We Could Be Enough - Lams

XII.

"Cannon Ball!"

I look up just in time to see Alex jump in next to me, dousing me with water.

I laugh and splash his face right as he comes back up.

"Hey!" He sputters, shaking his head like a wet dog.

"You only have yourself to blame." I shrug and try to swim away. He catches my wrist and pulls me back.

"Where're you tryin' to go? I'm not done," he flashes a smile at me. He pushes a wave of water in my direction, but I duck out of the way just in time for it to head past me and straight onto Angelica, who just so happens to be floating serenely on an inner tube.

She gasps as the water splatters onto her. "Oh my god! Now my clothes are all wet, Alex!" She cries. She tries to splash him back but almost falls out of the inflatable in the process, and gives up.

"Why'd you get in the pool if you didn't want to get wet?" He countered.

She sighs and re-adjusts herself in the floaty. I think I hear her whisper something about Alex being an 'insufferable idiot' under her breath.

Peggy swims by in her mermaid-themed swimsuit. She looks majestic... until she starts coughing and complaining about water up her nose.

I look to my left and see that Herc and Laf are lounging in two of the three deck chairs by the side of the chain-link fence around the pool.

"Hey, Alex," I poke him in the arm. "have you ever wondered why there's a fence around the pool?"

"Probably to keep all the kids from running away. Those little shits manage to do it every year anyway, then there's an hour-long search just to end up finding them hiding in one of the bathroom stalls."

"Wow."

"Yep."

"Cool."

Silence hangs in the air for just a moment too long.

"I'll be right back, I just gotta use the restroom for a moment," Alex says, drifting towards the edge of the pool and climbing out.

I glance around. I suddenly feel very small and exposed.

Now that I'm alone, I sink myself to the bottom of the pool. The 4-feet deep area I stand in leaves barely enough water to engulf my head. Maybe the deep end would be better.

As I paddle over to the deep end, everyone's conversations start to sound more and more indistinct. I take a deep breath and put my head under. I start to swim to the bottom. It's a serene place at ten feet under.

I turn around, and sit criss-cross at the bottom of the pool. I open my eyes, and the chlorine surprisingly doesn't hurt my eyes as much as it should. I look up and see a lot of air bubbles float around my head, rising slowly to the surface. Through the turquoise blue, I can see Peggy's legs kicking at the other end of the pool. All the sounds feel muffled. Everything is peaceful ten feet under.

I think there's comfort in the bottom of a swimming pool.

My lungs are starting to feel tight. I breach the surface and immediately see Alex standing at the other end, near the bathrooms.

He see's me coming up, and hurridly motions for me to come towards him.

I slowly swim over to the other side. The sun glints on the water and right into my eyes, so I don't see what he's showing me at first. After a moment of letting my eyes readjust, I ackowledge his shoving a phone in my face.

"What is it?" I ask, looking up at him.

He kneels down so he's closer to me. He whispers in my ear, "There's a lizard in the bathroom and I got a picture."

He stands back up and motions for me to follow him. I climb out of the pool and scamper quickly to the bathroom, grabbing my towel from the bench before I go inside.

I wipe some of the water off of me and remember why I hate the transition from pool to land. I'm now well aware of the slight breeze blowing through the area, making my legs ten times colder than they would be.

The yellow fluorescent lights of the bathroom make the whole thing look strange and eerie, kind of like a movie that is too heavily influenced by the lighting gin any given scene. I can single out a low hum coming from an unidentified area. It's the only thing my ears can focusing on at the moment.

Alex shuffles over to the third sink over on the far wall and ducks under it. He holds his hand out as if he were to be petting something.

As I get closer, I notice a small reddish-orange salamander in the corner, surrounded by tons and tons of dust and debris that feet happen to pick up outside and drag into here.

"Come here, little buddy. It's okay, I won't hurt you." He says softly. He picks the thing up and stands quickly.

I stare at it for a while. It looks confused. I don't think the bathroom is the natural habitat for salamanders.

"Let's name it Stanley." He says abruptly.

"What? Let's put it outside, back in the wild."

"No! It doesn't belong out there! It needs to be nurtured and cared for!"

"Alex, it does literally belong out there, that's where it lives. We need to put it back. Look at it, it's so confused."

He pets the little salamander and looks at it sadly.

"I guess..."

"Good. Now c'mon." I start walking towards the door.

He grumbles a bit but follows me anyway.

I reach to open the door, when It swings out in front of me.

I hear Alex mutter something from behind me.

"Jefferson."

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