Everyone gathers around the counter and makes their own breakfast. They all have warmed up with each other. Even Grace and Cora are having a decent conversation.
It's good in a way. No one will notice if I go missing.
Kat had left an hour early for her weekend practice. Owen is now nursing his bruised cheeks and eye with ice cubes. Ashton and Nyako are helping him out. Somehow all of them fit in Miles' clothes.
As for girls, well they all fit in my clothes.
After breakfast, they start to move towards the pool.
"Are you coming?" Payton asks me.
"Yes, in a minute," I lie. "You go."
When everyone else leaves, I take my cue and turn to the stairs.
I tiptoe on the stairs and almost make it upstairs when a voice calls my name. "Aren't you coming?" Ashton asks me.
I turn around and give him an awkward smile from the top of the stairs. "Y-yeah, I'll be. I just need to change."
"Why?" His eyes run over my body. "Your clothing looks fine."
Damn it! Why can't he just leave me alone?
"Is there something wrong?" His voice sounds concerned and he starts to climb up the stairs. His demeanor changes as he reaches the top. "Are you on your period?"
"What? No! Why would you ask that?"
Ashton shrugs. "Wild guess."
I shake my head. "No everything's fine and I am not on my period."
"Good to know," Ashton winks.
I roll my eyes. And here I thought he was caring.
"But seriously, come on it'll be fun," Ashton says and tugs my wrist. "Everyone else is waiting for us."
Failing to tell him the actual reason, I follow him to the backyard silently.
Today's first of November but there's no sign of winter here in Georgia. And the day is perfect for spending it outdoors and staying in the pool. No sweat, no chill. And it always feels nice to have more time for summer. Everyone else seems to share my thoughts too. They all are enjoying themselves in the water. Only if I could join them.
"Wow Kiara, your pool is so cool," Asher yells pointing at our oval pool when Ashton and I approach him.
I smile weakly. He gives us a wide grin and jumps in the water.
"You possibly weren't trying to miss this," Ashton says.
"Miss what?" I look up at him. Ashton points at the pool.
"Back in New York we couldn't even think of staying out to the pool after the summer," he says. "And it starts raining in the middle of October. I'm sure it has already started to snow there. And here we are, swimming in the pool in early November."
"Do you miss New York?" I don't know why I ask, maybe because I never heard him talking about New York or mentioning his old friends. But Ashton stiffs. He raises a brow at me.
"What'd you think?"
From the look on his face, it's a big fat NO. I wonder why he felt that way.
As if reading my expression, Ashton mutters, "It was never home." He takes off his shirt and jumps in the pool.
I sigh and sit under the shed to stay away from the sun. I didn't mean to upset him. Grace comes over. She and Miles are the only people aside from my family who know about my fear of water.
Yet they agreed to spend the day in the pool. Some best friends I have.
"What was that?" Grace asks as she sits down beside me.
I sigh and tell her what happened. Grace listens to me patiently. Then she says, "Don't worry I don't think he's mad about it. He can't ever be mad at you."
I raise a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
She chuckles.
"Seriously what is it?"
"You're one hell of an oblivious person," she attempts to smother her laugh.
I narrow my eyes. "Well if I don't get something, aren't you supposed to tell me about it?"
Grace smiles and shakes her head.
"Come on tell me," I plead. But her lips are sealed tight. "Please!"
Before I can press to get an answer out of her, Grace jumps in the pool, knowing I can't follow her there.
I pout and cross my arms. So what I can't tell myself? Aren't friends supposed to help me in such cases?
I sigh and lean back. Grisbee appears a while later and rolls over on the other pool bed.
I look at my friends enviously. They all seem to enjoy themselves. Only if I could join them. I sigh and scroll down my social accounts on my phone. No new notifications for me. I feel so important.
After what it feels like decades, someone splashes water on me.
I yank up with a jolt and glare at the person who's responsible for soaking me.
"What the hell Ashton?"
"What are you doing there?" He asks me in return.
"What does it look like?" I roll my eyes again. "Trying to catch up on some sleep from last night."
Ashton narrows his eyes. "You can do that later."
I shake my head. "I feel like doing it now."
What's his problem? Why can't he just leave me alone?
"Snow, are you sure you're not on your period? You can tell me if you are."
I glare at him. "Shut up Ass-ton."
He doesn't get offended at the nickname. Instead, he offers me a hand. "Come on, it'll be fun."
I hesitantly look at his hand. Is it the right time to say the truth?
But before I can make up my mind, someone passes by Ashton.
"Don't bother trying," Cora says, doing a backstroke. "She can't swim." She laughs and swims away.
That bitch! My cheeks are glowing and I can feel Ashton's eyes on me.
Damn it, I should've told him the truth when I had my chance. I try not to look at him and stare down at my feet.
"Was she-"
"She wasn't lying, I can't swim," I cut in. He deserves the truth. "Laugh all you want, but it's not like I never tried." I pause before saying, "Twice."
"What happened?" Ashton asks softly.
"The first time was when I was six," I don't know why, but I start telling Ashton about all of it. "I couldn't make it even to my first class because I broke my leg the day before the training was supposed to start."
"I was twelve when I attempted to learn it the second time," I stare at the sky, it's sunny and cloudless. "Before I could get in the water, a boy jumped in the pool with overexcitement. He couldn't swim either and drowned badly. Right in front of my eyes. They took him to the hospital and the boy survived. But seeing drown like that and crying for help-I-I just couldn't stay there. I left the class and never went back."
