Chapter 5: Drowning

Tyler is determined to get Emily to talk to him.

Tyler.

 

I caught up with Jeremy.

 
I asked him what we’d
be doing until we were

ready to reach the
community center.

Saint Andrew’s
Community Center.

 It had been around
since before I was born,

I took my first swimming
 lessons there along with

all of the other kids
I’d grown up with

But now it was so old and
beat up, everyone seemed

to have forgotten about what

great things it had been

doing for our town and the
 time span it had been doing

it for. Sponsors no longer
yearned to help Saint Andrew’s

and so it kind of fell apart.
The hours it was

open were cut down to the
bare minimum. There weren’t

many people who still used
the gym, pool and studios

so this divided the number
 of volunteers in half. Therefore

nobody really tended to the
 well-being of the old place.

We had snuck in several

times before and gone for late

night swims. It was harmless
until a 15 year old girl

from the middle school
down the street followed

in our footsteps with a
group of friends. One of them

did not know how to swim
and ended up drowning.

Ever since they’d been
patrolling the place with

heavier security, trying to
 prevent anymore accidents.

Naturally, we haven’t
tried since then. We waited

for the grief to calm down.
But mostly for my sister

to stop crying about it. It
was one of her good friends,

I knew him pretty well,
 he came around once or

twice a week. He was kind of
an idiot, I guess. If you can't swim,

why would you break into a
public swimming pool?

It’d been about 7 or 8
months since then, summer

was over so we assumed
there’d be less security,

maybe just a few cops
circling the area every so

often. We were all older,
 we were more responsible

than those 15 year olds.
We all knew how to swim

and have a good time
without making too much noise.

I mean making out with girls was quiet enough,
but adding underwater to the equation?

I thought it'd be next to impossible
for us to get caught.

 Jenna said they stopped emptying
the water in the pool since

the summer ended too.
Can’t afford to keep filling it up.

I looked over at Jeremy as
we walked towards my car, a few

of our other friends were standing
around nearby, goofing off, smoking a joint.

"Yeah and no one swims in it
anyways. That place is so dead."

Jeremy nodded and ran
off towards the circle of

high, gawking teens,
begging for a few tokes.

I had smoked before
of course, but I just

wasn’t in the mood
today. Especially

with Emily already
 ignoring me, I didn’t

want to make a fool
out of myself and

make matters worse.

I was supposed to have picked

her up this morning. She had
asked me weeks ago to drive her

to school early today, so she
could do a presentation.

I forgot but got reminded by one of
her good friends in second period.

So she had been ignoring me.

As I walked closer

to the gathering I
 noticed Emily sitting on

the curb behind everyone,
her knees were

drawn into her body
and she had her phone

tightly grasped in her
 shaking hands. She

was sickly pale and
clammy. I walked up

and placed my hand
 on her forehead.

"Are you sick?"
She looked up at me,

a blank look on her face,
swatting my hand away.

"No, I’m fine.
What’s it to you anyways?"

 I sighed and settled
down beside her. She

shuffled over a bit
and slid her phone open,

cursed quietly, head dropping
and then and closed it.

"Waiting for an

important call?"

She didn’t even
glance my way.

"The smell of
weed makes me sick."

I stood up and
offered my hand to her.

"So let’s go somewhere else
 and you can tell me how much

 you hate me and that
you’re waiting for a

 call from your
 secret boyfriend."

She forced her head
downwards,

trying to hide her
smile from me. Placing

her hand in mine, I
pulled her to her feet.

"Fine. Not much of a
 secret anymore anyways."

 

Emily started to laugh as we,


walked off towards the bleachers
 behind the school.

"It’s my dad," she finally said
after a few moments of silence.

 Not an awkward silence though, things
were never awkward between

 Emily and I. I looked at her
 face, studying her painful

expression. She was biting
on the inside of her cheeks, nostrils

flaring as she attempted to take deep
breaths. Her eyes were glassed over

and wet as she bit back tears and
unsteady breathing.

"He hasn’t written back and it’s
really starting to worry my mum and I."

 She dropped her head.
 Her dad was a general,

 stationed in Afghanistan,
Emily didn’t know much more about his

occupation, and if she did I
 didn’t blame her for never

talking about it. He had
never really been home

even from when were kids.
 I’d see him come home maybe

once every few months. During
these short times Emily

would always change the slightest
bit. It wasn't something just anyone

would notice. But she always seemed
happier, like her smile had been brightened.

I liked seeing  her this way. So I
always liked it when her dad came home.

She pushed a few stray blonde hairs
behind her ear and wiped

the tears that had escaped, with h
er sleeve. I grabbed her

gently by the shoulders and
 turned her to face me. Her head

hung low with shame and
embarrassment. I wrapped

 my arms tightly around my best friend,
giving her the only comfort I could.

There was nothing I could say to
convince her that everything would

 be okay. Emily knew that something
had happened and I’d only be hurting

her more by trying to deny it. She
enclosed her arms around my waist.

 We stood there for a few minutes
 until my phone began to vibrate

 in my pocket. It was Emily who
broke away from our

tight embrace, sniffling and pushing
more hair behind her ears. I pulled

my phone out and read the text aloud.
"'Meeting in the parking lot

 in like 5, gonna get food, you coming?'"
 Emily nodded and we walked

hand and hand towards the parking lot.
"So, why were you ignoring me

today?’ I lightly teased,
 bumping her side.

"You ditched me!"
She exclaimed dropping my

hand and crossing her arms
over her chest.

Sticking her nose up in the
 air she began to march forward

 and away from me.
 "I didn’t mean to, I forgot,"

I ran forward and grabbed her hand.
placing it in both of mine gingerly.

I pulled her in close to my chest,
moved one of my hands to her

waist and the other to caress her
cheek. I slid it up her cheek to

the side of her neck. I leaned in
and slightly guided her forward,

our lips met and lingered for
several moments before she

pulled away.