I'm back! At long last, summer is here and I have brought you a new chapter of Maternal Instinct. No excuses, I just couldn't write. Enjoy!

A girl finally snaps.

The chlorine is already getting to me, making me feel lightheaded and slightly ill as I sat on the edge of the pool in the shallow end. Gym class is taking place at the community college's pool this week' we're taking off three hours to come down here every day for a week of swimming safety. More than anything, it's a lot of fun, hanging out and swimming, because our instructor is really lax.

"People who can't swim, stay in the shallow end. People who can are allowed to go all over. Watch out for each other, use the buddy system, that sort of thing. If I see anyone breaking the rules, you're out for the rest of the week," the instructor had said, right before he climbed up on his tall lifeguard chair and discreetly put a magazine in his lap.

I wasn't impressed.

Neither, apparently, was Spence. He sat on the edge of the pool near the deep end, where it was quieter, with his feet dangling in the water. Next to him was his 'buddy', a slightly overweight girl who was really quite sweet. They were talking quietly, apparently neither were very good swimmers.

I watched them almost sadly. Jennifer, the girl, had almost gotten Spence to smile. He was looking a bit happier than he usually did. His towel was hugged close to his skinny shoulders, and the standard issue swim trunks were a little big on him, despite being one of the smaller kid sizes the school had.

My gaze was drawn to Duke, one of the basketball players, as he and his friends walked behind the pair. Suddenly, he stumbled, accidentally—or not—knocking into Spencer, sending him out into the water with a yelp. The guys laughed as Spencer floundered in the water that was way over his head.

Without thinking, I dove in, slicing through the water like a torpedo, surfacing near the flailing boy. I didn't think about how you weren't supposed to do it, but I grabbed him and dragged him the three or so feet to the edge of the pool. He latched onto the edge of the pool, gasping for breath. Jennifer grabbed his arm and easily hoisted him out of the water, draping him with her own towel, since his now floated towards the bottom of the pool.

Mostly to avoid explaining at that second, I dove straight down for it. I came up, whipping it at the ground, somehow catching Duke's foot and causing him to cry out in surprise. The lifeguard was now down and checking Spencer out, making sure he was alright. I watched as if from inside a bubble. Duke held a hand out to help me out of the pool, but I blew it off, pulling myself up.

"You—" I hissed, poking him in the chest. "That was despicable! Pushing a child into the deep end of the pool, where it's obviously over his head, and when you know he can't swim!" Everyone was staring now. "I'm tired of it! You and everyone else, constantly picking on him because he was smarter at four than you'll ever be in your entire lifetime! You make me sick," I spat, shoving Duke as hard as I could backwards into the pool. He went under, and then surfaced, almost forgetting to tread water in his shock.

"But I—"

"I don't want to hear it," I said before turning to Jennifer, who was watching uneasily. "Jennifer, right? Where did they take Spencer?"

"This way," she said, leading me through the stunned-silent crowd of students towards the pool office.