Disclaimer: I don't own Chad's character. No copyright intended for him.
I was just about to dive into the water when I heard a boy's voice say "Excuse me!"
I looked up and saw a tall, cute, bare-chested, blonde guy with sky blue eyes giving me a confused look. He was actually handsome. I smiled sweetly at him.
"What are you doing here? Didn't I say I wanted all the pool to myself, didn't you hear me say that?" his tone was harsh, his head held up high.
"What?" I asked as I couldn't quite comprehend why a total stranger was yelling at me.
"You heard me. I want this pool all to myself, so if you don't mind, I would like you to leave."
What an spoiled… arrogant… narcissistic… ufff! Who does he think he is? Did I just think he was cute just a moment ago? I was wrong.
He just stood there speaking as if it was he was pointing out the obvious… as if he owned the place… this brat seemed accustomed to bossing people around. Well, it wasn't working with me.
He was so not cute.
"Last time I checked the pool was public and was also included in the price I paid. So no thanks." I said as I swam away from him. I guess now I knew why the pool was empty when I got here. Seriously… I'm a calm person by nature, but this was too much.
There was no reply so I turned to look at him. He just stood there dazed, with his mouth half open.
He asked in a small voice "Don't you know who I am?" he seemed astonished by the thought.
"Should I know?" I said while raising my eyebrow. Have I met him before? Maybe he was a long lost cousin just like in one of those weird soap operas my grandmother always watches. Or was it my long lost brother… The thought made me chuckle.
"You really don't know?" he tried again.
"Nope. No idea." I shook my head.
He seemed hurt as he was silent again for a few moments.
"Sorry… " he began while he was looking on the ground. So he did know how to apologize, maybe he wasn't that bad after all. "It was a rude thing to say… judging by the fact that you don't know who I am, that is." he lowered himself to the ground to look me in the eyes (as I was still in the poll). He gave me a breathtaking smile, puppy eyes and repeated "I'm sorry. Am I forgiven?" and it was my turn to remain speechless.
He was so close that I could see his long eyelashes, his sky blue topaz eyes, his golden sun-kissed hair and his full lips… Gosh, what was I thinking? I needed to step out of it.
"Oh… yes… I'm… I'm Emily. You can just call me Em." I said, failing any attempt to seem coherent.
"Chad… I'm Chad." He shook my hand while smiling. A few minutes passed as we gazed at each other. He seemed to have forgotten to let go of my hand. And I wasn't really complaining about it.
"So, Emily, where are you from?" he seemed rather curious.
"Oh… I'm from Romania…" I answered quickly.
"Rumania… huh… So don't you have… television… or internet… in your country? I mean… how come you don't know me…" he seemed serious as he asked. I couldn't believe he was so full of himself. Just as I was starting to think he was a nice guy.
That damned smile of his tricked me.
"Seriously, Chad? Seriously? And you were just apologizing." I gave him an annoyed look and shook my head again. "You know, I may not know who you are, but you're just one person. You know nothing a country and that's a whole bunch of people. "
He recovered his smile "You're right. I'm just not used to people speaking like this to me. Sorry, I keep saying the wrong thing every time I speak." He seemed sincere so I overlooked it.
Almost.
I thought of the perfect revenge "Then don't speak. Swim." I said as I pulled him into the pool.
At first I was proud of myself, but as I saw him sank without reaching the surface, I panicked. Don't tell me he didn't know how to swim…
I quickly dove under water, caught him by his arm and then pulled him up.
It took him a few moments to catch his breath. He was coughing really hard.
"I'm sorry…" I began. I really regretted my action "I didn't know… I really had no idea… please… I " he stopped me mid-sentence –if that can be called a sentence- "Don't worry about it."
We both got out of the pool and I just stood there watching him, not saying a word. I can't explain why, but I felt kind of teary.
After a few soundless minutes, he looked at me and said "Now you see why I wanted to be alone in the pool? I'm afraid of water… I almost drawn when I was little and now I panic every time… I just freeze. If the media finds out it will be a disaster."
That explained a lot. He still needed to learn some manners, but his reasons were well justified.
"I'm sorry" I bit my lip, and then something occurred to me "But isn't it dangerous for you to be alone in the pool if you can't swim?"
"I don't want anyone to know about this, so what choice do I have." He put his head into his hands while saying that.
I suddenly knew what to do. I stood up and walled in front of him "Oke… it can't be helped then. I'll teach you". He looked up and I gave him my most encouraging smile. He chuckled.
Authors' note: At first I only played with the idea… I had no intention to write a story out of it :)) But this is was the result and I decided to post it. I also have the next chapter half-written and planned, but I don't know if I'm going to continue the story after that. I'll see what the readers say.
P.S.: I know Chad's character doesn't match, but when I wrote, it was supposed to be a story about an ordinary girl and a random celebrity. Still I hope you like it. Please review.
