Queen Jane Approximately is currently undergoing a rewrite. I will be making changes to some glaringly obvious spelling and continuity mistakes, but other than that I will leave the storyline, and continue, hopefully, from where I left off. Thanks everyone, for all of your very kind reviews and for your reading.

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"Donnelly! Where do you think you're going?" The way Coach Lavender said it wasn't exactly a question. Someone snickered. That blonde kid. Fuck that blonde kid. He's on the swim team anyways.

"Well, you see Coach L, Sir, I was just on my way to-"

"The pool, Miss Donnelly."

"Right." Well shit. It's a little late to pop up now and announce 'Hi, I'm Holly Donnelly, I can't swim well enough to pass the Presidential Fitness Test without water wings and flotation devices the size of Heather Sinclair's implants!

She dipped a toe into the deep end as if testing the water, stalling. The group behind her shifted impatiently, muttering like a forty-headed entity. She straightened the leg on the deck, ready to step back and offer some mortifying excuse about feminine problems, when she was suddenly rushing forward, extended foot meeting air instead of floor. The blonde boy from the swim team had apparently gotten bored and decided to take matters into his own hands. His right hand, to be specific.

Panicking, the girl thrashed her limbs, heel connecting with the pool floor and sending her skidding sideways. She inhaled, gagging on the chlorine- and probably pee-infested water and her own hair, floating in a thick dark curtain around her nose and mouth and obscuring her vision.

Which way is up? …It's not actually bad, this drowning thing, she decided hazily. At least there's no sweat involved.

But then hands- big hands- gripped her almost roughly, as if scared, towing her in some direction she couldn't place. Everything went soft, like she was seeing through one of those flannel shirts she wore into rags.

"…Holly? Holly?!… Coach… She's not… breathing…" Everything was still swimming… The voice was loud… and then quiet.

"Everybody move back!" This was a new voice, not the voice of the hands that had grabbed her. This one was older, richer maybe. She knew both voices, classmates… Lips were on hers then like fire, sucking and pulling and giving and warm and alive… And she was coughing water directly into the face of Caleb Danvers.

Holly drew in a rattling breath between coughs, the blue in her lips slowly retreating though her skin remained an unhealthy, yellowy pale. Her eyes were large with fright in her face, their olive green bright in contrast to the bloodshot whites of her eyes.

"Asshole," her voice was low, but it traveled.

"I almost did us all a favor, kids," Reid replied with a shrug- though he looked more pale than usual- as he turned to slouch off towards the lockers. By now, Coach L had stopped wringing his hands and hyperventilating enough to shoo students off to change for lunch. Concerned dark eyes peered down at Holly, studying the girl's face.

"You okay?"

"Fabulous, really."

"Are you sure? Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"Don't worry about it." Caleb rose, and extended a hand to pull the girl up. They were nearly alone in the gym now, only Pogue waited for Caleb by the lockers. Caleb turned to leave, but Holly murmured "Hey," almost inaudibly, a hand rising up to cradle the back of her neck. He turned expectantly.

"Did you pull me out of the pool?" Caleb cocked an eyebrow, looking at her oddly.

"Don't you remember? Tyler did."