Learning to Breathe (3 page)

We arrived at the spring and discovered that we weren’t the only ones who were early. I took a deep breath, got out of the car, and followed Harriet as she made her way over to a group of guys who were standing by a fancy Honda Civic.

“Hey guys!
” Harriet waved at them as she approached. “This is Darcie, she just moved next door.”

The guys all gave me a lazy, half wave which I returned while I muttered “hey” at them all.

Harriet sighed. “Guys, the least you could do is introduce yourselves!”

They all chuckled and a particu
larly good-looking guy piped up. “Yeah, well why bother … we know you’ll do it for us!”

Harriet laughed.
“True, okay Darcie, that’s James, Elijah and my boyfriend, Samuel.” She pointed each of them out in turn and I nodded obediently.

Harriet smiled and then turned her attention back to the boys
. “So, are you guys going down to the water or what?”

Samuel nodded
. “Yeah, we were just waiting for some of you chicks to turn up – no point in showing off our fancy diving moves if nobody’s there to appreciate them.” He winked at me and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Harriet rolled her e
yes. “You and your ego Samuel! Well, come on then … let’s see if you can compete with your girlfriend.”

A short while later and more people had arrived. Harriet introduced me to them all but I knew I wouldn’t be able to remember all of their names. I happily watched them all splash about and race each other, trying out various strokes. However, I was constantly dreading someone asking me why I wasn’t joining in … I really hoped that I could avoid explaining my reason – it was a rather lengthy story.

I was just starting to relax when another group of guys arrived – I wa
s horrified when I found there was one face that I already knew. Harriet quickly bounded over to me so that she could introduce me. However, when she came to Danny, he interrupted her.

“It’s okay Harri …
Darcie and I go way back.” He winked at me and I tried not to roll my eyes at his arrogance.

Harriet threw me a curious look but never said anything – she
just walked off to compete with Samuel who was insisting on doing a butterfly stroke race.

The group of guys quickly dispersed until it was just Danny remaining. I sighed heavily and began to walk off when he started to follow me.

“So Darcie, I think my phone’s broken …” He trailed off, obviously waiting for me to respond.

I decided to humour
him. “Is that so?”

He nodded.
“Yeah, you see I didn’t get any calls from you.”

I tried my best to look puzzled.
“Call you? Why would I call you? I don’t remember you telling me to. From what I can remember, we barely spoke to each other.” I bit back a smirk when he looked confused.

“Didn’t you look at the receipt?”

I shook my head. “No, why?” It took all of my strength not to burst out laughing at his baffled expression.

He looked
at me intently and then smirked. “You’re just screwing with me, aren’t you?”

I nodded.
“You deserve it – using a line like that. Please tell me no girl has actually fallen for that.”

I watched as his nos
e crinkled up when he laughed. “You’d be surprised!” He then threw me that cocky lopsided grin and winked again.

I rolled my eyes
. “Well then, I’m disappointed in my fellow females.”

He chuckled but then h
is face turned serious. “Didn’t you even consider calling?”

“Please!” I scoffed, “I threw it in the bin as soon as I noticed it.”

His disappointment was obvious by his frown. “Ouch, not even a second glance then?”

I felt a little guilty about making h
im feel bad so I smirked at him. “Well maybe I did stare at it for about ten minutes.”

The cocky grin was back.
“I knew it! So, now that’s out of the way, what’s your story? Why’d you move here?”

We sat down on the towel I had brought and I wondered what I would tell Danny. I really didn’t want to dredge up everything about my past but I guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to tell him the short version. I sighed and glanced at those mesmerising hazel eyes before I told him all about my mother getting a new job.

Throughout our conversation, I noticed that he looked genuinely interested in what I was saying. I didn’t read too much into it though – the last thing I needed was someone prying into my private life.

We happily sat in silence for a while, watching everyone joke around and mess about in the water. Then Harriet got out and declared that she was hungry which resulted in a fight to get to the sandwiches.

Once everyone had eaten, Danny
was dragged into competing in the races. I happily sat watching again, glad that nobody approached me – it didn’t last long. I was too busy watching Harriet that I didn’t notice James running at me. By the time I realised what he was doing, it was too late.

He hoisted me over his shoulder and ran to the water’s edge. I tried to protest but he ignored me – probably thinking that I was just playing along. I was terrified and I could already feel my lungs tightening. The next thing I knew, he had thrown me in.

My lungs felt like they were on fire. I could taste the salty water but there was nothing I could do to stop it from rushing into my lungs. I was chokin
g while I screamed out for help and I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. Suddenly, I could feel strong arms around me and hear someone comforting me.

“Darcie, you’re going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise …”

I don’t exactly remember what happened after that but
I vaguely recall that I started screaming and then someone pulled me out. Once I was out of the water, it took around ten minutes before I could make sense of anything. I could hear Danny telling everyone to back off and that I was fine.

I
managed to open my eyes and found Danny looking down at me. I could also see Harriet staring at me with a worried look on her face. I tried to sit up but Danny pushed me back down and looked over at Harriet.

“Harri, she’s fine. She just needs some space, okay?”

He was speaking in quite an authoritative tone and I noticed how Harriet nodded obediently and walked off.

