Sweet Swell

Chapter 11

“The Little Switzerland hotel huh?” Laurie said haughtily as we walked towards Hole In The Wall, the hot spot for snorkelling. 

“Yeah, you can all come along. My mom said she would get us a chalet and everything,” I was urging them all to say yes.

“Well I’m caught up in my family’s christmas plans, so I’m sorry hun, count me out,” Tamra said with a whirl of her snorkelling glasses. 

“Anyone else?” I asked hopefully. 

“It sounds great and all, Claire, but I’m not so sure I can get out of my family’s do either,” Lissa started, “But I’ll see what I can do. I haven’t been to the mountains in ages, and I’m dying to go swimming up in the Gudu Falls again.”

At least there was some hope, then. I looked over at Laurie, who was busily adjusting her bikini straps with a frustrated look on her face. After a moment she noticed I was awaiting her answer.

“Well, I’ll see what I can do, but my aunt and uncle are coming in from Pretoria this year, so I’m not sure if my mom’s going to let me go after all,” she said with a sigh, “I wish I could go with you though, I need a getaway asap.”

“Oh my God you guys…I’m going to be so bored. Ben’s got practically no family around our age, who am I going to hang with, my mom? There’s no reception up there either, you know that? I’m going to turn into a recluse mountain lady,” I confessed with a deep sigh.

“Ha! No reception…yeah I’m not going for sure now,” Lissa laughed, squeezing my shoulders. 

“Just ask your boy toy,” Laurie hinted with a sly smile. She’d finally straightened out her bikini.

I laughed at the mere idea. “For real? You think my mom would let me live in a chalet with a random guy for four days? What makes you think he’d even want to come on some lame mountain getaway in the middle of nowhere with me and extended family even I hardly know?”

“Gee, chill it with the excuses lady Magdalen,” Laurie said defensively. 

“Liam will obviously say yes,” Lissa said, “He likes you, it’s as clear as daylight. And besides, you already spent the night at his house, you’ve crossed that line.”

I frowned at Lissa, “No, we have not! There were other people there too, and it wasn’t like a planned thing. He’ll think I’m coming on way too strong if I ask him.”

“Didn’t you say his parents are overseas? He can’t have any set plans for Christmas if they’re not here, so he’ll probably be sitting all kiepie on his own during Christmas eve, and his sister probably has some prior engagement with Tristan anyway. Why don’t you just take the jump? Ask him what his plans are for Christmas and invite him if he’s free. What’s there to lose? He probably already knows you’re mentally unstable,” Lissa joked, poking me in the back so I would walk faster. We were approaching our snorkelling spot. 

“Har-har,” I said, rolling my eyes, “Not happening.”

“Fine, your loss,” Laurie said with a coy smile.

My loss indeed, I thought. Part of me thought the idea was brilliant, but another thought it was equally horrid. There was just too much that could go wrong.

Hitting the water for the first time after the passing of the storm felt heavenly. I was enveloped in a cloud of  velvety cool blue ocean on all sides, blocking out the bustle and sound of the world. Looking down at the reef I could see a plethora of ocean life swaying around like ghostly figures in the steady tide. We were all wearing fins, goggles ad snorkels. We looked sort of like alien mermaids, swimming around in the multicoloured water. Light from the surface reached the bottom of the sea in spots, creating an eerie look. We were officially in another world, the underwater world. Time felt like it passed more slowly under water. That’s what I loved about the ocean. You could leave your mundane problems at the shore, forgetting the small tyrannies and tribulations of everyday life. Instead, you would enter this carefree zone filled with life you’re not used to seeing every day, reminding you that there is so much meaning and beauty to life, and that your problems are practically redundant in the bigger scheme of things. I feel like the ocean has such a pull for humans because we are all of the sea. Human evolution has brought us away from the sea, but we will always feel the need and desire to return to it, if only for a short while. Perhaps that is why the ocean feels slightly familiar to us, although alien and strange at best, there is certainly a sense of familiarity there. I have to admit that much. The ocean made me feel complete freedom.

