Crash and Burn

7. Pool

After breakfast, Mel wanted to get into the pool and Demi was more than ecstatic to join her. It was a nice sunny Sunday so why not? Except they forgot that I had finals to study for. Here I am, rushing through what I had planned to cover this weekend while Demi went back home to grab her swimsuit. "Al, Demi's here. Get changed." I looked over to Mel at the door and smiled. "I'll be down soon. The both of you can get in first." Mel frowned and walked over to me, hugging me from behind. "Are you okay?" I nodded and leaned back into her. "Just really tense and stressed over finals." Mel gave my head a kiss on the head and hugged me tighter. "Do you want to just stay up here? I'm sure Demi wouldn't mind." I sighed and looked at my laptop in front of me for a second before closing it. "I need a break anyway."

I walked down in an oversized shirt over my swimsuit. "Nice of you to join us." My eyes widened as I looked over Demi. She was wearing a one-piece, just like I was, only much sexier. "Like what you see?" Demi gave me a smirk and winked. "No, Demi. Just no." I heard and saw Mel splash water on Demi just in time before my blushed crept up on me. I turned around to the outdoor cabinet that we had for towels and my swim gear before Demi could turn around and see my red face. I took out my goggles and swim cap, hearing as Mel let out a loud groan. "Seriously, Alex? We're here to relax and have fun. You're going to the lap pool and time yourself?" I turned around and smiled at Mel. "Sorry bug, it's an old habit. Just a few warm ups and I'll just take a few times. I'll join you after." I started walked across the pool that they were in when I heard Demi ask, "Hey, can I watch?" I stopped in my tracks, slightly shocked. "Of course." I heard Demi and Mel get out of the pool and follow me to the lap pool. "Countdown as usual?" I was up on the starting block after stretching and looked over at Mel. "Always." I took a deep breath and got into position. "On your marks, get set, go!" I jumped into the cool water and felt the weight of the world off my shoulders.

"That was amazing!" I looked over at Demi when I resurfaced from the water. "Time?" I looked over at Mel, awaiting my results. "You missed your PB by like a second and some." I cocked an eyebrow at her. "A swimmers' time has to be accurate. Time." I demanded from her and she sighed. "56.67s" I sighed and kicked myself off the wall. I started slowly swimming to the middle of the pool and took a deep breath before diving down. When I reached the bottom, I just sat there and enjoyed the coolness around me. It was calming and I used to do it all the time. First it was to train my lung capacity but it slowly got relaxing for me. I closed my eyes and let myself finally escape from the real world for a while.

My peace was interrupted by a splash and I looked over to see Mel diving down towards me. I signaled to her to go up and pushed myself off of the ground. "What's up?" Mel swam towards me and hugged me tight. "You scared us." I looked around the pool and saw Demi by the side, ready to dive in to get to us. "Wait!" Demi hesitated and looked at me. "What the fuck is going on? Why is everyone diving into my pool?" Mel finally pulled away and frowned. "You were under for over 4 and a half minutes. The last time you did this you were gasping for breath at 4 minutes." I took a moment to let what Mel said sink in. "So I beat my timing?" Mel nodded and frowned. "Alex, are you okay?" I nodded and smiled. "I'm sorry for worrying you two. I'm just going to do another round and I'll call it a day." I ignored the worried stares of Demi and Mel as I swam back to the starting block.

Mel's POV

I sighed and watched as Alex made her way to her lap pool. It was an unspoken agreement that Alex had her pool for her training when she started becoming a student athlete. We could only get into the pool when Alex wasn't training. "Can I watch?" I looked over at Demi, surprised and scared. One would only have a death wish asking to watch Alex training. "Of course." My eyes almost bugged out of it's sockets. What? Before I knew it, Demi was making her way to the edge of the pool and I could only follow.

"What made her stop swimming?" I turned over to look at Demi and sighed. Alex was doing another slow lap and it was almost time to time her. "It's not my story to tell but I think you'll be able to get it out of her." I watched as Demi nodded and looked over at Alex. "Are you into her?" I asked Demi and watched her face morph into one of surprise. "What made you ask that?" I shrugged thought it over. "The way you look at her, I guess. Your constant flirting also kinda gives it away." Demi went quiet for a minute before taking a breath and answering me. "I don't know, kid. I don't know." I nodded and smiled. "If you two actually start dating, I ship it. Just don't break her heart. She's been through a lot." Demi smiled at me and gave me a hug . "Thank you, kid." I watch as Demi looked over at Alex moving gracefully through the water. She resurfaced and looked at me. "It's time." I nodded and stood up, grabbing the stopwatch beside me. "You guys ready?" I nodded and looked over to Demi, nodding as well.