{COMPLETED} ✔ December Bloom

sixteen

Braden and I were laughing hard, she was so much fun to tease and play with! After about 5 minutes of laughing we calmed down staring into the empty, silent waters of the pool.

Keyword here: silent.

We weren't so concerned about the empty (because we hadn't really realized it yet) but the silence was bothering us.

Where was she?

It was late tonight, everyone had already gone back to their dorms and the only people here were Braden, Norah and I.

Maybe she was playing a joke on us.

I voiced this out to Braden who looked a little panicky. He nodded back unsurely.

"Yeah." he mumbled.

We waited longer before calling her name.

We were starting to get worried.

I peered down into the pool, Braden calling her name as he looked around.

Suddenly, I felt someone shove me into the pool. I fell in, headfirst with a loud yelp. I re-surfaced, spluttering and spinning around to see who had pushed me.

No one. Only Braden who sighed.

"This is no time to play games, Dante." he said standing in front of me, with his arms crossed, whilst I floundered about in the pool.

"Someone pushed me in."

"Yeah, right."

"No really."

"You probably tripped."

…

Tripped, my ass. I know someone pushed me.

Braden and I were silent. It was very eerie and creepy.

"Looking for me, guys?" a feminine voice broke the eerie silence, startling us. I yelped, Braden spinning around in shock as he took a step back and fell into the pool.

Right onto me.

A breath of air whooshed right out of me before I sank to the bottom of the pool, re-surfacing again and clutching my stomach which had gotten full impact of Braden's body.

"Oh god." I breathed, coughing out some water which I had inhaled.

Braden was staring at something so I followed his gaze to see a hysterically laughing Norah. She had tears coming out of her eyes, clutching her stomach. Every time she took a breath, she would begin laughing again. Finally, she had calmed down enough to say what she wanted to say in between giggles which were still present.

"You guys should've…gasp…seen your…haha…faces! Heehee, they…haha…were…gasp…hilarious!" she burst out into fresh peals.

Her laughter was very contagious and soon we were all laughing. I wonder how I never noticed Norah's laugh. It is very catching and bubbly, surprisingly loud for someone like her.

"Here. Look, watch. This is how you do it." Braden began to show Norah his front crawl for about the millionth time, his arms slicing through the waters, his head coming up and taking deep breaths ever three strokes.

"Take each breath after a certain number of strokes, 'kay? I used three then."

Norah nodded her head before swimming again, more balanced this time but still a little shaky.

I just watched the two of them, Braden teaching her. I had gotten up to leave saying I had to study for a test but in actuality, I was watching the two.

Spying if you want to call it that but I'd rather you not.

See, Braden decided that he was going to ask her out right now after the lesson (which should have been over a long time ago when I left, yet they still continued).

I was meant to be watching and helping Braden as support. I mean, right now I'm in the office, watching them through one of those cool windows where you can see out but no one can see in. How that is supporting him, I don't know.

He is seriously whacked out.

I watched them for a few moments longer. Norah was swimming at a fast speed now, doing a front crawl quite well. The only thing that ruined it was the ending. Apparently, when Norah swims, she veers around a lot, can't keep swimming in one line or contained space.

So, she veered too much, Braden wasn't quick enough and she swam right into Braden's chest. He laughed, throwing back his head revealing glistening water droplets. He grabbed her arms and pulled her closer to him before she could swim away.

They were silent, staring into each other's eyes.

"Hi." he said softly.

"Hey." she replied, smiling.

"I don't know how to say this but…I really like you Norah. Really, really, really like you."

"What? I mean, you do?"

Braden chuckled, nodding his head.

I felt my heart slam into my ribs as I looked at Norah, seeing sparkling water droplets in her hair and on her visible skin.

"Go out with me." I heard him say softly, almost inaudible.

"I-" she began to say but was cut off.

I shook my head.

He had leaned towards her and kissed her, right on the lips. Her words were long forgotten already. They smiled into the kiss before breaking apart. Norah said something to Braden but I couldn't hear her, my mind still focused on their first kiss.

Then, he leaned towards her for the second time, his lips moving over hers before settling into a passionate, lust-filled kiss.

And, I smiled. They looked cute together. I may loathe Norah but I have to admit, those guys look adorable together.

Maybe now, Braden will actually get some stability in his life.

And, you know what?

I think I'm really happy for them.