When they got out of the hospital, it was around 20:00. Maria had notified her parents she'd be staying with a friend, and had brought her backpack with her in case it got too late for her to come back home.
They ate together, and watched some TV. But once, as Maria had gotten out of the bathroom, she took a peek at the backyard. It was supposed to just be a quick look. Maybe look at the trees and the night sky. But... The pool… it wasn't as large as the one she fell in…
The rays of the moon were shining down on it, reflecting like diamonds. It was pretty, kind of.
Maybe she could…
She yelped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, and quickly turned around. "What'chu looking at?" Timothy asked, curious.
"O-oh, uhm… the… the pool."
Timothy's expression darkened "The pool? Are you okay? Should I close the curtains?"
Maria shook her head and blushed a bit, embarrassed. "N-no, I just…"
She cleared her throat, and looked down. "I was thinking… maybe I could try going in…"
Timothy's eyes widened and his lips curved downward. He looked a bit worried. "G-go in? Like… swim?"
Maria nodded. "Y-yeah… do you… do you think it's a good idea?"
Timothy chuckled, and ruffled her hair.
"Well, if you wanna go in, I'll follow. And uh, I'll be there to help, and support, and stuff."
Maria giggled. "I brought my backpack, I think there's still my gym clothes inside, so there's probably my mandatory swimsuit in too."
He chuckled. "I'll go get my stuff, I'll be back in a few."
Maria nodded and went to the bathroom to change.
As she stared at herself in the mirror, however, once she was done, the bad thoughts started to come back.
There was another reason, unrelated to the trauma, that made her not want to swim.
Her body.
Her lanky, underweight, skeletal body. With her big feet, and acne, and pale skin.
Her face was already bad enough, but the body was another. She shouldn't even be doing this. It was a bad idea. He'd probably see just how ugly she was and he'd just laugh.
"Maria?" A soft knock at the bathroom door made her jump, and she opened up, just a crack. Only enough for her face to be seen. Although, she could see him rather well. If only he looked at her like she looked at him.
"I-I don't think this is a good idea…" she mumbled.
"Oh? Well, it's okay if you don't want to do it. I understand." Timothy smiled tenderly. "It's already very brave of you to decide to face your fears like this. Baby steps, y'know?"
Maria's heart skipped a beat, and she whimpered. "N-no, it's not the water, it-it's… it's me.."
"You? What's wrong?"
Maria looked down, and crouched, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I… I look ugly… with a swimsuit… and without one…"
Timothy crouched at her height, and tilted his head. "Really? I never thought you were ugly."
Maria looked up at him, and felt her heart squeeze. He looked so earnest. It was obvious he meant it. Maria stood up slowly, undoing her braids, but looked back down, embarrassed, and a bit scared.
"O-okay… b-but… please don't stare too much…" she mumbled, and, slowly, opened up the door.
It was a shame she was looking down at the ground. Because if she'd seen Timothy's expression as he first saw her, she definitely would've been happy.
Timothy tried his best not to stare, but it was a bit impossible. Not because he thought she looked weird, no, but it was rather the opposite. She looked really cute.
The dark green color of the swimsuit complemented her raven hair so well, and it molded to her soft curves, as if it had been tailored to her specific measurements. Her pale legs, while very thin, looked soft, and her arms and neck just as much. If anything, he just had the urge to pull her in his arms and never let her go.
Timothy finally found the force to stop starring, and, coughing, while trying his best to hide his flushed face, he smiled a bit awkwardly. "Y-you look great. No need to worry!"
He then quickly walked off, and Maria followed closely.
As they got near the pool, Maria could feel her heartbeat quicken. There were lights inside the thing that lit up the water in shades of light blue. If she wasn't so scared, she might've thought it looked cool. She instinctively grabbed Timothy's arm, and whimpered.
"You okay?"
"Y-yeah… just nervous."
Timothy smiled and held her hand. "It's okay. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."
As they were walking, Timothy cleared his throat, and looked at her with an apprehensive expression.
"S-say, why are you… scared of water?"
