All For You

Seventeen

Isla

The first thing I do the next morning, when I wake up at six, is go for a swim.

I take the pyjama pants Hayden lent me off, but leave his shirt on, and I jump right in, ignoring the sting of the cold and the bite of chills running down my spine.

I let myself sink to the bottom, my cheeks full of air, my eyes open wide, my heart pumping hard.

I wait until my lungs are burning to flap my arms and swim back up, gasping for air when I break the calm sheet of water on the surface.

Smiling, because I fulfilled the promise I made to myself. To swim as soon as I escaped. To feel the soft depth of water on my skin.

To feel the ripples push against me. To feel the fullness of the calm water all around me.

Technically, I promised myself to skinny dip as soon as I escaped, but I can't really do that here.

Still, this is perfect. Enough. I feel so fucking free. So fucking wonderful.

I kick myself over to the edge of the pool, and then I do a quick lap of it, bringing my arms forward, one after the other, my face buried in the water as my legs kick it up into the air behind me.

I do a flip in the water and then soar back through it when I hit the other side of the pool, smiling as I make my second lap, and then my third, and then my forth.

And I don't stop. Not until I'm too out of breath to breathe normally, and when I notice August watching me from the back door of the house. His arms crossed, his mouth smiling warmly.

I get the feeling he wants to make fun of me, but maybe that's just because of the way I remember him.

As the annoying best friend of my brother, who'd tease me every chance he got.

I wonder if he's still that boy. Or if he wishes he was, just like I wish I was still that flustered little girl.

"Having fun?" he asks, and I can hear the smile in his voice as well as I can see it on his face.

I nod, slowly, watching him as he walks towards me. He stops right in front of me, at the edge of the pool, and I have to ignore the urge to pull him in.

"Does it look like it?" I ask back, pulling my body out of the pool and onto the edge. I stand up and wipe my face, shivering as a cold breeze swishes by.

He wraps the towel he was holding around my shoulders, slowly, carefully, and I take it from him, cuddling it to my body.

"I've never seen somebody smile so much while swimming laps," he tells me, smirking. I sigh, rubbing the water out of my hair.

"Well, it's been a while." I let out a deep breath, feeling refreshed, and look at the house. "I always hoped you guys moved somewhere with a pool. Even if I didn't think I'd ever actually come home, I still hoped."

I look back at August, who's just staring at me, expressionless. I can't even read an emotion in his eyes, and I'm not sure if that's because he's not feeling anything or if he's just really good at hiding it.

Oh, god. Did I make things awkward again?

"Isla!" Eliott yells out from the house, rushing over. "What are you doing? It's like five degrees!"

He comes up to me and starts rubbing my arms, trying to create heat from the friction. I smile, thankful for his timing.

Why do I have to be such an awkward person?

I sigh and follow the two of them inside after insisting on drying off a bit more, and when I realize it's already eight o'clock, my eyes widen.

"I was in there for two hours?" I ask, to no one in particular, staring at the clock.