Chapter Two - Liquid

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   My parents weren't expecting me home so soon. They exchanged a puzzled look before my Dad flung his pointer finger at my head.

   "What has you in such a rush that you couldn't take off your swim cap?" he questioned.

   I snapped my arm up and tugged the rubber until it slid from my hair. I hadn't planned on telling them about what happened at the pool. Maybe I could get away with coming home early, but the swim cap was a dead giveaway that something wasn't right. Now I had to say something.

   "Um. Well," I started, a heavy sigh escaping my lips as I gathered my thoughts. "Someone on my team nearly drowned today."

   Mom snapped her book shut, her expression piqued with curiosity, the freckles on her face accentuating her eager anticipation. "Do go on," she urged, leaning forward on the couch.

   I continued. "Rory was sucked under the water and didn't come back up," I paused while recalling my own brush with death, "for way too long."

   Dad's hands cupped his face and he dragged them down his cheeks, his glasses askew from the motion. "And how exactly did that happen?"

   I did not know how to answer, nor did I want to. I chose silence instead.

   Mom had this uncanny ability to know what I was thinking, her gaze piercing as she studied me intently. Before I could even process it, she voiced the very question I had been dreading. "Did you have something to do with it?" Her words hung in the air, heavy with implication, as I struggled to find the right response.

   "No, of course not," I replied instinctively. But as I spoke, a seed of doubt took root within me.

   "Amelia." Mom's tone became commanding. "Tell us everything."

   Then, reluctantly, I did. I told them everything. I recounted the memory of that first swim lesson, the tortuous feeling of narrowly escaping death. The way those following months had shown me just how much our family had changed, and that I hated it. I told them about skipping that first day of Kindergarten and how the lifeguard taught me to swim across the pool. How I'd hoped that it would resolve their fear and bring that light back into their eyes. Through that effort, I found a new love— swimming. I told them about the video and Rory taunting me and how she was pulled underwater. I told them how a vicious part of me wanted that to happen, but as I watched the failing rescue attempts, guilt sank in deep. Then after Rory was suddenly freed, I ran straight home.

   Without another word, my mother stood and headed to the office, shutting the door with a quiet click. I added her silence to my growing list of unusual events from the last hour. "She doesn't think I had something to do with it, does she?"

   "She absolutely does." Dad removed his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Life is about to become very different for you, Ames."

   What the heck was he talking about? "How so?" I asked, my confusion evident in the furrow of my brow as I awaited his explanation.

   "Your Mother is going to make a very important phone call. If it goes the way I'm expecting, you are going to attend a different school in the fall."

   My hands flew to my chest, eyes widening. I was never particularly fond of my high school, but swim on the other hand... "You aren't making me move away, are you?"

   "Trust me Ames, moving away is the least of your worries." He paused for a moment, seemingly in regret of his snappy rebuttal. "Wait until your Mother gets back and she can explain. This should come from her."

   As if on cue, Mom returned from the office and settled onto the couch beside Dad. She exuded an air of composure, her posture poised and hands folded neatly in her lap. "I spoke to Thairn."

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