Last month, he wonthreeawards at fifth-grade graduation. No one else won that many. He’sso cool.
Actually, I kind of miss him now that he’s gone.
How long can he keep holding his breath?
There are no more ripples in the water from where he went under. I turn in slow circles, scanning for him. But I still don’t see him.
Something feels weird.
The longer he’s under, the more it’s making my stomach hurt. I don’t like this.
I suck in air and dip my head under again, my eyes burning as I try to spot him in the water.
The green water blurs everything, but thankfully, I see him. His arms stretch out above him, little bubbles slipping from his mouth as he sinks down slowly.
I don’t wait. I shove through the heavy water, wrap my arm around his chest and kick us toward the surface. My lungs burn, screaming for air, but I don’t stop until we break through.
It takes some work to pull him, but thankfully, we aren’t too far from the shallow end. Once my feet touch the bottom, we both stumble toward the shore.
Tobias sinks to the ground, coughing heavily. I sit beside him, breathing in deeply while I try to catch my own breath.
“What happened!?” I struggle to say, pushing past how much my throat burns.
Tobias looks away from me, and it makes me feel sad. He pulls his knees to his chest, burying his face in his elbow like he’s scared to show me. But, I can tell from the soft way he’s shaking that he’s crying.
“Tobias.” I move closer, rubbing his back in big circles, the same way my dad does it when I’m sick. “Do you…not know how to swim?” I ask softly.
He doesn’t answer. He only shakes his head slowly, keeping his eyes on the sand below his feet.
This makes me so angry at myself for taking him into the water. “Why didn’t you tell me?! You could’ve gotten hurt. My dad would’ve killed me if something happened to you.”
Tobias chuckles softly, looking down at the sand. Squishing the grains in his hand, he throws a pile of it in front of him before coming back for more. “I didn’t want…” he sniffs, rubbing his nose on his arm. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed that you brought me here.”
Disappointed?
What a silly thing to think. It’s so silly that it makes me smile. He can be so funny. “I didn’t bring you here just toswim.”
Tobias’s eyes finally find mine. They look so sparkly and blue right now.
“Really?” he asks.I swear I can see a little smile appear. Good. I’m happy he’s feeling better. I don’t like it when he’s sad.
I nod quickly. “Oh yeah. There’ssomuch we can do together. Video games. Water guns. Oh! My dad says we can hang out in the boathouse. We can make it into our special secret hideout.” I raise my eyebrows up and down making him laugh.
“Okay, yeah! That sounds like fun.”
“But you know…if youwantto learn how to swim. I can teach you that, too.” I shrug.
Tobias’s smile drops again. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to! It’ll be fun. I just thought your dad would’ve taught you.”
He shakes his head, looking down. “No.”
“Well, that’s okay. I can teach you.” I puff out my chest, making him laugh again.
“You’d do that?” He sputters, wiping some wet droplets off his lips with the back of his hand.
“I’d do anything for you.” I shrug. “You’re my best friend.”
