Taking his seat right beside her, Felix quickly rolled up the ends of pantlegs and stuck his feet into the water. Though the it wasn’t exactly warm, the air around them wasn’t exactly cold either. Being indoors and all, the pool was protected from the outside climate, naturally. “Something like this, but nnnoot this,” he responded, biting down on his lower lip to keep the mischievousness behind his smile from showing. He knew he had to be careful going about getting Emily in the water and he feared if he revealed too much of his plan too quickly that she would say ‘no’ and he would be forced to give her her gift early.
So, instead of directly inviting her to a swim, Felix decided to challenge her in some way. How to do it was tricky and he thought a game of Truth-or-Dare would be a bit too transparent. He decided to tell her about a game he and his siblings would play as children while passing summer afternoons in the pool of the West family home. “We would sit at the bottom of the shallow end and see who could hold their breath the longest,” he began with a smiling, a small chuckle of laughter punctuated the first bit of his story. As he continued speaking, he reached for Emily’s hair and stroked it softly, admiring the feel of its silkiness on his hands. “One day, while I was eating my lunch, I saw my dad jump into the pool with all of his clothes on. I was so confused–everyone was and everyone rushed out to see why he’d done it. Turns out, he saw my brother and sister at the bottom of the pool, not moving, for a couple of seconds too long and he thought they had drowned. Really, they were just competing to see who would be the Breath Holding Champion.”
By the time Felix finished his story, he had to suppress some of his laughter as the image of his father, wet and irritated by silly childish games, remained vivid and clear in his mind’s eye. He tried to show Emily the soaking grimace of Papa West, but Felix lacked his father’s large mustache and piercing blue eyes that looked red from the chlorine. Still, he managed to make her laugh and that was enough for him. Once all of their laughter had rolled out of their bellies, Felix peered over at Emily and said in a serious, challenging tone: “Bet I could my breath longer than you can.”
He’s not giving her any clues and there’s no doubt in her mind that this is the expression Felix has when he’s up to something. She smiles, liking how they sit side by side protected from the night’s breeze -- just the two of them and the sound of the water, every time she moves her feet in it. It’s so peaceful. Inhaling deeply, Emily looks at the blue waters for a moment. She’s thankful for how kind he is to her, and how well Felix seems to know her. Little things mattered the most, and right now the brunette is happy and at peace.
Leaning into his touch, the brunette smiles as she listens to the story. She always thought it would be awesome, growing up with siblings. Being an only child was often lonely, especially when her parents were busy with the diner. She never blamed them -- they did the best they could and they loved her dearly. “Oh my God.” A giggle escapes her, turning to look at him. “Little rascals, giving your dad a scare! Sounds fun though. Did you guys do that a lot?” she asks, wondering if they would all come up with games to play together that would sometimes give their parents a scare. “It must have been so nice growing up around people close to your age.”
She laughs, Felix’s expression far too funny to ignore. Leaning in closer, the brunette bumps her shoulder into his. “What? Nope. No way.” Shaking her head, Emily laughs. “You know I’m the best swimmer out there. You’ve seen the pool at Oasis, how could you ever doubt my abilities to turn into a fish?” she jokes, biting down on her lip. “You know what.. let’s do it. The loser has to make the other dinner.”
