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“I… I don’t know what sounds like you anymore,” I murmur. Water gets in my mouth as well. Gosh, this current is strong. We are already far from where we landed. I start kicking with all my might, bringing my arms around her waist. “You look different. Your hair is…”
“Different,” she says quickly. Looks away. “I thought I’d imagined them,” she says in a second, her eyes fixed on mine.
“Imagined what?”
“Your eyes.” Back then, she never said anything about my ‘unusual’ eyes, as every article now calls them. I had never thought she was with me because of my so-called ‘good looks’, but deep down, I wondered. Did she like my face?
Right now, she can’t take her eyes off my face.
And I can’t stop drinking her in.
We just float in place, gasping, our eyes locked.
“My eyes?” I can’t believe that’s what we’re talking about right now.
“Your eyes. You,” she replies. Her skin is turning translucent, blue with cold, and she’s shaking so hard the words come out distorted. She doesn’t seem to notice.
She… My legs are burning, and it’s not just from the effort of keeping us both afloat.
“You,” she says again. “The whole you. You’re real.”
“Right,” I say.What are you doing to me?I can’t take any more of this, I’ll go insane. She’s getting tired, and we begin to go under. “We need to keep fighting in order to stay in place,” I tell her gently, trying not to let my panic show. “We have to move against the current, or it will carry us downstream. I’ve got you, ok?”
“I’m fine,” she says, and tries to slide from between my legs, trying to swim towards Pooh. She’s still shaking all over, though.
She opens her mouth to reply, but water quickly rushes in and she goes under. It’s only for a split second, but I don’t wait to find out if she’s strong enough of a swimmer. I quickly grab her with an arm wrapped securely around her waist and begin kicking powerfully. The water pulls us, but I’m stronger.
For now.
“Let’s get you out of here.” My mouth is next to her ear. This is torture, never mind trying to survive at the same time.
“I’m fine.” She coughs.
“You don’t look fine. Your lips are blue. And I’m definitely not fine losing you again.”
Immediately I want to bite the words back, but they’re true, so I don’t care. I have learned in these past four years to own my words and to stand behind them. Especially when I’ve spoken them sober.
And especially these words, right here.
They are the truest words I’ve ever spoken.
I just wish I hadn’t uttered them in front of her.
I’m looking around, worried that she’ll get tired before I can reach the rocks, but I see that two more of my guards have jumped in after us and I calm down. Jose already has Pooh tucked safely under his arm, and he’s climbing up to safe ground while Ren is swimming towards us.
“Sorry, man,” I gasp, as he reaches us, laughing.
“You kids aren’t about to make my job easy for me, are you?” he says good-naturedly. “You both ok?” We nod. “Swim out, Isaiah, I’ll stay right behind you. Holler if you need help.”
I nod towards Eden, and Ren immediately puts his arm around her, gently towing her as she treads water.
“I’m sorry, Ren,” I say again. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought Lou and her friends here. I shouldn’t have let them loose.
“You know I’ve always wanted to swim in Greece,” he laughs, spitting water, and then he must see the regret on my face, because he turns serious. “Don’t worry about it, kid. What you did, jumping after her like that…” He shakes his head in disbelief. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Yeah,” I say, my eyes glued to the back of Eden’s head as it hovers on the surface, about to go under. Ren pulls her out and takes her in his arms in a fluid motion. “Unbelievable.”
…
