Water of Hell

დNaidaდ I glanced over at Abby Mallen and smiled. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” I asked her as I quickly dried off my body. Abby flung her dark reddish hair over her shoulder and threw me a look. “What?” “The fact that you enjoy swim practice says a lot,” she remarked, and I rolled my eyes as I pulled on my underwear. “What’s not to enjoy?” I questioned as we both continued getting dressed. Abby was done before me and I rushed to pull on the rest of my clothing. “Everything,” I heard her mumble as she sat down to wait for me to finish. I giggled as I ran my comb through my golden blonde hair before tying it up in a messy ponytail. “Finally,” she said sarcastically when I flung my gym bag over my shoulder. “Get over it,” I teased as we left the girl's locker rooms. “Miss Saylor!” I groaned as I heard Coach Harris yell out my name and I glanced to my left and saw the swim team Coach standing in front of her office with her hands on her hips. “Go, I’ll wait,” Abby whispered, and I nodded before I headed over to the strict Coach. “Miss Saylor were you seriously going to just leave without coming to see me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and although I was tempted to roll my eyes, I quickly shook my head. “Very well, let’s get to it,” she said before going into her office. I looked over my shoulder at Abby, who was leaning against the wall engrossed with her mobile phone. “Miss Saylor!” Coach yelled out once again and I rushed into the office. “Sorry Coach,” I said before sitting down on the hard wooden chair. “Do you think the team is ready for this?” she asked me, and I sighed. Here we go. “Yes, Coach,” “And do you think Abby can quicken her time?” she questioned as she started flipping through her notes. Abby was the best freestyle swimmer we had but I knew that Coach wanted her to do better. “Possibly,” I whispered as I looked around the office. Coach Amanda Harris was a former backstroke champion, and her awards were on display.  “According to this, Gata high school has a potential threat,” she said, and I gasped in surprise. “That means…” my voice trailed off as I remembered our last competition with the only other high school in Corogata Edgewater City. Julie Matthews had come in second but only seconds behind Abby. “Yes, Julie has been pushing herself and as of yesterday her time is exactly one point five seconds faster than Abby,” Coach sighed as she looked at me and I already knew what she was thinking. “I know Abby is your best friend but as team captain, it is your responsibility to make sure your teammates are doing their best,” “I know, Coach,” “Then you better get Abby up to speed,” she said, and I nodded. Abby didn’t enjoy swimming as much as I did but I knew she wouldn’t be happy to hear about Julie. “Now, Kevin and Joey are looking good on their times but of course…” “There is always room for improvement,” I quickly said, finishing her sentence. Coach smiled and nodded. “Exactly,” “We have our weekly meeting tomorrow after practice, I will give them all a good pep talk,” I promised. I knew that the swim team would work hard, we always did but I was more than aware that Coach Harris had a personal desire to always win against the Gata swim team. “Good,” she said with a smile. “I expect a full report on Monday,” she added, and I stood up. “Yes, Coach,” I said before leaving her office. When I hit something hard, I thought I hadn’t opened the door but as I looked up, I saw that I had walked right into none other than Triton Gale. “Woah!” he said in surprise and I couldn’t do anything but stare up at the most attractive guy in the whole city. “S-sorry,” I stuttered, and it was then that I realized he had his hands on my arms. I was fairly sure I was a bright shade of red at this point but there was nothing I could do to stop the awkwardness. “It’s alright, Naida,” he said with that sexy smile of his and I leaned forward just a little bit. “Y-you know my n-name,” “And you sound surprised by that,” he remarked as he chuckled. I looked over at Abby, who was watching us curiously and I stepped away from him. “Um…yeah,” I said before I rushed off, heading towards the exit. “What happened?” Abby asked as she hurried to catch up. I didn’t stop as I pushed through the doors of the high school. When the cool breeze hit my face, I felt like I could finally breathe again. “Girl, tell me what happened,” Abby urged but I continued to ignore her as I focused on getting to the dark red jeep my father had gotten me on my sixteenth birthday last year. “He knew my name!” I finally gushed out when we were both seated in the car. “He should,” Abby smirked, and I gently slapped her arm. “And this is why you should go to that party with me,” she added as I started the engine. I rolled my eyes and shook my head before pulling out of the school parking lot. “Just because he knows my name isn’t an invitation to attend that party,” I argued. Abby knew me better than anyone and she knew that getting me to go out on a Friday night was a big no, no. We always had swim practice on Saturdays and I always hated how everyone seemed a bit hungover. It made practice slow and tedious. “Besides, you know I always use my Fridays to study,” I added. “Come on Naida! Live a little, just this once, please,” Abby begged. Driving down the street, I paid attention to the road, ignoring Abby’s useless pleas. I wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t going to change my strict schedule for a boy. Abby didn’t give up the whole ride to her house and when I pulled into her driveway, I turned to face her. “Abby, no,” I said firmly. She pouted one last time for effort and then sighed. “Fine, miss an opportunity to hang out with Triton,” she said as she hopped out of the jeep. “Don’t come crying to me when he gets a girlfriend that isn’t you,” I watched as she skipped up to her house. She had a point but then again, I had never had a boyfriend. Did I even want one? I sighed loudly as I pulled out of the driveway. For as long as I can remember I had always had a crush on Triton. I couldn’t even explain why. I mean, sure, he is sexy and cute and good looking, but I didn’t know anything about him. Turning into my street, I knew that I was lying to myself. I may not know him personally, but I knew just about everything a person could know about someone without actually knowing them. I parked the jeep and switched off the engine. Did that even make any sense? Grabbing my bags from the back seat, I got out and headed up to my house. “How was practice?” my mother, Talia, asked as I walked into the kitchen. As always, she was baking something. She was the owner and head baker of The Dancing Carrot, a bakery on the main road in the heart of the city.  “Good,” I said as I dropped my bags at the entrance and sat down by the island in the middle of our rather large kitchen. Because of my mother's passion for cooking and baking, we didn’t have a normal standard kitchen. I didn’t mind it, the house always smelt like cookies. “Try this,” Talia said as she placed a cupcake in front of me, and I smiled. I knew that looking at it, it wasn’t an ordinary cupcake. The rich dark looking chocolate frosting was what caught my attention and my love for chocolate made me pick it up and peel off the holder. I wasn’t surprised to see the soft pale sponge, but I was surprised by the flavor as I took a big bite. “Mom,” I moaned out as the small explosive flavor hit my taste buds. “Is it good?” she asked curiously as she poured me a glass of milk. Because the frosting was brown, I had been expecting chocolate but instead, it tasted like raspberry cream. The sponge wasn’t just vanilla but had a strong taste of caramel. It melted in my mouth and was delightfully delicious. “So good,” I told her before taking a sip of the milk. “I wasn’t expecting that,” I added. “It took me a while to get the balance of chocolate and raspberry because I wanted it to look like chocolate-” “But taste like raspberry,” I finished for her as I took another bite. “Yes, exactly,” Talia giggled as she continued working around the kitchen. I didn’t hesitate to finish off the cupcake and the milk. “Thanks, mom,” I said as I quickly grabbed another cupcake, kissed her cheek, grabbed my bags, and headed upstairs to my bedroom. I set the cupcake down on my desk and dropped my bags on my bed. My bedroom is the typical style of any teenage girl. The walls were painted a light shade of pink and the pink rug complemented the white tiled floor. A single bed stood against one wall and my cupboards on the other. After sorting out my gym bag and swimsuit, I settled down at my desk. “History,” I muttered as I took out my schoolbooks.  დ By the time I was done with my homework and history assignment, the sun had already set. I glanced over at my phone and sighed. My mother would not be happy with me for missing dinner, but they never did complain. My parents knew that I was dedicated to my swimming and my schoolwork. I got up and went into the bathroom I shared with Dylan and washed my hands. I headed downstairs and I could hear the sounds of the tv playing in the sitting room. I stopped by and saw my parents sitting on the dark blue sofa, watching their favorite detective show. “Hey,” I called out, greeting my father, Zale. “Hey,” he greeted back, distracted by his show. Talia glanced over at me and I could tell she wasn’t happy. “You missed dinner,” she said. “History assignment,” “Ah, well, dinner is in the oven,” she said with a smile, and I nodded before rushing into the kitchen. I was starving as I grabbed my plate from the oven and sat down. This was my quiet time and as I ate the pot roast, I read my messages on my phone. Abby - Have you changed your mind yet? I’m warning you; this is going to be a missed opportunity! I rolled my eyes as I continued to read. Abby – I’ll be at your place at nine to pick you up, love you! I nearly choked reading that and I looked at the time in the top right corner. She would be here in twenty minutes. I wouldn’t normally panic, but I knew that if she did show up, she wouldn’t let me stay home. I rushed to eat as much as I could before I ran upstairs. There wasn’t time for a shower, but I could choose a relatively cute outfit. “Naida! Abby is here!” Dylan, my younger brother, yelled out from downstairs and I sighed. I guess she will be helping me pick my outfit. On the plus side, I was going to get to see Triton again and that was always a bonus. “You aren’t ready!” she scolded when she entered the room. “And you haven’t showered!” “No and no…and do I really have to go?” I tried one more time to get out of this. “Yes, you do,” she said as she folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and a purple sleeveless top. A pair of simple blue sandals were on her feet and her hair was hanging loose. She looked pretty. “Go and shower while I pick out something for you to wear,” she nodded over at the door and I didn’t waste any time leaving the room. I knew not to mess with a determined Abby. I made sure not to take too long in the shower, no matter how much I wanted to. When I entered my bedroom, wrapped up in a fluffy pink towel, Abby had already laid out the outfit on my bed. “I’m not wearing that,” I said as I shook my head. “You will,” she said with a matter-of-fact tone of voice. I rolled my eyes and looked over at the outfit. It was a gift I had gotten from her a few months ago and I had purposely hidden it in the back of the cupboard. “How did you even find that?” I asked as I headed over to the bed, eyeing the white lacy two-piece romper. “I had to dig in the back for it,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you just tossed my well thought out gift aside like that,” I threw her the finger and picked up the top. It was a simple design, but it didn’t have any sleeves and I knew I would have to wear a strapless b*a. The bottom was the same white lace and short. “Get dressed,” she ordered, and I hurriedly did as she demanded. She had even taken out the underwear. Once I was dressed, I knew it wasn’t over. Next, Abby tackled my hair and makeup. When she was done with me, I stared at myself in the full-length mirror I had on the front of my cupboard. I looked…nice. “Now, let's go and get you a Triton!” she teased. I groaned as I followed her out. Please, please, don’t let me make a fool of myself.