Love Under Water

Afterwards

Ariel’s POV

I watch him leave, he expertly drives his car away and I exhale the breath I had been holding in. Once inside, I flop on the couch feeling dazed. I can’t believe whatever happened in the past two hours was actually real, I pinch my hand, ouch, yup everything was real. And the cramp in my leg is living proof of it. I close my eyes and rewind each and every moment in my mind with him. Just then my phone pings, and without seeing, I know it was none other than Mia.

‘Hey, where did you disappear to?’

‘Left college early, got a cramp while swimming.’

‘Uh, how did you get home? Why didn’t you tell me I would’ve helped you?’

‘Matt Cavanaugh dropped me home ;).’

‘You’re kidding me, right?’

‘Nope, not at all.’

‘Omg, I don’t believe this. I’m coming over and you are going to give me all the details.’

I smile to myself, knowing how crazy Mia must be right now. By the time she arrives, so do my parents and there’s a huge fuss concerning my leg. I’ve been given painkillers, mom made me my favorite soup and dad has been making me do stretching exercises which he found on the internet. I have been told to stay put tomorrow, which means no college.

“Mia, honey, so kind of you to be here when Ariel is in this condition.”

My mom loves Mia like her own because we have been inseparable since school, so she would always get a pair of whatever she got for me, be it a dress, a book, or even a bra.

“Yes Mrs. Thomson, as soon as Mia told me about the cramp I rushed to meet her.”

“Liar,” I whisper in her ear and we giggle.

“Okay Mia, now I want you to take Ariel to her room, she needs to rest and so do you. No college break for you.”

“Yes, Mr. Thomson.” She gives my father a big smile with a salute.

Ariel helps me to my room, the pain killer and the exercises have all done their magic.

“You are telling me everything.” She lies on the bed next to me, anxiously waiting for me to start.

“Well, I met him initially at the library when I was going through that book, checking to see if any reply had been left to my message.”

“Oh, and then?”

“He wanted the same book and asked me my name.”

“Which you told him, of course.”

“Actually no I didn’t. In fact, I got kinda mad at him for asking as I remembered seeing him with Valerie.”

“You’re kidding me right.” Mia sits on the bed with her eyes wide.

“Nope, and I walked out.”

Mia slams her head back on the pillow, “I don’t believe you, Ariel, you walked out on Matt Cavanaugh. You might be the only girl who has done that to him.”

I continue, “I decided to cool off with a swim, and right in the middle of the swimming pool, this cramp happened and you have no idea how much I panicked. But I am really grateful to Matt for saving me there.” I smile over the memory.

“Uh oh, I know that look. It’s the ‘I really like him’ look and the ‘I can’t live without him’ look. Yes, girl, your heart is taken by none other than Matt Cavanaugh.” She gets out of bed and does her silly dance, and I can't stop laughing at my BFF.

“Cut it out Mia, you know better than me he’s with Valerie.”

Mia stops dancing, “Maybe he’s not, how can you be so sure? Oh, I can't wait till Valerie finds out that Matt dropped you home.”

The thought alone makes me uneasy.

“Listen Mia, as much as I love your enthusiasm, but I don’t want you telling Valerie anything about this. That girl is already after me and if she finds out that her boyfriend has helped me she will lose her s**t, so please don’t say a word.”

“But Ariel..”

“Mia, please.”

“Fine and what about Mr.kisser? Didn’t he leave a message for you?”

I shake my head in dismay.

Suddenly, Mia’s face lit up, “Hey, have you thought about it, what if Matt is your Mr. kisser?”

I sit up shocked by what she had just said, “No way, na ah, not possible.” But in my heart, I hope that it’s true.

Matt’s POV

Ariel’s perfume still lingers in the car and I can’t help breathing it in. This girl is beautiful and I want to know her more, her personality, her likes, and dislikes. What she is passionate about, what makes her happy. Is she the kind of girl who loves chocolates, flowers or diamonds or all of them? Well, at least now I don’t need to keep looking for my mystery girl anymore, but I won’t be telling her about myself just yet.

After dropping Ariel home, I head over to my parent’s house. Dad had told me that mom was home from the hospital now, so I wanted to see her. Mom has had a tough day and she must be exhausted. If she had not sent me back last night, I would’ve stayed with her. I can’t wait to see her.

I enter the living room to find mom reclining on the huge couch with a small fire crackling in the background. I move closer to her to fix her blanket and she seems to have lost some weight. Why didn’t I notice this before? Maybe if you had visited her more often you would’ve, my conscience reprimands me. I don’t remember how long I sat there looking at her, sleeping peacefully with a frame in her hand. It’s a picture of mine. A tear slips down my cheek.

Dad puts a hand on my shoulder and we hug each other, both trying to keep our emotions in check.

“What happened today?” I whisper. He asks me to follow him into the kitchen. Once we were sitting on the stools, dad answered.

“She had her biopsy done today and tomorrow the pathologist will make the final diagnosis if the tumor is benign or malignant and also what grade it is.”

“How was mom when all this was happening?”

“Surprisingly she was very cooperative, she wants to fight it till her last breath. Don’t worry son, she’ll be fine.” Dad smiles at me.

I can hear mom stirring, so we head back to the living room. As soon as she sees me, she tries to get up but I rush to her.

“Mom, you need to rest so keep lying down.” She stretches her hand and I grab it. Her skin is soft and her hands are cold. I start rubbing them trying to warm them. Our house cook, Eleanor, comes in with a tray filled with my favorite pie.

“I knew you would come today, so I asked Eleanor to make it.” Mom smiled softly and I kissed her hand.

“Yes, my dear Matt, your mother had instructed me to make your favorite pie and I hope you eat all the crumbs too. Though one would say that you have been starving yourself, look at you, there's no sign of fat on your body.” Eleanor has been with us since I was a kid, she's family. Mom and dad trusted her enough to leave me alone with her and sometimes she gets my mood swings better than mom.

“Eleanor, I am a swimmer, remember.”

“Of course, I remember but that shouldn’t stop you from eating.” And she puts a big bite of apple pie in my mouth, which makes mom laugh.

“So tell me, how is it?” she looks at me expectantly with a smile playing on her lips.

“It’s divine ma Cherie,” this causes her to laugh so hard.

“You rascal, always putting me to blush.”

She leaves the room bringing smiles to all of our faces, making us forget our troubles.

“So what is it? You seem to be in a jovial mood and I like it.” Mom doesn’t miss my surprised reaction.

“You didn't think I would notice?” she raises an eyebrow at me, “Is it a girl?”

“Mom, wow, since when did you become a psychic?”

“So it is a girl.” Her eyes sparkle.

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t deny it either.” She shot back.

“Well, I did meet this girl and she’s so beautiful and I just can't get her out of my mind.” I stand up and start pacing the room.

“When can I meet her?”

“Mom, it's way too early for that. I need to know her more. We just met.”

“Sometimes, it's just a single meeting that is needed to give your heart away.”