Watergirl

by Juliann Whicker

  I rolled my eyes while I clutched the edge. “I think dates should be less life or death, more movies.” I braved my way from the side while I kicked my legs as fast as I could to keep from sinking.

  “You don’t think this is more than a friend helping a friend?”

  His accent was so adorable.

  “No, of course not. We’re swimming. What could be less romantic than that?”

  He mumbled something and dove deep into the water. I got nervous for a second without him there to make sure I wouldn’t drown. I opened my mouth to call him, realized he wouldn’t hear me because he was under water, and then had to spit when water got in my mouth. Gross, spitting in the pool. No wonder Sean didn’t want me in there. I made it a point to keep my mouth shut from that point on, but I kept thinking about what Oliver had said. Did he think this was more than friendly? Maybe he was sacrificing his early morning sleep because he liked me. The thought had me moving towards the edge, forgetting about technique until I was out of the pool and in the dressing room before the swim team came out. I stopped inside the door when I saw Bernice and her friends in the locker room.

  “Nice suit,” she said before she went out. Her smile was not mocking and I was going to tell her that hers was too, but it was a navy blue, speedy suit that flattered no body.

  By the end of that week, I was swimming pretty well. I blamed Oliver’s teaching, and told him so. He smiled like he was flattered, but he didn't say much. It didn't seem like he ever talked much in the water. He was busy using his fishy senses instead.

  “I think you can swim,” Oliver said as we climbed out of the pool. I stared at him, uncertain as he pulled off his shirt and revealed his very naked chest. Usually as soon as I got out I bailed for the locker room before I had to go through the weird him in jammers part. I was much more comfortable with him in more clothes.

  “Thanks. You’re a great teacher,” I said lamely, edging towards the locker room.

  “I don’t think you’ll drown,” he said and then I noticed the frown on his face. I stopped and stared at him until I got it, until things clicked and I knew what he meant.

  “So you think I’m as good as I’m going to get and that I shouldn’t waste your time?” I didn’t mean for it to come out so blunt, but he only smiled ruefully.

  “It’s not a waste of my time. Floating in the water isn’t exactly difficult for me. But you are really capable, and maybe your time is a little more valuable, particularly early in the morning.”

  So he was saying that he didn't want to hang out with me anymore. It hurt, I’m not going to say it didn't, but it was doable. I took a deep breath, forging through the pain, and stuck out my hand to him.

  “Thanks so much for teaching me. You really are awesome. I’ll see you around.”

  I didn't freak out or anything. In the locker room I felt a little bit stunned and kind of sick, but then I saw Bernice, and I did what any normal person would do.

  “Hey Bernice. I know this isn’t really your thing, but do you think you could teach me a few pointers on swimming some time?”

  She stared at me, and then sat on the bench next to me while the rest of the team filed out. “I thought Oliver was teaching you. While that’s cool, it really pissed off Sean.”

  “Yeah, well, Oliver’s done a good job at making sure I don’t die, but I want to be better than that. I want to swim kind of pretty, you know? Is that stupid?”

  She laughed. “You’re asking me? I live for swimming. There’s no end to technique. Sean is an incredible swimmer, but he’s gotten even better since Oliver came. Oliver gives Sean the competition he needs.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know what’s up with Sean. I don’t really care. I just want to keep swimming.”

  “So that’s really all there was between you two?” Bernice asked giving me a sly glance.

  I stared at her trying to figure out what was between me and The Captain. Oh. She meant Oliver. I shrugged. “He says hi to me in the hall. Sometimes I thought he might have liked me, but he’s hard to read. Maybe it’s his accent.” Bernice kept looking at me, not entirely convinced and I felt uncomfortable. “Oliver’s nice. I asked him to teach me how to swim, so he did. Now, you’re nice, and so I’m asking you to take over where Oliver left off. What do you say?”

