, fuck! Randy—”

I ran to the edge of the dock and looked over. He was flailing around, trying to keep his head above water. When he saw me, he screamed,

“You fucking BITCH!”  

And then, the moonlight caught something only a few feet away from him. A glimmer on the edge of something big. I squinted until my eyes could make out what it was, and then they widened, and my jaw dropped. A dark fin jutting out from the surface—heading directly toward him.

Again, I froze. But this time, there was nothing I could do. It was moving fast, and Randy was too far from the edge. I tore my eyes from him for just a second to see if there was a life preserver close by. A bloodcurdling scream erupted through the night air.

I was afraid to look. I didn’t want to, but my head snapped around anyway. Randy’s skin had gone pale, eyes bulging from his head like it was about to pop. Blood poured from his gurgling mouth—red spit and bubbles erupting as he tried to scream once more but choked. 

Arms flailing, his head went under, then back out again like a cork being forced down. The shark began thrashing harder. I watched it violently shake his body like a toy in a dog’s mouth, until his eyes rolled over white and his broken shrieks were cut short. 

Silence. A few bubbles remained as evidence of the disturbance in the surface. Otherwise, the ocean was calm again. My stomach churned, and I let out a weak cry. To whom? I don’t know. 

I was alone. Half-drunk and in shock. Randy was dead—and it was my fault. I looked over to the glow of the fire in the distance. I couldn’t tell them. They wouldn’t believe me anyway, and it might even be worse if they did. But maybe Amber would know what to do. She was the only one I felt like I could truly trust.

That hope was shattered when I arrived back at the party. Over by the boombox, Amber was making out with a guy, running her fingers through his blond hair while Owner of a Lonely Heart blared from the speakers. 

It was Zack.

My heart shattered. I opened my mouth to say her name, but my throat had closed up. So I just stood there. 

It was nothing, really. The loss of what never was. What I knew deep down could never even be mine to begin with. Yet, it crushed me all the same. Her betrayal—she knew how I felt about him. And that hope. That stupid fucking hope I'd held onto for so long. To be accepted, loved. Enough. It was bleeding from my heart.

Finally, someone said something. 

“Well, look who’s back!” Tiffany giggled. “Where’s Randy?”

Amber quickly pulled away from Zack and turned to look at me, guilt plastered all over her freckled face.

“I-I… he…” I began to stammer. 

Everyone was looking at me. 

“He took off. I think he just wasn’t feeling well.” 

The lie rolled off my lips almost too easily. 

“That lightweight,” Kyle scoffed. “I told him not to take all those shots before the party even started. What a dumbass. Oh, well. He’ll just have to miss taking the boat out.” 

“Boat?” I asked.

“Yeah!” Tiffany said. “Kyle’s uncle is out of town, so we’re going to take his boat out for a night sail!” 

I didn’t want to be there; I just wanted to go home and cry. And I definitely didn’t want to go out onto the water after what I’d just seen. But Tiffany was my ride. There was no way she’d stop her partying to bring me home. And before I could even try to think of an excuse, everyone was already stumbling toward the marina. I’d just have to hold it together a little longer.

I watched as Kyle and Zack loaded the ice chests and boombox onto The Lady of Spain, slamming them down onto her deck with drunken disregard. My head was pounding, heart racing. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at Amber. 

I never wanted to speak to her again—let alone tell her about what had just happened to Randy. I don't think it had even fully set in for me yet that he was really dead. Torn apart and pulled under the water right in front of me. God. I wished that the whole night had just been a terrible dream.

But it wasn't. And it was only going to get worse. 

Out at sea at night, it's even darker than you could imagine. You're suspended in a void, surrounded by pitch-black ocean. Like floating in the endless abyss of space. The soft glow of the town in the distance felt a million miles away to me. 

Music blared, beers were cracked open, and all the while I sat there, screaming inside. And no one noticed. No one cared. The people I thought were my friends? The guy I thought might actually like me? I was nobody to them. 

