INTROSPECTIVE

Chapter 10

He saw a tinge of red before his head was dunked into the water.

If I'm going down you're going down with me.And with that thought he grabbed her ankle and yanked her down as well.She wasn't expecting that,he mentally smirked.

He emerged from the water finding her bent over,her fist pumping her chest as she coughed.Her eyes were as red as the one piece swimsuit she was wearing and her purple braids were sticking to her face.

At the sight of her,he couldn't help the laughter that seemed to come from deep within his throat.

"You..."cough,"are the worst teacher,"cough,"there....is,"she pointed a finger at him while still pumping her chest.

The only reply she got was more laughter.

"You almost drowned me you know," her coughing spell had finally stopped and she was smiling at him now.

Louis' laughter came to an abrupt end when he saw that smile.She got the tiniest dimples next to her eyes when she smiled.It was the weirdest thing.How come he hadn't noticed it before?And her smile was so wide she revealed all her upper teeth and gums when she smiled.Almost like the Joker in Batman.But unlike the joker,her smile held no glint of crazy or malevolence.In fact,it was the most genuine smile he had ever seen what with that slight gap between her two front teeth.It just made you want to smile back.

He was so distracted by that smile that he didn't notice that Eva was already lunging towards him.The next thing he knew his head was under the water again.She held his head down for a while.Damn.She was strong.And she didn't even give him a break when he emerged from the water again,splashing water at his face.

He could hear her laughing as he got his breath back.

"Were you hoping to drown me?"

"Yep.I totally was.Wanted a chance to try mouth to mouth,"she winked.

Louis shook his head at this girl.Wasn't he the better swimmer?Then he remembered that smile of hers and mouth to mouth resuscitation didn't sound so bad.

"A girl can only hope,"she said as she began climbing up the railing to get herself out of the water.And for a second Louis couldn't help but follow the droplets of water that cascaded down her bare back to her legs with his eyes.

He got out of the pool himself.

"This was not a very productive lesson,like I said before,you are a terrible instructor."

"It would have been if you hadn't been playing and singing that silly nursery rhyme with the eight year olds in the shallow end for the last one hour."

"Oh you mean:Row row row your boat gently down..."

"Yes,that one,"he cut her off before she ended up singing the whole song to him.

"Arschloch."

That stupid word again.

"If you want me to throw you to the deep end right now,call me that one more time."

She took one look at him and laughed at the menacing look he was trying to school his face into.

"Calm down.I told you the name suits you,"she said as she threw a towel at him and made her way to a deckchair.

A comfortable silence ensued between them.They were both lying in the deckchairs that were next to the pool basking in the sweet June sun like Agamawa lizards.It was really sunny considering it was the cold season but that was the advantage of living in a tropical country.