  She thought about it for a second then nodded. “Why not? See you tomorrow, five thirty?” And that was it. No problem, but I still felt, I don’t know, kind of let down by Oliver. I thought I looked kind of cute in Flop’s bikini, but whatever. I guess it was the jammers thing; you just didn’t notice bikini cuteness after a while.

  Chapter 14

  It was kind of lame not seeing Oliver very often. He was still super nice and stuff in the hall, but I missed hanging out without other people even if he didn't talk very much. It relaxed me the same way going to the lake did. I liked Bernice, liked the fact that I never felt weird in whatever I wore, and when she loaned me her old suit so I wouldn’t have to adjust Flop’s bikini every five minutes. I didn’t have to worry about ulterior motives or if she really liked me. But learning to swim with her was less relaxing, more work.

  Oliver came into the music store once while I was there, and it was kind of funny, kind of not funny, because Sheila saw him and zeroed in on him while he was asking me if I’d heard of a foreign band that we definitely didn't stock. She started flirting and asking him where he was from, what college he went to, and it was sooooo embarrassing. He didn't seem to notice. He gave her his nice smile and said something in his sexy accent that made her laugh. I felt invisible, like with Cole all over again and left him with her since he apparently wasn’t there to see me. He left pretty soon, and I went home and looked up the band. Anyway, other than that it was the same old, “Hello Oliver, yeah, good, see ya later.”

  That year Flop was hosting the anti-Homecoming thing the same way she did every year, and she had decided that we were going to have a themed party where we dressed as our deepest innermost being. It was kind of fun to decorate and plan with Flop. She was always relaxed, and she had a great deck where we were going to hang lights and have music, like a real kind of fancy thing. Normally she’d do fancy and everyone else would do something else, but now that I had embraced my pretty, it would be at least two of us.

  I was at the pool, finishing my lesson with Bernice one extremely early Monday morning when I climbed out and there was Oliver handing me a towel. I stared at him, glad I didn’t have to worry about suit placement in Bernice’s old speedo one piece for girls, which while it was really streamlined was not cute at all. So he handed me a towel and I took it with a smile while Bernice kept lapping. I noticed that he was wearing clothes while he followed me to the door of the locker room.

  “How have you been?” he asked.

  I nodded like that was an answer, but he waited and looked at me until I said something amazing like, um, fine.

  “I haven’t seen you around much. Your swimming looks really good.”

  I nodded. “Bernice is great. How have you been?”

  He frowned and then he tried to smile, but I already saw that he had something on his mind. “There’s a dance coming up. It’s kind of formal. I’m wondering if…” was he going to ask me? “How serious would a girl think I was if I asked her because I’m a little interested in going, but I don’t want to make the wrong impression. It’s not that I don’t like girls, but I am only here for one year, so I don’t want to get into anything deep and cause anyone pain. Do you understand?” He asked with such a nice frown.

  I patted his arm and got it damp because I forgot that I was standing in a swimming suit.

  “Yeah, I think if you ask a girl then she’ll think you’re serious. That’s kind of the point of Homecoming.” I shrugged and edged around him.

  “But if I asked you, when you understand how I feel…”

  “I’m not going to Homecoming,” I interrupted. “I’m going to an anti-Homecoming as my secret self. It’s tradition to not go. I�
�d hate to break tradition.”

  “Oh,” he said and sounded kind of bummed.

  “You can come if you want,” I offered. I didn't usually invite people but I felt kind of generous and like I could be as good with his whole, casual with the opposite sex thing, as he was.

  He looked at me then he turned his head. I followed his gaze and saw Sean come into the pool in his jammers. He dove in without looking around. Watching Sean dive, a cut-out of muscular perfection, made me feel weird, inadequate or something. I would never be able to do that.

  “Yeah, I think that would be good,” Oliver said, but he sounded distracted.

  “Cool,” I said and finally made it into the locker room. Of course he wouldn’t actually go to Flop’s party, but it had been noble of me to invite him. Yeah like he needed my pity.

  The next morning Bernice couldn't wait to ask me what Oliver talked to me about. When I saw the look of expectation on her face I was tempted to elaborate to give her a better story.

