The Other Side

Chapter 2, the breath of life.

SPLASH!!!!!!

That is what I hear right before I get pull by the neck back up. Maybe if I push down whoever has come to my rescue will let me drown. I think, but my strenght right now isn't strong enough to even fight a three year old. But maybe if I don't even move he/she will think I am already dead. But that doesn't work because right now I am being pull out of the pool head first.

"Taylor you are as stupid as the idiot who drank WAAW and got cought before entering the race that was going to get him to college!"

Of curse Esperanza had to come. I met her in fifth grade. I was one of the newest students, because I had come to the United States a month before. I only knew some basic words in english and it was her first day when i saw her.

"Students we have new students." said Ms. Hidi, "Nuevo estudiantes."

First enter a boy that look like my father, not a fellow classmate. He was about 6 feet and look terrifying. He look like he would snap your head open if you tried to do something mean to him, and even though he still does he is a nice guy. Next enter a girl that was about 4,9 and look like a 12th grader not a 5th one.

"My name is Jonah, call I Joe," said the boy as he sat next to me. "I am from El Salvador, and I love Pupusas."

"Duh!" said a third of the class. ( There were a lot of Salvadorian in that room. )

"My name is Esperanza," said the girl two sits next to me. "I am from Honduras and my favorite food is Tacos y Baliadas."

"YES!" said a fourth of the class. ( Not many from our country in that room that year. )

"Hey Esperanza can I call you Hope?" I said in Spanish, and she only nooded and look down, she was very shy back then. "Guys that teacher's name is Ms. Hidi, but her real name is Hideous."

"I bet you wouldn't say that to her face," said Joe in spanish as him, Hope and the other students who heard me laughed. "Would you?"

"Sure I would." I whispered, and he said. "Do it."

I broke the tip of my pencil by pressing it against the table and shouted using the few English I knew, "Ms. Hideous I sharpen pencil?"

"Taylor that is 5 minutes of detention!" she yell turning around while the room was full of laughter with a face that look closer to a red chili than a face. "Next time raise your hand."

"Five minutes detention?" I said acting as best as I could at being innocent. "Why?"

"Maria tell him he was rood by shouting and calling me Ms. Hideous."

"Ella dice que tu fuistes irrespetuoso al llamarla Ms. Hideous, y no levantar tu mano para ablar."

"Oh dile que yo mispronucie su nombre y se me olvide, y que lo siento." I said puting the best face of understanding I could.

"He said, 'I am sorry I mispronounce your name by accident and forgot to raise my hand. '"

"Two minutes of detention." she said going to talk to a student.

"Told you." I said to Joe.

"You are cool," he said and laugh.

Well going back to Hope, she lose here shyness and became a very scaring lioness. She is my best friend and very cool. Once she wasn't shy it took me a lot to force her to let me call her Hope. One thing that help her get over her shyness was that she was the cutest and the most popular girl in class and even the kids from 7th grade tried to win her heart. They though she was the bitch of the year, and she still has a lot of followers but she isn't a bitch at all.

"Wake up or I will drown you!" she says slapping my face.

I take the breath of life, sit up at the edge of the pool, grab my glasses and say, "Hello! That is what I am a trying to do."

"OMG your fine!" she says and hugs me so hard it is hard to breath.

"How did you enter the pool?" I ask, "Coach John only told my teamates and me his secret entrence to the pool."

"Well if Coach John has a suicidal member he calls someone he can trust and tells that person." Hope says. "This is the third time I catch you Taylor. But those other times you pull yourselve out, not me! You almost do it!"

"Come on Hope, we both know I would have had pull myself out even if you hadn't come." and that might be true because I was having second thoughts. But she know even I am not sure.

"Well like my grandma says," she says standing up to leave. "'Better safe than sorry.'"

"So what?" I say trying not to sound scare. "Will you tell Coach John?"

"Yes and your parents and Principal Ana." she says and turns around.

"Wait!" I say pulling her by her legs. "Can you atleast listen to me first?"

"Fine!" she says pulling away and slipping head first to the pool.

"That one is on you." I say chuckling as I dive in after her.

When both of our heads our underwater I see her point to the buttom of the pool. I swim down and she fallows. When I reach the mirrow like floor I see what I always do and not dissapointed at all because I was expecting it I turn to see her reflection. I see the green eyes I saw the first day of school and see the potential to greaness I always see in her. Her dark black hair goes up and it looks like a cape to her head. Her dark white skin shines underwater to the lights that are glue to the sides of the pool. I stare at her eyes for a long time. How I wish I had that light, that I could do what she can. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be her. I am not jelous and wish I could take her place or something like that. I mean, who wants to be woken up at the middle of the night and being yelled by a two year old, "Mamma I wanna pee-pee!" I just wish I could be like her. She is always happy, doesn't care what anybody but herself think about her. She can just give you so much hope, get it? Because her name is hope in Spanish. Not so funny but atleast I tried. Wait a minute...

Hope can't stay with out oxigen as much as I can! I forgot she was here with me and when she and I are underwater together she stays and waits for me. So right now her pulling at my shirt means she can't stay down any longer. I stand up underwater and push up with my feet. I grab her with my hands as I go up and together we rise to the top. I apologize as she takes the breath of life compare to my normal breath as 40 seconds underwater isn't much to me.

"Tell me whatever stupidity you think will change my mind." she says obviously about to loose her temper.

"I want to make a deal." I say and since she nodds I continue. "I won't try this nor anything else anymore. But you will still tell someone, duh. So can you atleast tell anyone you want today at 1:40 PM? You are wondering why would you do that so let me tell you. I will do something else that means me staying alife at 1:50 PM. You will have a 10 minute headstart, isn't that fair?"

"Fine," she says. "But only because you are my best friend."

She steps out of the pool and leaves. I just swim and swim until my arms hurt.