5

As usual, after school, Torin invited me to play football with him and his friends. I declined. It was often like this. I didn’t want to invade in on their friend group- they had been playing football together since a long time and though I know the basic rules, I am hardly good at it. It would be uncomfortable to suddenly barge in with no experience and make a fool of myself. Instead, I opted to take a swim at the high school swimming pool, where I usually spent an hour or two after the day ended. It was in a different section of the building that remained open even though the rest of the doors were locked. The gym and the fields could be used for as long as anyone wanted to.

The game rooms that had a table tennis, however, would only be available during PT.

“That’s more like it.” I came up from under the cold water for long deep breaths. I was slowly getting used to the temperature- it was colder at night. It was nice and quiet here. Nobody liked to swim here at this time. The girls preferred to go to the nearby gym pool, it was huge compared to this. It even had a bunch of big slides and pool games. It definitely seemed to be more enjoyable than here- which was perfect for me. It meant I would get some peace and quiet.

 Even if an occasionally guy or girl did swim here, they were just as absorbed in their own thoughts and they wouldn’t be here long either. This was probably my favorite part of the whole day. My phone was at the edge of the pool, playing some EDM.

I shivered. It was getting way more chilly in here than I had thought. It’s normal for it to be colder at night, sure, but never this cold. My hands cut through the water and my legs kicked harder to warm myself as I did laps from one end to the other end of the pool. It was then that I felt something strange.

It was like something brushed past my leg. My first thought was, someone probably left some hair tie or something of the sort in the water so I didn’t think much of it. Instead I continued the hypoxic cycle, trying to breathe as much as I could during the strokes. I let the water glide over me, shutting my brain off. I needed that now more than ever. Since earlier, I could not stop replaying that moment in my head. I wonder if Allison liked me or if she did it because she needed a partner. No, she could have had anyone as her partner. I smiled.

I need to buy a suit for pro-

Water fills in my throat as I get yanked underneath the pool. I kick my legs to try and stay afloat but something kept pulling me down. Despite my heart beating rapid enough to pop out of my chest, I calmly looked down, trying to spot the intruder. Someone definitely held my ankles and pulled me down as a sick joke. I look around in the water, my goggles aiding my vision. The pulling had suddenly stopped and nothing seemed to be there. I decided that I would swim underwater and check the whole length of the pool but first –

I used my arms as support to pull myself out to sit at the edge of the pool. I coughed and gagged. Chlorine water tastes disgusting. And though I know no one would do it, there’s always that lingering thought in my head that someone must have peed in the pool. I spent a few minutes coughing- some of the water even came out of my nose.

“What the hell was that?” My voice was hoarse.

Even though I spent 10 minutes swimming underwater, I found no one. They must have left immediately. I should have heard them though. Am I going deaf? Or perhaps it was because I was too shocked.

‘Must have been too preoccupied by the fact that I was drowning.’

A sudden ringing sound made me shake minutely with surprise. Embarassed at the fact that I got scared by a phone call, I simply got out of the pool and walked towards my phone with my head down.

“I’m waiting outside..” Her voice was slightly impatient.

“Sorry, Mom.  I got a bit carried away.” I look at the time. I did swim for longer than usual. I go to the shower room and quickly rinse myself for a few seconds before drying myself off and putting on my clothes.

Grabbing my duffle bag, I was about to leave, passing in front of the mirror. Whatever I saw, I had imagined it. Most likely, I had been stressed and nervous about going to prom with the girl I’ve had a crush on for a long time. That was definitely the reason.

I saw 2 silver eyes belonging to a pale face, staring at me. The face didn’t have any features other than the eyes, that’s what made it worse. The silver eyes, it had no pupil. It was just.. completely silver, there wasn’t even any whitish sclera. And yet, there were eyelashes. No lips or nose either. I was totally losing it. Yelling here, however, was not an option. As a man, I would not let myself behave in that way.

I closed my eyes shut, hoping that it would be gone after I opened them again. I blinked. I was right. It was just a figment of my imagination. I tried to calm down my racing heart as I rushed down the dark hall and out into the parking lot. I opened the door to the car and got in.

“What took you so long?” Mom started the car. “Is it school stress?”

“No, I just felt like swimming more.”

“Then you should have texted me beforehand, I would have picked you up later.” She smiled.

I’ve never heard her say no. To be fair, I’ve never asked for unreasonable things but mostly because I knew she did her best to provide for me even if she could not afford it. It was why I couldn’t really be selfish.

“Sorry.” I laughed shyly.

And just like that the day ended. I slept. I forgot about what I had seen and the incident at the pool. I was so preoccupied with the Prom and worried about how I would present myself in front of her that I didn’t think of what happened again.

I thought, at worst, it meant I’d be a schizophrenic. What else? I think I didn’t have an idea of how bad a ‘worst case scenario’ could really be.