It was just a matter of fourteen seconds.
The wind passed through her wet skin, sending chills running down her spine. Crystal breathed as a little girl in a Rash Guard swimwear—that she assumed to have came from swimming because of the droplets of water fell to the rough peach tiles—passed by her, running to a lady on a bathing suit which she assumes is the girl's mother.
Everyone says that she was the only person—alive—in the age of seventeen year old who don't know how to swim. Her cousin is a swimmer, her father and mother too. But why can't she, then?
Simple. She's afraid of drowning.
A little more than six years before, her friend had a birthday party and she was invited. Her friend has a swimming pool and since everyone went to the pool, she joined in. After being in the corner for a couple of minutes, a classmate of her, who is also swimming, offered her to swim with her. Of course, she refused. But then, her classmate pushed her to do so and then pulled her, making her let go of the edge of the pool.
And she drowned.
She still can't forget what happened that day. Ever since, she was afraid of swimming. Although, she still goes to pools. She even love the rain.
Now, she's in a swimming pool and her cousin—the one who really knows how to swim—is teaching her how to hold her breath underwater while her body is floating. The good thing is: her cousin allowed her to grip the edges of the pool. But the bad thing is: she has to do it for fourteen seconds.
And fourteen seconds is too damn long. For her.
"In the count of three." her cousin spoke, capturing her attention. She already had her body floating on the water. She can feel it. The rhythm of the water. But still, she felt uneasy.
"One" she took a deep breath.
"Two" she closed her eyes.
"Three!" she inhaled and ducked her head on the water, holding her breath.
It was quiet. Even though she could hear her cousin counting a little over to her side, she still felt... at peace.
Unlike the last time she held her breath underwater, all she could do is count how many seconds had passed and impatiently wait. The longest time she held her breath underwater is 10 seconds.
After all, she's still a beginner.
"Fourteen!"
She exhaled in the water using her nose while slowly bringing her head up. It is some kind of technique her cousin taught her earlier to prevent the water enter your nose.
In the background, she hears her cousin clap while she carefully brought her feet and body down.
"Nice job for a first try!" her cousin squealed, still clapping and jumping slightly.
"Thanks" she muttered, smiling at her cousin. Savannah Alliston Odell. The famous swimmer in their school and the Silver medalist for the international swimming competition last year. That's her cousin.
She looked up at the sky. It's bright and sunny, no sign of rain. She sighed.
"Want another try?" she looked at Savannah again. Savannah's dark blue eyes are full of joy. But her tummy felt like it's being twisted. She faked a smile.
"Sorry. Even though I wanted to, my tummy makes it harder to do so." she said, not wanting to hurt her blue eyed cousin's feelings. She walked towards the pool stairs and pulled herself up before Savanna can even say anything.