Maria stopped right in front of the staircase. She stared at the shallow water, and swallowed with difficulty.
"When I was five, I almost drowned in a lake. We went fishing, I didn't have a life jacket, and I fell in…" Maria replied, eyes wide. Timothy smiled sadly. "Oh. I'm sorry."
Maria chuckled, and tightened her hold on the guy's hand. "It's okay. I'm-I'm doing something about it n-now, right?"
"Heh, yeah."
A few seconds of silence passed. The night was rather quiet, minus a few crickets, and the sound of cars in the distance. There was also the soft, warm breeze, passing through the leaves of the trees, making them rustle quietly.
"You… might need to remove your glasses for this. If you don't want to damage them." Timothy then said softly. Maria obeyed, and he picked them up, placing them in a safe place. Thankfully, her myopia wasn't too bad, so she could still see the stairs more or less clearly.
"You ready? One step at a time, okay? I'll go first if you want."
Maria nodded and Timothy walked down the stairs to the water. He then held up his arms, and smiled. "I'm right here, it's okay."
And, slowly, heart beating like a drum, Maria held his hands, and slowly walked down the stairs. As soon as the water touched the sole of her foot she squealed, and breathed in. It took a minute, as she spent some time on each step. When she got to the last, Maria closed her eyes. She slowly breathed in, out, and stepped down.
The water went up to her waist, and with that feeling, she started to panic a bit. Noticing that, Timothy pulled her in.
"It's okay, it's alright. Baby steps, remember?"
Maria nodded, breathing getting faster, her legs shaking. She hiccuped, and whimpered.
"You wanna go back up?"
Maria swallowed and shook her head. "N-no, I-I just need some t-time to… to calm down…"
Timothy gently stroked her hair, and she leaned her head against his chest. He smiled softly. "Alright, take all the time you need."
Maria closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Then, she breathed in slowly, and lifted her head up. "It's just like-like taking a sh-shower. A cold, outdoors shower." She mumbled. Then, she opened up her eyes, and found herself staring right into Timothy's eyes.
He smiled, and tilted his head a bit.
"You okay?"
The blue of the water reflected in his soft green irises, making them shine. She noticed the bandage on his cheek was starting to come off, and, instinctively, she reached for it. Noticing, he winced a bit as she peeled it off, and then chuckled. Maria looked at the bandage, and gasped. "O-oh! Sorry, it's just- it was coming off a-and-"
Timothy held her hand, and laughed softly, taking the bandage and setting it on the ground next to the pool. "It's okay, don't worry."
He then looked behind him, and back at Maria.
"You mind if I take a quick dip? I wanna swim a little."
He then looked around, and leaded her to the side. "Stay here. I wanna show you my skills!"
He smiled brightly, but then froze. "Y-you don't mind, right?"
Maria smiled. "N-not at all. I'm okay if I stay still, I think."
And with that, Timothy got out of the pool and walked to the other side, where the water was deeper.
"Alright, watch this!"
He walked back a few steps, and then ran, and jumped. As he jumped, he flipped through the air, and landed hands first, sinking down the pool. The water splashed around him, and he twirled a bit before swimming back up and to Maria.
"So?" He asked excitedly. Maria was a bit too busy staring at his face to really listen. The water droplets dropped from his wet hair, rolling down his face, his neck and his torso, and reflected the blue glow of the pool. Whenever one passed a freckle, it was as if the droplet was trying to peel it off and roll away with it.
"U-uhm.." she blushed, realising she'd been staring at his chest for a while, and looked away. "Y-you're pretty… g-good at it!"
Timothy titled his head. "You okay?"
She felt one of his hands reach for her cheek, and she squeaked. "Y-yeah, s-sorry, I just-" she looked up at him, feeling his thumb softly stroke the skin of her cheek, and only doubled in embarrassment.
Slowly, she lifted her hand to touch his, and he smiled softly and blushed, visibly a bit embarrassed too.
Was it just the excitement of being in the water, or did his smile just suddenly become way more attractive than it usually was?
And then he leaned over, and she moved a bit closer, and their lips met. Just for a few seconds, taking her breath away with the shock of what was happening finally settling in. And also just how soft his lips were.
