Scarlet Love

35: The Target

Third person POV:

"In this world,
Everyone has their own things to do,
Their own paths to walk.
Who cares about the crowded, broad avenue?
I'll stick to my single-log bridge till it's dark."- The Untamed

All the thinking will be in ITALIC font.

_________________________

Fayth felt the air being sucked out of her body as she made contact with the cold water of the pool, And all the noise around her became a distant mirage.

For a moment her mind went blank and when her lungs tried to find the air all she could do was choke as water started to fill the nose and mouth.

The pool in the Academy was deep, but does it matter how deep the water is, when you want to drown?

Her body was not ready for the fall and by default- it panicked.

Memories started to surf in her mind.

A child.
A cold pool.
A fear.

When she was little, she was afraid of water, a fear deep engraved in her bones. But all of it changed when she was eleven years old.

She had to learn to swim.

No matter how much she screamed or cried, she was forced to stay in the water and not given any food till she spent an hour in the pool. But now after so many years of that trauma she is not sure, did they make her stronger?

The thing that scares her has become her home. Now the water helps her. When she is under the water and not able to hear anything.

Silence, and she knows how much she craves the silence.

Fayth opened her eyes, breaking the string of thoughts- coming to the reality.

The thoughts that made her instincts kicked in and Fayth swam upwards and then towards the side of the pool.

Her lungs felt on fire, she could feel the pain to the right side of the abdomen, the pain was raw and the aching has already started.

When her hand made contact with the surface, she took an air of mouthful only to have a full season of choking and coughing.

Her teary eyes looked around.

There were a lot of students watching her but none made an attempt to help her, and for some reason they all seemed disappointed.

Disappointed with exactly what?

On top of that they flashed their camera on her face, but what made Fayths assumptions correct was the comment that the students made-

"Who said she can't swim!? I was so expecting to record a nice video and look what I got!"

"I know right! All fun was wasted. What a bummer."

"Did you take all of that on camera!"

"Ready for the post!"

Her thoughts were a mess and she had no time to digest this before she felt a cold splash on her side.

Someone had thrown their drink on her.

Fayth blinked and looked towards the person, there was a boy that she has never met before.

She has never met him yet he did not left the chance to humiliate her more.

The people around her started to laugh.

"God- look at her face!"

"Record this, she is going to cry at any moment!"

Their laugh triggered something that she should have kept hidden, her anger