When she still doesn’t come out, I decide to swim. I pull off my shirt and toss it on one of the chaise lounges. As soon as the water covers me, I push off the wall. After ten tension releasing laps my body finds the smooth rhythm. My focus shifts to breathing, muscles working, and not Maggie’s smooth curves. Especially not that little dip right next to her hip bone that’s begging to be explored by my tongue.
I come up for air, arms crossed over the edge of the pool. Water drips down my nose forming a little puddle. She still isn’t here. I’m about to go back to swimming laps when I spot her clothes and flip-flops. They weren’t out here before. My head whips around searching for her.
Maggie doesn’t have a swimsuit. I swallow. She hates me. Why else would she have suggested swimming? I close my eyes and take a steadying breath, but that damn little dip appears in my mind’s eye.
When I open them again, she’s still nowhere to be seen.
“Maggie?” I call out.
She has to be here somewhere. She’s messing with me. Then. I feel it. None of the other five senses can find her but she’s here.
The water around me shifts, like when someone kicks too close, the hairs on my leg are disturbed.
“Maggie?” I whisper.
All of a sudden she’s right in front of me. “Hi.” Her face drips and she’s grinning ear to ear.
“Shit,” I yelp and jump back hitting the edge of the pool. “What the fuck?”
She’s laughing so hard the water is jumping all around her. See this is what’s not fair. She can mess with me so easily. Belatedly, what I was seeing, or rather not been seeing, hits me.
“How?”
She shrugs. She’s grinning so big I can’t help but smile.
“I discovered it today. Actually, this is the first time I’ve tried it in a pool. But I could tell in the steam room today that something was different. I wasn’t so drained. Water must be crucial. It makes sense when you think about it. I’ve always gotten so dehydrated.”
I’m nodding as she speaks. She’s talking a lot with her hands but we’re in the deep end so she’s kicking to stay afloat and occasionally has to reach out to hold on to the wall. My eyes remain locked on hers which isn’t exactly a chore, because her face is beautiful. Especially right now. She’s even more ethereal than before. She’s glowing. Her lips are plump, and her smile is genuine.
“What?” I ask. She’s asked me a question because she’s blinking expectantly at me.
“What do I look like to you?”
“Beautiful,” I answer immediately without thinking.
“Oh.” Her eyelids flutter. The water overtakes her because she’s stopped kicking. I haul her up and she holds on to the wall. Her long lashes clump together. Her cheeks are rosy. “I… I meant when I go Under. Could you see me?”
I look away and then back. Oh fuck. “Yeah.” I shake my head when she frowns. “No. I mean, I couldn’t see you at all. Until just now.”
She falls back into the water with a laugh. “I knew it!” She kicks off the wall and splashes around. “This is so cool.”
I’m not happy. I don’t like that she can be invisible to me. I don’t like it at all. She swims back over and presses the area between my eyebrows with a wet finger, and a drop of water rolls down the bridge of my nose.
“Your eyebrows are frowning. What’s wrong?”
I shake off the water drop. “You were already invisible to everybody.” Else. “What’s so great about this?” My pettiness may be noticeable. My anger grows like an unscratched itch. Why does she have to be so excited about being invisible to me?
My privilege was being able to really see her. I don’t think I realized until that moment how much that meant to me. From the moment I first saw her, I’ve been special to her. We were meant to meet. It’s a silly romantic idea.
“Well. I guess because I feel better now. It’s like I’m supposed to be in the water. I don’t get as sick, and maybe there’re other things happening. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”
“How often are you going to be able to use this, how often are you in a pool when you need to eavesdrop? I don’t see any practical applications.”
“You’re being sort of a wet blanket. I thought you’d be excited. My superpowers are getting stronger.” She drifts to a stop and looks at me.
“Yeah. I guess. It doesn’t really change anything, though.”
She’s followed me to the shallow end. She can stand without kicking now, but she’s still on her toes, arms crossed. Her emotions are written all over her face. My bad mood is flaring off me and consuming her.
