The swimming pool incident, part 2

Callum wasn't happy at all to see his girlfriend accompanied by his sister, as he waited by the drink vendor. The two girls approached, hands linked and swinging in sync with each others momentum. Alice would be wondering how that happened, you don’t just take the hand of a person you just met and skip away with them. She would think that way, if she wasn’t distracted by how soft and snug it felt.

"Well, isn't this a small world. Good to see you here brother."

"Thanks. Can't say the feeling is mutual" Callum replies coldly. He eyes up their conjoined hands with irritation. "What are you doing here Catherine?"

"Charming boy isn't he?" Catherine comments to Alice like he isn't there. "If he ever acts rude to you, come see me."

This only fired him up more, though the thought wasn't nearly as bad for Alice. She'd like to see more of Catherine. "Just because I go swimming with a friend Cath, doesn't mean you have to get involved. It's called having your own social circles."

"Ouch" Catherine returns, looking again to Alice. "You hear that babe, he's saying you're just friends. Though clearly he's alone with you, and didn't tell anybody else about it, jot even family. Would you do that for just a friend?"

"And this is why!" Callum gesticulates like Mussolini on acid. "You always embarrass me! You turn girls off by making them feel uncomfortable!"

Catherine did direct her words towards him this time. "Pipe down squirt, right now the only person managing to embarrass you is yourself. I wanted to hang out with Jill today, but she ditched me. Now I want to hang out with you and your girlfriend at the swimming pool, is that such a bad thing?"

Alice remembered the friend Callum mentioned on the phone who winked at him. She knew that Jill wasn’t really ditching her friend, more making herself scarce whilst Catherine could have some adult fun. It wasn't Alice's responsibility to bring that up, so she didn't.

She instead was finding Callum's attitude rather unsavoury. “What is so taboo about me meeting your family?”

Callum spoke more calmly towards her, but frustration still remained. “You don't know her like I do Alice. She has got a long record of screwing things up for me.”

“It’s not me with the record Callum. You're the one who can't keep hold of a girl” Catherine jabs back.

“You put them off!”

The only person putting Alice off Callum was Callum. “I’ve had enough of this sibling rivalry. I'm going to actually go swimming now. If you'd like to join me?”

“Lead the way babe” Catherine follows behind without hesitation.

After Callum flinches again at her calling his girlfriend “babe”, he quickly decides to tag along. He's determined to now do the mature and responsible thing, which is to actually strive to be a deserving boyfriend. Alice won't leave him if he treats her with respect and doesn't stifle the fun they have together.

They're right. Callum is the one creating drama. Its time to man up.

Finally, Alice takes in the scene. A crowd gathering that had to be over two hundred plus, all emanating in or around the three outdoor pools. Two had diving boards, a small one-metre board and a four-metre board, and these pools were curved and irregularly shaped. They were accommodating towards having a laugh with friends, and freestyling. The one that had no diving board was the traditional rectangular pool, for dedicated swimmers or people who fancy imagining themselves at the Olympics.

There was a stall where you could loan an inflatable. Deckchairs and loungers formed a line across the far side. The lifeguards chair was occupied, but at least four others were weaving around from pool to pool. Basically everybody's safety and support was well and truly covered.

Alice enjoyed the rays on her face until eventually she squatted down onto her haunches and transitioned to sitting on the edge of the first pool. The water felt warm and cool all at once, absolutely perfect. She had lost track of her two companions, but was only concerned with one at that moment in time. Sadly, it wasn't the companion she ought to be thinking about.

But she rationalised that she was just fed up of his behaviour, and his pattern of constantly dampening her mood when talking about his family. Like they were monsters. But his sister seemed cool and had been very nice to her so far. And the way she saw it, if she enjoyed the day of swimming with the sister instead of the boyfriend, he only had himself to blame.

But she was currently swimming with nobody. She swore that she'd had enticed at least one of them to follow her. And it's not like she wandered off to a tricky to spot area, she literally sat on the edge of the pool closest to the door.

She was contemplating going back to look for them, when one of them finally made their entrance. Not from behind, or even by foot. Catherine instead rose up from the water in front of her, pulling herself up onto the pools edge right beside Alice. She was sweeping wet black strands away from her face when she began to speak. “Damn that waters good.”

“Lovely” Alice responds shyly. She usually was quite a shy girl around new people, but even for her this was ridiculous. It seems that talking to Catherine limits her to fewer words then her bright brain had stored for over seventeen years.

