The Promise

two

Year 2002 - Summer:

"Lydia, hurry up!"

"I'm coming, Charlotte, relax," I call back to her. I swear, she acts like she's never been to the pool before.

I make my way from the entrance around the pool to her, careful not to run in order to avoid a scolding from the lifeguards.

"I love you, Char, but we're gonna be in fifth grade next year. You have to play it cool when you get excited like this." I look over at my friend.

"I know, Lydia, but swimming is the exception! Now hurry and get your sunscreen on so we can get in already!" She tells me, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet like the excitement is simply too much to contain.

If I was finally going to be popular, I was seriously gonna have to do something about her.

I carefully spread sunscreen on my pale, freckle ridden skin and gingerly undo the braids my mom did before I left the house despite my protests. Braids? Come on, mom I'm nine for crying out loud.

As I finish tousling out my hair like I've seen women on TV do, Charlotte begins speed-walking towards our left to the shallow end.

"Charlotte," I whine. "The shallow end's for wimps."

"But I don't know how to swim, and neither do you." She says sheepishly.

"Yeah, but how else are we gonna learn? Not by swimming with the third graders, that's for sure." I retort. I wasn't about to be seen swimming with a bunch of babies splashing around in the shallow end.

"Can we at least get used to the water over here first?" Charlotte pleads, staring longingly at the water below her.

"Fine," I give in. "But as soon as we do, we're going to the deep end."

"Deal."

With that, Charlotte jumps into the water and I follow suit.

After three rounds of, "who can hold their breath the longest" and a handstand competition, I look toward the deep end anxiously. My eyes travel to the fading black numbers indicating how deep each part of the pool is. Above the number 6, a boy is standing at the ledge yelling to his friends in the water. He stands there triumphantly with his arms crossed and his head raised high.

When he spoke, the boy used a very official tone. It was something akin to a king declaring an important piece of news to his subjects. I have a hard time not giggling when he proudly declares, "On this day, let it be documented that I, Louis Tomlinson, will be performing the best cannonball in history!"

He does a series of overly-exaggerated stretches before crouching down. "On the count of three..." He pauses dramatically. "1... 2... 3!" He takes a deep breath and a running start before leaping into the pool.

"Whoa," I watch, my mouth agape as he easily hugs his legs into his chest midair and lands in the water with a splash.

"See, Char, that's what we need to do," I say to my friend, while still keeping my eyes on the water where the boy landed.

"Fine, let's head over there," she replies, convinced, as she wades her way through the water to the braided blue and white rope that divides the pool into deep and shallow. The cool, blue water seems to only get colder the further we go. My heart races in my chest.

She lifts the rope to go under and cross to the deep end, but pauses.

"Are you sure, Lydia? I don't know if we're ready." She says, biting her lip nervously.

"Of course we are. Like I said, we're going to be fifth graders. We're practically ready for anything." I argue and add, "Well, I'm ready anyway, so you can stay here if you want." I shrug.

I watch her contemplating her next move, brushing her short brown hair out of her eyes.

"I think I'm gonna stay over here Lydia, I'm not ready." She replies, dropping the rope. I can't tell if her cheeks are turning pink from embarrassment or from the heat.

"Suit yourself." I pick up the rope and swim under it carefully. The vast space between my feet and the pool floor makes me feel more like a grown up than I've ever felt before.

I feel myself begin to slip under the water's surface but quickly kick my feet to make it to the ledge where the strange boy- Louis, I think his name was -jumped from minutes before. I grab the side of the pool and catch my breath. I know Charlotte's eyes are on me, waiting for me to falter, but there's absolutely no way I can give her the satisfaction of knowing I'm not actually ready for the deep end. 

By now, Louis had come up to the surface, calm as can be. Good grief!, I think, amazed. How is he not gasping for air? I just swam two feet and feel like I need Charlotte's inhaler. This boy is invincible! A few feet away, he shakes his head, moving his light brown hair from his face. Water droplets fly in every direction as he shakes back and forth.

"See, boys," he says, starting toward his friends. "That's how it's done."

I turn to look closer at his friends. I recognize one from my class last year. Alex, I think?

"Alex!" I call, waving.

"Hey, Lydia! I didn't see you there! How's summer been for ya?" he asks. I liked Alex. Well, not like like, but you know what I mean. He's always been one of the nicest boys in our grade. 

Before I could answer, that Louis boy says, "Nobody cares how her summer's been, Alex. The important question is, did she see my cannonball?" He looks at his friend, who in turn looks at me for an answer.

"Yeah, I did. It was pretty good, but I can do better," I say teasingly. Wait. What on Earth just possessed me to say that? I was talking to him while holding onto the pool's ledge for Pete's sake.

"Sure. I doubt a girl could beat that." Louis said, meeting my gaze and smirking cockily. I always thought those lovey-dovey movies were silly when the girl sees the boy smile and she falls in love. But now that I'm nine, and fully mature, and Louis is looking at me, I completely get it.

I lift myself from the pool to the concrete. Standing, I look down into the water, wondering if I can really do this.

"We don't have all day, girl!" Louis yells up at me, earning a laugh from Alex and the other boy.

I give him the meanest look I can muster, take a deep breath, and jump. I try my best to mimic Louis' technique and hug my knees to my chest. I know I fail miserably at being as graceful as him, but it's my first time, ok?

After what feels like an eternity, I break the surface of the water. It envelopes me like I could never imagine. I feel my ears pop, my eyes burn, and my lungs running out of air. I quickly unfold myself in a hurry to get back to that precious. precious ledge. I kick my legs hard and use my arms to propel myself upward.

Seconds before running out of breath completely, I feel my head hit the surface of the water. I gasp for air, quickly lunging forward to the nearest ledge. I grab on, breathing heavier than I ever have before. My jump must've not been too bad because now I notice Alex and his friend clapping for me while Louis glares at them.

"Not so bad for a girl, eh?" I say to him, lifting my body from the pool. Without waiting for an answer, I take a sharp right at the pool's corner and make my way down the side to the shallow end to see Charlotte, all while trying to disguise how hard I'm breathing.

"I can't believe you just did that!" she says to me, eyes wide.

"Me either," I say, giving one last look at Louis who was now being teased by his friends.

A/N: THANK YOU TO CASSIDY AS ALWAYS FOR EDITING AND HELPING ME OUT