Unknown Waters

The water should’ve been murky. But when Amelia opened her eyes she found it to be clear as glass. Her arms and legs hung in the balance of the ocean tide gracefully. She turned her head upward and could barely make out the bottom of the boat next to a white colored ray of sunshine trying to pierce the surface.

A noise on her right brought her attention back to what was around her. Amelia knew that if she moved around too much she would lose whatever amount of air was left in her lungs. Doing her best to keep her body at ease she only turned her head. A shadow darted through the water under her, then another above her. She could sense that she was sinking further down due to the boat now being completely out of her view. Her back hit something hard, a rock in the middle of the ocean floor, and she felt her feet slowly mix with the wet sand.

Closing her eyes she felt the strain against her lungs. Amelia’s mind was starting to take the wrong turn, panic flickering in her chest, but she did her best to remain calm.

‘This is it.’ Those words rippled in her head multiple times. Letting out a small air bubble from her mouth she felt something strange touch her arm. Jerking away from whatever it was her eyes snapped open. There was nothing.

The water disguised her tears easily, erasing them from her face as it danced around her skin. Tilting her head upward she could see the black dots poking their way into her vision. ‘Not much longer. I’ll miss you Col.’ Bringing her arms in she wrapped them around her torso, eyes still searching the emptiness above for signs of life.

A hand touched her. Whirling her body around she came face to face with a man. Pulling her arm out of his grasp she gripped onto the rock for support, her organs slowly shutting down. The man looked at her curiously, green eyes scanning over her, his arms lazily hanging by his sides. Amelia blinked rapidly to dodge the blackness but found it nearly impossible. It wasn’t until he moved forward that she let out the rest of the air in her lungs, his hand reaching toward her face, the image of the large fin covering what should’ve been his legs fading into the darkness swallowing her whole.

“Amelia?”

The sound of her name was enticing. She felt her senses responding to it almost immediately.

“Come on Ames, come back to me.” Amelia suddenly felt warmth spreading through her limbs, her fingers twitching slightly. A hand was hot against her face, calloused, and for a split second she didn’t want to open her eyes.

“Is she awake yet?”

“Shut the hell up Amber!” The hand left Amelia’s face and tangled with her fingers. “Amelia.”

The sun was blinding causing tears to well up in her hazel eyes. Turning her head she opened her mouth to take a deep breath. “Amelia!” Col’s arms were encasing her before she had the chance to exhale, her lungs still pleading for air.

“Col, dude, let her breathe.” Hunter knelt down next to his friend, guilt etched on his features. The brunette boy nodded loosening his embrace. Amelia took that chance to scoot away from the both of them, her muscles aching as she sat up. Col’s gaze was scrutinizing as the young girl ran her fingers through her hair gently. Taking a quick glance at her surroundings she realized they were already back at the harbor.

“What happened?” Her throat was sore, scratchy, and she winced at the hoarseness.

“These asshat’s decided it would be funny to throw you over the side of the boat. I went in after you but you had somehow managed to make it to the cove, sprawled out on the sand. We booked it back here.”

“The cove?” Amelia tried to remember. “I don’t remember a cove.”

“I’m really sorry Amelia,” Hunter spoke up. She could tell just by his body language he was being sincere. “We had no idea you couldn’t swim.”

“Was there anyone else in the water?” She looked at her best friend. “A guy?”

“Nobody else was in that area Ames. It was just us.” Amelia frowned, the image of green eyes haunting her mind.

“Must have been dreaming then,” she muttered more to herself than anyone. Col placed his hand on her knee.

“Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Where did the others go?”Amelia took Col’s offered hand to help her get to her feet. She noticed then it was just the two of them, Hunter, and Amber.

“Scott took the other two girls home and Mel cut out as soon as we docked. You were breathing, you just wouldn’t wake up.” Grabbing her wet hair in her hands, Amelia wrung the water from her tendrils carelessly.

“Couldn’t handle the guilt?” Amelia glanced at Hunter once she spoke and saw him roughly rub the side of his face.