"I'm not cramping your style am I? I'll leave if you want me to" Catherine bluffs. She wasn't going anywhere, she knows Alice doesn't want her to.

'What style?' Alice thinks to herself, it was Catherine with all the confidence and charisma. "No. You're fine."

"I'm sorry you're caught in the middle of mine and Callum’s war."

"It's alright" Alice insists. "I know it can be natural for siblings to hate each other. It's usually evidence of the opposite, in which both would never admit to."

"I don't hate him, I don’t even really pretend to. I totally get why he might resent me, he's right about me in a way, I do put a wedge between him and his interests."

Alice understands. "Because you're a lesbian."

"I don't mean he's homophobic or anything. It's just that I'm naturally flirtatious, and girls struggle to cope with my interest." Catherine was describing herself far less innocent than she actually was.

Alice had noticed in fairness. Most of her interactions could be chalked off as friendliness, but altogether she did realise Catherine had indeed been flirting with her. It didn't make that a bad thing.

"Like you said, it's natural for some people to flirt. Some forms of flirting are actually an indication that someone doesn't feel any attraction to a person, it's when you're not flirting that feelings are likely to be involved." Alice felt like she was reminding herself of that theory, and not Catherine.

Catherine giggled warmly. "You are a wise little owl Alice. Now come swim with me."

Alice was moments away from taking Catherine's offered hand and letting herself be lured in the water. But then an inflatable was thrown down onto the water and Callum hopped on it. "Hope you didn't forget about me" He beams at Alice.

She did to some extent, but she wasn't going to tell him that. "Perish the thought. You ready to leave your personal feelings behind in favour of a good time?"

Catherine agreed instantly. Callum reluctantly does so as well. What transpired next is a solid two hours of fun.

They started off with a game they invent themselves, where one person lays on the inflatable and the other two have to tip them off it by surfacing beneath. Almost like a rodeo bull in water, they called it Boat Vs Submarine. Whoever managed to stay floating the longest was the champion.

Alice had an advantage with her smaller size as the boat, which became a disadvantage as a submarine. But she was always paired up with a person big enough to deliver heavier blows that caused the floater to slip off. Ultimately, she was the undisputed champion.

When they grew bored of the game they returned the inflatable. The next activity was to outdo the other two with their pool skills. Who could do the best forward tuck and roll, then who could do it best backwards. The next move was a starfish. Then a dolphin dive. When it became obvious that Catherine was an absolute master of the water, Alice gave up. Callum also gave up. He knew of Catherine's abilities of course, but tried to match her anyway, to no avail.

Then the traffic for the diving board became less congested, so the diving competition came next. Catherine advised that they only perform the jumps that they are absolutely certain they can do safely. Alice went for the easy peasy cannonball, Callum opted for the forward dive and pike, and the expert Catherine tried a somersault and pike.

They each performed their jumps well, but seeing the more advanced routines that the siblings nailed, made Alice feel more ambitious. On her third go she decided to upgrade to a forward dive like Callum. Only...she did not tell the siblings of her intentions.

After climbing up, and psyching herself up, she performed the dive. Her entrance into the water was heavy. She wasn’t hurt, just a douse of water went up her nasal passages, and her windpipe contorted in distress. But she survived and she was proud. However the look on Callum’s face when she resurfaced was stormy to say the least.

“You’ve never done a dive before have you?” he grilled.

“No” Alice was still coughing on water when she answered. “But it didn't look very hard when you did it, I thought I'd give it a go.”

“It’s not hard to do, if you know what you're doing” Callum returned firmly. “You didn't give us the chance to teach you how to do it. What if you'd slipped on the board and faceplanted the water? You'd be knocked out cold.”

Alice defends her actions with vigour. “I watched you do it very closely. And guess what, I did it.”

Callum shot back. “That’s not the point and you know it. Have you any idea how we'd have felt if you'd messed it up? You'd have been **** and then drowning.”

The redhead looks to Catherine for support, feeling like at least she would respect the courage she had to go for a harder jump. She wasn't as grim-faced or angry as him, but she was clearly indicating on what side of the argument she was on. “For once I have to agree with Callum. I'm not saying you shouldn't have tried, I'm saying you should have let us know. Just a couple of pointers and we’d be standing here calling you a badass.”

Alice didn't back down from arguments very commonly, outnumbered doesn't always mean outpowered. But for some reason, the idea that Catherine didn't approve of her actions made her more than a little dejected. Alice also hates that she's ruined the mood, the two siblings were getting along yet it's her who screws up.

