Beneath Summer Skies and Four Letter Lies

What would you do if a perverted boy—even if he's a bit cute—you don't even know confessed that he likes you and wants you to be his girlfriend?

You run, of course.

Well, if shouting 'Ugh, you're so annoying!" then stomping in anger as you walk away and then you look back to see the boy still smiling then you turn around again is considered running.

And that was all I could remember from everything I did this summer.

Nothing too extreme ever happened that made this summer special or remember-worthy.

Nothing too extraordinary.

Nothing too 'WHOA', and I thought that until the end of the season, this summer's going to stay the way it is.

And little did I know how wrong I was.

* * *

It all started when we were at the snack bar, just like yesterday, minus Poppy's cheesy romance book...and add this not-so-friendly gal.

"Johanna, Melody. Melody, Johanna." Poppy lifted her hands to introduce me to the her.

"Hi," I said.

The girl was standing in front me as the straight bangs of her short dark hair almost completely covered her rolling chocolate-brown eyes, with her small hand tightly placed on her hips. And to be honest, 'friendly' wasn't the first impression that crossed my mind when I first saw her.

"Hi," came her reply, which definitely isn't a friendly one either.

Poppy had told me about her earlier, that she's Mrs. Nessenkin's late husband's sister's daughter, so she's Poppy's cousin that isn't my cousin, and it turns out that she'll be spending the summer here too, since it was her choice to spend her summer here—unlike me, who didn't even have the chance to choose where my life will be heading this summer.

"Let's have a race in swimming," Melody suddenly challenged Poppy after a few minutes, and clearly, I wasn't invited.

"I don't want to," Poppy said, and now she picked up something from her purse, and guess what. A new book. "Why don't you race with Johanna instead?"

Melody starting to look at me from head to toe wasn't a surprise to me.

"So...you wanna race?" she said hesitantly, which made me feel a bit irritated.

"Okay," I said, grinning, because she was obviously expecting a 'no.' I'm not into swimming that much, but I have to try once in a while, right?

She smiled back, and said, "I bet you'll lose."

What the...!

Oh boy—I meant, girl, you are gonna get it.

"Losing to a witch isn't that hard," I spat.

Fortunately, her mouth almost opened in my reply, but she managed to compose herself and said, "You...! You'll definitely lose, you filthy piece of—"

Oh. You are so going to get it.

I stood up from my stool, and bravely said, "All you can do is talk! Let's take this outside!"

And then we were swimming.

Good thing I was wearing my swimsuit inside my dress, you know, in case of challenges like this.

The sun was blinding my eyes as I moved my body forward, trying to overtake Melody, who was a few feet away from me at the moment.

The water felt like a heavy coat against my skin, and it rippled harshly as I urged my hands for me to move faster.

"I bet you can't get this far!"

The shout came from Melody, who was a million miles away now.

Okay, not really, but she was impressively far out in the ocean.

So Ms. Itchy-Witchy Pants wants me to go further? That is sooo piece o' cake...

Okay, a hard piece o' cake.

But still, I'm gonna show this girl I can.

Everything was falling according to plan...

...until it happened.

My hands couldn't manage to make me move further anymore.

My feet went swirling down under the sea, dragging me with its weight.

Oh shit.

I couldn't breathe.

"Help!" I screamed.

My last vision was of Melody, looking fully terrified, but not doing anything, until my head was now under the sea, and my eyes burned despite the water surrounding me.

Move your arms, Johanna.

I did.

Still couldn't go up.

Move your feet.

Still wouldn't.

Still couldn't breathe.

You can.

I did. But my whole body felt heavier as it plunged deeper into the bottom of the vast saltwater room.

And it all came to one simple conclusion:

I'm going to die.

* * *

"Oh my God, is she alright?!"

"Look, she's breathing."

"OH MY GOD, JOHANNA!!! WAKE UP!!!"

Voices were everywhere—my sensitive ears heard different kinds of mumbles and screams, while my back felt the soft thin particles of the sand I was lying on. My eyes were closed, and my body was frozen for some reason. But I felt like something was moving. I really felt like a part of my body was moving—my lips?

But I'm a hundred percent sure I'm not moving my lips.

It wasn't me.

I opened my eyes...and realized what had been making me feel like this. And it was the most shocking thing that ever happened to me...so far.

I was being kissed.

K-I-S-S-E-D.

Kissed.

Wait, no, no.

To put it mildly, I was being CPR-ed.

I had been drowning in the sea, and someone must've saved me.

But still...I was being KISSED. Is this counted as a first kiss or something? Because if it is, I would rather drown in the sea, thanks. I mean, who'd want thier first kiss to be a CPR kiss from some random CPR kisser person?! So I think there's no freaking way is this counted.

"She's alive!" a person yelled from the back, and I looked around to see that people were crowding over us, looking hopeful and acting like they give an eff about me, because they weren't—they just want the thrill in seeing how people survive from a drowning incidence.

"You're okay now," the CPR Kisser Person said. I didn't notice his details at first, because my eyes only caught his silhouette due to the fact that he was against the light of the sun. And you'll never guess where that person was.

He was on top of me.

Like the cherry people put on top of an ice cream, which in this case, must've been melting out of so much embarrassment.

Because a cherry was on top of it.

A boy.

A random boy...

And I realized, he's a not-so-random-but-still-random boy.

It was not-so-random-but-still-random because...

...that boy...

...was the boy from yesterday.