Harts

sixteen

The sun will come out again⁠⁠⁠.

Until then, the people of Hart's will need to navigate the darkness and with a little hope and courage, find the light within themselves.

The water still scares her. 

It doesn't matter that she can stay in the shallow end or keep herself afloat in the deep end, or that the brown-haired hockey player drops by every now and then between his practice to say a quick hello. Every time she steps onto the blue tiles of the pool area, her pulse picks up. Every time she slips into the water and feels a splash against her neck, it takes a few deep breaths before she can paddle forward. When the water rises to her chest, she fights off the urge to return to the shallow end.

For six years, she's been fighting to stay afloat. It doesn't disappear in a week of training. 

But every single day she shows up at the pool is a small act of courage, and she can only hope it will add up someday. She might be afraid of the water—but she can swim. And doesn't that count for something?

It's a place to start: small acts of courage. One afternoon, she bakes a batch of white chocolate macadamia cookies and takes them down the street, past a dented stop sign to the front steps of a white two-story.

"Hi Tess!" Aiko props the door open with her hip, peering over the tall brown grocery bags slipping from her arms. When she catches sight of the tin in Tess's hands, she exclaims, "Thank you so much. You really didn't need to. Come on in, let me put these away quickly."

"Do you need some help?" Tess offers.

"If it's not any trouble." Aiko passes a bag to Tess with a grateful smile. "I could use all the help I can get around here." 

Although she manages it well. Tess only stays to nibble half a cookie and watch the twins run around, admiring how calmly Aiko settles their argument over a robot.  "How do you stay on top of all of it?" Tess wants to know. 

Aiko smiles. "I don't. I just count down the hours until night."

Tess counts down the hours to her interview. The day before, she stops paddling and lets the water carry her for a few quiet moments. At the sound of the door opening, she lurches upward, coughing as she inhales a mouthful of chlorinated water.

"Shit, Tess, are you⁠—"

"⁠—I'm fine." Tess opens one stinging eye. Kyle is teetering at the edge of the pool, brows furrowed in concern. Great. That was two times now, at least, that he'd seen her flailing like a fish out of water. "I'm fine."

He shifts his feet and tilts his head. "The last time you said that, you weren't really fine." 

"You just startled me, that's all."  Her voice catches at the end, but she hopes he didn't notice. She's just trying to reassure the both of them.