“But you did it, you got through it without a cause for concern. It's over and done with” Catherine assured her.

Callum was slowly calming down, whilst Alice was red-faced and hoping that someone moved them past all the tension. “I need to take a leak, be back in a minute” Callum swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out, leaving Alice to fall more into herself and leaving Catherine to watch her.

"He's not really angry you know, you just scared him. It might have felt good for you, but one minute he's expecting you to cannonball and the next you're leaping into the water head first." Catherine explained to her.

Looking at it from that point of view, and Alice could see why such a big deal was made out of it. "I should've told you both, I know that now."

"Why didn't you?" Catherine asks without judgement. "You know we would've supported you."

Alice couldn't answer straight away, she had to analyse her own motives after the act itself. "Just your typical stupid show-off decision."

Catherine's response to that was delivered with a smirk. "Exactly who were you showing off for?"

Alice was silent too long after Catherine got the words out. Truth is it was all to make her look good in front of Catherine, and Catherine didn't need verbal verification from her. Catherine had Callum's girl wrapped around her fingers within the span of a couple of hours.

Catherine hadn't really been trying in fairness. If she really wanted to take Alice for herself she would've done the business with her in the changing room. The only reason she didn't was because she knew this girl was different. Callum had more than a crush on her, this could be his one.

Like she said, flirting comes naturally and that's all it's truly been. She's actually enjoying hanging out with her brother. But every second that went by since she overheard that phone call, that insatiable lust demon had been fighting to get out.

Catherine's resolve was tiring. She couldn't fight the urge indefinitely. She more than likely had little more than half an hour, if that, to spare before her control starts to slip. They didn't intend to leave within the next half hour, so Catherine would have to bite the bullet and bail out herself when the time came.

Alice's attraction and her own meant the idea she would act upon next is ill-advised to say the least. But the way Alice still seemed so disappointed about her dive, made Catherine want her to make amends, and bring her confidence back out. And so she goes through with her idea. "Let's pretend that dive never happened. Start from the beginning. What's your third jump going to be Alice?"

Back on tiled flooring Alice answered, recognising the opportunity Catherine was offering up. "I want to do a proper dive this time."

"Great idea Alice, show me how you would do it now."

"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.

"Show me the positions, all the phases right here and now." The sister elaborated.

Alice felt ridiculous but she complied, reaching out front with her arms and standing straight. "You look like you're about to dance to Thriller, not dive into a pool" Catherine critiqued her demonstration.

Alice huffed in exasperation, whilst Catherine got out the pool and came up to her side, manipulating her body into the right place. "Arms up, eyes forward, feet together."

Alice nods and cooperated with her instructions. Quickly she realised why this is the correct position, Callum didn't even do this which is why she thought it was so easy. It really was dumb of her to try this without a brief lesson beforehand.

And when Catherine lightly breathed onto her nape, it takes all of Alice's willpower not to shiver in pleasure at the sensation.

Catherine herself deliberately lingered longer than she needed to. But eventually does pull back to a reasonably close distance. "What's the next step?"

"I jump" Alice guessed in all honesty.

"Wrong" Catherine responded.

"Why?"

"You don’t need to jump, elevation is only going to make your ordeal more difficult. You don’t need elevation unless you need more air time, you get me?"

Alice understood. Catherine needed air in order to do her flip, but Alice just needed to dive into the water. Callum leant forwards and then..."I lean over and kick off."

"And what does one need to do first?" Catherine returned.

"Bend over." So she does, whilst keeping the rest of her arms straight and maintaining her head position.

"Ninety degrees to the water, don't be obtuse now" Catherine added a little joke in with her teachings.

"What an acute sense of humour you have Catherine" Alice sent back, whilst bending into a perfect right angle.

"Okay, you're ready to go, but how to dive?" Catherine quizzed before immediately answering her rhetorical question. "Looking forward, tucking my chin, letting the upper body lean, and then straightening my legs as I go."

Filled up with new confidence, Alice asks "can I have another go then? The real thing"

"Of course you can" Catherine supported her.

Alice was back up the ladder in no time at all, slowing down only to keep her balance and stop herself from slipping on the board. Catherine called up to her. "Don't worry about the wobble, focus on getting your feet right."

