Down The Hall

Chapter Thirteen

I rolled over in bed, searching for my glasses on the nightstand. What once was a pitch-black room was now lightened by the pool lights turning on in the night. The clock read 1:54 am. I groaned, throwing the covers off of me and stumbling over to the balcony.

There was a cool breeze that carried a nice saltwater wake-up call. Every time I walk out here, I can't help but lose myself in the ocean air. It was nothing like back home. I wished I could stay out here forever.

Down below, Henry had just jumped into the pool. The lights soaked into his skin making him appear ethereal in the night. He looked at peace swimming back and forth.

"Why is he so pretty?" I asked myself out loud. In the back of my head, I could hear the answer, you know why.

I dragged my body back inside, then through the house to the back sliding glass doors, catching a look at myself in the hallway mirror before going outside to see him. One part of me was saying to go back into my room and sleep while another was saying you want to talk to him.

"Hey," I said, hugging my arms to block from the breeze.

I was wearing very short pajama shorts and a blue graphic tee with Superman's logo on it. It was something I stole from my dad's closet when I was younger. Back when I would wait up long nights for him to come home.

Henry stopped swimming and looked up at me pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes. He looked beautiful.

"Hey," he said.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm swimming."

"At 2 in the morning."

Henry looked around himself and said, "Yeah."

"But we have," I yawned, "school in the morning."

"I'm not tired right now. So I came out here to swim."

Henry swam to the edge of the pool, putting his arms on the side. His muscles glistened from the water and light mixture. I found myself losing my focus on his curves. I think he noticed this too.

"You couldn't sleep either?" He asked.

"Yeah." I didn't want to tell him he was the reason I woke up.

I got down to his level, not thinking I could stand anymore because I was so tired.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

"I get the craziest dreams."

"Oh yeah. What kinds?"

"The murder one's of like the guy down the hall with blonde hair and a cocky attitude trying to kill me," I joked.

Henry laughed and pushed his hair back again. I love it when I make him laugh. I took pride in myself every time I heard it, like his laugh was an award and I had just won it fair and square.

"That's crazy 'cause I'm not cocky."

"Who said it was about you?" I give a nice smile.

"Huh?" He jerked his head closer to try to hear me better.

I moved in closer as well, "I said, who said it-."

Lukewarm water filled my nostrils and mouth in seconds. I began reaching for the surface of the water in a panic. My eyes burned with chlorine and my throat was on fire. I pushed from the ground and shot up from out of the water. My hair was stuck all over my face and my glasses floated off somewhere in the water.

"Henry! I am literally going to kill you," I threatened, taking in my surroundings from the sudden change from him pulling me into the pool.

Henry backed away as I moved towards him, "It was payback! It was payback!" He said, laughing and throwing his arms up to block the water I was splashing him with.