To Learn to Swim [Closed]

She stuck a finger in the water. The vaulted ceilings echoed the drips across the lonely poolroom, The rippling splosh that came when the girl pushed her hand through the water. It didn't resist much. The water in the pool seemed less viscous than that of the arctic, when it was warm enough for it to melt in the first place. In this it seemed unnatural, artificialized by the chlorine that laced it. Kaya didn't mind though. She'd never seen a pool before.

She stuck her feet in the water. For Kaya, this was all she could do. She ran a tentative hand over one of her braids, looking around at the large and empty room and the long-dark sky that looked like black paint over the skylight windows. The water was warm; not warm, but warm for water, harboring a chill that dissipated the more it touched her skin. It was like a stranger, cold at first but warming to her the more she got to know it. She smiled. Thank you, Mister Water, she thought, for welcoming me into your domain.

But to sit there was all she could do. She was content; Kaya was always content, but she still ran through the idea of jumping in and kicking around, swimming miraculously through the suspensions of water. She always wanted to float. There was a time she fell into the arctic water when she was a child, but she thrashed and choked too much to enjoy it. The memory made her flinch. Perhaps Mister Water wasn't as much of a friend as she thought.

The door to the pool opened slowly with a creak, and another student stepped into the room. He paused, taking in the room whilst clutching a towel to his chest. The boy stood only four feet and eleven inches high, and looked vaguely like a child. He wore a black shirt, white swim trunks, and a hesitant look on his face. Chip had waited until later in the day to visit the pool. While he enjoyed swimming, he didn't necessarily like going when others were there. Surely no one would be there this late, right?

His eyes landed on a lone girl who sat on the edge. Immediately, he knew she was the girl who had helped him when his power accidentally backfired. A hand rose to touch the side of his face where he had gotten the burn. It had healed nicely, and it had almost just disappeared from view. Turning away, the blond placed the towel on a bench, and pulled off his shirt.

Nervously, he approached Kaya with his hands behind his back. "Hey, you've come to swim too?" He asked. Chip instantly felt stupid. Who wouldn't come to the pool and not go swimming? Did she even remember him? That'd be awkward.

Kaya, however, was not, and when she looked up at him, she did not smile at first. She did not make much of an expression at all. She looked up on him and seemed to process his face, to examine his features with eyes that almost seemed tired. It crescendoed into a yawn, however, and she seemed to snap back into something of a sociable human being. "No," came a breathy murmur; she was not in a bathing suit, still clad in a sweater. She touched the sleeve softly to her lip and stared out over the water. "I never swimmed before."

He tilted his head and pursed his lips. "Never?" Chip repeated, giving the water a glance. It wasn't too uncommon that people haven't swam before. In fact, if his knowlage was right, 44% of people didn't know how to swim. Could Kaya be part of that percentage? "So why are you...here?" He asked slowly, shifting his feet.

Again she took a while pondering the question, almost half-paying attention to the conversation. Like there was something more important to focus on. "I don't know," she said, looking over the teal waters shimmering in a silent ripple. She brought her foot up, causing the water to splash. "I've never been to a pool before. I wanted to see what people like it so much for." Suddenly, the girl shifted her weight, and moved her body weightlessly over the edge of the pool. Despite her not wearing pool clothes, she lowered herself into the water. Some may had thought it cold, but she didn't mind. It was perfect for her. Further she went, until she reached the bottom of the shallow end she resided, a 'shallow' that still arrived at her chest when her feet hit the bottom. Kaya let her arms float up. It was like she was in space.

So she hadn't gone swimming before. Wait! That was right, she was from Arviat. They couldn't go swimming there. It was too cold of a place to go without dying of hypothermia. Chip couldn't be too shocked, could he? The boy froze as she slipped into the pool. "W-wait! You don't know how to swim. P-please be careful." Chip rushed, stuttering over his words.

He hurried into the pool after her, holding his breath as the water got up to his chest. The lukewarm water was a slight surprise to the boy, but had not found it cold per say. As fast as he could, The blond waded into the water, his movements slower than he'd like. He stopped in front of Kaya, the water up to just about his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Kaya slipped by him without a word. Further into the pool she waded, the water slipping further and further over her body, across her chest and upward and upward to her neck. Her steps kept pace until it came to her chin, and further than that, up to the lower of her parting lips; they ajarred to the sound of a muffled gasp, and she stood on her toes, as far as she could into the water, where most of her body was submerged and weightless and floating. Not all of her body, though. With a final gasp, she let herself sink under. The world rushed up in a bubbling clap, and everything was silent.

"Hey! Wait!" Chip exclaimed, following her deeper into the pool. He could swim, but wasn't the best swimmer of all time. His body was not cut out for it. Chip found her arm and did his best to pull her to the surface. "You don't know how to swim yet! It's dangerous. Please at least let me teach you first." The girl was scaring him. He didn't want to be responsible for someone drowning while he was around. Chip would feel awful. 'Please listen to reason...'

It was tranquil. She didn't know how to get to the surface, or rather how to hold her breathe for very long. Kaya had a track record of covering her face and holding her breath against blizzards rushing into her face, but they were always spotty. She got used to holding her breath in flickering moments, off and on and off until she seemed to be gasping. To swim was to hold her breath for a long period of time. She fought instincts to do the opposite, to let in just a little bit of water, and just as she succumbed, she was pulled up by Chip.

When she came up, she was coughing violently, once more standing on her toes, stepping backwards.