AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not as juicy as I was hoping for, but okay,” he said. She splashed water at his face.
“Shut up. I was a really good diver. I was offered scholarships, I was nationally ranked,” she explained. He folded himself upright so he was treading water next to her.
“Okay,thatI was not expecting. Why didn’t you pursue it?” he asked. She shrugged.
“Not my thing. I liked to dive, but it wasn’t my entire life. I had other things I wanted to do,” she told him. He smiled.
“Like hitchhiking.”
“I was a little young to hitchhike back then, but yeah, other stuff. Now your turn, tell me a secret.”
Parker had to think. He didn’t want to tell her anything too juicy – being good at diving wasn’t exactly the deepest secret a person could have. Still, it had clearly been something important to her, so he knew he had to at least match that. They'd technically only known each other for three days, almost everything was still a secret to each other. That helped.
“I won a prize in college, for a writing competition. I was the youngest to ever get it,” he said. “I won it for writing. First place. You compete all year for it, lots of schools are involved.”
“You must really like to write, then, huh,” she said. It was his turn to shrug.
“Honestly? Not really, my mother is the one who pushed me in that direction. I mean, I like to write, I like to be creative, but it's just for fun, and only every now and then. I like to draw even more, and I like to do stuff with my hands; make stuff, build things,” he told her.
They swam around in silence for a couple minutes. Neither of their secrets were very secretive, nor were they particularly revealing – Paige already knew that Parker was a creative guy, and Parker wasn’t exactly surprised to learn that slim and fit Paige had been an athlete not too long ago. Still. The fact that both of them had been very good in very specific fields but had decided not to pursue them was quite a coincidence. That information seemed to hang heavy in the air between them and they stayed silent to let it settle.
“So,” Parker ventured after they'd paddled around the pool a couple times. “When was the last time you went diving? Back in high school?”
Paige laughed softly. “My family lives next to a lake – whenever I'm home, I practically live in the water.”
“Show me a jackknife,” he urged. She glanced around.
“You don’t think it’ll be too loud?” she asked, her voice low.
“What’s the worst that could happen? They tell us to leave? Kick us out? Big deal, I’m out thirty bucks. Do it,” he ordered before splashing water at her. She splashed him back.
“Fine, hold on,” she grumbled, heaving herself up over the side of the pool.
Parker watched as she pulled herself upright and wrung out her hair before heading to the diving board. Her black tank-top was glued to her body like a second skin and the moonlight gave her wet clothing a silver edge. When she got on the dive board, she paused at the end and stood very straight, looking down the length of her nose at the water. Parker’s breath caught in his throat.
She is a very beautiful girl.
“Just get it over with, pansy,” he hissed, trying to hide his uncomfortable thoughts behind silliness. She glared at him.
“If we get in trouble, I’m telling them I was taken against my will,” she whispered.
And then she did it. Parker didn’t know how long it had been since Paige had last done a dive, but she executed it like an expert. The diving board was just a simple little thing, but she still got enough height to bend completely in half and then straighten herself out enough to hardly make a splash when she entered the water. When she resurfaced almost directly in front of him, he clapped – quietly – for her.
“Not bad, not bad,” he whispered, glancing around to see if any lights in the main building had come on or if any of the cabins were lighting up. She splashed water over him again.
“Shut up! You get up there and do better!” she ordered in a loud whispered.
“No way. I didn’t even know what a jackknife was – you could’ve belly flopped and I wouldn’t have known the difference. I’ve just heard people say it. I don’t even really know how to swim,” he confessed. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
“Are you serious!? What are you doing right now!?” she asked, her voice barely a squeak.
“Well, I can tread water, obviously. And I’m super at dog paddling and floating. I can kinda do a crawl stroke, but I look like I’m having a seizure,” he replied. She still stared at him in shock.
“Why did you wanna go swimming if you can't swim?” she asked. He shrugged.
“Something to do. And maybe I can’t swim that good, but I like the water,” was his response. Even in the semi-darkness he could see her eye roll.
“You are the only person I’ve ever met who is contrary even to himself,” she spat out. He laughed loudly.