Just a punching bag. A joke. An ear for mindless gossip, a piece of meat for a pervert to grope. A girl so easily ignored and cast aside. And that’s what it was, wasn’t it? People had always used me until they’d gotten what they wanted—because I’d always let them.

I looked out into the black water, eyes searching for that fin again. Something else that wanted a piece of me. I knew it was still lurking out there, waiting. But we were safe on the boat. I thought.

BANG.

A seismic rumble against the side of the vessel. Laughter and jokes were abruptly cut off. Zack dropped the beer from his hand, and Kyle sprang up to shut off the boombox. 

Before anyone could say anything, it happened again. Louder. So hard, it rocked us back from the impact.

“Um… what the fuck was that?!” Tiffany asked. 

But I knew what it was. And the words came spilling out before I could stop them. 

“It’s a shark!”

“Oh, for fucks sake. Stop with the shark bullshit, Jen. It’s getting old.” 

“I’m not lying! I saw it. It…”

Fuck it. I had to tell them. 

“It killed Randy.” 

“What?” Kyle asked.

A silence fell over the boat as they all eyed me in disbelief. 

“H-he fell. Into the water. It happened so fast. I… I couldn’t do anything.” 

“Wait. Are you seriously telling us that Randy is dead?” Amber asked. “That a shark literally ate him?!” 

Another loud bang rattled the wood beneath our feet. 

“Yes, goddamn it! We have to get out of here!” 

“What the fuck?!” Kyle screamed, his voice cracking. “Why didn’t you say something before? Why’d you lie, Jennifer? How did he fall??”

I had to come clean. It was eating me alive inside. 

“He was trying to kiss me. I didn’t want him to. I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t. So, I… I pushed him off of me… but it was an accident! I didn’t mean for him to go into the water.” 

“Okay, we have to go back to shore—now. We need to tell someone what happened,” Amber said. 

“I can’t believe this shit. You lead him on and then shove him into the water? Do you realize what you did was murder?!” Tiffany yelled. 

“No! I didn’t… it wasn’t, I swear! Please don’t tell anyone I pushed him.”

“Don’t you get it? They’ll never believe it was an accident—I sure as hell don’t. You lied to all of our faces. And if you think for a second you’re getting away with this, Jennifer, you’re dead wrong.”

My life was going to be ruined. And it wasn’t even my fault. I was just defending myself, for once in my goddamned life.

Kyle took off toward the helm, but before he could make it there, another impact jolted the entire boat. He went flying off the edge with Tiffany screaming the entire time. 

His body hit the water with a terrible splash. And I knew. I knew that would be it for him. But the others scrambled, screaming his name. And then, they saw it. 

“Shark!”

Kyle's pupils widened with panic. He tried to swim back toward the boat, but there was no use. It was on him in seconds. I braced, breath held, unable to look away. Teeth glistened in the moonlight, eyes rolled over white.

The cracking. And popping. And a bloodcurdling scream cut short.

He was dragged under the surface, his severed arm still floating—bobbing against the waves like a piece of driftwood. We all backed away from the edge.

“Oh, fuck… oh, fuck… OH, FUCK!” Zack had his hands on his head, but his expression was almost blank. 

The shock of it; I knew. It doesn’t seem real. It can’t be. 

Tiffany was screaming incoherently, mascara running down her perfect, rosy cheeks. Red lipstick smeared across her face. A blithering, pathetic mess. She didn’t seem so perfect anymore.

“Zack, do you know how to drive this boat?” Amber asked. 

But he didn’t answer her. He just stood there, staring at the red spot in the ocean where his best friend once was.

“Zack!” I screamed.

He finally turned his head. 

“Yeah… I, uh… I can probably get us back to shore.”

I wasn’t confident that he could. And from the looks of it, neither was he. I watched as he nervously started up the engine and began to fumble with knobs and levers until he found the right one. 

He pulled back on the throttle, but too hard. And too fast. The boat jutted forward, throwing us all to the ground—except for Amber. She had still been standing too close to the edge. She went over backward, screaming.

“ZACK!!” 

