Soaked By Him

My name is Priya and one minute I was standing by Jayden's pool, and the next minute I was in it. I wasn't even supposed to be here. My friends got invited to Jayden Cole's birthday party and begged me to come as their plus one. I said no. Jayden and I don't talk. We go to the same college, we have the same friend circle, but he has acted like I don't exist for two years. But they dragged me here anyway. The party was loud. Everyone was around the pool. Jayden was at the other end, shirtless, basketball in his hands, his friends yelling at him. Dude, no way you can dunk backwards. Turn your back to the post.Jayden laughed. He was showing off. It was his birthday. He turned his back to the basketball post, bounced the ball twice, and threw it hard over his head without looking, trying to dunk it backwards. He didn't dunk the ball. He dunked me.The basketball hit my chest with so much force I couldn't breathe. My feet slipped and I fell backwards straight into the deep end of the pool. The water swallowed me. And everyone started staring. I can't swim. I never learned. I was flapping, choking, my dress floating up, my hair in my face. I was sinking. I could hear the music but muffled. I could see lights above the water, and I was panicking. I was going to drown at Jayden Cole's birthday party.Then strong arms wrapped around me. Jayden jumped in. Fully clothed in his basketball shorts, he dove in and pulled me up. He held me against his chest and dragged me to the edge. I was coughing, shaking, holding onto his shoulders for dear life.Hey, hey, you're okay. I got you, I got you, he was saying, his voice different. Panicked.Priya. Breathe. He lifted me out of the pool onto the tiles. He was on his knees in front of me, soaking wet. I'm so sorry, he said. God, I'm so sorry. My friends dared me, I didn't look, I swear I didn't see you standing there. Are you okay. Can you breathe.For a second, I was grateful. So grateful. He saved me. I was holding his hands tight. Then it hit me. He was the reason I almost drowned. He was the reason my white dress was see-through and stuck to my body and everyone was staring and laughing and whispering. He humiliated me.My gratitude switched off. I yanked my hands away from him. Don't touch me, I said, my voice cold and shaking. You think sorry fixes it.You threw a basketball at me. I didn't mean to. But you did. You always do something without thinking.His friends were quiet now. Jayden stared at me, water dripping from his hair into his eyes. His jaw was tight. He looked guilty. And something else. Like he couldn't stop looking at how my dress was clinging to me. Priya, he whispered, so only I could hear. Don't need your sorry, I snapped, and stood up cold and dripping. I walked away, leaving him sitting there in the pool water, staring after me.Jayden says he doesn't have feelings for me. Then why did he look so scared when I was drowning?