Page 1 of Elemasters

Chapter 1

In Too Deep

PACIFIC COVE, WASHINGTON, 2006

When Dustin Ying was 7 years old, he learned a fun fact.

“70% of the human body is water,”

It was like the universe suddenly clicked into place for him; like he finally had a way to describe the way he experienced the world. The way his thoughts flowed in ways that weren’t always easy for others to track, how the true depth of his emotions couldn’t always be gleaned from the surface… and the pressure he was constantly living under.

Given his obsession, it was no surprise to his parents when he spent an entire summer at the beach, swimming from sunup to sundown; deeply familiarizing himself with the feeling of waves against his skin, the flow of the currents, and the way salt clung to his hair. It was even less of a surprise when he wanted to try out for the swim team freshman year, and less still when he quickly became their star member.

You’d think that’d be enough to make his mom and dad brag about him at every family gathering, or around the water cooler at work… or whatever the fuck people did in corporate offices.

Yeah, you’d think.

His parents’ lack of acknowledgement never stopped him from getting to school over an hour early, just to practice his dive, or take a few laps in the massive pool to clear his mind. It was a bit colder than he liked and filled with chlorine that made his skin feel weird; but he’d still much rather be there than at home when everyone else woke up.

And so, there he was, standing on the diving board overlooking that sparkling, blue rectangle that always welcomed him when no one else did. There was only one week left until the regional swim meet, and there was no better time to focus than this; before anyone else was around to break his concentration.

He stared down at the still water from the 3-meter diving board and inhaled deeply. He rolled his shoulders back, bounced once on the board… and then launched himself into the air, twirling dramatically on the descent until he sliced through the surface of the water like a precision instrument. In an instant, the world above was gone, leaving him alone with nothing but the sound of his heart beating in his ears and the feeling of currents rippling against his bare skin.

This was the part no one ever saw. People clapped when he got out of the pool, wet and breathless. They looked impressed when his name hit the leaderboard. But none of them understood this; the weightlessness, the silence, the way the world dulled and drifted away like the tide. Down here, time didn’t tick forward, it pulsed. That was the only way Dustin could ever describe it.

He stayed there as long as he could stand it, just floating and letting himself think. Eventually, however, his mortality came knocking; his lungs burning in that eternally familiar way that only served to remind him of his limitations.

He kicked his legs and propelled himself to the surface, and the moment the air came rushing back to him, so did everything else; the bullshit calculus test he had in fourth period, the too-loud hallway he’d inevitably have to step into sooner than later, that weird silence at dinner the night before that stretched until his brother joined them…

Dustin shook his head and glanced at the clock on the far wall.

6:45am

He still had an hour before any of that shit would matter, and he was going to make the most of it.

By the time Dustin had showered, dressed, and stuffed his still-damp swim gear into his gym bag, Yuri Kochiyama High School had fully roared to life. The halls were humming with noise; lockers clanging, sneakers squeaking, someone’s Motorola Razr chiming with a song that was catchy a couple of months ago but had been annoying ever since.

Dustin slipped in with the early crowd; hair still wet at the roots, headphones on and plugged into his iPod nano, but no music was playing. That way he could pretend like he couldn’t hear anyone, without actually limiting his spatial awareness.

He moved like a ghost, just another half-asleep senior in a sea of faces. He kept his head down, eyes on his schedule even though school had started months ago and he’d long since memorized it. Anything to avoid eye contact.

That worked fine until Bailey Yu came into view, orbiting the vending machines like a planet made of pink, plastic, and overconfidence.

“Dusty!” she sang, like she hadn’t just blasted through the noise-canceling barrier of his fake music bubble.

He flinched internally… well, mostly internally.

“M-morning Bailey,”

She wore a neon yellow bomber jacket over a tight pink graphic tee that said GOD IS A WOMAN AND SHE HAS LIP GLOSS, paired with a tiered denim skirt and platform boots that made her at least four inches taller than she was the day before. Her makeup was glittery and precise, and her smile was that brand of intense that made it impossible to tell whether she was delighted or deranged.

Some people saw her as an icon, most saw her as a neon nightmare and called her names that Dustin wouldn’t dare repeat. But to him, she was just… Bailey. His best friend who’d always been there for him. There for the late night calls when he was spiraling after yet another awkward dinner. There to smoothly save him when he’d frozen up during the morning announcements and stumbled over his words. There to cover for him with a convenient excuse when he was caught staring at one of the boys in the gym for a few seconds too long…

“Big meet coming up, yeah?” she said, popping open her Red Bull with a long, glittery press-on, “you better kick ass or else I will have made a giant sign for nothing,”

“I always do, don’t I?”

“Good. I’ll be damned if I use my glitter-glue for no good reason,” Bailey replied with a wink, taking a big gulp of her energy drink, “so… you’re gonna be at the bonfire tonight, right?”