How About Seven? ✔

19. Nero

I didn't even hesitate. 

I dived. 

It was clear in a second that I had underestimated the depth of the pool. The front end might have been five feet, but this was the opposite end, and the pool was so much more deeper here. My feet couldn't touch the bottom. 

The patio lights were bright, but not bright enough. In the deep waters of the pool, the light barely penetrated halfway through. My hair, done up in a bun, came loose almost immediately, the strands floating wild and lost. 

I came up for air, gasping, heart hammering away. They were laughing there at the side, laughing until they were almost doubled over, their cackles echoing round and round the space. 

"Look at her!" 

"A pretty dress can't save you now, can it Mrs Hood?" one said, her tone nasty.

I ignored them, took a deep breath, and dived yet again.

*

The girl sat in the garden, plucking bits of the grass, her movements jerky and curt. She couldn't leave the manor, but she could wander around the estate, and this little garden situated a ways from the house was the place she came to when she felt less than happy. 

It's not like it's a big deal anyway. So what if he doesn't remembers? Whatever, she thought to herself. 

Pluck pluck pluck. Throw throw throw. Pluck throw pluck throw - 

A pair of hands clapped over her eyes from behind. Instinctively she reacted. Her twelve-year-old self was already so much stronger than when she was six years old, and she could reach behind and get a firm grip on her attacker. Any normal civilian would have gotten flipped over.

But this wasn't a normal civilian, and she found herself twisted around and pushed back, until she was lying back flat on the grass, staring up into a pair of warm turquoise eyes. 

So. Close. 

"Hey Tigress," and she saw that smile, and felt herself melt inside.