stars

six

Phoebe

Every time I looked back at my two friends sitting out of the fun, they were looking back at us. Either that or laughing at each other. I kept swimming around, seeing how deep I could go before I ran out of oxygen. I took a deep breath and dove underwater, trying to open my eyes and failing. I wondered how life would be as a mermaid. Not having to worry about running out of oxygen underwater because I'd be able to breathe water. If only they were real. 

I swam back up to the surface and moved my short hair out of my face. Alex was looking over at Oliver and Brooke, who were laughing about something. "Hey, Earth to Alex." I tapped his shoulder. He looked at me, then looked back at our other friends. 

"What do you think they're saying to each other? Do you think Oli's gonna spill a secret?" He asked. I laughed at Oliver's nickname. I shrugged. 

"Why do you care so much? They chose to stay out of the water. Plus, Brooke is our friend. Even if Oliver did tell her something, she'd keep it secret. She doesn't talk a lot." I said. "Now let's swim and pretend we're magical or something." 

"You're such a kid Phoebe." He said and went underwater with me. I opened my eyes, trying to ignore the burning of the water. I turned to look at him and saw his eyes open as well. I tried to swim as far down as I could, which was a little deeper than I was used to. I guessed that it was about seven feet at the most. Me being about 5 feet tall, I knew I'd have to have a lot of air. I went to the surface for a second, took a deep breath, and dove down, swimming as deep as I could. 

I was almost to the bottom, but I had to breathe. I swam a bit farther down, touching the sand. I tried to make it to the surface as fast as I could, barely making it. When I was a couple inches away from the surface, my brain decided I needed air right then, and I almost breathed water. When I reached the surface, I gasped for air and floated on my back, taking deep breaths. 

I looked around for Alex. "Yo, Alex where'd you go?" I called out. I looked underwater, seeing him sitting at the bottom like the showoff he is. I sunk down a couple inches and kicked his head. He swam up immediately. 

"Ow!" He yelled at me. I laughed.

"How do you stay underwater for like an hour? I can barely last a minute!" 

"Well, Phoebe dear, I have magic!" He joked. I smiled. "Okay, anyways. Should we go back to our friends now? It's getting kinda dark." I said. He nodded. 

"Race you there." And he started swimming. Cheater. I dove underwater and started swimming as fast as I could, coming up for air only a couple of times. He got to the shore before I could. "I win!" Alex said, raising his hands in victory. 

"You cheated!" I whined, giggling. I looked over at Brooke who was clearly falling asleep. It didn't seem to be that late yet, but maybe she was exhausted from walking everywhere. I really needed a bike or something. 

I sat next to Brooke. "Hey, you tired?" She nodded. "Okay. Hey other friends," I said, looking at Oliver and Alex. They were both smirking. I decided to ignore it. "Wanna come to my place? I'll give you food." They shrugged. 

"Sure," Alex said. 

I stood up, waiting for Brooke to get up also. She grabbed her (technically my,) shirt, putting it on. We all walked towards the exit. Brooke was walking slow, so she was at the back of the group. Oliver whispered something to Alex that made them laugh. They looked behind them at me and Brooke. "What?" I asked. 

"Oh nothing," Oliver said, turning his head around. I crossed my arms. I slowed down so I could be next to Brooke. "So how's your life?" I asked, not very good with conversations. She shrugged. Okay then. I yawned. 

Once we got to my house, I cracked the front door open. The house was silent. "Mother?" I called out. No response. I opened the door, letting all of them inside. "You two know where the guest room is." I pointed to the boys. They nodded and ran up the stairs. "And you," I pointed to Brooke. "I'm gonna get you clothes that aren't wet and covered in sand." 

I walked her up to my room, grabbed some of my old clothes and gave them to her. "Put these on and meet me in the room across from this one." I exited the room and went to the guest room. Oliver and Alex were sitting on the couch, laughing about something. I sat next to them. 

"So, Phoebe, do you like anyone?" Alex said, trying not to laugh. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Are you sure about that?" He said, looking at Oliver then looking at me. I knew what they were thinking. 

"Yes, I'm sure. Do you like anyone? Like, oh, I don't know." I coughed, looking at Oliver. Alex kicked me softly. I laughed. The door opened, and I saw Brooke. She was wearing my old purple hoodie and gym shorts. She yawned, walking over to us. I smiled. She sat down on the ground, so I moved down next to her. Alex said something under his breath, causing Oliver to laugh quietly. 

We spent hours talking to each other until the boys left. That just left Brooke and me to talk. We talked about our friends again, our childhoods, and our favorite items again. It took half an hour for us to fall asleep after the boys left. 

When I woke up, It was bright outside and Brooke was still asleep, leaning against me. I was still tired. I checked my phone to see my battery low. I carefully got up, pushing Brooke to lean on the other side of the couch. I walked into my room quietly, plugging my phone into the charger. 

I was about to walk back into the guest room when I heard my mother walking up the stairs. I ran into the room across the hallway and closed it. I walked over to Brooke, shaking her gently. She mumbled something. "Hey, wake up," I whispered, still shaking her. "Wanna go get some waffles?" 

She nodded, tired. I walked over to the door. I listened to the footsteps and noticed that she was on the opposite side of the house. I opened the door. "Okay, let's go," 

*

(Uh, I took a long time to write the last part I'm dumb. The next part will be after they leave the waffle place. So, I'm gonna have come up with something, I didn't plan for chapters after this. Bye, <3)