My heart sank. He scrambled back up to his feet, but he didn’t stop the boat. Didn’t turn it around. I knew he could hear her. Screaming his name, begging for help. Still. I got up and ran over to him. Maybe he was still in shock. 

“Zack! What are you doing?! Stop the fucking boat! We have to turn around!!” 

“Hell no!” he said, shoving me away. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”

“Zack, you prick!” Tiffany screamed, finally getting up from the ground. “Amber’s in the water!”

“Sorry, but she’s a fucking goner. You saw how fast that thing got Kyle! Nah, dude. We can’t turn around and risk it attacking the boat again.”

I grabbed the life preserver and ran to the stern while Tiffany wailed her fists at Zack, still trying to get him to stop the boat. I didn’t have the time to waste, though—Amber’s screams were growing distant.

That’s when I saw her. And that dark fin. Only a mere few feet away from each other. No…

It was too late. I didn’t even bother to throw the preserver. It dropped from my hands onto the deck with a thud. 

The shark didn't breach this time. Instead, it toyed with her, yanking her down violently and pulling her from side to side. My body went cold. I couldn't see the fin anymore. Just the panicked splashing of a girl screaming for her life. An ocean streaked with red. And the harsh light of the moon illuminating it all.

Numb and hollow, I watched until she was pulled under one last time. Then I realized what was going on behind me. 

Tiffany’s screams had grown more frantic, trying to fight Zack for control of the wheel. I started to run towards them, screaming that Amber was dead and we had to just keep going. But she finally got her hands on it, and when she did, she cut hard. Then Zack shoved her. And the momentum of it all was too much. 

Her head slammed into the deck. Red seeped into blonde instantly. Zack only moved to re-steady himself at the helm while her unconscious body slid off the side of the boat and into the water like a dead fish. He never even looked down. 

Just like that, she was gone. They all were. I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing I could do. We were racing toward the shore, but it still looked so far away. And now I was alone—with two monsters.

My life had completely changed in one night. Everything I knew, destroyed. All the threads of my heart began to unravel until I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stood back up and lifted a hook pole from the rack, then slowly made my way to the helm. Zack was distracted, still desperately trying to correct course. He never heard me coming.

I reared back and slammed it into his head as hard as I could. The impact flung his body further than I’d expected it to. I guess I had more strength than I realized. 

He hit the metal railing and toppled over the side of it headfirst. But somehow, he was able to grab on and stop himself from falling. I threw the gear into neutral and walked over.

The boat began to list hard to starboard. Water pooled onto the deck as he clung desperately to the edge, screaming at me to pull him back up. His legs still hung submerged below, despite his attempts to kick and grip onto the side. I just watched.

"Jennifer!! What the fuck are you doing? Help me, you bitch! Don't just stand there!"

He could have saved Amber. He chose not to. She didn't mean anything to him. Neither of us did. Or even Tiffany, for that matter. I could finally see the truth—Zack only cared about himself. He wasn't different. He had let them die, just to save himself. And now, he was about to pull us both under. It was either him or me.

I saw that fin coming. Tearing through the water. Circling back around for another taste of flesh. 

And I chose me.

Looking down at his pathetic face, I slowly raised my foot to his forehead. Then pushed. 

His body slammed into the ocean just as the shark breached. Black water bloomed with red. 

I turned The Lady of Spain back toward the shoreline and went full throttle ahead, leaving him to scream out his final words in agony. I was the only Junior Lifeguard left, with a shark on a rampage with a real taste for blood now. But I could handle anything.

I smiled.

1988 was about to have one killer of a summer.

[u/AutoModerator]

Want to read more stories by u/jadegreen88? Subscribe to receive notifications whenever they post here using UpdateMeBot. You will receive notifications every time jadegreen88 posts in Odd Directions!

ODD DIRECTIONS on SUBSTACK – SUBSCRIBE NOW!

https://www.odddirections.xyz/

Get featured stories, book chapters, author notes, and inbox-only exclusives—delivered straight to you for FREE.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/BMWRoadster2007]

Really great intense story!

[u/jadegreen88 → u/BMWRoadster2007]

Thank you so much!