Even underneath the water, whilst he held his breath, a part of him still thought about how he’d had that peace of mind during the car rides with Carmen, when she used to be seated beside him.
Honestly, he’d never believed anything other than losing himself underwater could bring that sense of calmness over him. But apparently there was something else that effortlessly provided him solace, and it came in the form of a hurricane with midnight hair and thundercloud eyes that smelt like a late autumn afternoon.
There was a pressure right in the middle of his chest, but he was quite certain it had nothing to do with the fact that he’d been holding his breath for so long and everything to do with the mere recalling of Carmen’s half-smile half-grin.
Needing to come up for air, Asa let his arms stop moving and waited as his body gradually dropped from the floating position, and his feet grazed the pool’s floor. Even with his towering six-foot-three-inch frame standing in the centre of the pool, the water managed to reach his collarbones. That’s how deep it was.
“Hey.”
The voice that had materialised out of thin air made Asa gasp, and forgetting momentarily that he was standing in a pool, he stumbled backwards only to lose his balance. He fell into the water without warning, and it entered his mouth that’d opened in shock, making his lungs burn before he quickly scrambled to the surface again, coughing violently and spluttering all over the place.
“Oh my God!” he heard Carmen yell and from his currently blurred peripheral vision, saw her scramble to her feet, as if to rush towards the side of the pool he was in.
Asa shook his head quickly and gestured for her to stay back, while he still tried to catch his breath. “Don’t—” He heaved, grabbing onto the pool’s edge and lifting himself up halfway. “The floor’s slippery—” he cleared his throat, hating the burning sensation from swallowing water, “so unless you want a concussion or a fractured skull, I’d suggest not running.”
He stayed put in that position for a while, the edge of the pool wall pressing into his stomach as he kept his upper torso bent over the wall in an attempt to catch his breath. Eventually, the burning feeling in his lungs and throat dissipated, and his breathing became even once again.
There were so many questions running around in his head, bumping into each other and setting off mini explosions, but he shoved them all away to a corner of his mind. They weren’t his priority right now.
No, right now, all he wanted to do was look at her. At Carmen. He just needed to allow his eyes to drink in every single atom of her being.
So he pressed his palms further against the wall and pulled himself completely out of the water, sitting there by the edge of the pool and tilting his head to the side as his eyes swept over her like they had all the time in the world.
Carmen was staring at him, her eyes slightly wide and dazed, her mouth just a tiny bit ajar like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how to. Her skin was pale, almost ivory, and her dark hair and grey eyes made her look like some porcelain doll. Honestly, if she had cherry red lips, she might as well have been the real-life version of Snow White.
But the problem with having pale skin such as hers was that it was pretty noticeable when colour seeped in, and his eyes instantly picked up on the rosy tint that was dusting her cheeks and neck now.
Asa’s eyes never left hers as his lips curved into a lazy smirk, knowing that she was feeling flustered about seeing him up close like this. He was so used to Carmen looking past his defences and his exterior, that he’d forgotten that she was capable of being affected by his physique too.
“Did you just come here to check me out?” He grinned.
The rosy tint of her cheeks darkened to a furious shade of red as she quickly shut her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
To Asa’s surprise, she shook her head to herself, opened her eyes, and then began walking towards where he was cautiously. Once she was right next to him, she dropped her bag and seated herself on the floor, crossing her legs as her kneecaps gently brushed his legs.
“So,” she said.
“So.” He raised a brow.
He noticed as one of her hands reached up for the chain around her neck and began fidgeting with it.
“I have a spare right now too.” She shrugged. “And I figured you’d be here during yours.”
“You’re on a spare too?” Asa’s mind flashed back to their conversation last week when they’d had a free period together. “Another coincidence?” he asked with a touch of nostalgia in his voice.
Carmen’s lips slowly curved into a small smile. “Funny things they are, coincidences.”
“Hmm,” he mumbled, distracted, as his eyes drilled into hers.
“I mean, it’s crazy, isn’t it? To think that we’ve been having our spares at the same time all this time. But you’d always be here in the pool, and I’d be spending my time in the art room.” She looked at the floor, her brows pulling together. “Just a building apart. That had been the only distance between you and me.”
All those times he hadn’t acknowledged her existence, and she’d just been a building away during his spares, a few tables away during lunch, a couple of rows away during AP Lit, and just a single seat away in AP Cal.
And now... Now he could feel every inch of her being intertwined with his own existence and Lord knew Asa wouldn’t change it for the world.
