Unthinkable Love

Chapter 4

Lola

The rest of the week went by without a drama. I would see Theo randomly around the academy and he would always stop and stare at me until I moved out of his view. Ivy and Jordan would always smirk at me when they would see this encounter but never said anything to me about it.

I woke up on Saturday morning in a pool of sweat. Summer was finally here and it brought a ridiculously hot forty-degree day.

I decided I would go down to the beach for some sun baking and a swim to cool off. I told Jordan to meet me there a bit later on as Ivy and Levi were going on a romantic date. I put on a black one-piece swimsuit, slip on some slides and grab a towel and my sunglasses.

I walk down to the beach and lay my towel out on the sand. I rub my body with coconut oil and lay on my stomach facing the water. It’s a beautiful day with no clouds in the sky. There is a slight breeze creating medium sized waves in the ocean.

Something gliding over the water caught my eye and I squint my eyes to make it out. I realised it was a man. How on Terra was he doing that? I find myself slowly walking towards the shoreline with wide eyes. I was in awe of this man.

He glides and twists over the waves and gradually makes his way over towards me. As he gets closer, Theo’s form comes into view.

He comes to a stop right in front of me and I realise he was standing on some type of board.

“Morning Lola! Wow, you are definitely a sight for sore eyes.” Theo says.

I look down and realise I am in my swimsuit and all oiled up. Embarrassed, I try to cover up my body with my hands. Theo laughs.

“What is that?” I ask, aiming to change the subject while he pick up the huge board.

“What do you mean? This is a surfboard.” He replies.

“I do not know what that is.” I state plainly.

“WHAT? How can you not know what a surfboard is?” He exclaims in shock. “You have such an amazing beach here, as if no one has surfed here before.”

I shake my head at him, still confused about what he was doing.

“Come on, I insist on teaching you how to surf!” He grabs my hand and pulls me into the water. That electricity sizzles between us again, I’m beginning to enjoy the feeling.

“Oh, I don’t think I would be very good at it.” I say, my voice full of doubt.

“I bet you’ll be amazing! After all, you are a water mage.” Theo smiles warmly at me.

“Okay fine.” I follow him into the ocean. The temperature of the water immediately cools down my blazing skin.

Theo places the board on top of the water and guides me to lay down on top of it. He places an arm over my lower back to grip onto both sides of the board. The back of my swimsuit is so low that his muscular forearm is touching my bare back. I shiver slightly from the contact but he does not react.

“We are both going to kick our legs so we can go further out into the surf.” He explains and I nod my head in recognition.

As we go deeper into the clear blue water, I find myself getting nervous. I am going to make a fool out of myself right in front of him!

“Okay, when the next wave comes, I want you to push your body up to stand sideways with one foot towards the front and the other at the back of the surfboard. Try to keep your balance as long as you can.” Theo lectures me.

I hear the next wave coming up behind me and I push myself up to a standing position. Knowing I am not the most coordinated person, I try so hard to balance on the board but the wave was too strong for me. My legs start to wobble and my body flips over into the water as the wave crashes over me, making me spiral down towards the sand below.

I kick off the sand and push my way back up to the surface. My ears were immediately filled with the sound of hysterical laughter. It is a beautiful melodic sound and I whip myself around to see Theo practically rolling around laughing at me. His smile lights up his entire face and it is the most incredible sight. What I would do to see him smile like this all the time!

“Hahahaha! Oh my goodness Lola! That was the most incredible dismount I have ever seen! Hahahaha!” Theo says breathlessly.

I huff loudly before I grab the board that is floating a meter away from me and lay down on it again. I am determined to get this right. I am a water mage; I should be able to balance on a damn board.

I close my eyes to concentrate on the sounds and rumbling of the wave. I channel my water magic and just as the wave is about to wash me away, I jump up on the board and bend my knees to maintain my balance. I focused my magic on the wave beneath the board and I feel like I am one with the wave; as if it is a part of me. I ride the wave gracefully until it dissipates close to the shore. Theo swims up to me with wide eyes. This time he was in awe of me. Mission accomplished.

“How?! How did you do that? Are you sure you have never surfed before?” He said with narrow eyes as if he is accusing me of lying.

“No never, I swear! I channelled my water magic with the wave below me.” I admit with a smirk.

“Ugh, that’s cheating!” He whines. “Come on, let’s go back out further.”

I grab the board again and start to paddle when Theo comes up behind me and places his arms around me again to grab the board too. His torso is pressed up against my back and I have to fight the urge to turn around and do something I may regret.

