Chapter Two

I put my things in my locker on the end of the girl's locker room. I wore shorts and a t-shirt like always and never changed into the bathing suit that I owned. The girl students who didn't want to participate had to walk the indoor track above the pool. It was like a balcony that went all the way around the pool with rails so no one fell in. If you did choose to jump over the rail, you had a straight shot down and didn't have to worry about hitting the side of the pool. That would get you in trouble though. I was already walking when class started, reading my book as I went.

"Blake! Wait up!" a girl called. I looked up to see Samantha. A blonde haired, blue eyed, girl that I spoke to sometimes.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not much." She smiled. "How's the book?" I looked at the cover of the book as if it had just appeared in my hands.

"I bet its not better than being with Jason Navarro all day." she blushed. "How did you two meet anyway?"

"We...uh.... It was a school project. We were paired up." I blinked. In reality, I begged the teacher to assign me to Jason for the project. He was so much smarter than a lot of students I did projects with. It offered a chance to be able to split the work evenly.

"He's so ho-"

"Hey, dweebs. What are you talking about?" A guy put his arm on my shoulder. A guy named Brice, who I hated. Besides the fact that he always smelled like onions, he was always mean to everyone. Even his own friends.

"Go away, Jerk." Samantha crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh don't be like that." He laughed as I pushed his arm off. His two friends joined, staring us up and down.

"Uck. Animals." I rolled my eyes, disgusted.

"Oh, you like it." He grabbed me by the shoulder.

"No," I shoved him away, dropping my book. "I don't." Brice frowned, reaching again.

"Stop it!"

"Come on. You're too pretty to reject me." He grinned, touching my chest.

"I said stop it!" I shoved him away, harder this time.

"Fine. Slut." I felt him push me before it fully registered in my mind. I fell over the rail with a gasp. Samantha screamed and Brice and his friends laughed. After falling about 15 feet, I hit the water with a loud smack. Pain entered the back of my neck, my arms, and my legs as I sank. I could see the clear blue water bubble as I screamed. The water rushed into my mouth and nose quickly. I was drowning. The pool was deep for the dive team and I couldn't swim well. I couldn't just push off the bottom of the pool and surface. I clawed the liquid around me as if I could claw my way out of my watery grave. My vision started darkening and before I knew it, I had passed out.

~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ *

There was pressure on my chest. Like a thumping but in rhythmic patterns in my bones right above my heart. After five bumps, I could hear a voice.

"Come on, Blake!" Who was Blake? "Breathe, Damn it!" Thump! Thump! Thump! I felt the water shoot out of my lungs and then gasp. Hands rolled me to my side as I coughed and my memories returned.

"That's right. Cough it out." Jason said, patting my back. I looked up at him as I sat up. I was angry and freaked out. What if I had died?!

"Blake!" Samantha ran over. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!"I looked at her confused. How had she JUST gotten down here? I must've been out for several minutes at least.

"Blake! You know the rules about jumping!" Coach yelled.

"I didn't jump." I mumbled.

"What?" Coach glared.

"I didn't jump! Brice pushed me! Why would I jump into something I am afraid of?" I yelled back. Coach was quiet for a moment.

"Jason, get her to the nurse." He looked around. "And somebody find me that boy!"