The Experiment

Chapter 2

A couple of months after that incident, there was another weird occurrence. It was May, and I went to the beach with my mom.

We got there around noon on a beautiful Sunday. The sun was shining high and bright in the blue sky, and the water glistened, as if to beckon me closer.

My mom had said that I could bring a friend, but the only friend I had was River, and I didn't want my mom to get the wrong idea. We were just friends, and I had no interest in dating him.

Anyways, we were at the beach. It was hot out, especially hot for May in New York, so I wanted to go in the water. Plus, there were tons of people laying out on the sand, but very few in the water. That was probably because there were giant waves.

I took a look back at my mom. She was sitting on the sand, reading a book, not paying any attention to me.

So, I decided to go for a swim. I walked down the sandy decline and into the water. It was cold, but not unbearably so.

I got out pretty far, before more waves came. Then there were giant waves pounding on me, seeming like they were coming from all sides. One knocked me off of my feet, and I was trapped under the water.

Countless waves blasted me, sending me thrashing and spinning over and over underwater. I knocked my head on the sandy ocean floor and winced in pain, trying not to panic.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clamped my mouth down tight, fighting as hard as I could to remain calm.

I was trapped in utter darkness, with no idea which way was up or down. I was stuck and quickly running out of oxygen.

I just couldn't take it anymore. I sucked in a huge breath of water. I coughed a little, then breathed in more.

I couldn't believe it! I was breathing underwater. It was as easy and natural as breathing in air. It didn't even feel like I was underwater.

I opened my eyes. I was still underwater, but I could see. The salty water, which should have stung my eyes badly, didn't hurt at all. While it should have been to dark for me to see, I could see clearly. It was as if I belonged in the ocean.

Breathing in the water seemed to give me new strength. Suddenly, I had my bearings, and I knew which way was up. I swam in that direction, praying that I was right. Then my head was above water, and I had returned to the real world.

I felt no need to gulp air into my lungs, like anyone else would need to, after being almost drowned. Instead, I felt like my head had been above water the whole time.

I looked down at my legs. Yep, they were still there. I hadn't mysteriously turned into a mermaid or a fish or something cool. Nope, I was still just little old me.

I put my hands on my neck and felt around. I didn't feel any gills that should have been necessary for me to breathe water as if it were air. I was still perfectly normal.

By that time, I was spooked. I didn't understand why that had happened. Maybe it was a miracle, a blessing, or a gift from God. Maybe I was having hallucinations. I had no way to know, so I just accepted it and moved on.

I decided not to tell anyone about it, for fear of being sent to a mental hospital or worse. I also decided that I was done with swimming for the day. I shoved the occurrence to the back of my mind, willing it to go away, wanting me to forget about it and returned it to the sand.

Sadly, it was not to be forgotten, and it kept resurfacing, hours later, when we were driving home. I wanted to try the trick again, but also didn't at the same time. I wanted to see if it would happen again, but on the contrary, I was afraid that I would find that it did happen again.

The next day at school, I considered telling River. I felt like he might understand me, but I was afraid that he's think that I was insane or delusional.

We were in the second class of the day. I think River could tell that I was distracted. I was staring blankly out the window, at the pond behind our school.

The bell rang, but I didn't know. I was thinking about breathing underwater. Maybe I hadn't actually breathed. Maybe I just thought I did.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder repeatedly. I looked up to see River with a worried look on his face.

"Electra?" He asked, furrowing his fuzzy eyebrows at me.

"What?" I asked, snapping out of my hazy stare into nothingness.

"Are you okay? The bell rang a few minutes ago. We need to get to third period."

"Yeah, um, I'm fine. Let's go," I said, standing up and packing up my stuff. I shook my head back and forth once, as if to shake away the weird thoughts.

River didn't look convinced, but he followed me out of the class anyways. We sped down the hallway, and just barely made it to third period in time. We took our seats just as the bell rang again. The teacher gave us a disapproving look, but didn't say anything.

River furthered his questioning of me during lunch. We sat in our usual spot, as we did every day, the table in the back, next to the newly repaired window. You know, the one that broke in the freak thunderstorm.

"Why do you seem so distant today?" He asked.

"What do you mean? I'm not distant," I defended.

"Yes you are. Did something happen over the weekend?"

"I went to the beach. It was wonderful. Nothing else," I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

I wasn't a very good liar, and I'm pretty sure River picked up on that. He raised an eyebrow, and I nodded in confirmation.

"You just look like you have something on your mind," River pressed.

"Nope, not really. Just tired," I said, shrugging it off. By now I was really considering telling him, but I just couldn't.

"Are you sure?" River asked, leaning a little closer to me and studying my face like it was his history notes.

"Yes! Just drop it, okay?" I snapped. He looked taken aback. I rolled my eyes diva-ishly and continued eating.

Later that night, I took a bath. Once I was finished washing, I let all my breath out, then ducked under the soapy water. I took a deep breathe of water. Nothing happened.

I didn't choke, sputter out the water, or drown. I was breathing underwater, again. I gasped and opened my eyes.

The same thing happened. The soap should have stung, but it didn't I could see clear as day.

At first, I was excited. Then I realized that this new skill I possessed could get me thrown into a lab to be tested. I could be killed for being able to breathe in a place where I shouldn't be able to breathe.