Chapter 2

After Zane had praticed kicking a while, I decided it was time for him to practice strokes.

"Alright, this time, do the same thing except your feet will be on the edge of the gutter and you'll be doing a freestyle stroke with your arms."

"Freestyle? You mean like dancing?" he looked at me.

"No, freestyle is arm after arm, like this," I showed him an example. After a few strokes, I stopped swimming and turned back to him. "Your turn." He rolled his eyes and did as I had instructed.

"Could I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Depends on what it is," he answered.

"You're obviously older than I am. So why are you taking swimming lessons now?"

"I don't like water. But my uncle thought it would be good for me to learn how to swim because I'm leaving for the navy soon."

"Your uncle?"

"Mr. Irons."

"The club manager? Really? Hm. So why are you joining the navy?"

"Shouldn't you be teaching me how to swim?" he said, slightly glaring at me.

" Yeah," I said. "Well, it looks like you have strokes down. Why don't you try it all together?"

Zane stood up, the water reaching just above his waist. His chest and abdomen were wet, slightly glimmering in the light- whoa! What the heck? I shouldn't be talking about him like that! His father owns the club, and I could get fired. But there's nothing wrong with making observations, is there? Anyway, he began swimming, but quickly started sinking. I lunged forward and grabbed him, holding him above water.

"You know, the water's only four feet deep. I can stand just fine," he said, looking down at me.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, just a habit. I usually teach young kids, and-"

"Yeah, cuz that makes me feel so much better," he said. Wow, this guy was sarcastic. Anyway, I released him, and took a few steps back.

"Why don't you try it again, but this time, try stroking faster," I suggested. Zane huffed, but did as I said anyway. This time, he actually swam the entire width of the pool.



"Good job!" I said, slipping back into the kid-teaching mentality. "Now, I'm going to teach you breaststroke." As soon as I said that, I felt akward. Zane was looking at me with this strange look. I couldn't quite decihper it, but it was slightly unnerving. Then, with perfect timing, the pool door opened and three girls in bikinis waltzed in. I recognized the one at the front of the group almost immediately. She looked a lot like Zane. That meant she was Azure Embers. The girls accompanying her were about the same height and build as her, except the one on the right was a bit curvyer.

"Hey Zu-zu," Azure said. Zane didn't respond with words, just a glare.

"Taylor, I think we walked in on something private," Azure turned to the curvy one. Taylor giggled.

"Well, this is akward. What do you think, May?" Taylor asked, giggling.

"Whatever," May said. She was pale and thin, with long black hair and dark eyes. She looked a lot like a vampire.

"What are you doing here?" Zane asked.

"I heard you were here, and thought I'd visit you. I haven't seen you in a long time, you know," Azure responded. Something about her voice creeped me out. It was low and smooth. Too smooth.

"So tell me, Zu-zu. Who's this?" she continued.

"I'm Kitty, I'm a lifeguard here," I introduced myself.

"Interesting," she replied. "Well, I think we've distracted you long enough. Carry on. Girls," Azure snapped as she turned, and the three left, leaving Zane and me alone once again.

"Well, they seemed nice," I said, not sure what to say. I mean, I couldn't exactly say 'Your sister is a creeper,' could I?

"You're obviously blind, deaf, and really dumb," Zane replied. I frowned.

"Back to your lesson," I started, "copy what I do." I began swimming across the pool using breaststroke. I turned and swam back. "Your turn."

"I think one stroke is sufficient," Zane said.

"It's my job to teach you how to swim, and I would be neglecting my responsibilities if I didn't teach you what I teach my other students."

"I need a drink," Zane