I could see stingrays at the bottom of the reef, together with a whole range of multicoloured and multi-sized fish. I could single out a few damselfish and angelfish, even a few parrotfish, among hundreds of other species I didn’t know the names of. Brightly coloured Nudibranchs were sprawled out all over the reef, a testament of the wonderful water quality we were having. One or two starfish were stuck to some of the reef, some orange and some purple. The amount of crustaceans was impressive, their shiny shells glinting in the twinkling sunlight that reached their bodies. A school of seahorses swam giddily by me, startling me slightly. I could see Laurie laughing, bubbles of air filling up the space above her head as she swam slowly through the water. Tamra motioned at us from a distance to get closer. As we swam up to her she pointed towards a large octopus in the midst of changing its colours. Lissa signalled a diver’s OK with her hand excitedly, obviously impressed with the sight. Laurie was off in the distance waving her hands in front of her face almost as if she was waving away insects. We swam closer to where she was floating to see glowing green sparkles in the shadows. Phosphorescent plankton in the morning! We’d obviously chosen a good day to go snorkelling. We all joined in, waving zealously in the shadows, revealing the glowing green lights.

The ocean sure can be an otherworldly place… After we grew tired of waving around like loons, we swam back out to the deeper reef, where five dolphins were approaching rapidly. I was startled nearly to death of them at first, mistaking them for sharks, but their shrill, excited noises and swift, almost joyful movements set me at ease. We were officially swimming with dolphins. One passed by me so closely that I stretched my hand out and stroked along it’s side as it passed me. Its skin felt like wet rubber, smooth and slick under the cool water. I felt an exhilarating rush. I had forgotten why we ever stopped snorkelling. I used to do it all the time with the girls when we were younger, but I suppose that as the drama and stress of life caught up with us, we forgot to revisit this magical place altogether when things like grades, universities, scholarships, appearances and relationships started mattering. Nevertheless, it felt amazing to be back in this ancient, forgotten place. I finally realised how much I had missed it, and how much I actually needed it. No wonder this was what Liam wanted to devote his life to. 

As we were lying stretched out on the beach, drying off after our trip to the underwater world, I got a text from no other than Liam.  Excitedly, I fumbled with my phone, unlocking it to see what he wanted.  Laurie looked over at me confusedly, “Everything okay?” she asked, looking a bit concerned at my frantic rummaging around.  “Oh my God,” I breathed, “Liam just asked me out.”

Laurie smiled brightly, clapping her manicured hands happily. 

“Finally,” Tamra groaned, “Now we can stop playing the he-likes-me-he-likes-me-not game.”

I shot her a teasing glare, “Yes, now we can move on to more pressing subjects, such as the weather, or how about the calorie content of our lunches?” I stated sarcastically. 

“So answer him then,” Lissa said, “What did he say?” 

“He said he hopes I like Pina Coladas. He wants to take me to that place by the pier, Shakers,” I said.  

“Pina Coladas are the friggin bomb! We should all go together sometime too,” Tamra said. 

“I’m still a champagne and strawberries kind of girl,” Lissa stated.

“Drink a damn cocktail for once, would you?  You’re always upping the bill with the champagne bottles you order,” Tamra lashed back at Lissa.

“They only sell it by the bottle, and besides, I always share with you guys. Jello shots aren’t my forte, nothing wrong with adding a bit of class to the mix.”

 “Oh my God Lissa do you want to start something here? I swear, I will make you do body shots off me next time we go out or so help me lord, order one more champagne bottle…” Tamra retaliated dramatically.  Laurie and I burst out laughing, while Lissa was trying to keep from laughing as well.  “I’ll buy us all a round of your choice next time then,” Lissa said, “Body shots are off the counter….in this case at least,” she added slyly.  Tamra smirked, clearly satisfied with the outcome of that argument.