A Grave Problem

39. Sink or Swim

Now that Mia no longer felt like she had to avoid Zev at all costs, her classes had become much more bearable. Even better, this was the last week she'd have to worry about swimming. Only three more days and she wouldn't have to even think about the pool anymore; she'd be able to go back to rolling her eyes as she got picked last for things like soccer.

Zev still looked amused whenever he saw Mia sitting on the side of the pool, but she didn't really care. She'd brought a book with her the last couple of days, and it made the period go by much faster. She was right in the middle of a page when out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone swim under the lane rope and pop up right in front of her. Mia didn't even need to take her eyes off the page to know who it was.

"It's the last week of swimming." Zev told her. As if she didn't know.

"Yep." she said, still concentrating on her book.

"Are you really going to sit there the entire time?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"You should at least spend one class where you're not on the steps."

"I'm fine here." she said, finally looking up. The look on Zev's face told her he wasn't going anywhere until she agreed to whatever he was planning. She put her book down on the side of the pool, sighing.

"Come stand here, next to me." Zev told her. "I already asked Miss Danby, and she said I could try to help you, so you don't have any excuses."

He held out his hand for her like he was asking for a dance, and Mia almost laughed in spite of herself. He looked so ridiculous that even her perfectly normal fear of the pool couldn't keep her from smirking. Still, she hesitated to actually take his hand.

"It's ok." he smiled reassuringly. "We'll go really slow. We won't even leave this little section if you don't want." He made a gesture marking off a five by five square in front of the steps.

Slowly, Mia got up. She couldn't believe she was actually going to go along with this. She took his hand, and the butterflies in her stomach almost masked the sinking feeling she got as she slowly stepped off the third step, down the fourth, and onto the bottom of the pool.

The water was incredibly cold, almost like ice pressing up against her. But it didn't particularly bother her. What did bother her was the fact that the water didn't seem to support her at all. It was just like walking through really cold air. Her feet hit the bottom of the pool, sinking as effortlessly as if the pool had been completely drained. Fortunately, Zev was concentrating intently on her face and didn't notice.

"See? That's not so bad, is it?" he asked.

"I guess not." Mia said, still trying to decide if it was. As long as she didn't have to try any actual swimming or floating, she guessed she'd be ok.

"Let's try walking around a little, ok?" he said gently. Mia was surprised; she'd never seen him act so caring before.

They took a few steps together, Mia grabbing onto Zev's arms for dear life. She wondered vaguely if this was his way of punishing her for not talking to him for almost a month.

"Don't look so scared!" he told her. "I promise, nothing's going to happen." Obviously, her face hadn't been as calm as she'd hoped.

The water swirled around her, but she moved through it effortlessly. After a few minutes, she started to think that maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Just as long as it didn't lead to any actual swimming.

"See? You're doing fine." Zev told her. "You want to try floating?"

"No." Mia said quickly.

She knew from first-hand experience that vampires didn't float; it was a lost cause. All it could possibly do was make everyone in the pool realize that something was wrong. And that kind of attention was the last thing Mia needed right now.