Sunning by the Pool [OPEN TO EVERYONE THAT EVER LIVED]

The sun was high, and the day surprisingly warm for the month it was in. A heatwave had struck Beata, and since it was the weekend, Lotte had planned to spend it at the pool. Though it was likely to be more crowded, she felt the Lake was dirty and full of diseases, and due to this did not want to associate herself with this.

Lotte had a few swimsuits that she brought for an occasion like this, upon hearing about a pool. It was around nine in the morning when she arrived at the pool, and this was strategic. Most people would be sleeping until noon, and she had a chance of getting the pool all to herself. As she saw the area was empty, she decided against swimming right away, and instead lay out on one of the chairs. That was more embarrassing, and she had to make the most of the alone time she had. Besides, waking up early had made her very tired. So long as she didn't fall asleep...

The girl's breathing grew shallow almost immediately. Ethel had taken a chair next to her, and when she saw that Lotte had fell asleep, giggled and decided against waking the girl up. It was her fault that she lay down so early in the morning. What would she have expected?

A wolf pup padded through an open door to the pool. It did not take long for it to notice Lotte. Damn it...well maybe she won't know it's me... Montare thought to himself. As he got closer to the pool, he saw the Lotte had her eyes closed. She wouldn't be able to see him, but would probably look if she heard someone enter the empty pool. Oh well, he will still have to hope she would not think it was him, although that was very unlikely. He slowly dropped into the cool water, the perfect temperature for how hot it was. Montare started to swim around, wanting to use what time he had.

Lotte stirred as she felt cold water hit her foot. Ethel was already staring at the wolf with confused eyes, and Lotte blinked. "Whaa...." she whispered, and propped herself up to see who was in the pool. She was surprised to find a tiny wolf, just swimming around and shit.

"Um...am I dreaming?" asked Lotte, sleepily looking over at Ethel. Ethel shook her head no. "He just walked in here. I don't know where he came from, and didn't know there were even wolves in this country." said the British ghost. She was dressed in the undergarments in which she usually wore to sleep, considering it was the closest thing she could find to a swimsuit.

Lotte planted her feet on the ground, rubbing an eye. "Perhaps I should call animal control?" she asked a little jokingly, and walked over to the side of the pool, squatting down next to it. Ethel reached out a hand. "Watch out, Lotte! I-it could be wild and dangerous!" she called. Frankly, she had never seen a wolf before and knew nothing about them. There was no internet in the 1800s, after all, and so she only heard about them from travelers that went around city to city, country to country, telling their tales. They were apparently vicious dogs.

Lotte smiled. "I'm sure it is just lost." she told Ethel, and reached out her finger, making "tk tk tk" sounds as if it was a cat. She remembered her camera, sitting in a bag by the chair she was reclining on, and hoped she'd be able to remind herself about taking a picture of the animal.

Montare heard Lotte's voice as he swam. So she knew he was here, but it seemed as though she actually didn't recognize him. When the girl came over to the side of the pool, he could tell she was trying to lure him out. He knew that it would be best to play along if he wanted to remain unknown. So, Montare clambered out of the pool next to Lottd and started wagging his tail and barking happily, or at least tried to make it sound like he was happy. He started to shake the water out of his fur, knowing this is something a normal wolf would do.

Wow. This wolf was pretty domesticated and dog like. Lotte placed a soft hand on his head, petting it rather sloppily. She wasn't one to be around animals so much, but it wasn't a bad time to start. "Hey, little guy. What are you doing here?" asked the girl with a delicate smile. Ethel crouched down next to her, examining the wolf. Something didn't seem right. She remembered hearing a story of how a hunter in the Americas got killed by a wolf just by looking at it funny. Even though this was a pup, it was acting a little too friendly. She drove the idea out of her head, and smiled along with Lotte.

It was obvious Lotte was convinced. However, Montare was unsure of how long he could keep this up. However, he did quite enjoy this. Almost involuntarily, he rolled over on his side. It was a shame this couldn't go on forever. It wasn't like he could start fresh by acting as Lotte's pet. That would be insane and would never happen.

Lotte continued to pet the puppy, but eyed the water. She wanted to at least take a dip before people started to come to the pool. And stood, dipping a toe in the water to test the temperature. It was surprisingly warm, and Lotte quickly dived into the water, making it splash with a loud sound. She could hardly stand in the water, keeping her mouth above it by standing on her tippie-toes, but nevertheless laughed. She grabbed the side of the pool for support, letting the water distort gravity as she knew it. She hadn't gone swimming in a long time; at least a year. Ethel watched her and ended up diving in after the girl, yet she didn't make a splash when she landed. It was silent and looked really strange, but Lotte didn't seem to pay it any attention.

