Scarlet in Glezentine

Chapter 18 - Swimming

Before the girls start yelling at me for what I said to him, I walk fast out of there, into fresh air where James is there, with Adam right behind him.

"Great job. You now get to move onto the last and final challenge, where the most death is," says James.

I tilt my head, and speak my thoughts. "You know the first part sounded genuine until you said the last part. You need to work on not always sounding sarcastic."

"I'm serious more often than you think."

I raise a sceptic eyebrow.

"Really!" He says with a chuckle. "Well, I thought you did great. For real."

"You somehow still sounded sarcastic when you said that."

"I mean it! The last move standing up and running, that was brilliant and I never would've come up with that."

"How do you know I did that? Were you watching?"

James looks confused. "Um, yeah. Didn't you know? People watched, including the prince. He marked stuff on a piece of paper, and when I asked about it he said it was for an interview."

"An interview? You mean with the prince?"

"I assume so. I mean, I'd want to know my wife before I marry her."

"Fair point," I sigh. "But why does he need a whole month to get to know us? One day per girl or something, plus a few more to train?"

"I don't know, I've never done this before."

I gasp.

"What?" Asks James, with a mixture of concern and excitement.

I dramatically put my hand to my chest. "Did - did you just say you didn't know? The famous James doesn't know something? But he knows everything!"

James smiles and acts important, making a face and talking with a deep, official sounding voice. "That's Mister James to you." He tries to keep his face serious, but the moment a tiny small peeks through, we both burst out laughing.

James and I continue to talk about the jungle gym, and at one point I see Adam wave bye to me, since James wasn't looking. He then looked at me, then James, and back to me, then nodded vigorously with thumbs up, with a look that said what are you waiting for?

I keep talking with James as if nothing happened, but my stomach isn't happy with the stress of the competition, and when palled with the upcoming stress of another deadly competition, it feels like a million butterflies swarming inside.

When we almost get to the house, James grabs my hand and leads Me to the place where we played netball.

I grin, recognizing the court.

James grabs the ball and passes it to me, so I shoot the ball, we both laugh and play, just like the time before.

"Remember when we were here before?" I ask.

James pauses before he shoots the ball. "Of course. It started raining, so we chased a rainbow." He smiles as he recalls us running, soaking wet, to chase after something literally untouchable. "Why do you ask?"

"You took me here after your second challenge was over, and again after my second one now is."

James chuckles a little and says, "I forgot about that. I didn't mean to. It's just that this is my happy place. Even though I suck at this game, it still helps me clear my head. Also, there is a small lake not many people know about, located right behind the small patch of trees over there." He points to a large clump of trees a little while away.

"I... don't know how to swim." I confess. I'm not sure why I say it. The word sort of... slip out. "I've never needed to know how, and we didn't have the money anyway. Besides, there wasn't anywhere for me to even swim."

"I could teach you." He says it so seriously, which surprises me. I almost could've bet that he'd use it against me, or mocked me for it.

"I would, but I'm never going to do it in this dress. It's fine playing this when all I have to do is move my arms, which aren't restricted by fabric, but swim? I know for a fact I need to use my feet, which will be very restricted by the clothing. So, unless you have a spare women's swimsuit for me, I can't."

"If I did, that would be creepy. But Charlie worked her magic and made one poof into existence." He made tiny explosions with his hands to emphasize the word "poof".

"Really?!" I ask, both excited and grateful she did that for me.

"Yep. She made you a wardrobe full of clothes. I mean, it'd be kind of gross if you stayed in the same outfit for a whole month."

"Agreed," I say, making a face at the thought.

We both laughed, and walked towards Adam's house to get the swimsuit. Inside the guest room, which is now sort of mine, the closet has many outfits of every different colour! The dresser also has clothes, like PJs, and a swimsuit! On top of the furniture, there's a note from Charlie. Her printing is super neat, and easy to read. Underneath is a pack of gum.

The note says:
Tell me how these work, and if you need any adjustments. Also, I got a multi-pack of gum for you because Caroline said you still need a flavour.
– Charlie

"Your sister is so nice," I remark.

"She really is."

I grab a swimsuit out of the drawer and head to the bathroom. Inside sits a large tub, a toilet, and a sink with a huge mirror. The room is full enough, yet there is still space.

I close and lock the door, before undoing the bow and taking off the beautiful dress, hanging it on the back of the door. I then put on the full body swimsuit with straps and a large dip in the back. The colours, again, are beautiful. The shades of pale green, pale purple, and pale yellow, don't seem like they go together, but somehow Charlie made them complement each other perfectly. I glance in the mirror to see my beautiful one piece, and my grey hair, before opening the door and going back into my room.

"What should I do about my hair?"

James is looking off into the distance, and looks startled when I walk out, saying "What?"

"My hair. Will this pin stay in or should I wear my hat? But what if they fall off?"

"Relax. No one goes there. You'll be fine with that with nothing covering your hair."

"Also, what about towels?"

James just raises his hand, smiles, and wiggles his fingers.

"Right. I forgot."

We walked to the small lake and he was right, no one's here. We are all alone, except for some birds and small fish.

"Um, if a fish rubs against my leg, I'll panic and forget what to do, and then end up drowning."

James chuckles. "I won't let them. You'll be fine. No drowning on my watch, I promise."

I'm still slightly hesitant to swim. "Could you please not make fun of me when I fail?"

"No promises there. Besides, I only do it when it's really funny."

I have a strong urge to smack him on his arm, but I resist and say, "Not helping."

"Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help it!" He sees the look on my face, and sounds sincere when he says, "I won't let anything bad happen. I'll be in the water right beside you. OK?"

"OK," I say slowly, but I feel better about it.

I take a deep breath, and we walk into the lake.