Just Have Faith

Chapter Seven

Saturday had finally rolled around and I had come up with a plan to hide my scars and newly created cuts. I tried to tell myself that if I could stay clean for twenty four hours before the pool party, I could go. But, that didn't work. So, I just told myself that I needed to stay clean all of Saturday before the party. That was currently working.

I put my bathing suit, (a black and white flowered bikini) a pair of flip flops, and my hairbrush in my drawstring bag. Next, I put my hair into a messy top knot. Then, I put rubber band, hemp, and friendship bracelets up to the midway point between my elbow and my wrist on my left arm. I put six bracelets on my right arm just so it would look like I wore this many bracelets because I liked them, not because I had scars to hide.

I decided just to bring some light makeup to do before we go out to eat because the makeup will wash off when I swim. So, there's really no point in me wearing makeup before we go out to eat because it'll just come off, anyway.

Once I said goodbye to my parents, I put on my boots and coat. Then, I grabbed my mom's car keys and walked into the garage. They had agreed to let me take the car! I revved up the engine when I got inside and then backed out of the driveway. Next stop, the YMCA.

When I got there, I saw the kids from my youth group right as I walked inside. Shay waved me over. "Why aren't you all swimming yet?" I asked.

"Since not everyone has a membership, people who have memberships take one non member as a guest. We're still waiting on a few people. You don't have a membership, do you?" Shay asked.

"No," I answered.

"Then you can be my guest," she said.

"Thanks, Shay," I said with a smile.

Shay was a great friend to me. She was always nice and smiling and always picked me up when I was down. She never pushed me to tell her anything I didn't want to open up about, either. Andrea and Macy were the same way. They're all such great friends to have.

Ten minutes later, everyone was here. Members had claimed a non member as their guest and we were ready to go in.

I followed Shay, Andrea, and Macy into the changing room. Once I had taken off my coat, boots, socks, jeans, sweatshirt, t-shirt, and undergarments I changed into my bathing suit, put on my flip flops and walked out to the pool.

"Who wants to jump in with me to just get it over with?" Andrea asked.

"I will," I volunteered. I did this whenever I went swimming (which wasn't very often because I needed to make sure no one knew that I self harm) because then I can just get in the water without the cold water creeping slowly up my body.

Andrea and I took off our flip flops, and each of us grabbed a towel and set them by a chair. Then, we walked over to the deep end of the pool. "Ready, Layla?" she asked, all smiles as usual.

"Ready," I said.

"One. . . Two. . . Three. . ." Andrea counted. When she hit three, I plugged my nose and plunged into the water. We both resurfaced at about the same time, with our hair down to our toes covered in water.

"The water's fine!" I yelled to Macy and Shay as I swam to the shallow end of the pool.

Macy's and Shay's knees were touching the water. "It's so cold!" Macy exclaimed.

"Get over it and get in the water," Andrea commanded, jokingly of course.

They continued to wade down the steps for what seemed like hours to Andrea and I because we were already used to the refreshing temperature of the water. The pool was heated, but the air in the pool area was warmer than the water, making the water feel colder than it actually is.