Distortion [S. Harrington]

chapter 41

It was a scorching hot day in Hawkins, possibly even hotter than it had been yesterday. Lucy had planned to go to the pool today to relax but it was so hot that she got in the water and swam instead. Going to the pool was basically the only thing she had done all summer besides going to work at the mall. 

The hot concrete singed the bottoms of her feet as she walked over to the deep end of the pool. She didn't know what was more bothersome, the boiling concrete or the feeling of someone boring eye shaped holes into the back of her head. The sensation on her feet was beginning to become unbearable so she dove into the pool without using the diving board. 

Getting in the pool to swim laps, Luxy felt eyes on her exposed skin but she ignored them. Diving into the deep end, she let herself sink underneath the water, slowly lowering herself to the bottom. Clearing her mind and not thinking of anything in particular, she drifted downwards. She felt it was easy to sink when there was nothing on your mind.

Billy watched with a whistle hanging from his mouth as Lucy sank to the pool's bottom.
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It was a hot day in Hawkins, maybe even hotter than yesterday, and Lucy was glad she was at the pool. It was basically the only thing she did all summer besides go to work. This time she wasn't sitting on a chair reading her book, she was actually in the water.

It was hot so she did laps in the designated area in the pool, but she felt eyes watching her. She already knew who it was but didn't pay him any mind as she continued swimming.

When she got out of the pool he was already there handing her a towel to dry off with. A yellow towel, her favorite color. Billy handed her the towel and smiled.

"You're a pretty good swimmer. Where did you learn?" He said, popping a piece of gum into his mouth.

"Uh, my mom used to take me to swimming lessons when I was little. I guess it just stuck with me," Lucy said as she wrapped the towel around herself and started going towards her chair with Billy following.

"Really? I bet she is a good swimmer too."

"I guess. I don't really talk to her anymore, she kind of left me and my dad..." Lucy said feeling a slight sting from talking about her mother. Billy quickly changed the topic, now thinking of his own mother who did the same thing, and tried to take Lucy's mind off it.

While they talked to each other, Mrs. Wheeler and her friends talked about Lucy and Billy, judging them, more Lucy, from afar.

"What does she have that we don't?" Karen Wheeler asked, jealousy dripping like venom from her words. The moms watched as Billy sat and talked with Lucy Hopper on the far side of the pool.

"No husband?" One mom suggested.

"And no kids," another said, mumbling as she continued to read her magazine.

"She has a boyfriend though. My daughter's ex-boyfriend actually. I think she only goes after guys that are unavailable," Karen said glaring towards the two laughing in the shade.