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After lunch with my roommate, I head towards the fitness center for my gym class. I was informed that our first session in class is swimming.
I could feel my anxiety rise when Liz told me that. I don’t swim. I hate pools. Not to mention that the only two people I’ve ever really loved died in water. The last thing I need is for it to claim me too.
Plus, I don’t have a suit. So, it’s possible I could get out of it for at least today.
Fucking of course this place has a pool. I internally groan at the thought.
When I reach the fitness center, I stop for a moment and take in this very out of place building. It’s modern. It’s new. There are glass windows and slopes in the front façade. Sharp angles in the architecture give it a much different vibe than the rest of campus. It looks like it was teleported from the future and dropped here.
This thing is a monstrosity.
I walk through the front doors and am instantly hit by the chlorine smell. My stomach turns, and I clench my fists. I’m trying my best to hold it together.
I follow the signs to the locker rooms and locate the teacher’s office inside the woman’s side.
I knock softly on the door.
“Come in,” I hear a voice boom behind the door. Slowly, I open it and find a small woman sitting by a desk. Her long chestnut colored hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and her face is sans makeup.
“Um, hi. I’m Phoenix Hayes. I, um, was told we would be doing swimming to start the semester. But I don’t have a suit, so can I just spend the time in study hall?” I push out a breath.
“Hi, Miss Hayes. I’m Ms. Thornton. Lucky for you, I actually have your gym uniform and school supplied bathing suit for you. Normally, we pass these out freshman year, then junior year we give those who need new sizes or new ones. So, here you go.” She passes me the black bathing suit and the black gym uniform.
“Thanks. I think.” I pause for a moment. I want to tell her that I’m really scared of the water, but I instead turn and head out to find a locker.
The inside of the locker room is huge. There are rows of lockers, benches, and even a wall of full-length mirrors. I guess when you’re all stuck-up Barbies, you need enough mirrors to appease everyone so the claws don’t come out.
Walking through the multitude of lockers, I stumble upon a section that has me groaning. The Bitch Triplets are in my gym class. Wonderful. Fucking wonder-fucking-ful.
“Oh, look what the wind blew in!” Bianca spits as she pulls her hair up into a bun.
“Well, maybe if you guys ate more than a carrot stick at lunch, you all would have some weight on ya to keep the wind from whisking you away,” I throw back.
“We were talking about you, whore,” Jacklyn snaps.
“So original with your insults. But I guess that’s what happens when you have exactly one brain cell. Does it hurt when you have to think?” I tilt my head to the side and feign concern.
“Girls! Suit up!” Ms. Thornton yells from the doorframe of her office. “Then get yourselves to the pool!”
I walk away from the gremlins and head over to a section of lockers that no one is around. I put my bookbag in and start to strip down, putting on the bathing suit.
Shit, I need to get a lock. A feeling of unease goes over me as I think about someone messing with my stuff, or worse, hiding my uniform. Granted, I only have one class after this, but I really don’t think I want to sit in class in a bathing suit under a gym uniform.
Though my unease could be coming from the fact that I’m about to go stand in front of a body of water. A thing that takes lives, steals breaths. Suffocating you with its weightlessness.
I throw my hair up and pick up a towel that is on a bench for us to take. Following the others out there, I take a deep breath the moment I step over the threshold of the pool.
Chlorine attacks my nostrils, and echoes of conversations flood my ears as they bounce off the cement brick walls. Everything is so loud. Even my heartbeat sounds like a drum beating in my chest. The fear is starting to eat at me.
“Look a little pale there, Trailer Trash. Did Mommy or Daddy not have enough money to give you swim lessons?” Bianca taunts.
I ignore her and try to find the teacher. As I walk towards her, I notice how close she is to the edge of the pool. She’s got her back to the pool, reading something with another teacher. Fuck. I can’t do this. My breaths are coming out fast, my heart is racing inside my chest, and my hands are shaking. My steps falter, and the only sound I hear is the blood rushing in my ears.
Before I can turn around, I’m picked up and run over to the pool. I’m suddenly in the air and crashing into the water before I even have time to take a breath.
Oh my God, I’m underwater.
I struggle in the water, swallowing it as I try to come up for air. I start to panic, trying to expel the water from my lungs, coughing and wheezing. I flail in the water; I don’t even know what to do, but I start to get lightheaded, and I’m not sure if it’s from being in the water or lack of oxygen.