April 17th, 2017
     

     Another week gone by, and another Friday has arrived. It is the first Friday of the month of April.

     Every once in a while, a thought flickers through his subconscious mind, but there isn't time enough to grasp it. The most he has been able to pinpoint is the image of two flickering eyes that seem to burn into his soul.
     School has just gotten out, and Arthur is playing basketball with a few other kids in the school gym while Soline's friends flirt with some of the boys. 
     ...Supposedly, you'll always make a basket if you aim for the red corner of the backboard...
     It is strange the way that young people never change. Although the world around them is always changing, the nature of young people is always the same. People are fairly predictable. In the hallways, the boys puff out their chests as if to say, "don't mess with me," and try to one-up each other. In contrast, some many girls try to act demure, sipping their opaque energy drinks from straws, and scrolling through their phones with one finger.
     Later, when Arthur gets home, Soline asks if he wants to go down to the swimming pool. It's still not exactly "summer weather," and the wind is blowing, but for some reason they both want to swim after a long week. The swimming pool is a part of their apartment complex, so they can go to it any time.
     Swimming is slightly more interesting than Soline's usual after school occupation, which consists of playing that Slither video game, Balloons Tower Defense, Candy Krush, or Dancing Line and/or looking at Pinterest fashion.
     When they get inside the gates of the pool, they jump into the water. Soline is wearing an orange Pink bathing suit, and she looks majestic, with her glossy, dark hair hanging over her shoulders, and a light sprinkle of glitter on her eyelids. 

     It is obvious that she is frigid, as it's fairly early to be swimming outside at the start of April, but Soline is always "just that edgy," Arthur thinks to himself satirically. It is also obvious that there aren't very many things she hates more than useless rules and restrictions.

    While swimming in the deep blue water, the cold chills them all the way to their bones. They watch the boys beyond the fence skate. Scattered flowers float over the crystalline depths of the pool. Other girls rest on long white chairs with their headphones on and sip lemonade. A group of birds fly in a perfect V-formation overhead.

     It doesn't take long for the kids to retire to the hot tub. The moment is so pleasantly quelled.

     Until...
    
     ...Arthur thinks he sees something for a fleeting moment; a flash of motion behind the black gate of the pool area, and a pair of bright amethyst eyes... Then it is gone, but finally everything from the previous week returns to him.