By The Water | Stephew

Chapter one: water fright

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back at it again with yet another stephew fanfic. Hope I won't screw it up. Enjoy ❤
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Matthew was in his dorm room, bored out of his mind. His school starts in five days, but because of his parents, he decided to come early this year. In the dorms were only five students including him, kids he had no intention of talking too, no matter how bored he was. He looked out of his window at the sea, the sun started to set, making the sky look like a combination of blue and yellow.

Even if he loved the beach himself, he hated the water. It might sound strange to others, but Matthew almost drowned when he was eight, making the sea a scary place for him to be in. But he knew he couldn't let his fear of the sea control him, and so he went to study at a school who has water sports as their specialty. It was his second year in there, and the only reason his staying is because he was still scared out of his mind. "I can go for a walk on the beach until evening." He thought as he put on his shoes and went outside.

His favorite part about the beach was the silent part. All he had to do to get there was simply to go along the beach until he could barely see the form's building. When he reached his favorite place he sat there, listening to the sound of the waves reaching the shore. He always liked that noise, even his trauma couldn't change that.

He then decided to get closer to the water. He didn't know why, but the sight of the water reminded him of a thing his mom said to him once.

Life is too short to waste them on fears and worries. Do things while you can, because before you'll know it, you won't be able to do anything.

He knew she was right, but was he able to face his fears? He didn't know. But he knew that if he'll over think them, he'll be more afraid then he should be, and that's no good at all. He took his shirt and pants off slowly, and got even closer to the water. All it takes is one step into the water, and he'll be one step closer to face his fear. "It's time Matthew. time to face the big, blue sea. You have to do the first step in order for it to disappear. Go in on the count of three. One...two...three!" He shouted in his mind and ran to the water. Before he even noticed it, his entire body was in the water.

He got up to the surface quickly and looked around as he took in and out all the air he could. He looked around, but all that surrounded him was the sea, and the shore was pretty far from where he was.  He could feel his breath quicken and he decided to swim to the shore. He took in some air before going underwater in the direction of the shore.

But underwater was even worse then the surface, because it was like a replica of what he saw when he almost drowned. He's muscles froze at the memory, and he was unable to move in the water. He went up to take air but as soon as he got up he sank down. It felt  like as if he forgot completely how to swim.

He started to scream for help, hoping that someone might be close by. But to no avail, because his body was way to exhausted to keep him from sinking down, and so his body started to sink to the bottom. In his unconscious, he was saying goodbye to all of his friends and family, but before he was even able to say goodbye to everyone, his body was pulled up by another person.

After a few Resuscitation attempts, he finally woke up and coughed out all the water that got into his lungs. "Are you OK? Are you hurt?" Asked a girl's voice that he didn't recognized. He opened his eyes slowly, to look at a girl with brown hair and big brown eyes staring at him with worry. His throat was sore, and so he couldn't reply her with words. instead, He took her in his arms with a thankful hug.

"Oh, I guess you are. Do you study at 'The Wave' school?" The girl asked. He replied with a nod. "OK, let me help back to the dorms." She said with a sympathetic smile. He smiled a tired smile back as they went back to the dorms. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I wanted to say it earlier,but my throat was sore and I wasn't able to talk." He suddenly said. "You're welcome..." She said, not knowing his name. "Oh, Matthew. Matthew Patrick." He replied. "Oh okay. I'm Stephanie. Stephanie Cordato." She said back as they stopped in front of his room. "Well then,I guess this is a good bye for now Matthew. Bye." Stephanie said simply and walked away, leaving Matthew surprised and confused by the door. He went into his room and sat on his bed.

"Well, I guess you meet people in life at the weirdest ways possible. Until next time,Stephanie cordato." He thought as his tiredness started to take it's affect and he falls asleep.
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Five days later, is the first day of school. Matthew hasn't seen stephanie since the day she saved him from drowning. He kept his mind busy with thoughts about the mysterious Stephanie Cordato, until he heard his two best friends calling him from the distance. "Yo Matt!" Mark and Nate shouted in unison, bringing him back yo reality. "Oh hey guys!" He said as he went towards his friends.

The both of them came to school today, like everyone else did. "So Matt, how was the staying at the dorms without us?" Asked nate as the three made their way to Matt's room, who was now belong to the three of them. "Kind of boring. Except for the part where I almost drowned." He said simply, making Mark and Nate to stop in their tracks.

"Excuse me, what now? What do you mean by drown?" Asked Mark with panic in his voice. "ALMOST drown, and it's not like I'm injured or anything. That day I was just really board, so I decided to take a walk on the beach. And at that moment I was so sick and tired of my stupid fear of water that I wanted to end it. so I ran into the water and I accidentally swam too far from the shore. I got paniced and almost drowned but just when I was sure that I'm going to die, a girl saved me. She was really nice." He told.

"Oh my God Matthew! You can't just do things like that! What would've happened if the girl wasn't there?" Mark said in annoyance. "It doesn't matter anymore. She was there and I'm very thankful for that. Also,I learned my lesson, so now I'm going to take you with me every time." He said with a smirk. "As long as you won't drown,it's fine by me." Said Nate as they kept walking to their dorm room.

Once they entered, Mark and Nate put their suit cases on their beds and the trio went quickly to their first lesson. Apart from water sports, they had to learn subjects like math and science, and so their first period was algebra. "Hello students,and welcome to your second year at 'The Wave' school." The teacher said and the students clapped slowly, as if trying show their low level of interest in the teacher's usual speech.

"This year,we have a new student. Ms. Cordato, please come in." The teacher said, and just as matthew suspected, Stephanie Cordato came into the classroom. "Hello everyone, I'm Stephanie Cordato, please take good care of me!" She said in ecxitment.Matthew still could'nt believe to the fact the Stephanie 'mystery' Cordato is standing at the front of the classroom. "You can sit next to Mr. Patrick over there." The teacher said as he pointed at Matthew's desk.

Stephanie nodded and went to sit beside him. "Hello Matthew, nice seeing you again." Stephanie said with a small smile. "You too Stephanie." He replied before they went back to listening the teacher's boring speech.