Know

	"You need some help?"
	"No, that's OK. I think I can handle it." I watched the ocean, and
 timing my actions so I'd get an extra push from the incoming wave, pulled
myself up onto the rock. I pushed my dripping wet hair out of my eyes,
licked the salt off my lips, and said, "Are you a renter? I've never seen
you before."
	"Well, yeah," he said. "How could you tell? There are lots of people on
this beach...you can't know them all!"
	"I've been swimming in this water since before I can remember. I know
every rock, every living thing from the high tide line out to second reef.
That's how I knew you were a newcomer. It's not often a new creature
arrives and gets by without me noticing." I smirked like I always do when
I think I am being smooth, the realized just how cocky I sounded. I tuned
away, laughing to myself and at myself for that blatant display of ego. It
reminded me of some kind of courtship display (although I suppose it sort
of was), where each animal tries to have the longest most beautiful song,
the brightest flashiest colors. It made me nervous. I looked over, and
seeing that he was amused, relaxed a little. I wondered if I was what was
amusing him so much.
	 "Soo...you know everything there is to know about
this area? That's amazing!"
 	"Well...I learn something new every day. The beach is always
changing, you know. Like, for example, this species of algae." I picked a
strand of brown velvety seaweed out of his hair and tried not to smirk.
"This is called Mermaid's Hair, or at least that is its common name. We
never really saw it before this summer. That noreaster last April altered the
ecology of the water."
	"Do you always talk like that? I don't know many people who would say
stuff like 'species' in normal conversations. You must be wicked smart."
	"Uhh, yeah...I guess." I stood up quickly and went to the highest
point onthe rock. I waited for the swell and jumped in. When I surfaced, he was
standing at the peak I had just left. "Go for it!", I called.
 	"It's slippery!" he shouted back.
 	"Yeah, well, look out for the cormorant guano. That stuff will
really mess you up." I laughed at the fact I had just given someone I had
just met atutorial on the droppings of large sea birds. I had also used
the word "guano". I hoped he didn't think I was psycho.
 	"Are there any sharks down there?" He smiled. I thought, that's
good. He's smiling. I'm not making that bad of an impression.
	"I'm the only one!" I replied. My God! Was I thinking before I was
speaking, or was I just spewing stupid comments and trying to flirt, but
concealing double entendres and suggestions so deeply in academia that I
was coming across as totally the opposite of the image I was trying to
project? I did the only thing I could do. I dove. Once I was swimming ten
feet below the surface I saw a burst of bubbles as his body hit the water.
From my position underwater, through the rockweed, I saw him kick up to
the surface. I swam up, and watched as he shook the excess water out of
his hair. "Do you snorkel?" I asked.
	"Yeah, sure...whatever." Great, So now I had to decode this. I
deduced that it meant he'd snorkel whether or not he had done it before.
He followed me out of the water to my pile of stuff sitting on the sand.
	"This is yours?" he asked. 
	"Yeah. Why?" 
	"Deepsee, Seaquest, Dacor...quality equipment!" Oh, yes! He was a
snorkeler. Nothing like a guy who knows good stuff when he sees it. He
went off down the beach and came back with his gear. 
	"Do you SCUBA dive?" he asked. I could tell by the way he asked
that he did, and perhaps needed a dive buddy. I smirked. 
	"Yes, I do." Even though I knew the answer, I asked, "And you?" 
	"Of course." I thought, it is not often that I find such wonderful
things in the water, or routine trips out to my rocks. New kinds of
seaweed, maybe every few days. New animals, about twice a month. Guys,
rarely. I noticed his equipment was almost as good as mine was, but he did
have a purge valve on his mask, something I didn't have.
	 Not wanting to be outdone, I casually asked, "You like having a purge
valve?" He looked at me with amazement,shook his head, and went back to
adjusting his straps. OK, so purge valves make for boring conversation. We
entered the water, and I led him across first reef.
	 Knowing exactly where I was going of course, I decided I'd
impress him. I took him over by the taller rocks, where the stripers
tended to school. They were swimming all around us. He liked it. I could
tell, because bubbles were leaking out of the sides of his mouth, so he
was either laughing, smiling, or in extreme pain. Disregarding the latter,
I assumed I had gotten a positive reaction. I felt a few bubbles tickle
the sides of my face as he motioned me to the surface. 
	"Hey, do you spearfish?" I looked at him intensely, testing to see
if he was serious. He didn't change expression, just sat there with an
expectant look on his face. 
	"Um, well, you can't spear stripers. You have to catch them on a
line."
 	"So, what do people usually spear?" 
	"Well, they tend to spear flounder, but I, well, I don't
really..." 
	"So you don't spearfish?" 
	"No. Well...at least not yet." 
	"Do you want me to teach you?" he asked. Oh, yes! I did want him
to teach me! While I tried to decide if I even agreed with the concept of
spearfishing he said, "Well? Do you want me to?" I gnawed on my snorkel
and wiggled one of my fins. 
	"You know," I said, "there's a lot of dogfish around here. If we
drag bloody fish around with us we're essentially chumming the water." He
looked me in the eye. He was reading me, I knew he was. He shrugged and
nodded. Good. I had delayed the topic of spearfishing until a later date. 
	"Um...I'm a little cold..." He trailed off. 
	"Follow me." I swam towards where the water would be warmer. 
	"How...the water just got like 5 degrees warmer, maybe more!" 
	"Well, the higher biomass heats up the water. Plus the thermocline
is deeper around this area." Here I go again. Biomass, thermocline...oh,
well. 
	He listened, thought, then said, "Was that total bullshit?" I
looked over at him, kind of floating on his back like an otter, squinting
in the sun.
	Even though I knew the answer to his question, and he probably did
too, I decided to do something so uncharacteristic, so difficult...at
least for me. I looked him in the eye and said... "I don't know." 

