Aquaphobia

Chapter 9

[SCOTT VOORHEES]

The past week and a half of my life has undoubtedly been the craziest one ever. In 10 short days, I made two new friends, was nearly killed, learned to fish, and was nearly killed again by the same bully. The oddest part of it all was that I was near water for at least 3 hours a day every day. Under no circumstances did I go IN the water or even TOUCH it, I just was near it. This is the closest I've ever been, unless you count Grandmother's garden hose.

Today, I'm walking home with Walker and Ian again, because they told me they have a surprise for me.

"Y'know Scott, you're a heck-of-a-lot stronger than you look," Walker says with a smile.

I blush at this statement. I wouldn't have believed it 10 days ago, but lately some stuff has happened that's made me believe every bit of it. I beat Walker in a tug-of-war match twice, and I knocked out a really strong guy who tried to take me down into the water. I guess it's more or less hysterical strength than actual strength. When I feel threatened or challenged, that's when I'm able to physically accomplish stuff I normally can't see myself doing.

"You think so?" I ask back.

"Of course! If we could just buff you up a bit in terms of looks, we could find you a personal trainer, and you'd be an Insula Illustrated model in no time!" Walker teases.

I could probably imagine myself swimming in water with sharks before I could see myself on the cover of a swimsuit magazine.

"Scott, I have a feeling you're going to catch something today!" Ian cheers. He's always been the more encouraging of the two.

"I've never caught anything!" I complain.

"Well, you did catch a boot," Walker shrugs.

It's true. Last week, on my fourth day fishing, I caught somebody's old torn-up boot. Yup. The whole thing.

"I don't see myself catching anything today," I say, being completely honest.

"Well, truth is, you won't. Only because today we're not even fishing!" Walker says with a cheerful smile. I don't know how to react to this statement. I don't really know the guys too well, but I know that just because we aren't fishing today, it doesn't mean we aren't doing anything aquatic at all.

"Well if we aren't fishing, then I suppose I should use today to catch up on homework!" I say with a smile as I attempt to escape any activity today with every fiber of my being.

"No-can-do, good sir!" Walker begins. "You see Scotty, this is only the beginning! You've been on Insula for over a week, so by now Eulin has probably loaded you with catch-up work. That's just too bad! Today, Ian and I have a special surprise for you!"

I gaze over at Ian and much to my disappointment, he as a semi-evil smirk. This can only mean one thing: the two really do have something planned. Approximately four of my classes I don't share with either of them, so they probably use the time to talk about me when I'm not around. It'd be no surprise here if they'd used this time to come up with some new dangerous water-involving activity.

"I won't let you do this to me! I'm not going into the water!" I shout frantically as we pass my house. Grandmother knows that I hang with these guys every day after school, so I no longer need to inform her.

"Scotty, calm down!" Walker laughs.

"I can't go swimming! I won't touch that water! Don't call me Scotty!" I shout in an even more frantic attempt to change the subject.

Ian suddenly chuckles off to the side.

"You won't be touching any water today, Scott. It's going to be all right. Just relax," he says with another chuckle.I stare at both of them, and I gaze deeply into their eyes. I think both of them know I'm scared of water.