The Swimming Pool
Disclaimer: All characters created by Kate Brian.
Author's note: This story takes place the summer before Reed comes to Easton. Thanks to This Rhythm for inspiring me to write this in memory of Kiran.
Kiran Hayes finished her fifth martini of the day and set the empty glass carefully on the green marble tabletop next to the pool. Noelle Lange's parents' summer house in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts was a far cry from the middle-class split-level in Sherman Oaks where Kiran had grown up. Of course, all that changed when Kiran became a virtual supermodel at age fourteen, but Kiran still wished she could have come from old money like Taylor or Ariana or Noelle, especially Noelle.
Kiran tried to figure out what to do next. Noelle and Taylor were in Boston shopping all day. Noelle had invited her to come with, but Kiran had just returned from a four-day spree in Milan and, surprisingly, she was all shopped out. Ariana was inside writing in her journal, and Kiran knew better than to disturb Ariana during her quiet time. I guess I'll go for a swim, Kiran decided.
Kiran cast off her towel, revealing a green thong bikini and a perfectly-tanned body. She climbed up on the diving board and walked to the very edge. Spreading her arms wide, Kiran executed a smooth, graceful swan dive into the deepest part of the crystal-blue pool.
Kiran decided to swim underwater all the way to the steps at the shallow end. Noelle's pool was Olympic-size, but Kiran was an excellent swimmer, so she knew she could make it. But as she swam, Kiran felt some sort of tentacle grab her ankle and yank her back into the deep end.
Kiran knew that if she could just make it to the surface, she could tread water until she figured out how to get free of whatever was trying to pull her under. But her efforts were in vain; the thing holding her ankle was too strong.
Kiran's lungs began to burn from the effort of holding her breath long. She remembered the Russian guy who had drowned in the pond at Easton last Christmas, and then she really began to panic. I can't die here, Kiran thought wildly. I'm a sixteen year-old supermodel, I can't die in Noelle's fucking swimming pool!
Just as it seemed she couldn't hold her breath a second longer, the pressure on Kiran's ankle abruptly released. Kiran immediately swam to the surface. As soon as her head burst from the water, Kiran took in several gasping breaths to replenish her air supply, then looked around.
Kiran was at the edge of the pool, and Ariana Osgood was standing over her. Ariana was wearing a pure white one-piece bathing suit with a jagged red line running down the center. In her left hand, Ariana was holding a pair of gardening shears, the blades glinting maliciously in the afternoon sun. For a split second, Kiran thought Ariana was going to stab her with the shears, but then Ariana extended her right hand and helped Kiran out of the pool.
Ariana led Kiran over to the lounge chair and helped her dry off. "What happened?" Kiran asked once her mind had recovered enough to string a coherent sentence together.
"Your foot got tangled in a vine of some sort," Ariana explained. "I had to cut it with the garden shears." She shook her head slowly. "Noelle always said her pool was haunted by the ghost of a Tory spy, but I never believed her until now."
Kiran didn't believe in ghosts, so she tactfully changed the subject. "Wow, Ariana, that was amazing! You literally saved my life. How can I ever repay you?"
"Don't worry about it," Ariana murmured, her soft Southern drawl strangely soothing to Kiran's ears. "After all, what are friends for?"