“It wasn’t like they meant to drown you, ok? Don’t be a bitch about it,” Amber snapped suddenly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you see what happened? No wait, that’s right, you were too busy fucking my best friend to notice that I was being tossed into an ocean defenseless. I’m sure if you were in my shoes you’d be a little put off.” Amelia glared at the blonde girl who only rolled her eyes in response.

“Whatever.”

“Let’s just get some lunch, alright?” Col put himself between the two girls. “Nobody meant for this to happen.”

It was Amelia’s turn to roll her eyes.


The party was bustling with kids not old enough to go drinking in town. Red cups were thrown on the ground without a second thought, kegs were busted open with loud cheers, and bodies pushed against each other in a strange effort to dance.

A week had passed since the near death experience. Col continued to push Amelia toward forgiving the guys because they had no idea she was incapable of swimming, at least not without the help of some type of flotation device. And as much as she wanted to fight him on this, tell him that his friends were idiots, she couldn’t.

Hunter was only a few feet away from her now with a cup at his lips. He was the only one out of the bunch who seemed genuine with his apology, his actions around her careful and calculated. But there was still something inside of her that wouldn’t let go of what happened.

She just wasn’t sure what it was yet.

Deciding to take her mind off of the people are her, Amelia snatched a cup off a table and ventured outside. Amber’s house was always the destination on the weekends. Her parents were out of town nearly every Friday and Saturday, leaving the perfect opportunity to give the small town full of teenagers a chance to let go.

The night air was crisp sending goose bumps up her arms. Not very many people were out on the deck, the large expansion leading out to a small, private beach. The bonfire would be tomorrow night as was tradition for Amber’s parties. Dancing and getting completely trashed on Friday, recovery and cookout on Saturday.

Leaning against the railing Amelia looked up to the starry sky. The moon was reflected off the ocean waves as they rolled up onto the sand lazily. Amelia took a drink of alcohol, eyes fixated on the white caps crashing into one another.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” A stranger’s voice drifted up to her from below the deck. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the darkness but she found the figure of a guy with his hands in his jean pockets.

“It most certainly is.” A breeze picked the hair up off her back cooling her body down. Setting the cup on the railing she pushed herself away from the side of the deck.

“Would you join me?” She was in mid-step when the man spoke up again. Turning to face the stairs that lead to the sand she saw him standing at the bottom. “Just for a short walk.”

“I don’t know who you are,” Amelia answered honestly. From this far away she could make out his brown hair and strong jaw line. His torso was covered with a long sleeved shirt.

“And I don’t know you.” She thought she saw a hint of a smile. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Maybe I’ll hurt you.” She crossed her arms.

“I doubt that.” He gestured toward the water. “I’m going to start walking. Feel free to come.” Turning his back to her, the guy did as he said, his feet carrying him slowly across the sand. For a moment she hesitated, the better part of her mind telling her it was a bad idea to follow a stranger.

There was something about him that almost seemed familiar to her. Because of that thought she found herself descending the stairs after him. The blue dress she was wearing barely reached her knees, the white shawl draped over her shoulders covering her arms from the cold. The guy had stopped roughly ten yards from the water’s edge.

Together they stood in silence staring into the darkness. After a few moments Amelia stole a glance at the guy in order to see his features up close. His jaw was strong, defined, leading up to a pair of full lips. His nose wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small, fitting his face perfectly. A pair of eyes, color unknown in the night, gazed out with an expression she could only place as longing, while his shorter brown hair stuck up in places from the wind. Being this close to him she could tell that he was toned in the right places. His arms were straining against the fabric of his shirt.

He was beautiful.

“Do you like the ocean?” His voice was soft, slightly husky, and Amelia shook off the feeling rising in her stomach.

“I like it, just not being in it.” His face morphed into confusion and she hugged herself. “I’m a terrible swimmer.”

“Ah, the fear of drowning is a menacing one.” He still did not meet her gaze. “You should learn.”

“Why?” This time he finally looked down to her.

“Because you have no idea what you are missing.”