I shudder at the particular memory of that boy drowning. "Since then, I'm afraid of water," I pause. "Not exactly water but you know what I mean. Whenever I get close to water, I can't control my limbs, they all go numb. Mom and dad tried to help me to teach swimming. But nothing worked. One time it went so bad that they had to take me to the hospital. The doctor suggested I might've gained aquaphobia from that boy's incident. Mom insisted on taking me to a psychiatrist but I convinced dad not to take me there. He persuaded mom telling the therapist sessions might damage more since I didn't want to go willingly in the first place."
I turn my gaze from the sky and look down at my feet. "Grace and Miles know about it. Cora, Ashley, Natasha, they all knew about it too. But they all were very supportive to me back then."
I finish and wait for Ashton to say something that'll make me feel worse. Or maybe he'll just go away. He can't possibly have any more business here now, can he?
But instead of all the possibilities I had in my mind, Ashton does the worst.
He gets out of the water.
I wonder if it would've felt better if he had simply walked away.
This sudden movement takes me off guard and I look up at him. From this angle, his body is creating a perfect sun-kissed posture with the sun behind him. Water drips down from his body.
I look down from his face towards his body. It's a perfect six-pack and toned. Anyone could tell he spent quite some time on them. And then his height. It's no wonder he's fit.
I wonder how come this is the first time I noticed it.
'Maybe because this is the first time you're seeing him this much lack of clothing without a girl attached to his hip?'
This brings back the memory of the last summer when I caught him making out with a girl in Uganda. It feels like ages ago. So many things have changed since then. Again, it feels like yesterday when Ashton and I negotiated.
Being caught in my own daydreams, I don't notice the hands Ashton holds out for me.
My eyes trace back from his hands to his face. He's not looking smug. Or even disappointed.
Instead, he's smiling.
'Like an angel.'
I block it out and try to concentrate on the boy in front of me. His hair looks almost black in this soaking form.
"So?" Ashton asked me something but I wasn't listening.
I clear my throat. "Sorry, what was it?"
A smile forms in the corner of his mouth. "I asked if you get panic attacks from water?'
I shake my head. "No, it's like I said, my limbs just go numb," I say. "Why do you ask?"
Instead of replying, Ashton takes my hands in his and leads me towards the pool.
I gasp. "Hey what're you doing?! I thought we made it-"
He throws me in the water before I can finish. I gasp and try to catch my balance. I grip the edge and try to stand in the water. The edge isn't deep. The water is level up to my chest.
Ashton gets in the pool and draws an arm around me.
"What are you do-"
He presses a finger over my lips. "I know this will be hard for you," he says. "But I want you to give me a chance, see if I can help."
He stares down at me. "Please let me do this for you."
I don't give him a direct answer. "So you want me to be in the water like this?"
Ashton furrows his brows. I sigh and gesture at my body. "Do you really want me to learn to swim when I'm fully clothed?"
His eyes move around my body. The clothes are soaked and now clinging to my body, making my underclothes visible, thank gosh I chose to wear a baby pink bra today. Ashton's eyes pause at a particular place and I smack his head.
"Eyes up here buddy."
His lips twitch up.
"You definitely would've looked sexier without them," he pauses. "But that'll be distracting."
My cheeks flame and I try to push him away. "Pervert!"
Ashton chuckles and tightens his grip on me when I start hitting him.
Too bad I'm enjoying it, otherwise I see no point of wasting my energy on 'trying to hurt' him.
"Jokes aside, you should really get started," Ashton says.
My hands pause in midair. "Sure, but I really need to change first."
Ashton helps me to get out of the pool.
I return five minutes later. Ashton helps me to get in.
"Ready?" I nod. Here goes nothing. "Let's get over it."
"How much do you know?" Ashton asks.
"Mom taught me to float and move my legs. I just lose my control once I let go of the float."
"I see," Ashton mumbles. "This must be more blockage than the trauma of that boy's drowning."
"Blockage?"
Ashton nods. "Did you ever wonder how little babies can learn swimming just within a few minutes?"
I didn't actually.
Ashton continues. "When you're older, the fear, the mental blocks, they're different," he says. "I can try to help you with it, we'll start with baby steps. I mean what's the rush? We got all the time in the world."
I wanted to tell him no we don't when he takes my hand in his and looks at me in the eyes.
"You just have to answer one question," Ashton mutters. "Do you trust me, Snow?"
My breath stops. Do I? It's Ashton we're talking about. I used to hate him with every fiber of my body. His feelings were mutual too. We almost killed each other on his first day at school. But then things changed. We became friends. I get to learn the real Ashton. The Ashton beneath all the rumors. He knows every possible thing about me. He stayed with me yesterday when Derek ditched me. My answer is obvious.
So I nod. "Yes, I trust you."
Ashton sighs and wipes the imaginary sweat from his forehead. "For a moment, I thought you were going to say no."
My lips twitch. He smiles and takes my hands in his. "Take a deep breath, in and out."
I do as he says. "Now close your eyes. Your eyes will feel dry and irritated from salt or chlorine if you don't close them."
I hesitate. What if I drown?
Ashton tightens his grip on me. "I got you," he assures me.
"I'm definitely going to regret this," I mutter under my breath. But deep inside I know I won't.
Ashton chuckles and floats away with my small hands in his broad ones. "Trust me, Snow, " he whispers.
I inhale a deep breath. I can do this.
And everything else fades away as I close my eyes and I dive in the water.
ð¸
Though I should've asked this one already, (*shrugs*) but can you swim? Like really swim? I can swim but I can't really swim if you were wondering. Please don't ask what happened ð¶
Oh, and don't forget to comment, I love reading your thoughts.