by Audrina Lane
I watched transfixed as he headed closer and then before I could quite get my breath he was kneeling down right next to where I was holding onto the side.
“Hi” he said “Didn’t I see you here on Saturday?”
“Um yes” I managed to get out of my stunned mouth. I could feel my skin getting hotter as the redness spread over my face like an embarrassing rash. I wanted to duck under the cool water and hide it from him.
“So I was wondering if you would like to join the lifesaving course I am starting to run on Thursday night” he asked “I noticed you were a really strong swimmer the other day” he finished.
“Yes, that sounds good, how do I enrol?” I asked.
“Just pop to reception on your way out and tell Elaine that James sent you” he finished.
“Thanks James” I replied, trying out his name on my lips “I’m Stephanie but most of my friends call me Steph” I managed to say.
“Great Steph, I look forward to seeing you on Thursday night” he finished. For a second he held my gaze and then I watched as he looked up and noticed some young lads fooling around on the other side of the pool. Then he was off in that direction, leaving me struggling for air as I slipped beneath the surface to cool off my whole body.
As I left the pool I spoke to Elaine and she took my details and told me that the course was a free one for students. I was about to leave when I turned and asked
“What is James surname?”
“Cooke” she replied, as she watched me blush and then head for the door.
Wednesday 6th January, 1988.
Sarah and I have study period at the end of the day so we’ve decided to sneak out of school early, saying that we were going to the Library in town. Instead we headed for our favourite café in town and bought some large hot chocolates topped with cream and chocolate sprinkles. Sitting at the table nearest the window Sarah leaned forward and said
“You look different today, spill the beans”
“Ok” I said, my grin nearly breaking my face
“I spoke to him and I know his name” I replied
“You mean the life guard at the pool? How did you manage that?” Sarah asked, as she almost dropped the spoon she had been using to scoop off the cream into her mouth.
“I went to the pool on my own last night and he stopped to speak to me and asked if I wanted to enrol in the life saving classes that starts on Thursday” I said.
“And, what else?” she prompted
“Well, he said he noticed what a strong swimmer I was on Saturday and that he thought I might enjoy it” I finished. I took a sip of my drink as I relived the exact words of our conversation. I already knew them by heart as I had been doing the same thing all through class today.
“So what’s his name?” Sarah said, noticing the colour in my cheeks and the excitement that tinged my voice.
“He’s called James Cooke” I replied. I loved the way his name sounded on my lips.
“I’ll ask my brother if he knows him, as if we think he might be nineteen or twenty he might have been in the same year as Tom” she said.
“Oh yes, do that” I replied “Try and find out anything you can” I finished.
Walking home together we continued to talk about what being in love would be like. Then I hugged her goodbye
“Promise you’ll find out as much as you can” I said, before we parted.
“I promise” Sarah giggled.
Thursday 7th January, 1988.
I was waiting for Sarah this morning at the corner. June and Amanda had already gone on ahead which was good as I didn’t want to share any of this with them. Watching my best friend approach I thought of how long we had known each other. We had been friends since we were four years old and I knew she would always be there for me. She had short brown hair that framed her face. She was taller than me and I envied her fuller figure, but she was always saying that she wished she could swap as she hated the attention it drew from guys in our year. Unfortunately due to her height she always felt that they were talking to her chest not to her.
“So” I asked, the minute Sarah was by my side.
“Ok, hang on a minute” she replied, as she put her arm through mine and we headed along the path together.
“He’s a year older than my brother so that makes him twenty or possibly even twenty one” she replied.
“Oh so I really don’t stand a chance and he was just being nice on Tuesday” I replied, glumly.
“Tom also said that his last girlfriend was a year younger as she was in his year at school but he thinks they split up before they finished school” she finished
“Oh” I said again, letting the information sink in “Otherwise Tom doesn’t know a lot about him except that he seemed like a nice, genuine guy” she said.
We had almost caught up with Amanda and June so I quickly said
“Don’t tell the other’s about this yet” I replied
“Ok, it will be our little secret” she finished, as we joined them and walked the rest of the way to school. The day seemed to drag by so slowly as I watched the clock and waited to escape. The rest of the girls wanted to go into town to do some shopping so I ducked out and headed home alone. I had persuaded Mum to let me buy a new swimsuit as I thought that a bikini was the wrong thing to wear for some serious swimming. However it was a lovely shade of purple and it highlighted my sleek body and long legs. I wore my purple velvet jeans, black jumper and pixie boots and was pleased with the effect as I took one final look in the mirror.
Mum gave me a long look as I pulled my coat on
“You’re rather dressed up for the pool?” she said
“Well, I haven’t been out anywhere interesting to wear them yet” I replied, hoping she wouldn’t notice my flushed face.
