Summary
Highlights
The narrator, 13 years old, recounts how his summer plans were ruined by his cousin Alex's arrival from Los Angeles. Alex is a whiner and a show-off, preventing the narrator and his friend John from going on their planned river camping trip. The narrator's parents insist he be nice to Alex due to family difficulties, further complicating matters.
The deepest disappointment for the narrator is the disruption of his budding romance with Pauline Genero. He had secured four movie dates with her using his grandmother's passes, but now his parents expect him to take Alex along, forcing him to postpone and potentially ruin his chances with Pauline.
Despite Alex's annoying habits, the narrator feels sorry for him due to his parent's difficult divorce. To make his father happy, he decides to teach Alex to swim, waking him up at 6 AM to go to the Blackwater River, a place he advises caution around due to its strong currents.
The narrator and Alex walk along the powerful Blackwater River. Alex is intimidated by its strength, having expected a calmer place to learn to swim. The narrator tells Alex about old items found in the river, including a mysterious wooden chest, which he ambiguously suggests contained something unsettling.
They pass by the house where Hannah, a friend the narrator previously found 'weird' but now respects, lives during the summers. They arrive at Dinkin's Pond, which is connected to the Blackwater, and see Pauline Genero with Otis McCandless on a large rock called the Toadstool. The narrator is heartbroken and hides, then sabotages their belongings in an act of jealousy.
The narrator hides Pauline and Otis's towels and flip-flops, hoping they will be cold and annoyed. Despite Alex's urging to leave, the narrator decides to stay. He approaches the water, seeing Pauline and Otis kissing, and begins swimming silently towards the Toadstool, driven by a mix of anger and sorrow.