Under Water | Ongoing |

Chapter 1 - Under Water

I stretch as I wake up from the peaceful slumber I had last night. I have to admit, that was one of the best slumbers I have had in a long time. It honestly felt really good to get a good night sleep.

I get up to open my curtains, letting the California sunshine fill my apartment bedroom. I then open the window to feel the breeze and hear the birds sing their beautiful songs. 

As you’re probably wondering, I am Azura. I am nineteen years old and I live in none other than Sunny California. 

There’s more about me but you’ll find those things out later on.

I walk into the bathroom connected to my bedroom to start my daily morning routine. I start off by washing my face, brushing my teeth, and brushing my hair. Some people see me differently because my hair is whitish-greyish and are surprised when I tell them it’s my natural hair color. 

As I brush my hair, I recall the most unrealistic, beautiful dream I had last night. Recently, I have been having these dreams about two mermans and me being a mermaid. I know what you’re thinking, mermaids and mermans are fictional characters, not real. But these dreams feel real somehow and I feel connected to these two mermans. One of the mermans has a grey tail while the other one has a red one, they are so beautiful but too bad that they aren’t real. 

When I finish brushing my hair, I go to my closet to pick out my outfit for the day. I decided on a light blue skirt and crop top with floral prints on it. I put on the outfit and walk out my closet to go make my bed and tidy up my bedroom. After I finish tidying up my room, I walk out of my bedroom to go to the kitchen. When I arrive at the kitchen I see my roommate who is also my best friend sitting on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island looking down at her phone. When she looks up from her phone she spots me and then smiles. 

“Happy Birthday,” Mia says excitedly while walking over to me, opening her arms to give me a hug. I hug her while saying, “Thank you.” 

Me and Mia have been best friends since Elementary going into Junior High, I was getting bullied one day at school and she stood up to them since I was such a shy, fragile girl who didn’t know how to stand up for herself during the time. We have been best friends ever since and she’s felt like a sister to me. I grew up in foster care moving from home to home since my parents died when I was just a baby, So it’s nice to have at least one person there for me, well two people. 

“So what do you want to do today,” Mia asks while pulling away from the hug. “Hmm, I’m not sure, maybe go to the beach,” I say with a smile plastered on my face. Mia then makes a frown and playfully rolls her eyes. “We always go to the beach, it’s the only place you ever want to go to,” she says. “I know, but it’s the only place I ever enjoy going to,” I say. 

I always found comfort and peace at the beach for some reason. More than anyone could possibly think. I feel connected to it like it’s my home. 

“OKay, we can go to the beach,” Mia says after sighing. “Are you going to invite Liam,” she asks, maybe a little too happily but I brush it off. “Of course,” I say. 

Liam is my boyfriend and has been for about two years now. I met him at the cafe I work at when I had accidentally bumped into him spilling coffee on his shirt as it was a busy day at the cafe. I kept apologizing and asked if there was any way I could make it up to him. He then said the only way I could make it up to him was by letting him take me out on a date and we have been together ever since. 

“Well you can go invite Liam and get ready for the beach and I’ll get ready for the beach as well,” Mia says. 

“Okay,” I say as I walk towards my bedroom. 

When I reach my bedroom, I then pull out my phone to message Liam. 

*Messaging Liam Starts*

Azura: Hey Babe.

Liam: Hey Love, Happy Birthday. 

Azura: Thank you. Do you want to go to the beach today with me and Mia?

Liam: Sure, what time are you going and should we just meet each other there?

Azura: At 11:30 and yes we should.

Liam: Same beach?

Azura: Yes, same beach. 

Liam: Okay, see you and Mia there. Love you.

Azura: Love you too. 

*Messaging Liam Ends*

It is 10 a.m now so me and Mia should leave about 11 a.m to get to the beach. The beach that we are going to is the same beach I always want to go to, which is called Crystal Grove. It has the most beautiful water I can possibly ever think of. The water looks like it has crystals in it when the sun shines on it which makes it breathtaking. 

As I realize that I have about an hour to get ready and settled for the beach, I start to pack things like towels, sunscreen, water, my bathing suit, snacks, etc. As I recheck my bag to make sure I have everything, I look at my phone to see that it’s almost 11. So I grab the bag with all the things I need for the beach and leave my bedroom to go get Mia. 

I close the door to my bedroom with my bag of necessities for the beach in my hand. I then look up to see Mia waiting at the front door so I guess I didn’t have to go get her. “Ready?” I ask her while walking towards the front door. “Yes, is Liam coming,” she asks. “Yes, but he will be meeting us there,” I respond. “Oh,” she says, sounding a little disappointed but as usual I just brushed it off.

~~~

About twenty minutes later, me and Mia soon arrive at the beach and see Liam waiting in the usual spot we stay at when we come to the beach. I slowly wave at Liam and smile but before I can say anything, I hear Mia say, “Hey Liam!” I didn’t really see that as a problem since her and Liam became friends, but I kinda found it weird. “Hi Mia and hi babe,” Liam says while walking over to me and kissing my cheek. 

I then smile and out of the corner of my eye, I believe that I saw Mia with a frown on her face but once again as usual I brush it off. 

