Time To Fight

Chapter 5

My hands went for my chest and I pummeled myself back down into the water, stopping when the water hit my neck. To think, if I was facing the entrance….

I snapped around to find Jaden standing there dumbfounded, a look I would have cherished using against him in the future if it wasn’t under such circumstances, but he wasn’t the only one dumbfounded. Nothing, absolutely nothing, not even calling myself dumbfounded could describe what I felt as Jaden, and only Jaden as his towel was lying on the floor right beside him, stood there before me. Despite being submerged in the water up to my neck, my hands still covered my chest to protect them from being seen, but they were trying to do more than just protect my chest. They were trying to wrap themselves around my racing heart, to strangle it back into submission.

Three interesting blinks later and he bent down to pick up that very towel and dash behind the closest pillar. But it didn’t matter. The damage had been done. I had seen a sight I had never seen before and I had no idea what to do. Although, somewhere among the panic and attempt to calm myself, I had to admit, it wasn’t a sight I could call horrible.

Anger roared out from his voice instead of the confusion I’d expected to hear from the stumped person I had just seen…. and in his entirety. “Kyra! You’re supposed to be back in your room already!”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Ariel said you would be coming back soon. As soon as I heard the click of a second door, I came.”

“So you had your ear against your door and waited for a click?! It obviously wasn’t my door!”

“How was I supposed to know?!”

“Why didn’t you just knock on my door like a normal person?!”

“….”

No response? “Uh, Jaden?” With the burning in my cheeks, it wouldn’t be long before I would give in to this delirious fever and pass out. Then this attempt at hiding would be worthless since I know Jaden wouldn’t just leave me here. He would jump in to save me, and see everything in the process.

“…Sorry. I just figured you wouldn’t want to be bothered. I’m sure all sorts of things are going through your head that you want to think about alone.”

So I guess Ariel wasn’t the only one paying attention to my mood. “As much as you’re right, you shouldn’t do stupid things. My mother’s words work for you too.”

“Yeah, right. Besides, you’re the one who got a free show that other girls would die to see. I didn’t even get anything out of this accident.”

“See? Proof you acted stupid. If you were smart, you would have kept your mouth shut until I turned around.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.”

“Next time?” This fever is getting worse now. I really need to get out. “Hey, think you could not move for a few minutes so I can put on my towel?”

Forget his chuckles. If I don’t get out, that next time would be in just a few minutes. “Sure. I’ll try my hardest not to take a peak.”

“Oh shut it Jaden,” I snapped, wading through the water and sprinting up the stairs. Him standing on the other side of the pillar where my towel laid was just unfair. A relief, which was mightier than the relief I held when I knew we were safe, surged through me once the towel was wrapped very tightly around my body. “Now you can go back to trying to be funny.”

He peaked around the pillar and held me in his gaze as he wore a cheeky grin on his face. “But I’m always funny.”

“Ariel only says that to make you feel better.”