Chapter 6-In The Swim Of Things

Chris walked into the pool room to find Candice shooting pool by herself. "Hey!" he called out, causing her to miss her shot.

"Dammit!" Candice dropped the pool stick to the floor. "You had to make me-Chris."

"That's my name."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Oh, that's okay. Not that you yell at me, of course," Chris said. "I just came up here to see if you wanted to go swimming."

"Swimming," Candice repeated slowly.

"Yeah. All the other girls are out swimming," Chris said as he walked over to her. "Why aren't you?"

Candice sighed and put the stick down as she sat on the table. "Look Chris, I've got a secret," she said. "You've got to swear not to tell anyone, and do I mean anyone."

"Okay." Chris sat down on the table. "I'm all ears."

"Here's the deal," Candice began. "I... I can't swim. I've taken lesson after lesson after lesson, ever since I was a little kid. Everyone that knows has tried to teach me, but it just never worked. So that's why I'm not out there. And I'm afraid that if I try, I'll drown."

"Oh," Chris said. He thought for a minute. "Well.... maybe I could teach you to swim."

"You?" Candice said. He wants to teach me how to swim? Ohmigod.

"Yeah, I'll do it. We could do it tonight.:

"No, how 'but tomorrow?" Candice asked. "Around ten tomorrow morning?"

"Alright. That's cool." Chris got up. "Be ready for that."

"Don't worry. I'll be ready. I was born ready."

*********

The next morning Chris was at Candice's door at 9:45. He knocked on the door, hoping to catch her getting ready. "Candice? You awake?" When there was no answer, he opened the door to see her still asleep. He walked in, the crawled on the bed and began to jump on it. "Wake up!" he yelled. "This is your captain speaking!"

Candice bolted up. "Wh-at the hell?! Ch-ris! Wh-at are you do-in-g?"

"C'mon, get ready! It's time for your swimming lesson!"

"Oh-kay! Gi-ve me a few minutes, and st-op ju-umping on my bed!"

"Aright!" Chris headed for the door. "Don't be late."

"Lord!" Candice held back a set of giggles. "That boy is somethin' else. He's cute, but he's a trip." She went through her bag, found her bathing suit, and quickly put it on.

When she got downstairs, she found Chris eating a slice of pepperoni pizza while doing pushups. When he saw Candice, he paused for a moment. "99... 100," he said.

Candice snickered and rolled her eyes. "C'mon, let's go."

"After you, miss," Chris said as soon he opened the door for her. Candice walked out and flashed him a quick smile.

The pool was surrounded by tall bushes, shrubs, and a few palm trees, making it look like a small tropical oasis. A set of lounge chairs were at the far end of the patio, and a hammock hung between two of the trees. Candice threw her t-shirt off to reveal her silver racer-backed swimsuit. Chris stared at her for a moment too long, then said, "Oh-kay. Let's get this started." He jumped into the pool and swam to the deep end. "Okay, jump to me," he instructed.

"Jump to you?" Candice repeated.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll catch you," Chris assured her.

Candice sighed. "Okay." She walked over to the end of the pool where Chris was and began to get ready to jump. She paused for a moment. "You sure you're gonna catch me?"

"Yes, I'll catch you."

Candice backed up to jump, then paused again. "Are you really sure...."

"Woman, jump!" Chris yelled.

"Okay!" She jumped, but her jump was short. When she came to the surface, Chris couldn't help but laugh at the expression on her face. Her eyes were tightly closed and her nose was scrunched up. "What is so funny?" she asked him.

"You should have seen the expression on your face. You can float, that's a good thing." Chris swam to the shallow end of the pool. "Okay, when you're swimming, just move your arms like this-" he quickly demonstrated- "and kick your legs. Got it? Okay, now swim to me."

Candice began to swim, kicking and paddling for what seemed like forever. I have to be there by now! she thought. When she heard the sound of Chris laughing, she stopped, and noticed that she was only a few feet away from where she started. "Damn!" she shrieked in frustration.

"Well at least you're buoyant!" Chris shouted. I've got a lot of work to do here.

*********

"I'm impressed," Christy said as she watched Candice swim in the pool. "Good job, Chris. You deserve a medal for finally teaching her to swim."

"All it took was a little motivation," Chris said self-assuredly. "I promised her $100 dollars if she could swim from one end of the pool to the other."

"And that reminds me," Candice yelled. "When are you going to pay me?"

Chris sighed. "The only disatvantage is that I have to go through with it."

chapter 7
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