We paddle until we were far out in the deep water beyond the waves and we climb onto the board and sit facing each other with our legs dangling in the ocean, bobbing up and down to the rhythm of the water.

“That was truly a spectacular performance Lola. I wish I could surf like that.” Theo praises me.

“Thanks.” I reply. “I have an excellent teacher.” I smile at him nervously.

“Could you show me how you use your water magic?” He asks.

“Umm … yeah sure.”

I place both hands into the water and bring them out in front of me to show Theo the two orbs that have formed in my hands. I levitate the orbs with my mind and circle them around his head 3 times and let them fall back into the ocean. Then I stretch my arm out on either side of me. Two small whirlpools form in the water, swirling faster and faster.

I did not realise how much energy I was using and abruptly stop the whirlpools as I pant breathlessly.

Theo grabs my hands immediately and I could feel the warmth of his fire magic surging through me.

“Mmm … that feels nice.” I whisper, closing my eyes briefly to savour this moment. It is as if his warmth was regenerating my energy.

Suddenly, we are both launched high into the air as if something hit us underneath the surfboard. We tumble into the water and I see Theo smash his head hard onto the sand and rocks below. His body goes limp instantly. I swim down to him and pull him up to the surface.

“HELP!” I scream at the top of my lungs. I look around and find the beach completely empty. I look up to the rocky cliffs and see figures of two people giving each other a high five and running away.

I need to get Theo back to the shore. I struggle to swim while keeping his face above the water. I am already drained from using my magic earlier so I can’t manipulate the water in my favour.

I finally reach the shore and I hear someone running towards us.

“LOLA WHAT HAPPENED?!” Jordan shouts while grabbing Theo under the armpits to pull him further away from the water.

“He hit his head! I think he might be drowning!” I reply in a panic. When I realise he isn’t breathing, I jump into action immediately starting to apply CPR. I push down heavily on his chest repetitively and breathe into his mouth. I push away my erratic thoughts as I realise I am essentially kissing him. This isn’t the time to be thinking these unthinkable thoughts.

“Ughhhh this isn’t working! What are we going to do??” I whine, feeling defeated. “The hospital is too far away, we will never make it!”

“Lola, do you think you can channel your magic to clear his lungs?” Jordan questions me.

“You are brilliant Jordan! Why didn’t I think of that?” I shout excitedly.

I place my hands on Theo’s bare chest once again and close my eyes. Almost as if I can feel the water drowning his lungs, I urge it to make its way back up his windpipe. Slowly but surely, it starts to work. My eyes fly open.

“Quick, lay him on his side!” I yell, keeping my hands connected to him.

Jordan flips him over and I see the water leaking out of Theo’s mouth in a trickle. Suddenly he starts to cough it up and starts breathing again. Relief washed through me as I watch the last of the water trickle away.

*

*

*

​Theo

“Lola?” I whisper hoarsely, unsure of what is going on.

“Oh thank goodness you’re okay!” She throws herself onto my body and she wraps her arms around me in a tight embrace.

“Thank you for helping me.” I say as I squeeze her back. She realises Jordan is there and she flinches back in embarrassment.

“It was all Lola. You should have seen her, she was incredible!” Jordan states, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

My eyes narrow at the sight of them. “Are you two …”

“Together? Hell no, she’s like my sister. Honey, I like boys.” Jordan says, licking his lips.

“We need to get you to the hospital.” Lola says, looking around for help. Ivy and some guy are walking towards us hand in hand.

“What is going on here?” The guy asks suspiciously.

Lola and Jordan explain what happened and Ivy has her hands over her mouth the entire time.

“We have to take him to the hospital to get checked out. Levi, can we use your car?” Lola asks in a hurried tone.

“I will take him but you three are staying here.” This Levi guy replies bluntly.

"We are not having this conversation here Levi! Help me get him to the car." She snaps back at him.

The help me get into the car and the whole ride to the hospital is in an awkward silence. Once we arrive, Lola helps me to the front doors.

"Lets go Lola." Levi commands behind us. She rolls her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, I need to go. Will you be alright from here?" She says as I look down into her beautiful blue eyes.

"I'll be fine. Thank you again for everything." I reply with a small smile. She smiles back and gives me a quick hug and turns to go back to the car. She looks out the window and sees that I am still standing there watching and waiting for her leave. She looks away sadly. I desperately wanted her to stay here with me. I think I would do anything for that incredible woman.

I turn away from the road, long after she’s already gone to head into the hospital. I don’t know what it is about her but I can’t seem to get hour out of my thoughts. It’s going to be a long semester.