Danny looked
at me again. “Sorry but I figured you wouldn’t want an audience.”

I tried to sit up again and this time Danny let me. I felt quite cold now since I was soaked to the skin. I shivered and then felt Danny placing something over my shoulders – my towel. I huddled beneath it, determined not to look at Danny or even talk to him but I knew I needed to thank him. I sighed and was about to speak but he beat me to it.

“So, I take it you’re not a big fan of swimming.”

I shook my head and he nodded.

“That’s understandable … but most people don’t react like you. You sure you’re okay?” His hazel eyes looked at me in concern.

I nodded.
“I’m fine … just embarrassed. Thanks for pulling me out though.”

D
anny nodded. “No problem, James feels really bad about the whole thing … he thought you were just playing along until I realised something was wrong.”

“It’s okay. It’s just that I can’t swim and I panicked - it’s a bit silly really.” I glanced away from him, hoping
my face didn’t give me away.

“Darcie look, I’ve spent the past three summers training as a lifeguard in the local pool, I think I’d know how non-swimmers react the first time t
hey get into the water but you … you were hysterical.”

I glanced at him sharply.
“Just what are you insinuating exactly?”

He sighed heavily.
“You tell me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I just can’t swim – it’s no big deal.”

Dann
y raised an eyebrow sceptically. “Darcie, you know as well as I do that you can learn to swim at anytime. I think there’s more to it than that.”

“Oh really, is that so? You’ve known me all of but a few hours and
already you think you know all about me?” I fired back at him.

He shrugged.
“Well if it’s really just about that you can’t swim, why don’t you go and learn? Hell, I’d teach you myself!”

I threw him a dark look.
“I have no intention of ever learning to swim.”

“But why?” he
enquired, a frustrated look on his face.

“
I don’t believe that’s any of your business so just drop it.” I snapped at him, I was starting to feel very angry.

“Darcie come on, everyone’s gotta face their fears sometime.” He studied my face intently.

I stood up, narrowed my eyes at him, and adopted a threatening tone.

“Drop it.”
I repeated and then I stormed off.

Harriet drove us home about five minutes after my altercation with Danny.
She never mentioned my reaction at being thrown into the water nor did she ask what had happened with Danny and for that, I was grateful.

After I
mumbled my thanks and got out of the car, I hurried inside and found my mother cooking dinner in the kitchen.

“Oh honey, what h
appened? Why are you all wet?” She eyed me with concern.

I shrugged.
“Water fight – I lost.” I didn’t want to tell her what had really happened – it would just be an excuse for her to have yet another ‘how are you feeling’ conversation. I quickly escaped from the kitchen before she had the chance to question me further and went upstairs to clean up.

Once I was safe in the sanctuary of my own room, I allowed myself to think back on what had happened. I was mad at myself for having reacted the way I did but I knew it was inevitable – I still wasn’t over what had happened and I really didn’t know if I would ever fully recover.

I quickly showered and changed into dry clothes before going downstairs again. My mother was now setting the table for dinner and I had to admit, something smelled good. My mother wasn’t exactly the best cook but the spaghetti she was dishing out looked delicious.

“Look
s good Mum.” I took a seat at the table and she smiled at me.

“So, did you have a good time then?” I could tell she was dying to know if I had made any friends so I decided to humour her.

“Yeah, Harriet seems really nice – she lives next door too which is handy. She introduced to me everyone else – not that I remember all of their names but they all seem friendly enough.”

I didn’t know whethe
r or not to mention Danny – no doubt my mother would read too much into things.

“Oh honey, that’s great!” my mother enthused.

I nodded but didn’t say anything else. I finished off eating my spaghetti and then quickly disappeared upstairs again – I desperately needed an early night.

My lungs felt like they were on fire. I could taste the salty water but there was nothing I could do to stop it from rushing into my lungs. I was choking while I screamed out for help and I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. Suddenly, I could feel strong arms around me and hear someone comforting me.

“Darcie, you’re going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise …”

I then suddenly turned to look at my saviour and found that it was not the usual face that haunted me every night … this time it was Danny.

I abruptly woke up and I was mad at myself – not because I had yet another nightmare – but because Danny had now invaded my dreams. I glanced at the clock – 8.30am. I was surprised at this as I normally woke at an ungodly hour – this was the first time in about eight months that I remembered sleeping past 7am.

Stifling a yawn, I got up and made my way downstairs to find a note from my mother:

‘Darcie,

Away sorting out a few things – be back after lunch.

Love Mum x’

I sighed and then proceeded to make myself a mug of coffee – it looked like I had some time to kill.
I ate my breakfast leisurely and then took extra care when deciding what to wear. I eventually settled on my dark skinny jeans, a grey checked shirt and my navy Converse.

By ten o’clock, I had done all I needed to do and was contemplating my next action when the doorbell rang. I idly wondered who it could be as I made my
way to the door. I found James waiting there, an anxious look on his face.

“
James? What’re you doing here?” I enquired, frowning at him.

A look
of relief washed over his face. “Darcie – thank God. I thought you’d be away with your mum. I just came over to apologise about yesterday. It was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it – I didn’t know you can’t swim. I’m really sorry, I really am.” He looked at me pleadingly and I smiled at him.