The Ocean In His Eyes

Chapter 2

--- Aither's POV ---

I pulled my shirt over my head and looked through my sports bag for my swim trunks. I yanked down my pants and underwear and slid on the shorts. It's weird… I've never seen the new person on the team before. Maybe they just moved here.

I had a light build, and a swimmer's body, but I didn't eat much anyway. I left my bag in the locker room and joined everyone in the shallow end of the pool.

The pool wasn't huge, but it was bigger than you would expect from a crappy school like ours.

Coach Francis told everyone to start doing laps, but called me and the new guy to talk. I waded over to him.

"Aither, this is Raiden. Raiden, this is Aither." Coach Francis introduced us, and I shook Raiden's hand.

Raiden had sea-green eyes, with
speckles of blue. Freckles looked like they were sprinkled on his face. His short, dark hair complemented his light skin. The light reflecting off the water in the pool cast strange patterns onto his skin. He looked at me curiously, and I avoided eye contact, blushing.

"So, you must be the great swimmer everyone's been talking about," Raiden grinned.

I shook my head. "No, I always come second to William, he's faster than me."

Raiden frowned, "Don't compare
yourself to others, I'm sure you're an awesome swimmer."

"Well, let's see," I lunged into the deep end. My cheeks burned from embarrassment.

~~~~~~

--- Raiden's POV ---

I walked up to him, ruffling my wet hair with a towel. "You are fast, just not fast enough to beat me."

Aither shot me a look, and I smiled. The exercise was refreshing, and he even managed to keep up with me. We raced a couple times, and Aither beat William twice.

"I've never seen anyone swim the way you do. It's like you were born in the water." I stiffened. "You swim like a dolphin." I turned to look at him. He was fully dressed and had his bag in his hand.

"It's the way I learned to swim," I said softly. "When I was little, my parents brought me to aquariums, and my favorite animals to see were always the dolphins."

I put on my hoodie and slung my bag over my shoulder.

"How are you going to get home?” I asked Aither. The hallways were empty and everyone else had already left. We walked down the hallway, side by side. He's a little shorter than me.

"I'll probably call my brother to pick me up." I was weirdly conscious of how close our shoulders were.

We reached the doors at the end of the corridor. "Do you need a ride?”

Aither's face flushed, "No, I can walk home. I like the exercise."

"If you say so." I put my bag on the floor and rummaged through it to find paper and a pen. I scribbled down my number and handed him the paper. "Call me." I grabbed my bag off the floor and pushed through the doors.