Welcome to My World

Chapter 58 Callum's POV {Drowning, But Not Quite}

Homecoming. H-O-M-E-C-O-M-I-N-G. That's all everyone's talking about.

So it's a dance. Big deal. Ok, so I may just be salty because I broke up with Genelyn after the whole Christmas thing. But still!

I can tell that Ez is dying to ask Ellis out. He's not the only one pumped for Homecoming. Their dates are all Jamie, Matthew, and Ravi can talk about. Or lack thereof.

It's everywhere. There is no escape for this weary soul.

So right now, I'm taking refuge in the gym where some weirdo is in the pool. It's really weird to watch. She seems to be timing how long she can stay underwater. Eventually, she'll burst out of the water, gasping for air, then floating on her back before submerging again. I don't think she knows I'm here. I'm sitting on the bleachers, partially screened by a pillar.

She flicks back her midnight black hair, sending a spray of water up through the air. "You know, I should really start charging if people want to keep watching." She said sarcastically. I blushed and sucked farther behind the pillar. Apparently, she was aware of me the whole time. "Sorry. It's just someone in the pool doesn't usually..."

"Try to drown themselves?" She snorted. I half-nod. "Do you even know the context of this?"

I have to admit that no, I don't. She quirks a quick half-smile. "You're like that fluffy haired kid that passed by yesterday. Ezran King."

I raise my eyebrow. "What was he doing in here?" I ask. She shrugs, then disappears underwater. This time, I count 57 seconds before she comes up. "Why do you keep doing that?" I question.

She finally looks me in the eye, and I move down to lower bleachers so I can talk to her more easily. Her eyes are an unsettling pastel yellow. When she replies, her voice is very quiet. "Callum Harrowson." How does she know my name? "Do you believe in different worlds?"

"What?!"

She stares at me, and I realize that I've been talking to her for quite some time, but I've never seen her blink. "Different worlds. Realities that supposedly belong only in our imagination. Where you can be anything from human to fae to elven. Like a world that the inhabitants called..."

She trails off, and I lean closer to listen to her.

"Xadia."

It's like some chime rang in me. A feeling of homesickness and familiarity and knowing sweeps through me like a tidal wave. She disappears under the surface for 69 seconds this time, and when she comes up, she has a small smile to offer me. "So you do believe. You know it."

I flinch. Somehow, I find myself unable to lie to her. "Well... It seems familiar."

Her pale yellow eyes, the color of the sunlight after a storm, bore into me, as if searching my soul for my darkest secrets. "Does it?"

"I feel like I should remember it."

She slowly lets her body float to the surface before continuing. "Well then, the answers are easy, aren't they? You don't remember it consciously, but it's so clearly embedded into your mind."

"Now you're talking crazy."

She shrugs. "This is coming from the knot who thinks I'm trying to drown myself." She says before diving. I patiently wait for her to come up. When she does, I ask my question. "How do you know about this stuff, anyways?"

She climbs out of the pool, still soaking wet, and heads for a bag on the bleachers to grab her towel. She wraps it around herself and sits down beside me. "Isn't it obvious? I've been there. I'm trying to get back. I'm not born of this dimension."

I stare at her in disbelief. "Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt?"

She shrugs it off. "Don't ask if you don't want to know." She swipes at her face with the towel, and the silvery lines I though were water still continue to trace their way down her face. I squint, trying to see if there's anything outlandish about her. Other than the silver trails and her yellow eyes, she looks perfectly normal.

"What is it like in Xadia?" I ask. She starts talking about it, and I find myself nodding along at details that seem right. Before I know it, I've cut History and half of Biochem. "Won't your teachers notice that you keep disappearing from class?"

"How sweet of you to be concerned." She says. "But they'd prefer not to have me in class."

She gets up, still dripping water, and starts to head towards the exit.

"Wait!" I call after her, surprising her and myself. I stand up and not towards her. "Can you tell me your name?"

She gives me a long look before answering. "My name? My name is..." She pauses, as if she doesn't quite remember what her name is. "My name is... Please call me Len."

I'm not quite sure what possesses me to ask the next question. "Well, Len, will you come with me to Homecoming? Nothing romantic, of course-"

"Platonic."

I blink. "What?"

Len smiles slowly. "I believe the word you're looking for is platonic. And to answer your question, I'll think about it, Callum Harrowson. Come find me tomorrow and I'll have my answer."

"How will I know where to find you?" I call after her as she walks away. She replies without looking back. "Simple."

"I'll be the one drowning myself."