Pretty Pheonix

Chapter 14 | The Missing Wig

When I open my eyes, I'm submerged in the slightly sedimented water and my clothes, which are heavy, are making me sink to the depths of the lake.

Inch by inch, the distance between the surface and I is lengthening with no counter actions enforced, leaving me to be my own anchor.

But I don't really care that I'm being weighed down. I don't care that the lower I go, the more energy I'll have to exert in order to resurface. I don't care that despite saying I wouldn't end up in the water multiple times, I ended up falling in. For the only thing I care about right now is my mental health, because with all that has been happening lately, I think I'm going to go crazy.

I mean for god's sake when I signed the contract for this, I did not think this would happen!

Goodness! What the heck does the universe have against me? Just yesterday I was drenched in rain and now I'm shoved into a lake?

I'm so tired of life and all this bad luck. No. Curse! I must be cursed for things like this to constantly keep happening to me. Junior year was fine because nothing overly-dramatic happened, besides witnessing Declan's wrath firsthand, but this year started off in the worst way imaginable and when I managed to sort it out, more bothersome things just popped up!

Can't a girl just take a break?

I let out a long and duly needed scream to pant out my frustrations before I resurface.

Strangely, when I break out to the surface to catch a breath of air, instead of seeing the jetty and everyone nearby, I see them looking into the water tens of yards away from me. Puzzled, I look around and it soon dawns upon me that I'm in the middle of the lake and only a few yards away from Bark Island.

Was I swimming unconsciously?

Everything about this situation is just off. How did I get here? My confused thoughts are left when I hear someone scream.

"Do you see her?!"

It comes all the way from the jetty and I see a commotion of students on the wooden platform, all looking into the water anxiously, waiting for me to resurface.

"Was she eaten by the Lake Wood monster?" A male student who I recognize as Wynn Fraiser, who's parents are big in real estate, yells out.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Another person yells back seriously. Mathew Reeds, the heir to his family's winery.

A more familiar who person is nearest to the edge, but is careful not to lean over too much, yells, "she might have said she could, but I don't think she can swim!"

Olivia. I—someone better push her in for me.

Surprisingly, I can tell how worried she is even from here, and it's honestly perturbing. Why is she so concerned?

There are a lot of people talking from the jetty, and I can hear them clearly, like they're right next to me.

"Who fell in?"

"I think it was Blair, you know, the girl who sits in front of the class."

"Shouldn't someone get the Rangers?"

"Can she really not swim?"

"Really? That makes her easy prey for the monster!" Wynn yells out again.

Mathew turns to him, "hey—I'm not kidding dude, I will slap you!"

Yikes.

I should head back before I become known as the recent victim of a made-up legend and word of it reaches the IIO. The humiliation of that would eat my undead self like I'm Kentucky fried chicken.