The Hooded Beauty

Elements: Land. Air. Water.

Jace's POV:

I kick off the bottom of the pool and rise to the top. Beat that Kady.
As I regain my senses and surroundings
I look around the pool for Kady.
I can't see her.
I look for Kassy in the crowd that ran after us to witness what was about to occur.
I find her concerned face pushing to the front of the crowd.
She sees me and then points to near me, her face is full of fear and worry.
Fuck.
It must be Kady.
Fuck.
I dive down.
I try my hardest to find her.
The chlorine burning my eyes beyond belief.
I see her.
If I don't go back up for air now, I'll drown too.
I go back up for air.
I know she's joking around. She has to be.
She can swim I've seen her swim loads.
Anxiety gets the better of me and I dive down regardless, I reach her.
She's at the bottom just floating. She's such a good actress, you nearly fooled me there.
I reached over and I grab her face.
Eyes are closed.
Shit.
What have I done?
Have I killed her?
Her dad is going to kill me!
Shit.
Kady, c'mon, don't play this game!
It's not funny anymore.
I'm supposed to be looking after her.
Making sure she's okay.
Making sure no one hurts her.
Making sure no one harms her.
And here I am, supposed to be taking care of her, yet she has just drowned.
Because of me.
Don't ask why I have to look after her, it's her fathers orders.
He's my boss.
When I first got the order to look out for her I hated it. I hated her. But over time, that's changed. I act like I hate her but actually it's the opposite. Everyone knows, apart from her. She thinks I hate her. It's better that way.
She doesn't know he's my boss, only people in the gang know about the business.

I reach the surface with a limp Kady and pull her onto the pool's edge.
Everyone gathers.
Kassy rushes over.
Shit, she wasn't joking.
She's a weird colour.
Like purple.
Oh my god.
Kassy is crying. Parker is comforting her
More people are gathering.
"SOMEONE GET HELP NOW!" I shout
My hands trembling.
C'mon Kady don't do this
What do you do when someone's drowned?
Check for a pulse? Right, okay.
The neck? Feel around Jace.
"Okay there's a pulse" I talk to myself out loud
So, erm what now?
Lungs
That's how you breathe..
I'm gonna have to kiss her aren't I?
Fuck it.
Why am I nervous?
She's fucking unconscious!
I shouldn't be nervous to kiss my unconscious crush. Not even a kiss though, I'm just blowing air into her...gross.
Right, okay.
I lift her chin up, block her nostrils and open her mouth.
*First rescue breath*
Nothing...
Do I do more? Did I do too much?
Remember your class from this dumbass!
I'm just gonna do another breath
*Second rescue breath*
She splutters and coughs out some liquid.
I sit back
Holy moly.
I breathe out.
I think I just had my first panic attack
Kassy grabs her and just holds her unbelievably tight for a long time. She starts talking to her and making sure she's alright. I hear sirens.
Kady looks over at me "Did you save me?" She chokes, not quite having her breath back yet.
"Erm, yeah I guess? I don't know.. are you alright?"

She nods and gets up and hugs me and whispers "I was trying to stay down there a little extra so you'd panic but turns out I did actually drown. I'm a dumbass. I'm sorry. Thank you for helping me."
We stay hugging for what seems like minutes and then paramedics come in along with the Principal.
They clear out the pool area.
They assess Kady and come to the conclusion that they don't think she's taken in anymore fluid but she needs to go home and rest and take the next few days off school.

Kady, you fucking scared me.