Alice took a deep, suddenly nervous breath and repositioned in exactly the way Catherine taught her. Callum was just returning and Catherine could see him about ready to unleash hell upon earth. She made sure she caught his eye, and sends the most threatening **** glare she's ever mustered before.

'Let her do it or I'll really kill you' her facial expression said to him. He took the wise decision to not say anything. Alice had no clue he'd returned.

Meanwhile Alice gets to the end of the board, allowing it to wobble and settle under her weight until the opportunity to position herself better shows itself. "Take your time. Take your time" Catherine willed for everything to go well for her.

Then Alice's waist bent, her body went ninety degrees. In the very next second she goes forward and she is airborne.

Catherine's heart was in her mouth. For good reasons. Her feet didn't slip at the last second, something that can happen to anyone experienced or not. She didn't let her body go slack, and therefore increase the risk of an awkward landing. She lifted off almost perfectly.

In the time it took Catherine to collect enough breath to scream in joy, Alice completed the dive. It wouldn't win any medals, but it was better than her last one by a country mile. It was worth being proud of.

She realised it too when her head popped up out of the water and immediately looked for Catherine. Her face looked like a kid at Christmas. "I did it! That felt amazing!"

The black-haired girl mirrored the redhead’s beaming grin before jumping into the water. She watches Alice swim rapidly towards her only to be clung onto like a koala does to a tree. Alice even wrapped her legs around Catherine's waist, making the older teenager strain slightly under her weight.

"That was awesome"

"It sure was, it was great for your first dive" Catherine wrapped Alice up in her arms. She was seconds away from losing control and instead of disentangling their bodies, she's wholeheartedly embracing the hold.

Alice wasn't letting go, only pulling away so they were face-to-face. And eye-to-eye. And almost nose-to-nose. She was drowning now, and felt no mortal peril from it whatsoever. "Thank you Catherine."

"Don't thank me, be proud of yourself" she replied. That's her cue, and she was not resisting the urge at all. Thankfully just as she made a millimetre of progress, Callum saves his girlfriend's fidelity with a clearance of his throat. "That's enough I think, it's time to go home."

Alice reluctantly fell from Catherine's hips, feeling a twinge guilty but ready to protest his demand. "Why? The centre doesn't close for another two hours."

"I've had enough for one day. It's already been highjacked, and now I've been substituted completely it seems. I am not taking it anymore" Callum bitterly told them.

"Then you leave!" Alice shrieked. "I'm staying here!"

"I told you this would happen, this is what she does!" He turns from Alice to Catherine. "You have to ruin everything! You can't let me have one good thing, one great thing!"

"She hasn't done anything wrong!" Alice defends the sister. "In fact she's been amazing all day! You just can't see yourself be outdone!"

Callum stares through Catherine like his eyes were power drills. "You not going to deny it then! Cause you know exactly you're doing, and you're loving it! I swear if you weren't family or a girl, I'd pummel your face in!"

Catherine reacted to his threat like he'd told her what the weather was like, and turned to Alice calmly. "It's alright. I'll go. I wasn't meant to be here all day, and I have plans afterwards. You too can make up and then have the fun to yourselves."

Alice's eyes burn in outrage. Callum says she ruins everything, yet he's ruined everything. The girl who moments ago taught her how to dive properly, and has been nothing less than a breath of cool fresh air. And he was so jealous that he's **** the day to become a disaster.

Catherine left the pool in a dignified and calm manner, and the other two watch her go with polar opposite expressions. When they can no longer see her anymore, Alice glared back at Callum. "Seeing as the mood has been obliterated, I might as well go too."

"Yeah, come on. Let's get changed and head on back to the bus stop" Callum suggested.

"Not us. You. I'm ringing my mom and asking her to pick me up, because I can't stand the sight of you" Alice grumpily left the pool and walked away from him.

She hoped he felt gutted and hurt, he deserves to grovel and make up for how he's acted today. She'll ignore his calls for a few days, blank his eyes at school, and do her homework at home rather than the library. He'll then apologize for being an asshole, and he will mean it.

She'll also not forget this. Even though she was committed to the relationship, she still had the jury out on whether it would last. There were many pros to being with him, but today's events were a solid negative. Unfair and jealous.

And if he thinks for one second that Alice would ignore Catherine forever after the hours of fun they just had, then Alice would go out of her way to make sure she was very much recognised. There will be a friend request waiting for Catherine when she next looks at her phone, and it wasn't no courtesy request. Alice will be keeping in close contact with Catherine, whether Callum liked it or not.