****End of original story, beginning of additions****

	He smiled, and I tried with all my might to contain a smirk that I could
feel growing from within me. "If you are one of those people who tends to
get cold, maybe we should get out of the water...just for a little while."
	"Well...yeah. That sounds like a good idea." I took off my fins
and pushed my mask down around my neck. When I was finished I waited for
him to complete the same action, then we walked out of the water. As I
made my way to my towel he said, "Let me carry your fins for you." 
	"Uhh...OK," I said. I was always an independent type, but I didn't
want to scare him off with a response like "I'm OK, thanks." It was an
endearing gesture, especially since we were only about 50 feet from my
towel. I sat down on my towel, and he went to sit in the sand. "Wait!" I
said, somewhat abruptly. "Sit here. You don't want your ass to get all
sandy." I moved over and he sat right down. I was pondering the usage of
the word "ass", and how I might word something like that better next time,
that is, if I was ever talking about his ass again. 
	"Hey," he said. 
	I turned my head and he quickly kissed me. He caught me by
surprise, so I only got out "Wha-" before my mouth was blocked. He laughed
this low, goofy sort of laugh, and said, "Huh huh...you are all salty." 
	I smirked so greatly that one of my eyes was almost closed, and ssaid,
"What a surprise. You'd think the water would have rinsed all that salt
off." He looked really confused. I sighed, and said "Nevermind...that was
a surreal example of my sense of humor." 
	"Oh."
	"Listen...this salt is kind of making my skin itch...I'm going to
go rinse off up at the house. Wanna come?" We both stood up, and I brushed
the sand off my calves. He was watching me. Maybe he was even looking down
my bathing suit. Who cares, I thought. Look all you want. My house had an
outside shower, and when we got up to the house he followed me all the way
into the shower. There was a line of bottles in there...shampoo,
conditioner, and shower gel. 
	"Gonna wash your hair?" he asked. 
	"Well, I don't know if I'm going back in, but..."
	"We can make mohawks!" 
 	"Pardon?" I asked. What was this about mohawks? 
	"You know...put shampoo in your hair and spike it into a mohawk!"
	"Oh yeah! I always used to do George Washington...or a barrister!" 
	"Um...what is a barrister?"  
 	"A judge in England, I think." I put the shampoo in my hair, and
parting it in the center, rolled the two sides up like one of those
powdered wigs, and said, "ta-da!" Then, he reached over, and pushed the
two sides up into a ridge on the top of my head. 
	"You look like one of those dinosaurs, with the duck-bill," he
said. I smiled, and kissed him, my soapy head art crashing into the mohawk
he had created on his own head....