She was happy to stand in the shallower end now and reveal her T-shirt-clad body.
“Youasshole. You know I crap my pants over slasher movies.”
“I did not know that, but am filing the information away for the horror module.”
Thatstopped her. Or did it stop him?
There was a sudden lack of splashing water, at least.
“You want to keep working with me after this is done?”
“Oh god no. I was planning on healing all your wounds by never speaking to you again after this semester.” She could almost hear the eye roll. The wonderful, amazing eye roll. “Are you serious right now?”
“I’m definitely rethinking the seriousness, if that helps.”
“It does, considering we’re supposed to be having the fun now.”
“We are having the fun. The fun has increased by a good thirty percent already.”
“See? I know how to get a party started.”
“Is that what we’re going to do? Party? In a deserted, completely dark pool?”
“Well maybe not party, exactly. But think about it—I can’t see you. You can’t see me.”
“Oh are we playing a round of state the obvious?”
“I was thinking more of Marco Polo.”
She went to protest after that, but it died on her lips. After all, what would she be protesting for? He was suggesting a harmless game that kids played. There was nothing scary or weird about that, no matter how dark it was. Though she had to say, it did seem darker than it had before. The blackness felt denser somehow, now that everything was so suddenly silent.
Why was everything so suddenly silent?
He was still moving, she was sure he was. Yet there was nothing—not even the hush of his breathing as he got closer and closer, or the splash as he dove down to grab at her legs.
Though she knew he would probably do it soon.
It was the reason she kept quiet, when he called out, “Marco.”
“Come on, Letty. You have to sayPolo.”
“If I say it you’ll get me.”
“I’m going to get you anyway if you keep talking.”
“That isn’t fair. I need to keep talking to ward off ghosts.”
“Now we got ghostson topof campus killers?”
“It’s probably the spirits of his murder victims.”
“That is some sound horror movie logic right there.”
“Why thank you. I pride myself on it.”
“You know what’s not sound though?” he asked, and she went to answer him. It was just that he got there first: “Discussing horror movie logic when you’re trying to avoid me doingthis.”
She didn’t mean to scream. Or to sound so delighted when she did the screaming. Part of her had thought she reallywasunsettled, that her heart was only pounding out of fear, that she was shivering because of nerves or anxiety. But then he got her in a kind of bear hug, and somehow everything was upside down and inside out. She was almost laughing through her yelp of surprise.