Montare, seeing as his reason to come here in the first place was to swim, jumped back into the nice water and began to paddle around. He was having a good time, which was unexpected with Lotte's presence. He started to actually wonder if it were possible for him to become Lotte's pet. It would offer an escape from his horrible reputation, something he had not been able to get rid of yet.

Lotte screamed slightly as the splash hit her. She threw up her hands to guard herself, the water hitting her head. The wolf had jumped back in, and Lotte felt a little more wary of it when he did. She was more defenseless in the water, and waded uncomfortably, no longer relying on the wall for support. Ethel, meanwhile, took in a gust of air and dove under. Even though she was already dead, she needed to preserve oxygen. If she didn't, she would slowly disappear, and Lotte and Ethel's bond would break. It was almost as if she was really alive.
Lotte held her breath as well, plunging under the water. It was clear and beautiful, and it seemed as if time slowed down as she moved her arms to stay underwater. Her cheeks were puffed out as she held her breath, though she did not realize it. She looked silly like this.

For some reason, don't ask me why, Jason had run into Alicia and the two of them had decided to go down to the pool together. The young man walked out of the locker room, paced around for a little bit, stuck his head by the door... "Aren't you ready yet?" "I will be in a minute!" Minutes passed by. The young man finally gave up on waiting for her and headed to the actual pool area, seeing Lotte swimming around with a dog. Huh.
"Hey, Lotte!" Jace smiled and gave her a quick wave, taking a seat at the edge of the water.

Lotte heard a voice and looked up as she appeared from under the water. She was hidden by the water, and therefore wasn't too embarrassed about her friend being there. Nevertheless, getting out was a different story.
"Hey Jace!" said Lotte with a smile. "Do you know anything about this dog here? It just appeared, and I was wondering if it is a campus pet or something."
She held on to the side of the pool, her arms getting tired of wading. Ethel however could stand without too much trouble, and had drifted to the middle of the pool, twirling and enjoying herself in the water. A clean pool was fascinating! It was much more sanitary than the lake by her home, where she and her sister would play when they were little. Though, her sister got sick, and they ceased playing...
This was her first time swimming since then, and Ethel was surprised she remembered still. it was just one of those things you never forgot.

Jason frowned, eying the dog. "Well, no. I've never seen it around here before." The young man went on thoughtfully, "The campus has pets, but they all belong to the students. There are no random strays that run around the school - not ones that stay long, anyways." Jace smile as he scooted closer to the edge, pulling his shirt off and sticking his feet into the water. He flinched for a moment, laughing lightly. "Cold."

Alicia finally managed to finish up and step outside, a towel wrapped around her, hiding her and her little polka-dotted two-piece. She had tied her hair up into a neat bun. Really, she was taking so long because she was nervous to be swimming with another guy alone, but when she saw another girl there - she felt relieved.
That was, until - she saw another thing in the water - or a wolf; ... No, she knew better, it was a person. She panicked at once. "J-Jason - I'm..." The girl started to stumble backwards, "I'm sorry - I can't be near h-him."

Lotte looked at Alicia, and back at the wolf. "What do you mean?" asked the girl, blinking. "It is just a dog."
Nothing seemed wrong about it. Of course, it was a little intelligent, but she had heard of smart dogs and wolves before. Maybe the dog was diseased, and Alicia had seen it before and somehow knew about this. Lotte didn't move from the dog's side, however. There must have been a good explanation for this.

So Alicia could recognize him. He shouldn't bother to try and stay anonymous. He padded over to the edge of the pool and clambered out, and started towards the doorway, his head down. Once there he stopped and began to think before exiting. There was likely no escape from what he has done, whether intentional to cause what he did or not. Montare was truly hated.

Jason looked rather confused as well, eying the dog in confusion as it got up and left - pausing at the exit. Then it started to click in his mind. No way, it couldn't have been...
The young woman stared the wolf down as it passed, though the closer it got to her, the more she backed away, rounding about to the other side of the pool. "Its M-Mont-t - It's him." The words stumbled out of her mouth as she felt practically paralyzed.
"Montare?!" Jace shouted suddenly, shooting a sudden glare at the exit where he stood.