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~ Day Dreams ~
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~ Chapter Twenty Six ~
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~ Tightrope ~
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~ Nineteen-Years-Old ~
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~ Jake's POV ~
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Music flows through my air pods planted in my ears, distracting me while time passes. I set up the important necessities to help Summer not to drown this lesson and used the shed equipment instead of mine. Thank God my mother did not find out what happened last lesson. She would have lost it; 'you should be more responsible and I'm so disappointed in you, Jake.'

I rid the thoughts of my mother from my head and focus on getting today's lesson ready. I pull out a foam kickboard, a foam pool noodle, an inflatable ring float, inflatable arm floats, and a lifejacket from within the arena's indoor shed. Once done, I dust my hands on my red board shorts, indicating a job well done. Looking around the room of the arena, I spot Summer in the corner of my eye and notice she is glancing right at me. How long has she been waiting there? I am such a jerk for not noticing her sooner. Will she be offended? You're such an idiot, Jake. Will she think I am trying to ignore her? Get a grip of yourself, man. Summer is so cute standing with her arms around her body. Jake, what the hell! You're starting to lose it!

Summer stands a distance away from me, but I can see her perfectly clear. From where I am standing, the view is a summer breeze on an autumn day, as the skylight from above gingerly pours upon Summer's porcelain skin. A weird sensation tingles throughout my body as her ever radiant green, yet blue eyes glow with every eye flutter she motions.

Her eyes always seem to draw me towards her. Like I need to be up close to look into those eyes of hers. Like I somehow know them in another life. Such unique eyes Summer has, beautiful actually. Before making any bad decisions, I contain myself and run my fingers through my messy, mop of golden brown hair.

It feels like it has been decades since none of us glances away from one another. Summer's small height and figure still stands a distance away, and I cannot help but notice how cute she looks in her pink swimmers. What! Did I just call Summer ''cute' again? Oh God, what has gotten into me? I have a girlfriend and I am checking out another girl. Dude, you're such a jerk. You cannot emotionally cheat on Chanel because that is just as bad as cheating for real. That was just a platonic thought and it does not mean anything, right...?

Summer and I finally break eye contact with each other as she looks in the other direction. I grab my phone out of my pocket and pause the music. I remove the air pods from my ears, kneeling onto one knee and shoving the items into my sports bag.

I clear my throat, standing to my feet, "Sorry, I didn't notice you standing there," I said. Summer's cheeks burn into an ever flaming scarlet red. "I'm glad you could make it," I said as I smile at Summer, "And I think it's only fair that I'm the early one this time, considering I was the late one last practice."

Summer slowly rises her eyes towards mine and boy, are they captivating. "Honestly, it's okay. I didn't mind waiting last time," Summer said with a shy smile, "But I'm glad I came along too."

Then, there was silence. Not the awkward kind, but the kind where you do not have to talk because you understand each other. But do I understand her? I barely know her but yet, I do at the same time. Does that sound crazy, or what? I sound like a nut job.

Within our silence, I remove my hoodie and shove it into my bag, ruffling the hair out of my eyes in the process. I grab the swimming gear and drop them near the edge of the pool, as I jump into the shallow end of the cold, pool water. I notice Summer watching me from afar with every move I make, causing a weird sensation in my stomach.

As soon as Summer and I make eye contact she breaks from staring and sighs a deep breath and removes her hands from her body. As Summer glances away my eyes never leave her. She is beautiful and the bikini she is wearing causes another weird sensation to flow throughout my body. Summer's facial features blow my breath away every time but her sea-green eyes are always the winner. Jake, snap out of it! It is rude to stare! But I still cannot manage to tear my eyes away from hers. 

Underneath my gaze, Summer blushes bright red, meanwhile, shutting her eyes and taking a long, deep breath. Summer's eyes peel open and her tiny legs move at a slow pace, as does her shaken hands moving towards the edge of the pool.

"So, I'm guessing all of this..." Summer motions with her small hands towards the clutter of the pool items on the stone ground. "...is to help me stay afloat?"

I nod and gesture towards the clutter, "Yeah, grab what you want and what you think will make you feel more confident in the water."

Summer glances at the pile of swim gear, tapping her narrow chin with her thin fingers, deep in thought. Summer then reaches for the lifejacket and clips it into place, she then steps into the ring float as it rests upon her hips. Summer grabs the arm floats and slides them up her arms, and then picking up the foam noodle and kick-board, bracing herself to glide down the metal ladder.

Summer eases herself into the cold water beneath her feet and squeals from the coldness. I cannot help but smile at how Summer reacts and how cute she is with all the swimming gear on. Shaking my head from any thoughts of Summer and focus on the task ahead of me. I steady Summer's small shoulders and guide her towards the wall, as her free hand rests on the edge of the pool. Summer's body floats in the chlorinated water, with the foam noodle between her legs and the foam kickboard close to her chest, holding onto both and the edge for dear life.

Summer is so close to me that I can hear her breathing heavy, so I let go of her shoulders and put some distance between us. Summer's breathing normalizes to its normal rhythm and I cannot help but wonder if she was panting because of the water or me? The water of course! Do not be stupid, Jake! This girl needs your help and you're too busy thinking about her. What is wrong with you, Jake?

Summer needs to build some confidence and I need to be the one to teach her because this is my job and only a job and I need to get my head out of the clouds and get back on track and put my feelings aside — even now, I do not understand what they mean...

I hope I can help this girl and give her the confidence that she deserves to bypass her PTSD. I can tell she is struggling from within and perhaps pretending she is not dealing with the trauma. But first, she needs to be able to have fun then maybe... just maybe, I might break through the walls she has built around herself. I have seen and dealt with PTSD myself and the recovery road is a rough path — like balancing on a tightrope; but in reality, pain takes time to heal and grow...

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~ Cheers ~
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Please, tell me in the comments what you thought about Chapter Twenty Six? 🙈 I'll be greatly appreciated, thank you, you very kind soul!
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~ Chapter Twenty Six ~
~ Dedications ~
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HeliiBoh
DebMorey
PeterPetruzzella
CaitlinWoodward9
DaniJones_14
ChloeMayerhofer
savvvy1998
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You guys should totally check out PeterPetruzzella short story! Lighthouse. It's amazing!
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You guys should totally check out ChloeMayerhofer story! Fallen! It's awesome!
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C.Morey 🥕 xoxo
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