  “So, he asked you to Homecoming?” she demanded.

  “No, he asked if a girl would take him seriously if he asked her to Homecoming, and I told him that she would so he decided not to go. I invited him to Flop’s party, so he might come to that, but I doubt it.”

  “Don’t you like him?” Bernice asked, this time a little resentfully.

  I thought about it. “He’s cute and nice, but he doesn’t like me. I think I’m done liking boys who don’t like me more than I like them.”

  She looked at me, and of course she knew all about the whole Cole thing, but she didn’t say anything, just put on her suit. In the pool we swam and kicked in time. She showed me a new trick to keep water out of my nose when I paddled backwards. It didn’t sound like much but it reminded me how much I’d liked her before she became a swimmer. It was great that people could be nice and swimmers too. Too bad The Captain didn’t know that.

  Finally it was the night of Homecoming, or Flop’s party anyway. I wore her old mermaid fin and put my hair in curlers with tons of mousse so it was all wild and stuff. I wore a skimpy top that I’d wrapped tons of seaweed around. I tucked all kinds of seaweed in the taffeta skirt tail thing too, for authenticity. I figured I may as well celebrate the mermaid in me that I’d worked so hard to awaken.

  While I got ready, shaving my pits actually, I noticed my old scars at the top of both sides of my ribs were raised, like bumpy welts. Maybe it had something to do with all the chlorine or the speedo straps. I swabbed them with antibiotics and finished getting dressed.

  My favorite part was picking music. It was my thing. For my song I'd narrowed my choices down to a nice ocean harmonic and a modern mermaid movie main theme. Tuba confided that he was coming as a Jedi. Not really a shocker since he always came as a Jedi if Flop made him dress up, so his music was a cinch. I’d come to the conclusion that Oliver wasn’t coming since he hadn’t mentioned anything about it.

  I stood beside the stereo system on the deck beneath the twinkling lights and flower garlands when he came in wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He kind of stared at me, I mean, he really stared at me. I checked to make sure my top hadn’t fallen off or something. I was intact, but he didn’t stop staring.

  “What are you?” he asked when he got close enough.

  I swished my fin and kind of gave him an, ‘isn’t it obvious,’ look. “I’m a mermaid, because now, Watergirl really is Watergirl. Thanks to you, so, thanks. Look, Bernice is here.” I waved her over. She wore a cute skirt and top, but that was as far as she went. Tuba came in with his Yoda head and looked adorably Jedi. Junie in her hippie lady outfit got a kick out of it and kept pulling down his ears to kiss him on the top. I turned to Oliver to nod and laugh at them, but he was still staring at me.

  “They’re cute,” I said and he finally looked away, nodding at my friends before he looked back at me.

  “You look different,” he said, edging closer like he wanted to check my hair for extensions.

  “It’s the seaweed. I’m surprised you came.”

  “Of course I came. It would break tradition to go to Homecoming since I’ve never been either. Do you want to dance?”

  I opened my mouth and remembered the beach, and the awfulness of that whole thing. “No. I do music. I get the person’s theme on for them. Junie has Peter, Paul and Mary.” I fiddled with the music and soon The Spinning Song came on. Junie started spinning around while everyone else cleared the floor. There were more people than the last time I’d looked. Apparently Flop had been busy inviting anyone who didn’t have a date, as usual. “So what’s your theme,” I asked Oliver while he watched Junie bring it down with a kind of awe.

  “Um, I don’t have one.”

  “I have something just in case you showed up,” I said as Junie’s song wound down and we all cheered for her. I found my favorite song from the foreign band he’d mentioned that day he’d come into the shop and smiled at him while the sound floated through the air. It was hard with a steady beat, but there was musicality too. The singer, who of course I couldn't understand, sang like a dream, her voice rising above the harsh thumping and cruel guitars, somehow matching them with her contrast.

