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~ Day Dreams ~
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~ Chapter Fifteen ~
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~ Survival 101 ~
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~ Eighteen-Years-Old ~
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~ Hazel's POV ~
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Sweat smothers my forehead, draping my clothes and bedsheets. I flinch with every movement and sound I make. My soul falls into outa space and there is no gravity to guide me through the storm I am heading straight into.

"Hazel, wake up," Honey shakes me awake, her fingers gripping my shoulder, "Are you alright?"

Eyelids jolt open as they become aware of my surroundings, waves of heat rushes through my body. "Y–yeah, I think so. What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare I think. You were tossing and turning and crying in your sleep— saying like, 'I don't want to die'," Honey explains eyeing me at the top of the bunkbed.

I straighten my spine in an upright position leaning against the brick of the wall, studying Honey's worried expression with my tired appearance. "Really?" I yawn, "Don't worry about it, this sort of thing happens sometimes," I said reassuring Honey and change the subject. "We don't want to be late for our first day of swimming lessons, now do we?"

Honey's worrying gaze lingers on my face for a few seconds then nods, dropping the subject. "Alright, first let's get ready, and then along the way, we'll wake Jordan up."

Honey notices the confusion in my eyes and fills in the puzzle pieces. "Oh, Jordan isn't a morning person. Like, at all."

With a small smile on my dry lips and a nod of my head, I leap out of the bed and maneuver around the dim room. Fingernail marks carve the palms of my hands with dried-up blood, as shocks of pain strike from them. Scrunching my hands into fists, I stride over boxes that scatter throughout the maze of the room. Honey moved into the dorm room late last night, so it is a complete mess.

Honey grabs her swimmers, towel, and toiletries that she organized from the previous night. I on the other hand, am the unorganized one; did I mention that I do not own a single pair of swimmers.

Honey notices the misconception in my eyes and questions with a grin, "You coming, or are you just going to stand there in the middle of the room in your pajamas?"

"Don't be silly," I laugh to myself and stare at the floorboards, "But Umm... there may be a small problem."

"What's up, dude," Honey discontinues roaming through her chest of draws and peers my way.

"Well, I don't own a single pair of swimmers to wear," I said to the floor, gazing at my bare feet.

"Ha... why didn't you say so," Honey's laughter lingers throughout the dorm room, as she continues roaming through her chest of drawers, hunting for a pair of swimmers. Honey retrieves a pair, throwing them into my flimsy arms. "Here, you can have these. I don't wear them anymore."

"Okay, thank you. You didn't have to but I appreciate it," I said, scooping up my towel, toiletries, overalls, and sliping on my Converse shoes.

"It's no biggie, really," Honey closes the chest of drawers and manoeuvers to the door, shrugging her shoulders as she slips her feet into a pair of sandals. "As I said, they don't get worn."

We enter the girl's bathroom and change into our swimmers and brush our teeth, as I let my honey blonde wavy hair, loosely around my shoulders and down the length of my back. The strings of the white, triangle bikini top and bikini bottom slightly pierce the circulation of my skin. I tie the strings of the material into a bow (one around my neck and two on either sides of my hipbones) as the sky blue, skirt overalls partly hide my insecurities. Honey's black bikini top and bottoms with threading, short jeans bring out her short, straight chestnut brown hair and hazelnut brown, almond shape eyes. We return to the dormitory and drop the toiletries onto our beds, shut the door behind us and head straight towards Jordan's dorm with beach towels in hand.

"Jordan, wake up dickhead," Honey calls through the wood of the door, knocking with a smirk playing on her lips. I laugh at how Honey casually and playfully talks to Jordan.

"Piss-off Honey, I need my beauty sleep," Jordan huffs on the other side of the door.

"Hurry-up grandpa, we're going to be late for swimming practice," Honey sighs, shaking her head and leans waiting against the brick of the wall, with one of her feet lazily pinned on the wall. "You're the one who wanted to do these stupid swimming lessons, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. Don't remind me," Jordan's voice muffles underneath his morning grunts. "Why does everything have to happen so early in the morning."

"Your the one who wants to see your boy toy," Honey said with a smirk.

Jordan huffs on the other side of the door in an annoyance. After minutes pass, the door finally strides open with a very grumpy Jordan, consisting of messy bed hair, swimming trunks, and a towel slinging over his shoulders. Jordan's dormitory appears to be a single room and if he did have a roommate, I would despise their friends because of the constant banging on the door on an early morning of the weekend.

"Don't you dare say a word," Jordan holds his hand up in silence and releases a heavy, trembling breath. "I'm having a bad hair day and I'm not in the mood for your smart-ass comments, Honey."

