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"I think you can still pull off some swimming trunks, Con, even if you don't think so."
Connor glared at his sister, who shrugged her shoulders. "Come on! No one will even care about your scars!"
"People are gonna stare at them!" Connor turned around, going up the steps, curling his fists.
Zoe sighed, "Look, those are assholes who you'll only see once in your life, tops. Please Connor, I want you to be happy."
Connor let out a breath and bit his lip. "Okay.. I'll go."
"Yes!! You're gonna have a great time! Just you wait!" She declared, racing to the kitchen (she was probably packing snacks, even though they weren't allowed. Just because the Murphy's were rich didn't mean they liked using more money than necessary).
Connor shook his head and went inside his room. He opened his drawer and after a bit of digging around, he found his swimming trunks. He went down the steps, deciding to change at the pool.
The drive didn't take long at all, and Connor was in the men's locker room, staring at his swim trunks, not changing. He could feel his hands shaking, his pulse pounding, as all he could think about was how severely he was going to be judged. A lot of the people at the pool went to his school, so they'd talk about it, spread it around like wildfire! That was just how people worked, wanting to constantly gossip about a small change in their environments.
Great, he was probably keeping Zoe waiting. Connor grabbed his trunks and decided on changing in a stall instead. After he had his shirt off, he couldn't stop staring at the scars. He knew there was a thin red line on his backside, he didn't have to look to know it was there. On his left shoulder were scattered small red dots. On his chest, was a long, thick, dark scar. It traveled from the top of his bicep till the top of his belly button, and he hated it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a way to avoid seeing it. That scar was going to cause the most attention, he just knew it.
Once fully changed, he retrieved his towel, left the locker room and began to look for Zoe. He had his towel awkwardly covering some of the scars, feeling more self conscious than before. He tried to rationalize his anxiety by looking around at the families/friends that were at the pool. Little kids were beckoning their parents to 'hurry up! The line for the blue slide will get long and I'm finally big enough to go on it!", as a group of girls were taking selfies together, friends helping one another get sunscreen on their backs, and mid aged adults laying on lawn chairs the pool had set out, most likely trying to tan.
Connor started to relax as he realized Zoe was right, no one cared about his scars, as they were trying to enjoy themselves and do whatever the heck they came there for. This made him feel a bit more confident as he lowered his towel, finally spotting Zoe and hurried to her.
Zoe looked at him and smiled, "See! I told you you'd still look good! Now here's the sunscreen, I need you to do my back."
Connor took the spray and sprayed some onto his sisters back. "You were right. People aren't staring or anything.."
Zoe hummed, "That's good! And if someone does stare at you, I'll beat them up, as it's mg duty as your little sister to protect you."
"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" Connor chuckled, spraying himself with the sunscreen. "The big brother protects the little sister?"
"Hmm.. nah. I don't think so," Zoe patted his shoulder. "Anyways, I'm gonna swim. You wanna join me?"
"Maybe in a little bit. I may be feeling a little confident now, but I'm nowhere near comfortable going into a pool just yet. I'll stay here for now," Connor twirled his hair in his finger.
Zoe shrugged, "Suit yourself." She walked off to the pool.
Connor set his towel down and laid on the lawnchair, his only desire to relax for a bit. He shut his eyes and let his thoughts take him away. The warmth of the sun hitting his skin was enjoyable, he'd admit that. He worried slightly about getting sunburnt, though. He burnt fairly easily, which sucked ass.
Soon, he was up and in the bathroom, when he heard someone crying. Normally he would've ignored something like that, but his day hadn't exactly been the greatest either, but his day hadn't exactly been the greatest either, so he couldn't leave them. He went to the where the stall was and knocked on it. "Hello?"
Whoever was inside jumped, smacking the wall. They sniffled, trying to suppress their cries. "I uh.. h-hello?"
"Hey, are you okay in there? I thought I heard someone crying," Connor explained, staying near the door.
The person was silent for a moment, before saying, "It's s-silly.."
Connor crossed his arms, "I don't think it is if it's upsetting you this much. C'mon, I won't judge."
Another round of silence, but eventually (realistically, only a couple of minutes) they found their voice again. "It's- I have these, these s-scars- well, actually my soulmate does- and uh, I-I'm too nervous to go out.. People, people'll stare at them- at me!"
Connor thought this was bizarre, since he dealt with that earlier on. "Hey, I um, I know what you're going through. I er, I have scars too.. I was scared about people staring too, but, I went out there.. and they didn't. And if it makes you feel better, I'll stay with you for a little bit, make sure you aren't alone, okay?"
".. Okay," the other seemed to give in, which made Connor smile. He stepped back and listened to the lock twist, before whoever stood behind it slowly open it.
Inside the stall stood a short blond, wearing light blue swimming trunks. He was holding what appeared to be a shirt (he was probably wearing it before while swimming) that he fidgeted with.
And he had scars that mirrored Connor's perfectly, which well, Connor was planning on meeting his Soulmate yet, but this was probably the best way to find him.
