Drowning

Chapter 14

I pulled my hood over my head. Cold October winds stung my face.
"I don't think anything will get better today." Cora said with a sour expression.
"It can't get better in the first place." I replied after a moment's pause. "Unless Kade died."
We entered the school together. First hour study hall went by like the wind, the hard part was second hour Mrs. Davidson. Kurt looked pretty gloomy also. Garrett made no eye contact, not even a brief smile. His head was peeled to the ground.
"Can you read the following paragraph, Garrett?" Mrs. Davidson asked in the middle of the class, hoping to catch him off guard. Instead, Garrett looked up respectfully and read. That was the only time I saw him look up.
"What's wrong with Garrett?" I asked Kurt after class.
"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."
Puzzled, I walked to third hour. There I met Kade.
"So." He walked up to me with his eyebrows furrowed.
"So." I looked at him with no hint of fear.
"You know my secret."
"Yep."
"Too bad for you." Between Kade's lips slipped the flickering red tongue of a snake. "Good luck on your survival."
"I don't need it." I said back.
"Hey!" Kurt stood next to me. "Stay away."
Kade looked back at Kurt, made sure no one was looking. "This isn't over." He hissed. "Your life is still at risk."
I watched as he walked away. He was right.
"Kurt, what do we do?" I asked.
"We have to get that poison before we all die." Kurt answered.
"But we will die if we go get the poison." I replied. "If Garrett doesn't come along."
Garrett walked up to us, and next to him was a tall African American with broad shoulders and he wore a red cap on backwards.
"Hey guys. This is Donald. Call him Don."
"Hello." We said politely.
"Hey guys. Garrett here told me about your problem."
"He did?" I turned to Garrett.
"Yeah. Um, just that you need mushrooms to poison a trap for an animal. Don knows a lot about mushrooms." Garrett smiled sheepishly.
"Oh yeah. That problem." Kurt said from behind clenched teeth.
"I'd be glad to help you guys. Talk to me later." Don made a swag motion with his hands and walked away.
"Who is that?!"
"Don." Garrett answered.
"We know that. But why did you tell him to come with us? Something might happen! We don't need him. Garrett, why don't you just come along?" I argued.
"I thought it would be better with more people. So the snake won't go after us! We need to split up when we go look for mushrooms, and that would be a lot safer."
"Ugh." I walked up to Don. "Don, thank you for your help, but we don't really need mushrooms. Maybe another time."
"Hey, it's good."

~~~

"Almost, but not quite as big as Kurt's." I called.
"I was so close!" Cora stopped spinning.
"Yes! Mine is still the biggest." Kurt cheered.
"I bet I could do better." I challenged.
"Try." Kurt dared.
"I will." I agreed. They all backed up as I started. I started spinning in a small circle, and the water in the middle started to spin. As my tail moved faster, the water in the center got bigger and faster. Soon the little water tornado was almost as big as Kurt's.
I gave one last boost of energy before I ran out of breath and stopped.
"Nope. Kurt's was bigger." Cora claimed.
"Ha!" Kurt smiled happily.
"I was close!" I said. "Guys, do you feel a little bad for Garrett?"
Kurt and Cora nodded their heads. We all swam to the top of the water.
"Garrett, are you sure you don't want to go swimming? It's really fun." Cora asked. Garrett gloomily sat at the picnic table.
"I don't want to go swimming. I almost drowned last time."
"But I bet it won't happen again." Cora pleaded.
"Let me think about that." Garrett stroked his chin. "Uh... No."
"Please?" Kurt asked.
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"The physical appearance of the pretty makes no difference. The answer is still no."
Cora was the only one to laugh. "No one else got it?" She said awkwardly.
"I got it." I replied.
"Why?" Kurt asked.
"I just... Have to go." Garrett grabbed his things and stood up. "We'll look for mushrooms in, say, an hour? See you by the park." He said as he left. As I saw him leave, he shook his head regretfully.

~~~

"Well, at least we got him to come." Kurt shrugged.
"He won't have the best of attitudes." Cora commented.
I agreed with them as we waited at the park. Garrett pulled up and slowly walked out of the car.
"You guys sure we should do this?" Garrett asked.
"Sure! Nothing bad will happen. We have you!" I smiled.
Garrett followed behind, his worried expression unchanging. We walked through the forest once again, as we had so many times before.
The evening sun filtered through the red and yellow trees. Crisp winds hissed in the air. Still, in the beautiful atmosphere, I could sense fear looming in our footsteps. We all were worried, even if we did have Garrett. No one wanted to see Kade.
"Guys look!" Cora bounced. "Mushrooms!"
My attention shifted to the ground in front of us. Yellow and red little mushrooms shouted out of the ground, their peeping heads covering the landscape.
"Not exactly purple, but it'll work." Cora went on her knees and started plucking the ground. I quickly touched my phone in my pocket to make sure it was there. The mushrooms felt soft and cold, like snow. I plucked some also. Soon, everyone was on the ground except Garrett.
"Come on, Garrett!" Kurt beckoned.
"I'll just keep watch." Garrett whispered quietly. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his body stiffened. "RUN." He commanded in dread.