"Oh Jordan, get over yourself. You look..." Honey takes a step back and examines Jordan's appearance, "...decent enough for the public. Come on, let's go grumpy grandpa."

With another giggle from me and a piercing glare from none other than, 'the grumpy, grandpa Jordan'. The three of us were off blaring throughout the corridors towards the indoor swimming pool.

Chlorine stings my nostrils as we step a foot into the swimming arena. A huge group of students already smothers one end of the large pool, along with the four swimmers from yesterday's swim-rally: Ethan Miles, Weston Millers, Jake Rivers, and a mystery guy with chocolate brown skin, an afro hairdo, and a gentle face with a kind smile.

In order to take my mind off the water and Jake, I talk and walk at the same time asking Honey a question to clear my confusion, "So who's that other swimmer from yesterday's rally?"

"Oh, that's Ash Clifford, Jake's best friend," Honey said, her eyes glue onto Ethan's for a moment. Once Ethan glances at Honey, she tears her eyes away from him and stares at the smooth stone floor.

Honey, Jordan, and myself pace towards the bleachers and place our towels onto the metal surface. Spinning on my shoes and scanning my surroundings my eyes unknowingly search for Jake.

It hurts seeing him happy, but I cannot deny it how it makes me content to see him smile and laugh with his friends. Maybe it is a good thing he does not know who I am cause I might ruin his happiness. It might kill me every time I see him in this stupid class, but it will be a worthwhile sacrifice. I will have to keep my distance and there will not be a problem.

"Babes? You jumping in or what?" Jordan questions, henceforth, bring me back to reality of the danger zone ahead of me. I kick my shoes and wiggle my overalls off and place them next to the beach towel.

My trembling breath hitches in the back of my throat, as the anxiety takes ahold of my fragile body. I gulp a mouth full of pride, all that I have left and stride towards the ladder on the wall of the pool. Hands shake underneath the hold of the thick metal of the ladder, as the cold water of the deep end impacts the paleness skin of my feet. I freeze into place and my face turns to the shade of pale white, as I lose all traces of taste in my mouth.

The ripples of the chlorine's blue water cause anxiousness to creep in and take over my emotions. Anxiety winds me, causing dizziness straight to my temple and throughout my whole body. Am I drowning, again? Deep breaths, Hazel. You can do this. It is just harmless water, it cannot hurt you. The pool is too crowded with too many humans in the chemical water, which makes me uneasy. I can do this... Do not be such a coward Hazel. Deep breaths.

Nope, I cannot do this...!

I backtrack my footsteps, running and grabbing my belongings and rush for the exit of the sports arena. My breath quickens as my heart pumps, thumping hard against my chest. My last name calls from behind and footsteps follow shortly after. I do not care, let them follow. I cannot stand to be in there with so many overwhelming people and the chlorine of the water staring dead straight at me.

"Hey, Summer. Wait up," Jake continues to call from behind. The arena doors fly open as I catch my breath leaning against the brick wall.

"Are you alright? Did my class overwhelm you?" Jake questions catching up, his height towering over me.

"Umm... y–yeah. Kind of," I quickly come up with an on-the-spot lie and cover my half-naked body with my arms holding my belongings, taut against my chest. "It's my time of the month and y–yeah, it was a little overwhelming."

"That's alright, feeling overwhelmed is a common issue for a beginner," Jake explains, his ocean blue eyes searching my stressed-out ones. "As team captain, (when I have free time) I can run a private lesson if a student feels overwhelmed and stressed. Would private lessons on  the weekends in the afternoons make you feel more comfortable?"

"Uh..." I hesitantly think of an excuse, but nothing comes out of my stuttering mouth. I stare a blank expression at Jake as my gaze drifts to the wooden floorboards and bite my lower lip. I do not want to hurt Jake's feelings. But really, whose feelings will I be hurting the most? His or mine?

"It's alright if you don't have decide right now, but may I ask..." Jake pauses his speech as my eyes linger on Jake as he questions, "...Why did you sign up for swimming lessons if you're scared of the water?"

Shoot...!

"I uh... signed up with my friends but I didn't realize the deep end of the pool would freak me out," I explain part of the truth, just not the entire truth. "But thank you again for coming to my rescue today and yesterday," my voice trembles with every individual word I speak. This is not the first time Jake has come to my aid.

"And if you do have time to spare, considering your busy schedule, the lessons would be very considerate of you," I said, gazing into Jake's eyes with my guilty ones.

"Don't mention it," Jake smiles showcasing his pearly white teeth. "Plus, I would hate to see you leave the class, without learning any new survival skills."