~~~

A little while later, me, Liam, and Mia are sitting on our towels staring out into the horizon. I can feel the lovely fresh breeze as I smell the salty sea air and watch some waves crash on the rocks on the other side of the beach. 

“I’m going to go take a walk on the beach, you two can stay here, I won’t be long,” I say to Liam and Mia. “Okay babe, just be sure to stay safe and be careful,” Liam says. I smile at Liam and then say, “Okay, I will.” 

I then stood up and started to walk towards where I saw the waves crashing against the rocks. When I got to that area, I noticed that there weren't people around as this side of the beach isn’t used as often.

~~~

As I stayed at this specific area for a while, I decided that it was time to get back to Mia and Liam, but as I started walking back in that direction I heard something in the water. When I turned around and looked at the ocean I thought I saw something duck down into the water as I thought I saw a fish tail, but I must’ve been hallucinating or something. 

After a few minutes, I arrive back at the area Liam and Mia should’ve been waiting for me but they weren’t. I looked around for a bit but still couldn’t find them so I decided to just sit down in our spot and wait for them to come back. 

About five minutes later, I see them walking back to our spot laughing about something. When they see me they immediately stop laughing which I found really strange. “What was so funny and where did you two go,” I ask. “Oh nothing and we just went to go get some ice cream,” Mia says. “Well where is the ice cream,” I ask. “We had eaten it already,” Liam says. “Oh,” I say. “Maybe it's time that we leave, it's starting to get late,” Liam says. I then nod as I look at the sun beginning to set. 

~~~

Almost an hour later me, Liam, and Mia arrived back at the apartment. Since it was starting to get late, I suggested Liam stay at me and Mia’s apartment for the night.

“Well, I suggest that maybe we should watch a movie,” Mia says. “Sure, just let me change real quick,” I say. I then go into my room and change into something more comfortable. When I finished changing, I realized that I didn’t bring the bag from the car I took to the beach with us that had something valuable to me in it.

I then walk out of my bedroom to see Liam and Mia sitting on the couch and I say, “I have to go get the bag I took to the beach with us from the car, I’ll be right back.” Mia nods as in saying okay and then Liam says, “Okay babe, just hurry back.” 

I then rush to the car to unlock it and grab the bag from the car. I then checked the bag to see if it was still in there. I pulled out the beautiful necklace that was a small blue shell with a pearl inside it, it had belonged to my mother and it meant everything to me. It was the only thing I had left of her. 

After putting the necklace around my neck, I then head back up into my apartment only to find what I didn’t expect. I found someone who is supposed to be my boyfriend kissing someone who is supposed to be my best friend.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE,” I yelled clearly startling them as they jumped up. “Babe, it isn’t what it looks like,” Liam says. “Oh really, because it looks like my boyfriend was kissing my best friend,” I say. “Azura we didn’t mean for you to find out like this,” I hear Mia say. “Oh really, so how long has this been going on,” I asked hurt. They both looked at each other and then looked down. “Well!,” I say. “One year,” Mia says, sounding like she’s about to cry. That’s when I just felt my world crumbling. The only two people I had and the only two people that cared about me basically didn’t care about me at all. That’s when I just ran out the apartment hearing Mia yelling, “I’m so sorry Azura, please forgive me, we are best friends after all!”

At this point in time, I couldn’t speak to her or Liam. I don’t know where I was going to go, because the only place I felt comfortable at was the beach. With that coming to mind, I got into the car heading straight for the beach. 

About half an hour later I arrived at the beach. I walk towards the dock to sit down on. There is no one really here since it's nighttime. 

As I’m sitting on the dock, I recall everything that happened today. I then realized that there were small signs of something that could’ve possibly been going on between them two, like Mia frowning when Liam would kiss my cheek. But, I had decided to ignore them.

“At least I didn’t catch them having s*x,” I say, but this just hurts me more because I could’ve catch them doing a lot worse. 

As I’m sitting on the dock with my feet dangling off, I see something shining in the water. When I lean closer to try and get a closer look, I end up slipping and falling into the water. I never learned how to swim and I don’t have a life jacket so I started to drown. 

I started to sink to the bottom of the ocean trying to open my mouth and scream but no sound comes out as water  to fill up my lungs quite easily. I then let myself sink further down the ocean accepting my fate.

I then felt two sets of arms grab me but before I could see who these people were, my eyes closed causing everything to go black.

~~~

Author’s Note:

Sorry if there are some mistakes in this chapter, I am a young writer. 

This is my first story, so I would appreciate it if you would give me some feedback and advice. 

~~~