  He smiled at me then took the floor, confident and easy as he proceeded to breakdance… or at least it might have been a breakdance if he hadn’t been so incredibly awful. Tuba joined in and with Yoda and Oliver breaking out to this foreign techno metallic stuff it was overall the most hilarious thing I’d ever seen. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

  It was a great party. Everyone had a great time, even Junie until she got backfisted by Flop when she did her uber cool diver moves. Tuba followed Junie into the kitchen while Flop felt bad and I tried to wait until Junie was off the deck before I broke into inappropriate giggles.

  “You’re good at this music stuff,” Oliver said, handing me a little plastic plate full of chips and dip.

  “Thanks. You’re good at the…” I gestured to the floor, twisting my hands around. “Dancing stuff.”

  He laughed. “Oh, you’re impressed by that? You should see me slow dance. Where’s your music Genevieve?”

  I stammered for a second while he leaned behind me, flipping through the song list until he found the one with my name. He hit play and the deck filled with the sound of waves crashing, hearts thumping and a woman crooning, sounding a little bit like the wind at first.

  “Come on,” he said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the floor. He put his hands on my waist while I stood there, not sure what to do until he pulled my hands around his neck then resumed his position on my waist. “We could stand here but it might get boring. Maybe we should move.”

  “I think you’re supposed to move first and then I follow you. Unless you’d rather I…”

  He spun us around, tightening his hands on my waist, pulling me against his body. I grew dizzy, half from the spinning and half from forgetting to breathe. The feel of him was different than I remembered with Cole. His body was filled out, strong, and his skin smelled salty, probably from sweat but with the magic sea music playing it made me think of saltwater, dancing underwater, me a mermaid and maybe him an unfortunate sailor I was dragging to his death, or something even more exciting. His cheek grazed my forehead and I felt a shock that had me holding very still, standing there with my heart thumping against his until the music stopped and I could step away from him as though a spell had broken.

  I went back to the music, not looking at him for the rest of the party.

  After it was late and most everyone had drifted off on waves of laughter, I was getting ready to go home. I had some stuff to carry, dip trays and some extra folding chairs I had to haul home. Oliver stepped up as I balanced a chair precariously, lifting half of them easily.

  “Thanks,” I said, blushing. I’d thought that he’d already left.

  “This was different,” he said smiling at me as we walked outside, down the porch steps and crossed the lawn to my dad’s old rusty wagon.

  “Yeah, Fl
op has some interesting ideas.” I struggled for a minute with the key in the trunk.

  “Can I help?” he asked then took the key and made the trunk open up with its familiar groan. “I had a lot of fun. Thank you for inviting me.”

  I nodded and shrugged, very aware of how close his arm was to my shoulder, scant inches from touching mine. “I’m glad you made it. Your break dancing was inspiring, and Tuba probably liked having another guy here.”

  He nodded then smiled at me but his smile seemed a little stiff. “I’m glad I could add to the testosterone level.” His smile faded as he reached out and brushed one of my now frizzy strands out of my face. “There’s something about you, something special.”

  I felt my heart pound in my chest while his hand lingered near my face. Was he going to kiss me? For a second he leaned forward a little but then he shook his head and turned away, stashing the chairs in the depths of the trunk before closing it with a thud.

  “Good night,” he said before he turned and walked off. I stood there for a while feeling part disappointed and part relieved before I got in my car and drove home. He’d really looked like he wanted to kiss me though. Huh.

  Chapter 15

  So that was Friday, and the next day I worked. Everything was fine, but I had that feeling in my stomach all day. The kind that made me glad that things were busy and I didn’t have time to think. I hated going home for dinner where my dad was sitting there with a chocolate birthday cake for me. Yeah, my birthday was on the very same fantastic day my mother died. My dad tried, but I wished he wouldn’t. I took one look at the cake and went to my room. I barely had time to throw myself on my bed with buds in my ears when my dad knocked on the door.

  “I’m not celebrating my birthday anymore,” I informed him without pulling the buds from my ears. I didn't have to speak loudly to be heard through the flimsy wood.

  “Can we talk about it?” he asked.