I'm With the Beatles

Everybody's Got Something to Hide

I turned around to see the three playing some sort of odd game. George was on John's shoulders in the five-foot section of the pool, while Ringo was on the edge, waiting to jump in. I entered the pool from the stairs on the shallow end.

"On the count of three, Ringo! One...two...THREE," John shouted. At 'three', Ringo jumped and pushed George into the water. John was still standing up, laughing his head off. Both men came up to the surface.

"That be smashing terr, Ringo," John yelled. He plunged underwater and scared George by almost pulling his trunks down.

"Aye, John! Lizzie's in here, you know," George hollered. Ringo just snickered and punched him in the arm.

"I'm tired of being picked on here!"

"Aye, George. Now you see how I feel all of the time," Ringo teased.

I just sat at the stairs, listening to their side-splitting conversation. I didn't notice that John had swam up to me! He grabbed my arms and pulled me underneath the water with him. I finally came back to the surface, coughing and breathing erratically.

"John, you freaking scared me," I screamed between coughs.

"I'm truly sorry, Lizzie," John apologized. He hugged me and kissed my forehead.

"I forgive you, John." With that, I hugged him back.

"Hey, are you two going to play or what?" Ringo yelled.

"Yes, you bloke," John shouted back.

"Ouch, John! That really hurts!"

John just copied what Ringo said and swam back over to the boys with me dragging behind. They all looked kind of funny with their bowl-cuts wet.

"What game should we play now?" George cried as he shook his head to drain any water from his ears.

"Ooh, I know, chicken," Ringo shouted with happiness.

John nodded in agreement and looked over at me. I just gave a happy grin and giggled.

"Do you know how to play, Lizzie?" George asked while letting Ringo climb up on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I used to play it all of the time!"

"Good," John quickly noted. He grabbed my arms and heaved me upon his back. I managed to get my legs on his shoulders and held on for dear life to his head.

"Sorry, it's been a while," I apologized sweetly.

"I can tell," he strained.

"Alright, round one begins...now," George announced. He carried Ringo over to John and me.

"Cakablocaram," Ringo chanted. What in the Captain Crunch cereal is going on?

Ringo moved his hands violently around and grasped onto both of my arms. He pushed with all of his might, but John, being a strong competitor by the way, held on to me tightly and I didn't fall. I lunged forward and intertwined my fingers with Ringo's. There was a different move that I wanted to try, so I pulled backwards to throw Ringo off balance. It worked! Ringo scooted over George's head and George dipped underwater. Ringo fell, face first, onto the surface.

"Yes," I shouted in victory.

"Aye, that be fab, Lizzie! There's still another round to go, so we better drown them," John informed quite seriously.

I popped John on the head, "Don't say it like that!"

"Sorry, dear."

George came up and gasped for air. Ringo showed us a frown and got back on George. They moved back a little and whispered game tips to each other.

"Aye, that's how you want to do things now, huh?" John yelled towards them.

They didn't even acknowledge his loud voice and kept sharing secrets.

"We'll show them..." he snickered.

"How?" I asked, confused.

"Look, when you get up to Ringo, just go for his sides. Tickle him with all of your might!"

"That sounds like a great plan!"

"I know."

George and Ringo finished their chitter-chatter and came back to us.

"Alright, round two starts...now," George shouted again.

Ringo held out his arms and managed to get me in a hug. My arms were a bit tied down, but I somehow lifted them and wrapped both around his sides. Then, out of the blue, Ringo planted his lips firmly on mine.

"Mmeofrt," I screamed behind a closed mouth. I started to tickle him and he laughed on my face.

"Ouch! Stop that," he chuckled. He had let go of me and was too busy trying to keep my fingers away. That only prompted me to move my digits faster. He couldn't take it anymore and fell backwards into the pool with George still standing.

"Yay, we won," I cried. John carefully let me down and gave me a big hug.

"Good job, guys," George congratulated.

"Yeah, except I was beaten by a girl," Ringo moaned.

We all laughed and swam a little bit. John and George were talking to each other and snickering. I breast-stroked my way over and listened in on their conversation. They mentioned Ringo kissing me and I thought for a moment. I stood in front of them.

"Hi, Lizzie," John greeted with an urgency to his voice.

"What were y'all chatting about?"

"Oh, nothing..." George droned.

"Ringo," I yelled over the surface of the water. Somehow he heard me, and he bobbed up and swam over.

"Yeah?"

I crossed my arms and gave him a funny look.

"Why did you decide to kiss me earlier?" I questioned with a hard stare.

"It was just to throw you off track," he swore. "George told me to do it!"

I turned my attention to George, who was cowering behind John. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him forward.

"Why?" I wondered. He just smiled and held his mouth, trying to cover up any unwanted bursts of laughter.

"Hey, it's all for fun," he argued. "Although, I wish it was me..."

I gave him a playful punch and sighed.

"Don't y'all understand that I'm not the kind of girl that likes to go making out with random guys? Ringo is really like a brother to me now. Heck, y'all two are like brothers to me! I have to admit that it felt kind of awkward when you did that Ringo. You kind of scared me there!"

The guys just "aww"ed and held me in a group hug. John suddenly got a weird look on his face and backed up.

"What about Paul?"

I gave a slight blush and shrugged my shoulders. They "ooh"ed and started punching each other.

"Lizzie likes Paul. Lizzie likes Paul," they all began to chant around me like I was a campfire.

"Shut up, guys," I pleaded. Actually, I kind of liked the way that sounded, but it was definitely wrong. Lizzie loves Paul.