Life According to Wyatt Smithers

Summer: Part 5

I should have known better. The late afternoon was less hot and much cooler. The pool was surrounded by a metal fence the color of sand. The ground was cement and wet, the waves smashing against the edges of the pool. I had high hopes that Leigh-Anne's pool party would be more fun than Dallas' last night. The sky was mixed with faint stars and a cresent moon to the west, so big you couldn't miss it.

Kiana and Tiana were talking with a girl named Miley at the southeast corner of the pool. Miley was one of Leigh-Anne and Kiana's friends from last year who no longer attended our high school. Her blonde hair was drenched in water. Carlos Perez was holding up Dallas who was in close combat with Leigh-Anne atop Jeremy's shoulders. Kyra and Cameron jumped in the pool together. Ysanne was still in her chair and superving the chicken fight between Leigh-Anne and Dallas. Megan watched the fight cheering for both sides.

Meanwhile, I remained at the western end of the pool away from everyone else. I had tried constantly to be involved and have fun, including going back to Leigh-Anne's house to get an inflatable beach ball but to no avail. All I had done was sink to the bottom of the pool, my arms wrapped around my legs like a ball. Swimming around the pool meant risking the collapse of two towers of people on top of me and the disgruntled look from the gossip girls. I was lonely. Every interjection and idea shot down like ducks during open season.

Over and over again I saw the teenagers on top of one another, trying to push the other down as I sank below the watery depths. I had even caught glimpses of scarlet, black, blonde, and brown heads on my descent. It was like the ocean. Peace and tranquility were what was found at the pool floor. All of my troubles had floated up to the surface with the bubbles when I was submerged.

But I couldn't escape my troubles forever. My air was running out and I had to go up. My eyes met the heavens. Someone save me. And then I remembered what the voice had said. I would be cast aside and forgotten, and I was. My prescence went unnoticed. The saddest part was that all of this was true. The voice was right.