A Love Throughout The Ages

Introduction Pt. 2

    I looked around the canteen to find it entirely empty. Only the three of us were left.

    "Let's go slowpokes." Mana said as she waited by the entrance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The rest of the school day passed by without a hitch. The first half of the day was for clubs. The second half was for going to your classes and meeting your teachers.

    Then finally came time for the mini competition. P'Phek wasn't lying when he said that the swimming club had gotten popular this year. Quite a lot of students stayed behind to watch the competition, including my new friends, Panit and Mana. Both of whom I could hear screaming my name from the bleachers surrounding the pool.

    How the competition works is a few people would swim at a time. It doesn't matter if you're the fastest, though it doesn't hurt either. The upperclassmen are looking for your performance overall, not just your speed, though that didn't stop a lot of students from being nervous.

    However, when I got up to the mark, my nerves went away. Being in the water was therapeutic for me. When I was in the water, it feels like the entire world disappears.

    As I stepped onto the starting platform, I glanced to my side and saw Win watching me. Though his gaze was intimidating, it was also strangely encouraging.

    The whistle sounded and everyone jumped into the water. For a few minutes, I forgot the world around me. Nothing else mattered but swimming though the water. Before I knew, my head surfaced the water and I found out I was the first to make it back.

     I looked back at the water to watch the rest finish up the competition, when I noticed someone had stopped moving. In fact, this person was slowing sinking to the bottom of the pool.

    "HEY! Stop the clock!" I heard Win say behind me.

    Before I could even think about what I was going to do, I jumped back into the water. I started swimming towards the bottom of the pool, though I found that the pool was deeper than I thought.

    As I was swimming closer to the bottom, the air was quickly leaving my lungs and I began to panic. Any time I felt short of breathe, my body begins to hyperventilate, which makes me lose more air. Before I knew it, I had no more air left and the other guy's body was just inches away.

    Suddenly, as my vision started going black, I saw Win and the strangest thing started to happen. I saw the two of us, but we looked so different to how we looked now. It was like I was seeing us in a different era and we were happy. Holding hands, smiling at each other, laughing together.
   
    Seeing us like that gave me the strength to push forward and grabbed the other guy's body. I saw another pair of hands grab the guy and I looked up to see Win helping me bring this guy to the surface.

    I gasped for air as my head broke the surface and could hear clapping as P'Daew and P'Phek helped the guy out of the water and started CPR on him. I could feel hands on my waist, so I looked over my shoulder to see Win pushing me out of the water and onto the side of the pool.

    Fortunately, the guy was fine. He had caught a cramp in the water. He wouldn't make the team, but he seemed perfectly fine with that. After he was taken to the hospital for a thorough examination, P'Phek gave the names of the people who made the team. I made the team as well as Ae, Bea, and C.

    Those who made the team would get to go to a local beach and hotel over the weekend. While there, we'd learn some different exercises to help our muscles stay strong and reduce soreness and how to keep up our staminas. As well bond with each other.