Stay...Calm

Chapter 5

They weren't shown that indoor pool until the very next day. It was smaller than built up to be, but still enough for the number of people staying. It was marked 4 ½ feet on the walls, though there seemed to be a shallower end in the far corner. The room felt open, with a glass dome over the walls of large windows. It allowed sunlight to pour in on its own. Three pool chairs were placed on one side. Most had bathing suits, but a few just went in their underpants. Victorine didn't even need all that.

Anais didn't even hesitate. She did a penguin dive right into the pure blue drink. The kids of the house cannonballed right in after her. Victorine hesitated at first, watching as everyone jumped in one by one. It felt like something was holding her back as if her nervousness had built a wall between her and the pool. But Mrs.Daniels approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Just jump right in," She whispered. "It won't hurt too much."

Victorine took a deep breath, stepped forward, staring at the water right underfoot, and plunged right in. She sank to the bottom at first, her bottom bouncing off the hard, lined ground. She levitated a bit, tucking in her legs. She curled up in a ball and leaned forward, flipping over once. Then again, until her back was facing the surface. She closed her eyes, with water clogging up her ears; all she could hear was the blood rushing through her brain. It was hard to breathe, but she didn't even notice, nor care. It's like the sound of the universe, she thought.

She just stayed there in the peace...nothing but the ringing in her head...and the motion of those around her...until her chest started to hurt just a bit...and...

Victorine was pulled out by the back of her shirt. The water stung her eyes if she tried to open them. She didn't even bother to reach behind and see who pulled her out. Her blurry eyes were just staring back at the water.

"You alive?"Parker questioned, loudly. Victorine nodded hastily. "Okay."

He dropped her right back in the water. The first trick she did was a backflip underwater, with her back beautifully arched so she didn't have to tuck in her legs. Next came a cartwheel, followed by a walkover, front flip, one after the other. She would come to the surface to breaths of air and go back right in. She did a handstand that she tried to hold for as long as she could. Well, at least she would if Buckley didn't push over her legs. She came back to the surface and let out a high-pitched giggle that he really didn't expect. But he got back to jumping around and splashing everyone.

Sometimes Victorine would just let herself fall back and get submerged. She stared at the light glistening in the water above her; even as water shot right up her nose, really like a stinging, tiny needle. But she would rather see the beauty and feel the pain than vice-versa.

Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves. Horace and Timothy were playing this odd game they would call,"Dunk tank." One person held the other up like a baby and asked a question. If they got it wrong, they would dunk in just their head. If they got it right, they are flipped over. But God did those boys seem like they were trying to drown each other. Not to mention they were asking those,"What am I thinking" questions that could honestly be changed at their disposal.

Pauline and Buckley didn't even do anything that specific. They pretty much just chased each other around, trying to splash each other in the face. Buckley would move with so much energy that sometimes all you could see was just a blur about to tackle his sister. And then there was Anais, swimming around at the bottom grabbing people by the ankles, and watching them jump. Even they had it better than Parker, who constantly was having Thelma beg him to throw her across the pool over and over.

But that changed when Thelma let out a shriek. All heads turned to her as she yelled and kicked her leg until inevitably tripping and falling right into the pool. Anais rose, rubbing her head muttering,"Ow!"

Thelma had already scurried off halfway across the pool. "Don't do that!" she yelled.

"Okay, okay, chill,"Anais said, a bit dizzying from having a girl fall right on top of her.

"What's going on?"Ms.Kion questioned.

"It's fine, it's fine," Parker tried to suggest.

"No, someone was hurt."

"Not that much," Anais defended.

"Sorry, but if people are injured, we have to stop."

The room let out a collective,"Oh, come on."

Everyone had to begrudgingly climb out of the pool, and file out of the pool room one by one.

"This is B.S.," Lee grumbled as she walked past Victorine.