Chapter 30: Unthinkable, untouchable

The murky waters surrounded Ander, and he felt darkness closing in on him.

He couldn't remember how, but here he was at Vicalvaro Lake again.

Was he supposed to find his way to the surface and finish the race with Matteo? How far ahead was Matteo right now anyway? Ander wasn't even sure how long he had been underwater.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a movement that was accentuated by a brilliant glimmer of sunlight.

When he turned to get a better look, his eyes widened in surprise.

It was Reina.

Dressed in a black laced-up one piece swimsuit, she was an artwork in motion as she swam gracefully toward him, exuding the aura of a heart-stopping siren with her alluring smile and fanned out long dark hair.

Ander barely moved when she approached him. Her left hand rested on his chest, and slowly her fingertips began running down his bare skin slowly.

Reina's other hand made its way to the nape of his neck and pulled him close to her.

He didn't resist, allowing their lips to meet fervently. He wrapped his arms around Reina, feeling the warmth of her bare back.

It was pure, utter bliss.

The kiss deepened, and Ander's hands began to wander, reaching for the string-thin straps of Reina's swimsuit.

Reina shifted her lips and whispered into his ear. "Ander..."

Does sound travel in water?

Ander didn't dwell too long on it. He was focused on one thing only – Reina. Their entwined bodies seemed to pulse, sending sonar waves through the water.

"Ander..." Reina whispered again.

His lips paused for a moment and he pulled back slightly to gaze at Reina.

"Come on, Ander." This time, her voice was more persistent. Her fingers tightened their grip on his arms, and her eyes implored his frantically.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Ander asked.

He felt a strong shake around his shoulders – then his eyelids flew open to the sight of Omar's face hovering above his.

"Great, you're finally awake," Omar hissed. "Listen, you need to let me out. It's almost 5AM and my parents will be up soon for prayers."

"Uhhh... Give me a sec." Ander squinted as he tried to get himself oriented quickly.

Okay. I'm in my room. Omar spent the night and – the whole thing with Reina – it was a dream. Just a dream.

Omar pressed a hand against Ander's underwear, where his crotch was. "You were in a pretty deep sleep there. Were you.. Were you having a wet dream?" he teased, noticing the moisture.

Ander was grateful that it was dark because his cheeks had grown hot.

Shit. I got wet. And not because of my boyfriend.

"Come on. I'll put on some pants then we can go downstairs," Ander mumbled.

Omar didn't move. "Aww, you don't have to be shy around me. You know that, right?"

Ander forced a chuckle, but didn't say anything more.

In his half-sleepy state, he didn't trust his mouth to behave. Because it might just take the cue from his brain and crank out something extremely inappropriate – and extremely related to Reina.


"YES. Done. Woohoo!" Christian slammed a hand on the surface of his desk before standing up with a triumphant smile. "Goodbye school year, and hello freedom!"

"Sit back down, please," Martin told Christian immediately. "You may be done with your exam, but your classmates are not. Can I ask you to save the noise and chaos for later?"

"Okay, okay," Christian obliged as he resumed his sitting position. "But admit it – you are glad as well that today is the last day you'll be seeing us for a while."

A few students laughed quietly before re-focusing on their exam.

Ander didn't join the laughter. He, too, had completed his exam answers. But instead of filling his mind with different ways to celebrate, he found himself occupied with thoughts of Reina.

Or more specifically, thoughts of how not to think about Reina.

He might have just been overly sensitive, but he got the sense that Reina had been subtly avoiding him lately...

But that's ridiculous. We had been getting along really well. Nothing happened to trigger this... Right? Hang on. Was it something I did? Is she actually mad at me?

It was puzzling.

These days, Reina would always be polite and exchange friendly greetings when he bumped into her in school. But whenever he had suggested to hang out or study together for the finals, she would decline – always with valid-sounding reasons, but who could tell for sure?

Could it be.. that Reina is busy because she has a new boyfriend? And she wanted to keep a distance from me because of our history? But we're just friends now. Really good friends. So there's no problem, is there?

All of these questions were straining Ander's mind a lot more than any exam, that was for sure. Talk about a mindfuck.

He wasn't even sure why he was so affected by this.

Well, there was that dream he had this morning, but it could be totally random. It could have been anyone else in the dream instead of Reina. Lu. Carla. Heck, it could have even been Polo.

It was only a major thing if Ander attached any meaning to it – and he shouldn't.

Because him and Reina? It was just unthinkable. And untouchable.

Right?

When time was finally up and Martin had asked everyone to submit their papers at his table, Ander dragged his feet out of the classroom.

"Hey buddy, I'll see you at Lu's house later yeah?" Christian said as he sprinted past Ander. "I'm going to get a haircut first – and maybe a Boyzilian too. Tonight is gonna be wild."

Ander decided not to prompt Christian for more information about the Boyzilian. "See you, man."

On his way to the lockers, Ander decided to detour to the vending machine to grab a soda.

He froze mid-stride when he saw that Reina was standing right in front of the machine.

"Oh hey, Ander," Reina said, noticing his presence and flashing a quick smile his way before getting back to choosing her drink.

"Hi," he replied. "How's your leg? And how was the final paper?"

"Well, my leg is finally being useful again." Reina demonstrated by wiggling her right sneaker. "And the paper? It was okay."

"Meaning you'll likely get an A?" he teased. She was probably the smartest student he knew. Even smarter than Lu.

That got a small laugh from her. "I don't want to be over confident or anything..."

"So you'll be getting an A."

She laughed again. "Fine, yeah. Possibly. But who cares, right? School's over and I can't wait for the holidays to start."

"What are you doing tonight? Coming to Lu's?" Ander couldn't help it. Despite his confused and conflicted emotions, he was still hoping that she would be there at Lu's party.

Reina shrugged her slim shoulders casually. "I don't know. Lu isn't exactly my biggest fan. I doubt she'd want to see me at her house."

"When have you ever worried about being in a place with people not liking you?" Ander challenged smilingly.

"If you only knew, Ander Muñoz," Reina answered with a wink.

After retrieving her Coke can from the machine's collection slot, Reina took a step back and gestured at Ander to go ahead with his turn.

Ander punched at the button for the grape soda, then cleared his throat. "So the school party tomorrow. And the dare with Matteo. I've got it all planned out."

Reina leaned in with interest. "Oh?"

"I'm going to need help though. So I'll be talking to the gang tonight."

"During Lu's party?" Reina asked.

Ander nodded.

"Hmm. Right." Reina was silent for a second before thoughtfully adding, "I should be there then. We're in this together, and I definitely want to help."

"Yeah?" Ander gazed at her, struck by how beautiful she looked at that instant, bathed in the sunlight coming from the windows next to the vending machine.

Reina returned the gaze, and to his surprise, there was a hint of shyness in her expression. "Yeah," she whispered.

They both smiled, and Ander couldn't help thinking how contented he felt in this simple yet perfect moment.