You Swore - GC Story - Summer 1

Chapter 5: Odds and Ends

Chloe's POV

I felt the cool water rush over me as I dived into the lake. Technically, the lake was closed because the lifeguard who was supposed to be on duty was judging auditions, but I knew I could swim well enough to not get pulled under. 

After the past few days I'd had: talking to Space, confessing to Ava, getting pranked, completely changing my personality, and auditions bringing back memories that I didn't have the energy to deal with right now; all I wanted to do was sleep. But I knew someone in my cabin would wake me up, or shortsheet me, so I went with the second best thing: swimming.

I took up swimming at five, and haven't stopped since. I remembered when Eva, Space, me, and Clara were all in a cabin, back when I actually enjoyed camp. They called me their "secret weapon" because I always won the water races when we used to compete against other cabins. Winning one of the competitions came with a pizza party for the cabin, and I remembered countless late nights of pizza and friends.

I sighed. I often missed the time when I actually liked camp. Now all it seemed to be was a constant argument with Space, Eva, or Clara. 

I hadn't realized how far I had drifted from the shore, lost in my thoughts, until I felt a violent current threaten to pull me under. Fear filled my body as I realized what part of the lake I was in. I had drifted all the way to the dangerous currents in the middle of the lake. The part that even the most experienced councilors didn't go to. Last summer, a canoe got away and was pulled to the middle section. It was there one minute and the next was under the water. The canoe washed up on the opposite shore the next week, and since then, no one has even attempted to ride a boat out here. 

The danger I was now in was just starting to dawn on me. I was fighting to keep myself above water but I knew I couldn't do it long. 

"HELP! HELP SOMEBODY PLEASE!" I yelled until my voice got hoarse. Each time I tried to swim away, the current pulled me underwater and left me sputtering for breath. Just as I was about to give up, I felt strong arms wrap around me and start draggin me to safety.

By the time we got to the shore, I was so exhausted I promptly collapsed. My final energy had been spent kicking feebly all the way back to the beach, even though it probably didn't even help.

My half-conscience state felt the figure support my weight. Though my sense of direction was messed up, I assumed we were going to the nurse's office. 

My assumptions turned out to be correct; I felt myself stumble over the stairs that led to Nurse Quinn's office. I heard a rush of voices, one of them belonging to Quinn, before promptly blacking out.

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I woke up about half an hour later, according to the clock on my bedside. I was about to groan and go back to bed, before I became aware of the figure beside my bed, my rescuer, I assumed. 

"You're awake! Thank goodness!" He said, with a smile so bright it made me want to smile, despite my pounding head. 

"Thank you so much for saving me," I say, not knowing how to express the gratitude for just saving my life.

"It was no problem, you probably would have gotten out of it yourself if I hadn't been there," he replied, blushing.

"No, really, you saved me." I say back, still shocked at what may have happened. "Wait a minute, I do know you!" I continue. I probably should have realized earlier, but I wasn't exactly in the right head space.

"Yeah," He laughed, thankfully not offended. "We had the cabins next to each other last summer." Him saying that brought back a lot of memories from last year, and I smothered a grin.