Wildflowers // Yellowjackets

Water Lilies II

A/N Hey, sorry it's been a little while again, i've finally returned to England so I'll at least maybe be less busy now.

GCSE results screwed us all over yesterday so I took today as a day of mourning and decided to finish this off.
Sorry if it's a bit filler-y and short x

The landscape was gruelling. Masses of uneven terrain and narrow trails made for an interesting string of walks in the early evenings of the trip.

The scenery however, had been no less than idyllic, partially due to the spring weather and the rural in-the-middle-of-nowhere location. Sunday happened to be the last day of camp before the winding journey back to Wiskayok and the itinerary was sparse, mainly including a 'stroll' down to the water that couldn't quite qualify as a lake.

'Stroll' may have been too light of a word. In 90° heat and worn out sneakers, it seemed to the girls like it took days.

"Are we nearly there yet" was spoken enough times- mainly by Mari- to drive everyone to insanity.

So when they finally reached the small beaches at midday, bags were flung blindly and tired bodies dropped to the ground like heavy rain in comedic unison.

The water that lapped at their thighs was almost painfully cold, but refreshing none the less, and Nat smiled at the familiar tingling feeling that spread from her toes upwards to her waist as she lost partial feeling. She tipped her head to the sky and shut her eyes, scooping the liquid in circles with her hands as though trying to remain afloat.

"Hey!" a voice jolted her head back down to eye level as she scanned the crowds of eager students for whom it belonged to.

"You think you could teach me" Lottie Matthews nodded towards the lily littered surface.

Nat frowned in confusion before relaxing her features upon realising what the girl was meaning. She wanted her to teach her how to swim.

"I-, sure, if you want." She replied doubtfully. "But just so you know, I'm not exactly an expert. I just know like how not to drown."

Lottie chuckled before wading out to where her friend stood.

"Well first we have to go deeper. You know otherwise you're basically swimming in a puddle." Nat swam out until she was on her tiptoes and the water reached Lottie's shoulders.

"So uh, what now." Lottie swayed as she tried not to fall the rest of the way under.

"You want to like put your hands out in front of you and move them back, here watch me." She attempted to demonstrate a form of self taught breaststroke.

Lottie copied with little fluidity, feet planted firmly on the floor.

"Er- yeah that's it, now like do the same motion with your legs too." Nat once again performed the actions for her pupil, slowly.

Lottie shakily tried to do the same, gaining confidence little by little before she was spitting out water and spluttering in annoyance.

It took everything in Nat not to laugh at the brunette as she staggered out to shallower parts, face red in humiliation and yet somewhat determination.

She watched proudly as her lessons eventually proved to work and after ten minutes of practice time and thirteen mouthfuls of pond, Lottie could be declared able to swim. Or at least thereabouts.

"Hey, you're doing it!" Nat was shocked at the progress her friend had made in such a short period of time and she shouted victoriously as though possessed by a mother who had succeeded in teaching her child to ride a bike.