“Are you sure you don’t want Dad to drive you there and pick you up afterwards?” she asked
“No Mum, I’ll be ok and it’s not far to walk” I replied.
“Ok, have a good time and see you later” she finished. As I got closer to the pool I thought of all the things that I knew about James so far. It wasn’t much but it was enough and I hoped that as the course went along I might get to know even more.
Charlotte paused as she heard me call from downstairs that dinner was ready. Putting the notebook aside on the bed she headed downstairs. Charlotte’s phone kept up a continuous beep through tea as various different friends texted her or messaged her on Facebook regarding the break up. Craig had even tweeted that he was seeing a girl in the year below them.
Chapter 3
Although Charlie answered most of the texts and tweets she felt drawn to the diary lying open on her bed. After clearing all the damp tissues away into the bin, Charlotte put her pyjama’s on and snuggled under her duvet, preparing for a late night of reading. This diary had her hooked; it was like reading a good book but with the added twist that you knew the characters already. She scanned back a few lines and then found her place again.
Thursday 7th January, 1988 continued
As I got changed into my swimsuit I noticed that there were another couple of girls in the changing room and as I headed onto the poolside I watched them emerge from the doorway wearing bikinis. My heart fell as I gave them a good look up and down and realised that they were both older than me by perhaps at least a year or two. James would never notice me now with them as competition. A couple of guys appeared from the opposite side of the pool and I realised that the one was in the year above me at school; he was called Jason and most of the girls fancied him. I had to admit that he was attractive with his dark hair that flopped over his one eye. I saw that the two girls had started to whisper together as they looked him over. The other guy I later found out was called Matthew and he was twenty and doing the course as part of his life guard training.
As I saw James appear from the poolside office door I felt my breath leave me. He looked gorgeous as he came over towards us
Hi, thanks for coming. My name is James and
I will be your instructor for the course” he said.
After the introductions I slipped into the water and we all did a series of lengths in each of the different strokes and then James told us that we needed to learn side stroke.
“Matthew, can you show everyone the side stroke” James asked. Matthew nodded and headed off back up the length of the pool. I tried to watch but I found I kept staring at James to see what he was doing. Then it was my turn and I soon found my rhythm and got the hand of this new skill.
“That was good everyone but I think Stephanie has mastered it the best, would you show us all a length on each side” he asked. I nodded and felt the blush flood my cheeks with colour as I took off up the pool.
After class we headed upstairs and James handed out some information for us to learn for the session the following week. As he handed the sheet to me it shook slightly in his grasp and as my hands were shaking so much I dropped it. Kneeling down to pick it up James did the same thing and I found myself staring into his blue eyes as we both held the opposite edges of the sheet of paper in our fingers.
“Sorry” he said as he let go.
“It’s ok, my fault” I replied, as we both stood up. What did that look mean? I wondered as I headed out through the door. Crossing the car park I suddenly turned to look back and I spotted James in the upstairs window looking out. He raised his hand and waved, I looked around but I was alone so it must have been meant for me, so I waved back and then hurried home to relive the evening in my dreams.
Friday 8th January, 1988.
The alarm dragged me reluctantly from my dreams of swimming pools and James. At least it was the last day of the week at School and I had a busy weekend planned and also lots to talk about with Sarah too. I hurried to catch up with Sarah, June and Amanda as they had already started up the road.
“Hi girls, thank god it’s Friday” I said, as I joined them
“Yes, so much school work to get through already, never mind what they might give us today too” Amanda moaned.
“Do any of you fancy going to Gareth’s party tomorrow night?” June asked, looking directly at me.
“No thanks” I replied
“Sarah?”
“Thanks but I’ll have to check with my Mum first and let you know tomorrow” she replied.
“Ok” June said “I’ve got my eyes on his best mate John and he’s not going to be able to resist me in that new dress I bought yesterday” she finished
“Well, he’ll be a guy of strong willpower if he does” Amanda said “I’ve seen the dress, well what little there is of it” she finished, as we all started to giggle.
As we split into our different groups Sarah and I headed to History, whilst Amanda and June went to French.
“So, what happened last night?” Sarah said, as we took our seats
“Nothing much really, but it was good and I think we should go swimming again tomorrow evening?” I said
“Ok, I didn’t fancy Gareth’s party anyway, apart from John some of his friends are such dick heads” Sarah said. I nodded and laughed as we settled down for the lesson.
After school we all headed home and said goodbye. As I headed up the driveway I spotted my grandparents car there and I hurried inside to see them. Sitting down for tea later I chose the seat next to my Nan. I had spent a lot of time with her growing up, whilst my Mum went back to work and we shared a great bond.
“So Stephanie, how is school going?” she asked, as we tucked into fish and chips.
“Good Nan, lots of hard work to do before the exams” I replied.
“Have you got a boyfriend yet?” she asked. I blushed
“No Nan, not yet” I finished.
