Chapter 38 Drowning
ARDEN
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I arrived at the swimming pool and noticed that the class had already begun. The men were shirtless, clad only in their swim shorts, while the women sported tankinis in the school’s colors. Spotting Tessa, I waved at her, and she smiled back.
Mr. Thompson merely glanced in my direction before gesturing toward the bleachers, silently indicating that I should check the papers there. Nodding, I quickly got to work, stealing glances at my classmates from time to time. Surprisingly, the process of checking papers proved to be quite enjoyable, and I found myself breezing through them with ease. I was on the last set when Mr. Thompson’s voice caught my attention.
“Alright, now we’re going to hold a competition,” he announced. “You’ll have the chance to win 30 points for this. One winner from the boys and one from the girls.”
Excitement buzzed among the students, and I couldn’t help but look more frequently at the unfolding scene than the papers I was meant to be checking. The boys were up first, divided into four batches, and by the last batch, I spotted Cade among them, standing in the first lane.
My hands stilled mid–check as I focused my full attention on the scene before me. The swim shorts he wore were wet, clinging to his very toned thighs and buttocks. I felt my cheeks warm at the thought. I didn’t even want to discuss the front part of his shorts; it already looked impressively large, even in its non–erect state. However, I already knew firsthand just how big he could get the memory of our kiss during my unexpected heat made it all too vivid.
I fanned myself, attempting to dispel such distracting thoughts.
The whistle blew, and all the boys dove into the water. Right off the bat, there was a clear frontrunner. Of course, it was Cade. His speed was simply unmatched. While the rest of the competitors seemed to share relatively similar speeds, he pulled ahead by at least a meter, further widening the gap at the turnaround. Cheers erupted for him, as everyone knew he had already secured his win despite the final competition still pending.
As he emerged from the water, the others were still making their way back, and at that moment, it felt like every single pair of eyes had locked onto him. He ran his fingers through his damp hair, and the droplets cascaded down his chiseled body. My breath hitched, and I once again found myself looking away.
After that, the boys had a final competition with the winners from the previous batches, and unsurprisingly, Cade reigned supreme. I watched as Sienna handed him a towel, and the brief moment their gazes met, I felt something squeeze in my heart. Feeling flustered, I returned to my task of checking papers
Now it was the girls‘ turn, and I found myself rooting wholeheartedly for Tessa. She was quite the swimmer, triumphing in her batch and advancing to the finals. However, there was another formidable competitor to consider. Sienna. Unlike my fear of water, Sienna thrived in it. An athlete at our high school, she was often deemed the best among the ladies.
Naturally, I didn’t want her to triumph this time. Tessa was leading during the first lap. However, in a surprising turn of events, Sienna pushed herself to the limit and touched the wall first. Mr. Thompson blew the whistle, declaring her the winner–much to my disappointment.
Tessa glanced over at me, and I gave her a thumbs–up, mouthing, “Good job.”
In the meantime, I had finished checking the papers.
“Alright,” Mr. Thompson exclaimed, capturing everyone’s attention. “For the rest of the period, you can clean up.”
Cheers erupted from the class as they flocked toward their respective friends. Meanwhile, I stood from the bleachers and approached Mr. Thompson, handing him the completed papers.
Did you finish everything?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” I replied. He smiled to himself, likely pleased that his workload had been significantly reduced.
“You can join them now if you’d like,” he said before heading toward the locker room. I made my way over to where Tessa was standing and nudged her shoulder gently.
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Chapter 38 Drowning
“We have our very own Michael Phelps over here,” I teased.
She playfully rolled her eyes. “That’s an exaggeration.”
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“You were really good!” I exclaimed, leaning closer. “You lost only because you were in the last batch, meaning you had to swim right after in the finals. Sienna had enough time to recover,” I whispered.
She chuckled lightly. “That is a factor, but Cade was also in the last batch, and he still managed to win.”
