The Flynn Effect

38 | just two of us

Jo

THERE ARE MANY things I can hear by the lake. I can hear the buzzing of cicadas, the chirping of crickets, the bullfrogs croaking in the lake, the calm sound of the lazy waves on the lake and even the occasional cries from the owl at the top of the pine tree. But I can also hear the ones so close to me. Like the fear in Flynn's voice and the labored breath he's struggling to take in after revealing the reason why he stopped swimming.

"You drowned," I start carefully. I talk as if I'm walking on eggshells. "How did that happen?"

It's almost unbelievable to stomach the fact that a top swimmer like him could drown without a substantial reason. Most of the reasons people drown are usually because they can't swim or are beginner swimmers who haven't gotten fully acquainted with the water yet.

"Anyone can loose themself in the water, Jo. No matter how good you are. That's what Coach used to say to us at every practice." He says. "And I didn't believe that until I almost died in it."

"I'm sorry. I just—" I pause and then I brush the wet lock of hair from my face and frown. "But what about the scar on your shoulder? You told me it was related to the reason why you stopped swimming. Carter told me you fell down the stairs but I knew he was lying."

"Which means you also know about my sister?"

"Yes," I admit. "YouTube."

"She wouldn't let me take down that video, no matter how much I tried."

"At least, I finally know how you came up with your username."

He smiles a little. "Fair enough."

"I'm sorry about Ellie."

He brushes his hair away from his face. It's still wet so beads of water are still running down his temples.

"It wasn't exactly a lie." He says, looking down at the water. "I did fall down the stairs."

There are no traces of lies in his words. My brows lift on their own. "You did?"

"My—yes." He stammers and balls his hands into fists. "I fell down the stairs, hurt my shoulder and drowned afterwards because I couldn't swim properly with a bad shoulder."

"Who pushed you down the stairs?"

He lifts his gaze from the water and fixes it pointedly at me. "It was an accident." He clenches his jaw as he speaks. "Can we talk about something else?"

I shake my head and let out a shaky breath. "No. I don't think it's fair that you know everything about me and you keep hiding things from me."

"And what if I'm not ready to talk about it? Huh?"

"But that's not the case, is it?" I narrow my eyes at him. "You want to say it. It's at the tip of your tongue. You're just scared I might see the person who did this to you in a bad light. You're trying to protect them."

"Jo," he says, touching my face. "It wasn't intentional. He'd never hurt me. He'd never hurt anyone."

I hold his wrist and nod. "Okay. I get it, it was an accident. Just tell me why your dad pushed you down the stairs."