“You’re a cracking girl and someone will snap you up” my granddad said, from across the table “Just like I did with your Nan, love at first sight”
When they left I headed up to my room and thought about their comments. Was there such a thing as love at first sight? How could you tell? With those thoughts in my head I fell into some happy dreams.
Saturday 9th January, 1988.
I arranged to meet Sarah in town at four in the afternoon so we would still have some time to look around the shops before they closed on our way to the pool. Sarah showed me the dress that June had bought from Eclipse at the bottom of town.
“Christ, there’s not much too it” I said, as we spotted it in the window
“I know, but she does look good in it!” Sarah said “We watched her try it on” she finished.
“I bet. She puts the rest of us in the shade in comparison” I replied, thinking of her long golden blond hair, lightly tanned skin and fantastic curvy figure.
“I know” Sarah replied “I phoned her earlier and said I wasn’t going tonight” Sarah replied.
“Come back to mine if you want” I said “You can stay over” I finished.
“Sounds good to me” she replied “Now come on let’s get into that pool before you pull me over in your impatience” she said, laughing as we rounded the corner and walked through the car park to the swimming pool building.
I looked up at the window where James had stood and waved from the other night. The memory made me smile as we continued across towards the entrance. Once inside I put my bikini on and then Sarah and I headed out into the pool area together. My heart sank; he was nowhere to be seen as we slipped into the water and started to swim. I was too upset to even say anything. Then all of a sudden while we were resting at the deep end of the pool Sarah nudged me
“Is that James over there?” she asked, gesturing to the entrance from the male changing room.
“Fuck, it is James” I replied, as I suddenly felt all dizzy and faint. We both watched as he walked up the side of the pool, his trunks hugged his tight ass and I tried to breathe, deep regular breaths at the sight. My heart was thumping in my chest so much that I thought I was going to pass out. My knuckles started to turn white as I gripped the side of the pool to stop from going under. My legs beneath me felt like jelly as I tried to keep them moving.
James strode towards the diving board and climbed the steps to take up position. I was transfixed at the sight of him as he took the three steps to the edge and dived into the water; hardly even rippling it with his entry. I watched as he swam the entire length beneath the water and then surfaced at the shallow end. He swam a couple more lengths at speed and then I watched in slow motion as he headed towards us.
“He’s heading over” Sarah said to me
“I know what should we do, stay or swim away?” I replied in a panic.
“Stay you idiot, although perhaps I should leave” Sarah said.
“No don’t leave” I replied. And then he was holding onto the side just inches away from me. I felt sure he could feel the heat from my body penetrating through the cool water of the pool.
“Hi Steph” he said “Good to see you again so soon”
“Hi James, this is my best friend Sarah” I replied, before my voice started to shake.
“Hi Sarah, good to meet you” James replied, as he smiled at her before he returned his gaze to me.
“Hi James” Sarah replied “Wonderful dive” she finished
I nodded, still struggling to speak in his presence.
“Thanks, do you guys fancy a race down the pool?” James asked “I’ll give you a head start” he finished, a cheeky grin on his face.
“Ok” we both said “You’d better start us off then” I replied.
“Ready, steady go” he said, as we both pushed off against the side and crawled down the pool. I was ahead of Sarah as I was the stronger swimmer but then as I turned to return back to the deep end I could hear James behind me. I tried to double my efforts but I he passed me by a body length before we reached the edge.
Grabbing the side next to him I was breathing deeply from the exertions and the closeness of his body next to mine. We waited a couple of seconds for Sarah to reach out and take hold of the side next to us.
“I thi
nk you’d better give me an extra head start next time” she said.
“Can you show us another dive” I asked, as it gave me a chance to admire him from a bit father away.
“Sure” he replied. I watched him pull himself out of the pool and walk towards the board. On the way he stopped to chat to the other lifeguard on duty and whatever was said made them both laugh. I hopped they weren’t discussing me. I watched as he took to the board and this time lined up with his back towards the pool. The other pool attendant gave him a quick nod which must have been the all clear signal as he executed a perfect back flip into the pool. I wished that I could dive as well as he did.
As he headed back towards us he ducked under the water and I felt a tug on my foot as he dragged me under and started to tickle me. I pulled away; the shock of his touch on my quivering body was immense. Returning spluttering to the surface I waited for James to surface and playfully splashed some water at him. Sarah joined in and we larked around for a while.
“We’ve got to go now” I said
“Well, I’ll see you again on Thursday night” James replied, smiling at me.
“Hope to see you again soon” he said to Sarah “Perhaps I’ll bring a friend with me next time I swim” he said “Two against one is an unfair water fight” he finished.
“Bye James” I said, as we swam back down to the shallow end to get out. I resisted looking back to see if he was watching but Sarah couldn’t resist.
