The Survivor

Chapter 2

"Ath, the boys will be here any second," Uncle Simon said and I nodded.

This would be the first time I was meeting One Direction, and I have to admit, I was pretty excited. Liam seems really sweet.

Yes, my uncle is Simon Cowell.

I looked at my reflextion and sighed. I wore my hair down and I hid behind a layer of silver eyeliner around my eyes. I wore my usual all black and looked at myself in the mirror. All the pain I've to go through was clearly visable.

The front door swung open, knocking me from my thoughts. There stood One Direction. Their eyes landed on me and widened.

"You're The Survivor of Flight 57," Harry gasped and I nodded causiously.

"Athena Jennings. I'm eighteen," I said briefly, giving out no more information about myself. Yet, my voice still had the unmistakable strength to it.

Liam was the first to speak after a long silence.

"I appologize for our behavior, but it's an honor to meet you, love. You're a huge role model for us," he said and I allowed a small smile to creep onto my face.

"Thank you," I said like Katniss did to Snow after he commented on her pin.

My phone's alarm rang and I realized it was time for my daily swim.

"Excuse me, but I have to go. It's time for my daily swim," I excused myself and went upstairs to change into my swimsuit.

I went down to the pool and stood at the edge of the deepest part. I dived in, flipping in perfectly. Ever since the crash, I've been able to hold my breath for a solid twenty minutes without even feeling lightheaded. I start getting dizzy around thirty minutes. It should be impossible...

But it's not.

I saw five figures after a while and came up for air, not even breathing irregularly to catch my breath. I flipped my hair back and looked up at the five awed boys. They just stared at me, shock and awe filling their eyes.

"You were down there for twenty minutes!" Niall gasped.

"Ever since the crash, I can hold my breath for a solid twenty minutes. I get dizzy around thirty," I explained.

My eyes iced over as I replayed the scene in my head that I would never forget. Trying to pry the door open, taking one last look at my dead parents, insisting to myself that I could survive.

"After you've been through what I have, you never forget the thing that saved your life. You perfect yourself in it," I said with a hard voice before diving back under. I sat at the bottom of the pool before the flashbacks attacked me.

"Athena...The plane is going down. You are fearless, unstoppable, unmovable, and unbreakable. You have the strength of an eagle, Ath. You have the water on your side. I love you," were my mom's last words to me before she died. She pinned the eagle pin right over my heart and then the plane hit the water.

I didn't understand what she meant when she said I had the water on my side. I still don't.

All I know is that a plane completely full of people were killed and somehow, I survived.

I swam up to the surface of the pool before climbing out as fast as possible and running past the boys. I locked myself in my room, wrapped my body in my bathrobe, and curled up in a ball in the walk-in closet. A few tears silently slid down my face as the images of all those people flashed through my head. I remember sitting on the helicopter as we flew away from the scene, trying to process the fact that my parents were dead.

For some reason, Dreams and Disasters by Owl City popped into my head.

Follow the light through the dreams and disasters.

Those lyrics have kept me going so many times.

"Athena? Ath, are you in there?" Liam asked quietly through the door.

"I'm fine," I said, pushing the weakness from my voice.

Liam pushed open the door despite my fake reassurance and his eyes softened when he saw what state I was in. He sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"It's okay to let down your walls," he whispered. "Sometimes breaking makes us stronger."

I shook my head, "Liam, you don't understand. My mom died believing I was strong. I can't break."

"Why?"

That took me by surprise, but I answered anyway.

"Because the past three years would have gone to waste. I was forced to be strong, because I felt I had to be. I conquered the ocean, I beat death, my eyes turned this icy blue that they are now, for Pete's sake! I was given so much in so little time. My eyes...the plane went down and my eyes were sea green. When I came up, they were how they are now. It's scary, Liam. I watched a plane full of people die. I would be dead if I hadn't been training to be an Olympic swimmer. I don't want to ever wish I had died."

He was speechless. He didn't know what to say. Nobody ever does.

"I'm a broken girl with a facade of strength. Leave before you get dragged in too far." I stood up and went to leave, but Liam grabbed my wrist.

"What if I don't want to leave?"

"Why would you want to stay?"

"Because the second I looked into your eyes, you made me rethink life. There's something about you that I'm drawn to."