"Y–yeah, thanks," I remark picking at my fingernails as I lean off the wall and slightly back away from Jake. "Would it be alright if I take the rest of the class off?"

"Not a problem, " Jake waves and descends from the vacant hallway, abandoning me. My invasive thoughts wander aimlessly in my head, causing a throbbing headache.

Breathe, Hazel...

Standing in the empty hallway, I throw on my overalls, shoes, and carry the beach towel and bolt for the college's main office.

There has to be a way to change clubs, right?

Like the dork that I am, I avoid eye contact with everyone staring and glance towards the wood of the old, floorboards. Eventually, my horrible sense of direction leads me towards the main office of the desk.

"How can I help you?" the office lady said with a monotone voice. This is the same middle-aged, admin woman who I met on my first day who resembles Fiona. The woman's wrinkled fingers stop gliding across the keyboard of the computer in front of her.

Staring into outa space, I lose my train of thought, "Umm... I was wondering if I could change clubs?"

"Sorry, the deadline has already long passed, but the Chancellor may write you a note," the admin woman said as she stands to her feet, "Right, this way."

The office lady opens the side door and waits on the other side of the doorframe, waiting for me to follow. Once inside the admin woman leads me down a corridor of the office. We halt near a closed door with a sign reading, 'Mrs. Chancellor Rivers'. The assistant opens the door as the Chancellor glares at both of us with a sour expression.

Yep, it is her alright...

Rivers? Of course, Jake's mother is the Chancellor. It makes sense now. Seems as though her attitude has not changed in the slightest.

"Yes," Ms. Rivers says with a vague expression, her dark blue eyes focusing on the computer in front of her. "Make this quick, I'm in a rush."

"Certainly, ma'am. Apologies for the intrusion, Mrs. Rivers, but this student—,"

"Umm... actually, never mind. Thank you and sorry," I cut the assistant short and descend from the office and plot my escape.

I roam the halls of the large, college campus and after a few wrong turns I fumble straight into my dorm room. After hours of studying as a lone wolf, the wooden door flies open as the smell of chlorine radiates off a dripping wet Honey standing in the doorway.

"So, where did you run off to, dude?" Honey said, closing the door behind her and lowers herself onto her desk chair.

"I umm... got my period and I didn't want to cause a scene," I aimlessly fiddle with my fingernails.

"Well, you cause a scene alright, and don't be the boy who cried wolf cause I know a lie when I see one," Honey said narrowing her eyes, with a smirk forming on the corner of her lips.

Damn, she is good.

"Okay, so I probably should have mentioned that I'm scared of the water and can't swim for the life of me," I said swiveling on my desk chair to face Honey, "I tried sending signals to you guys and I thought I'll be okay, but I was wrong."

"I feel awful for pushing you into signing up with us," Honey said, her eyebrows raises in concern. "And what's happening now? Are you still coming to classes?"

"No, it's okay. Umm... y-yeah, sort of. I can't change clubs because I just tried too. But Jake uh... offered to teach me private lessons," I said trailing off.

"Damn, that sucks. And wait, what? And you said yes of course, right?" Honey said resting her hands on her hips.

"Y-yeah, I sort of did," my face burns to the shade of a ripe tomato.

"If any being of the opposite gender in this school offers to teach me private swimming lessons, I'll be there in a heartbeat," Honey laughs to herself as she ponders deep in thought.

"What if that was Ethan?" I tease, a smirk playing on the corner of my lips.

"Shut up, but you might be right," Honey's cheeks glow crimson red.

"What am I going to do, Honey? About Jake? My long lost best friend who doesn't remember me because I blurted out the wrong name!" my gaze drops to the wood floor as I add, "Plus I look immensely different."

"True. This may be your only opportunity to get to know him as Summer, but you can still show him the real you," Honey explains.

I peer towards Honey then out the bay window. Pondering for a long while on the topic and finally agree with Honey. It would not hurt if I spend some quality time with Jake. But it would not be the real me. How long would it take me to tell him the truth? If I take too long, I just might lose him forever...

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~ Cheers ~
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Please, tell me in the comments what you thought about Chapter Fifteen? 🙈 I'll be greatly appreciated. Thank you, you very kind soul!
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~ Chapter Fifteen ~
~ Dedications ~
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HeliiBoh
DebMorey
PeterPetruzzella
CaitlinWoodward9
DaniJones_14
ChloeMayerhofer
savvvy1998
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You guys should totally check out PeterPetruzzella short story! Lighthouse. It's amazing! Please also go check out Peter's YouTube account pure56 for awesome content on movies, tv-shows, and game reviews!
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You guys should totally check out ChloeMayerhofer story! Fallen! It's awesome!
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C.Morey 🥕 xoxo
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