Aglanced over at Cade, who was once again being flocked by our classmates, before letting out a small sigh. “Well, he’s a different breed.”
“You’re right about that,” she chimed in.
“By the way,” Tessa began cautiously. “How long have you been afraid of…?” She trailed off, casting her gaze at the water.
“Since I was a kid,” I muttered.
“Is it to the point where you can touch it?”
I chuckled lightly and shook my head. “No, that’s fine. I just don’t like being submerged in it.”
“That makes sense. I’m afraid of heights, by the way. Deathly afraid, to the point that I can’t even ride the kid rides at amusement parks.”
I smiled at her attempt to lighten the atmosphere. “Does… Jaxon know?” she asked.
I froze for a moment before nodding. “Yeah,” I muttered. Aside from Jaxon, Sienna also knew about my phobia. The atmosphere turned a bit weird, so I quickly changed the subject with a smile.
“Aren’t you going to get changed?”
She glanced down at her outfit and nodded. “Yeah, now that you mention it. These things feel great in the water but icky on land. Wait for me here. I’ll be right back.”
I smiled and nodded, watching as she walked back to the locker room. There were still a handful of us inside the pool since we had some time before dismissal. With that, I knelt near the water and began touching its surface, a small smile appearing on my lips.
It must feel refreshing but even then, I knew it would take a whole lot more for me to actually swim in it.
However, my smile quickly fell as the familiar voices of Sienna’s friends filled my ears.
“Why was she allowed not to participate?”
“Isn’t it unfair to the others?”
“What a suck–up… or maybe she’s just afraid?”
I pursed my lips and was about to stand and walk away when suddenly, I felt a hard nudge against my tailbone. My eyes widened, and I tumbled into the water. The sensation of drowning engulfed me, and in an instant, I was overtaken by panic. Despite the muffling effect of the water, I could still hear their giggles and taunts.
“No way you actually can’t swim?”
“Sienna, help her,” one said sarcastically. “Flow the hell can someone her age not know how to swim?”
fattempted to swim up, but I couldn’t reach the surface.
Someone help me, please.
Hope swelled in my heart when I saw a figure diving into the water. However, dread filled my stomach when I recognized Sienna’s cunning face beneath the surface. Just like Kieran had done before, she placed her hands on my shoulders while /3
10:45 AM
Chapter 38 Drowning
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struggled. She effectively used me as a buoy while continuing to giggle with her friends and the rest of our classmates.
“What do I do with her? She doesn’t want to hold on!” she mockingly exclaimed.
I tried to hold onto her, but she pinned me in place, her hands even tugging at my hair and brushing against my neck in a slight chokehold. I couldn’t speak, and I felt myself slowly losing the ability to breathe.
Is this it?
Is no one truly going to help me among all those who were here?
Just then, before I felt I would lose consciousness, another figure jumped into the water, this time already dressed in his casual clothes.
“What are you doing?”
Cade?
“Cade,” Sienna muttered, dumbfounded. The taunting fell silent as I felt his arms wrap around my waist and lift me to the surface. I took a large, deep breath, tears prickling my eyes as Cade carried me over to the concrete. I coughed out water from my throat, my vision still blurry with tears and fear.
Just then, Tessa emerged from the locker room, her eyes widening when she saw my state. “Arden!”
“Arden, are you alright?” I could hear Cade repeating my name; however, I found myself unable to answer, my hands trembling from fear. He then turned to face the culprits just as Tessa arrived by my side.
“What was that?” he exclaimed.
Sienna’s eyes were wide with feigned innocence as she replied, “I–I was just trying to help. She didn’t want to be helped,” she stammered. Cade clicked his tongue, then looked at me once more. At that moment, my vision began to clear, and my hearing sharpened.
However, a fresh feeling of dread filled my stomach when another one of our male classmates spoke up.
“Wait,” he said, walking closer. “Arden… has the mark.”
Then, in a much louder voice-
“She has the mark of purity.”