She pulled away rather quickly, panting, eyes wide, and stuttered. "I-I-I'm so s-sorry, I didn't- I just- I-"
Timothy chuckled shyly and blushed. "D-did you like that?"
She nodded, and smiled. "Y-yeah!"
Her heart was racing. She couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her eyes. They kissed??
"Wanna do it again?"
Eagerly, she nodded, and he pulled her in, kissing her again. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and felt herself get lifted up her ground by his own arms, wrapping around her legs. When they pulled away, Timothy's face was fully red like a tomato, and he had a dopey smile stuck to his face. Cute.
"S-so, uhm…" he suddenly said, then looked around, and then walked to the side of the pool, letting her sit down as he stood up fully and looked up at her. "I-I… may have approached you… because I thought you were cute…" he mumbled, face flushed. Maria was a bit shocked, hearing that. Cute? Her? No way!
"Y-yeah, a-and you know, you looked sad, and you were always alone, s-so I thought m-maybe you'd wanna be m-my friend…"
He laughed softly, and passed a hand over his hair.
"I-I didn't expect… I didn't think-" he chuckled nervously, and buried his face in his hands. "Ohh, I'm a mess right now, don't look at me!" He whimpered.
Maria smiled, and leaned over, taking one of his hands.
"It's okay. I'm-I'm happy you approached me."
He looked up at her, eyes wide. "I love you."
Those words hit her right in the heart. It skipped, twirled and danced around, beating fast like there was no tomorrow.
She froze, heat creeping up her cheeks, so warm it's as if it was trying to make the water on her body evaporate.
She closed her eyes, and breathed in. "I-I lo-love you too…" she stuttered. Boy, this was hard to say, huh?
Timothy laughed, and pulled himself out of the pool, before hugging her tightly.
"Oh, god I'm so happy right now, you have no idea!"
Maria couldn't help but smile brightly, and hug him back tightly. He loved her. And he kissed her. Was this a dream??
"Is this a dream? If so, I never wanna wake up." Maria said softly, giggling a bit.
"I hope not." He then looked down at her and smiled.
"By the way, have I ever told you that your laugh is really cute?"
Maria was so excited right now, she was on the border of tears. She squeaked, and sniffled, saying something that was almost a normal, coherent sentence. Timothy laughed, and kissed her forehead.
"Oh, you're shivering." He then added. He smiled. "I guess it is getting a bit cold. I'm getting your glasses and we can go inside alright?"
Maria nodded, simply standing there, arms crossed, as she waited for Timothy to go get her glasses and towel. When he came back, he wrapped a towel around her, gently placed her glasses on her face, and took her hand, leading her back inside.
Not that she wasn't able to find her way back on her own, but rather that she was so out of it right now, she'd need help, or she'd just bump into the wall, or into a tree.
As they went inside, and changed. Maria then went to see Timothy, who was now laying down on the couch.
She sat down next to him, and, awkwardly, scooted a bit closer. Her pinky moved close to his own, and, looking down at their hands, Timothy placed his on top of hers. She gasped softly and looked down, embarrassed.
"You still cold?" He asked softly. She nodded, silent. Timothy smiled, and tapped her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he opened up his arms. "I-if you don't mind, of course…" he then added.
Maria looked up at him, face red, and, timidly, she crawled up in his arms, and buried her face in his chest. He placed a hand on her head, and played with her hair.
"You know, I've been thinking and… I think I have a solution, maybe." She said softly, after a few minutes of silence.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. The… nurse, the one who took care of me when t-those-" she stopped and sighed. "When those girls beat me up."
"What about it?" Timothy asked.
"She said she would talk to my parents… and so I thought that, maybe… maybe, if we all… if we talked to her, and also Mr. Johnson, w-we could maybe do something about it…"
Timothy thought for a second, and then smiled, his head moving to rest against Maria's. "Yea… I was thinking about contacting the principal's boss. They might have more chances of understanding."
Maria smiled.
A plan. That gave her hope.
Comments (0)
See all