Cealeste Academy || BL

Chapter Nineteen || Instincs

They made their way outside to the lake. William was visibly excited to head to the lake, even though he wasn't sure if he could even swim. It wasn't as crowded at the lake as they were expecting. Even though it was Saturday there were relatively few people there. This of course made things a lot easier for him to jump into the water with confidence. This way if he did drown, not many people would be there to see him die.

William and Zake walked in front, a few meters away from Korbin, who followed them quietly. "So what happened yesterday?" Zake asked curiously. "What do You mean, you were there-" Willaim said back. "I mean after. You left and I didn't hear anything from you." Zake added. "I texted and everything."

"My phone must've been dead, sorry-" William shrugged. "That doesn't explain why you didn't come back to your room," Zake said with a smirk. "W-what are you talking about?" William asked, pretending to not know what this was about. "Oh Come on, I live in the same hallway as you. I saw one of your roommates come home but not you. I thought you two were gonna talk?" He said.

"We did talk-'' William said, avoiding eye contact. "And after?" Zake asked. "I- well-" William thought for a second. If he said he was with Korbin, Zake would read into it and make it a bigger deal than it really was. "I just needed to clear my mind, so I went out." He lied.

"That's the story you're gonna go with?" Zake asked, not believing him. "It's the truth." William shrugged. "Alright," Zake smirked, letting it go for now.

They reached the lake and walked into the dock before dropping their stuff onto it. Zake took off his hoodie, revealing his swim clothes. "Are you gonna be okay swimming like that?" William asked as he opened the bag. "What do you mean, is something wrong with my trunks?" He asked as she studied his swim trunks. "No- I mean your arm.

Zake looked up surprised. "Right- by arm. Yeah, I'll be fine, it's been like this for a while." He shrugged as she sat down on the edge of the dock dangling his feet into the water. "Your turn." He said he looked up at William. "Right."

William took off his shoes before taking his pants with him. He kept his underwear on before slipping on his own swim trunks. As he took off his shirt Korbin couldn't help but notice the many marks and scars covering William's lower back. Not to mention the more recent ones around his neck.

"That's more like it-" Zake smirked. William wasn't the only one with marks. Making it pretty obvious To everyone around what those two had been up to. Korbin didn't like it. He wasn't sure what he was feeling but whatever it was, it hurt.

Korbin took a few steps towards the water and William sat down next to Zake. He took in a deep breath as he stared into the water. "I don't understand," Korbin said.

Zake and William both looked up at him confused. "What don't you understand?" Zake asked. "Why are you So afraid of going in the water?" Korbin asked.

"Well, I've never swam in this form before-" William explained as he moved his legs. "And I don't know how to shift on command. So I'm scared that if I jump in, it will end badly..." He said.

"But you can swim..." Korbin said, confused. "And how would you know that?" Zake joined in. "Yesterday-" Korbin said as he gestured to William. "You fell in the pool, remember? You even told me not to worry about you because you 'could swim'." He said.

Zake turned to William amused. "I did?" William asked, still looking up at Korbin. "Yeah. When You fell in I was worried at first but you didn't seem to panic at all, you just came up from the water and pulled yourself out of the pool," he said.

William thought back on yesterday. When he fell into that water nothing really felt scary, he just instinctively knew what to do. "You're right-" he smiled. "I mean, I know the lake isn't exactly the same as a pool, but you came from the ocean. A lake must be a lot easier compared to that." Korbin finished.

William smiled brightly as he stood up. "It should be." He said as he turned to Korbin. "Thanks, I did forget about that." He smiled. "I-it's fine. No problem." Korbin said back, as a blush appeared on his face.

"So you're just gonna jump in then?" Zake asked as he watched William turn to face the water. William nodded confidently as he took another deep breath. "Alright- let's go!" Zake yelled excitedly as he stood up as well.

He stood next to William and together they counted until three before running towards the water and jumping in. Except William did not jump, instead Zake flew off that dock alone. He hit the water with a big splash, as he surfaced he looked back at William with a look of betrayal. "How dare you." He laughed. "Sorry- I'm still nervous," William said with a smile.

"Maybe it's better if I just walk in from over the" but before he could answer he found himself falling forward before sinking into the water. He swam up and looked back to see Korbin looking down at him proudly. "Yeah- Let's go Bird Boy!-" Zake cheered before he swam up to the dock.

William looked back at Korbin shocked. "Why would you do that, what if I couldn't swim, I'd be drowning right now." He yelled back. Korbin just smiled down with a knowing look as Zake rejoined them. "But you are," Zake smirked. "I- I am!" William smiled brightly. He turned to look at Zake.

As Korbin predicted, and Red, and many others. As soon as he hit the water his instincts just took over. He could swim just fine. It felt both weird and natural. Even though he was using His legs, he had no idea how he knew what to do. Things just happened.

"You're welcome" Korbin smiled as he sat down on the dock. He took off his boots before placing them behind him. He dropped his feet down so they were just touching the water.

"This is great, now I don't have to be a referee anymore." William laughed as he turned to Zake. "Now I can actually do team activities.".

"That depends..." Zake smirked. "What do you mean?" Willaim asked, confused. "Are you fast enough?" Zake said back. William let out a laugh. "Is that a challenge?" He smirked. "Maybe?" Zake shrugged. "Do you accept it?" William nodded proudly as he lined up next to zake. "Oh-" he laughed. "You're on."