We - Ourselves - Us

(1)Asteroid

Asteroid woke up a good few hours early and had a long time to get to school. He quickly took a shower and changed into a different outfit instead of his usual cosmic sweater. He grabbed his school bag and a duffel bag before running towards his high school. The school was pretty big and one of the things they were incredibly lucky to have, was an indoor swimming pool.  Asteroid was on the school swim team and had been for as long as he, or anyone else for that fact, could remember. He was a strong swimmer.

Once at school and in the changing rooms, he changed into his swimming outfit and tied his white hair back into a tight, high ponytail. He was the only one there, apart from the life guards. The lifeguards were university students wanting to kill some extra cash. They all knew Asteroid. He came in at least once a day, sometimes after school, sometimes before. He had a bit of a schedule.  He showered before going into the pool. The life guard today was one of the younger ones. She was a girl named Amy. She had long white hair and dark skin. Her and Asteroid had banter, and were often mistaken for siblings. They had slightly similar names and both had long, naturally white hair. It was an odd coincidence, but they found it funny. When she saw him, she smiled and waved. Asteroid walked over to her chair and the two spoke for a while, before Asteroid did his lengths across the turquoise pool. Amy watched him like a hawk, as that was sort of her job.

Asteroid surfaced after a few minutes. He sat up on the side to talk to Amy. She smiled at him, "Your time is getting faster! I am impressed! You are averaging 2 minutes per 100 meters, which is the ideal time for a grown adult."

"You were timing me?" Asteroid laughed.

"Yep! I always do!"

"OK. I got a bet for you. I can take a quarter of my time and make it 1 minute 30 seconds." 

"No way! That is pretty fast, Azzy." That was the nickname she had given him.

"You said I am getting faster." He gave a slightly flirty, slightly cocky wink. "Maybe, after I am done at school, I can get you something as a thanks for helping me out with training." A misconception was that Asteroid wasn't good socially. That was not true. He would be a player, but he didn't see girls as objects. He didn't see them as something you should possess and then break. They were not the glass vase that your mum was really proud of, but you swung a cricket bat at when you were seven years old. Or maybe that was something only Asteroid had done.

After a few minutes of back and forth chit chat, the bet was on. Asteroid would have to swim 100 meters in under 1 minute and 30 seconds. If he did, he would get to take Amy out for coffee after school. If he didn't, she would record him, admitting that he failed. Asteroid lined himself up and Amy started the timer on her phone.

Asteroid was a fast swimmer, and he swam faster underwater. He had a plan. He would swim underwater for almost all of it. He could hold his breath for a long time as well. It would be four laps. On the first lap, he would go slowly so he wouldn't wear himself out. On the second, he could give it his all. On the third, he would rest but still go fast. On the forth, he could lose everything and swim like there was a shark trying to hug a baby of Satan with a chainsaw behind him.

The first three laps went fine and he did them all underwater and in faster than he usually did. He turned around to start the fourth lap. But he was running out of breath. No. He could do this. He was getting tired. No. He may have been working all morning, but he could do this. He was a good swimmer. He could do this. His arms started growing tired. His legs felt like wood. His eyes started to close. He forced himself forward, before he was shrouded in water and collapsed to the floor of the pool, like a coin falling into a wishing well. His world went black.