Hold Your Breath

Chapter 2

Hold Your Breath

Chapter 2

I looked through the crowd at the pier, searching for the face I knew best. All of a sudden, I spotted him. Those bright blue eyes, the chocolate brown hair, the one chipped tooth that was cuter than anything.

I figured I was staring, so I looked at the stand in front of me. My heart, beating fast, skipped a beat as I looked over again. Only to find Nathan watching me too, and walking over to me.

Oh gosh, I thought, my brain screaming for answers.

"Hey, Anna," he said.

"Hi, Nathan." Now what do I do?!

"Emily should be here any minute," I sputtered.

"Okay...want to ride the carousel while we wait?" He asked.

"Sure!" I exclaimed. He was asking me to ride the carousel. With him. My brain struggled to process this.

We walked straight up to the front since it was so early and there was no line. I looked at him and smiled after we sat in one of the carriages instead of the horses. He smiled back. We'd done this back and forth smiling thing a couple days now. I really hope it means something. The ride started up, slowly moving us in a circle while the classic carousel music started up.

I had liked him for a while now, I just hadn't had the courage to tell him. But now under the carousel lights with the Ferris wheel behind me, I felt like now was the right time. The game booth workers were shouting so I had to yell a little to get his attention again.

"Can I tell you something?" He looked at me. I was really going to do this.

"Yeah?"

"I...I..."I was trying to say it, but I was getting choked up.

"Anna?"

I couldn't do this any more. I couldn't pretend, not any more.

"I like you." My heart stopped. I'd said it. I searched his face for expression.

"Anna, I like you, too." Stunned, my eyes widened.

"Really?" I could feel blood rushing to my ears.

"Yes, I've been wanting to tell you, I just didn't know how."

"Now what?" I thought aloud.

"We could go on a date tomorrow if that's okay?" Nathan suggested.

"Uh, yeah, okay," I said, partially stuttering. I still couldn't believe this was happening.

I looked around and saw the ride was over, so we got up and exited the carousel. My stomach was starting to grumble. I guess in all the excitement, I'd forgotten to get some dinner.

"Hungry?" Nathan laughed, "I can get us something to eat, if that's okay?"

I nodded and told him what I wanted.

"I'll wait over here," I said and pointed to a small bench on the opposite side of the pier as he smiled.

I walked towards the bench and when I reached it, I looked over the railing down into the rolling waves. They looked so pretty as the early moonlight shined on them. I stepped back, pulled out my phone, and started dialing Em's number to find out where she was when I felt a push from behind.

"Hey! Watch it!" I said as I spun around seeing Caleb behind me.

"How could you?!" he half-yelled.

I tried to respond, but he pushed me over the railing of the pier. The waves came crashing at me before the world went black.

***

I don't know how long I was under. It could've been minutes, hours. Anything was possible when you can't breathe or see. I was thinking about needing air, my lungs were burning. I gasped, only making it worse.

I tried swimming to the surface. I came up and got a small gulp of air, before waves came crashing over my head. I thought I was being pushed to the shore, but all I could think about was getting another gulp of air.

I felt something grab my arm. At first I thought it was a fish, but it was warm. Then I could see. The world wasn't black anymore but it was blurry. The thing touching my arm let go and I heard someone shouting.

"Anna?! Anna wake up please!! Come on! Breathe!"

It was a male voice, I knew that, but I had no clue who's it was. I coughed, letting some water out of my lungs, and slowly brought my hands up to my face to get the water out of my eyes. I opened my eyes and could finally see.

I saw Nathan leaning over me laying on the sand. Suddenly, all I wanted was for his arm to be around me. I sat up quickly and pulled him into a hug. With his arms around me, I started crying.

"Ohmigosh! Are you okay?!" I heard a girl say.

I looked up to see Emily standing there with watery eyes. I slowly nodded as I let go of Nathan and stood up. As I did, a shot of pain shot through my ankle.

"Ow!" I yelped.

Nathan was instantly by my side. I lifted up my leg to relieve the pain. I looked at him, just wanting to be back on the pier again. I noticed he was soaking wet; he must've jumped in to save me.

"What hurts? You're ankle?" Nathan questioned.

I nodded. Why me? Why did I have to have a crazy stalker? Why did he have to push me off the pier?

"I called 911 on the pier so there's an ambulance," Emily stated.

Nathan looked at me with worrisome eyes. "Can you walk? It's in the parking lot."

"I might need some help," I sighed.

Nathan nodded and put his left arm around my waist, and took my right arm to put around his shoulders. If I hadn't just been tossed off a pier, I would have enjoyed this moment more than I am now. We walked across the sandy beach and finally reached the parking lot after a five minute walk. Well, a limping walk anyways.

I was taken into the ambulance. They assessed me, and found out I had a small concussion and a sprained ankle. They did what needed to be done and took me to the local hospital. Nathan rode in the back with me, while Emily drove her car there and called my mom to tell her what happened.

I arrived at the hospital, where the paramedics sat me in the emergency room since I wasn't that badly injured, and gave both me and Nathan a towel. Nathan sat down next to me in the cheap hospital chairs. Thank goodness they were cheap because we were both soaking wet. His hand moved towards mine and before I realized what he was doing, our hands were together. Our eyes met and I smiled as our fingers intwined. I leaned down and laid my head on his shoulder.

It was almost perfect until I looked up and saw my mom running toward us.