We were currently situated in the backyard of Jayden's house, all five of us. More like Zach and I were; Angelino, Jayden, and Ace were in the nine feet deep pool, splashing water at Zach and I every now and then. What were we doing here, you may ask?

Well, first off, all of us were kicked out of the gym by the manager, because we were 'creating too much racket, and it was a distraction for other customers', as the manager said.

I was horrified. I mean, the guys worked out over there! But they all assured me, saying that they get kicked out all the time, but they're still allowed in. At least that calmed me down.

Zach still wanted to hang out, and since the gym was no longer an option, Jayden suggested his house. At first, I was confused as to why his house, specifically, but the confusion was cleared as soon as I stepped in his house.

It was huge. No, not huge, humongous. To me, anyway. It was literally a mansion. It was a three story house, the outside extremely beautiful; I suck at descriptions, so I'm not even going to try.

It had about six bedrooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens, a huge T.V. room, and a game room, with all kinds of electronic games stored in it. Oh, and not to forget the huge pool in the backyard, where we currently were.

I instantly knew that he was very rich. Well, all the students that went to Western Heights were rich, but when I thought rich, I always thought of my average house that I lived in kind of rich. I guess I thought wrong.

All the boys were only in their swim trunks, their upper bare body a great distraction for me. And here I was, wearing only my black tank top and sweat pants that Beth had taken out for me in the morning.

I was just sitting on one of the lounge chairs that were scattered around by the pool. So was Zach, because he wanted to keep me company.

"Ellie! Why don't you come and join us?! I promise it'll be fun!" Angelino yelled from the pool, splashing water at Ace. Ace splashed him back, making me smile as I watched him.

"No thanks, I'm fine sitting here watching you guys have fun," I replied, scooting my chair back a little as more water came towards me. To be honest, I was deathly afraid of water.

"That's not even fun!" Jayden yelled, trying to get away from Angelino, who was jumping up and down in the water, his arms flailing at his sides, causing the water to splash everywhere.

"Zach, bring out the bottles, will you? Let's show Ellie what the meaning of 'fun' is," Jayden grinned mischievously at Zach, who grinned back.

I was confused. What bottles? I shot Zach a questioning glance. He only motioned with his finger to follow him as he got up from the lounge chair.

I got up as well, following Zach into the house. "What are you doing?" I asked him as he started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.

"Looking....for....Aha! These," he held up a pack of....dish wash liquid? There were six bottles of dish wash liquids in a plastic wrapper, confirming that they were new.

"Why do you need dish wash?" I asked him, confusion clear in my voice.

"We always do this every time we're in the pool"

"Uh.....okay....do what? I'm still not following...."

"We spread the dish washing liquid around the pool area, but we only do about seven feet from the pool, which is all marble, as you must have noticed," he smirked.

"And...why....would you do that?" I asked in bewilderment.

"To slide. It's like skating. We slide on the marble, and then splash into the water. It's just something we've been doing since...I don't even remember. It adds more to the fun," he laughed at my expression.

"But....won't you get hurt? I mean, what if you hit the edge of the pool-"

"We've been doing it since we were kids, El. And anyways, that's the whole point. It's dangerous," he winked.

"That's crazy! You might get seriously injured or something like that!" I exclaimed. Zach ignored me, and instead he handed me the pack of dish wash bottles. And then he took out two more packs with bigger bottles inside them.

He smirked at my now gaping face. "You're also wasting so much dish wash!" I huffed, gripping the pack tighter in my hands.

"Eh...it's not like we do it often. Just once in a while," he picked up the two packages of dish wash as if they weighed nothing. His muscles bulged as he carried the two packs outside with me trailing behind him.

Once outside, he dropped the two packs on the smooth marble floor, and I did the same, stacking it on top of the other two. I noticed that everyone was out of the pool.

Zach clapped his hands. "Sooo, who's gonna do it this time?" he grinned at all of us.

"I'll do it!"

Everyone's face snapped towards me. "You?" Zach mused.

"Yeah, I'm not getting in the water anyway, so I might as well help. Plus, it looks fun, and it's my first time," I added excitedly.

Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "Fun? You call that fun?" Jayden's astonished voice asked. And then Jayden's expression morphed into a mischievous one. "That's what she said," he replied to my earlier comment, and everyone but me broke out laughing.

At least Ace tried to control himself.

"You're too clumsy, you might drop the bottles inside the pool. Which you can't," Ace smirked down at me, walking over to stand in front of me.

I tried not to be too affected by his presence. But his muscular body and abs were making it hard for me to concentrate. "Uhh....I won't....drop them in the pool," I finished, looking anywhere but his abs, and flushed a bright red.

He chuckled, and so did the others. It was obvious what I was trying to do.

Angelino cleared his throat. I whipped my head around to look at him. "You have thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes?" I asked, confusion clear in my voice.

"Yep. Thirty minutes. To finish spreading the dish wash liquid around the pool. If you don't complete it in thirty minutes, then you'll be in the water soon," he finished with a smirk, but his eyes were serious.

"What? Only thirty minutes?! That's not fair!" I folded my arms and frowned at them all. Then what Angelino said fully registered into my mind.

"Water?! No way! You can't put me into the water!" My eyes were wide.

"We give only fifteen minutes to whoever usually does this thing, but you get thirty minutes since you're a newbie," Zach explained calmly.

"Why not? It's okay to get wet, you can use my clothes later," Jayden winked at me, earning a smack on the head by Ace.

"Just because," I muttered. I didn't want to tell them about my fear of water. They'd only make fun of me and think I'm a wimp.

"By the way, you better start, because you have," Jayden glanced at his watch, "Twenty-eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds", with that he smirked and vanished into the house from the back door.

Zach muttered a quick 'good luck' and followed Jayden inside the house.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" I quickly asked before Ace and Angelino could leave.

"To the game room," Angelino replied, and then, he, too, followed the two of them inside the house, leaving only Ace and me outside.

I stood there awkwardly for a minute, but then Ace broke the silence. "You know, I could always stay and help you," he gave me a cute half-smile.

"Pffffttt, I don't need help," I tried to act cool on the outside, but on the inside, you know how you feel when you're going downward on a roller coaster? Yeah, that's how my stomach was right at that moment.

"Are you sure, Princess?" he drew himself closer to me, smirking down at me.

"Yep. I'm sure, Prince," I used the same tone as his, and then smirked back at him. An idea suddenly popped into my head, and my smirk widened as I slowly pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth and gently bit on it.

"I warned you Princess," Instantly, Ace leaned closer to my face, his lips on mine. I leaned into him as well, deepening the kiss and snaking my hands into his hair, my stomach flipping weirdly.

"TWENTY-SIX MINUTES AND FIFTY-FIVE SECONDS LEFT," was followed by loud snickers from inside the house.

I jumped backwards and away from Ace, breaking the kiss, and immediately my cheeks warmed up. I slapped my hands over my cheeks, muttering a "not again."

"Those bastards had to ruin it. Anyway, I'll see you in..about twenty-five minutes then, Princess," with that, he suddenly leaned forward, pecked me on the lips, and turned to jog towards the back door. In no time, he vanished inside as well.

I smiled to myself, touching my lips softly. I could still taste his lips on mine.

"TWENTY-SIX MINUTES AND TWENTY-TWO SECONDS LEFT," interrupted my sweet thoughts.

I scowled in annoyance. "Until I come in there and smack you on the head!" I yelled out to whoever it was. Loud laughter was the response in return. I shook my head. Boys.

Wasting no time, I quickly ran up to the packages and ripped the transparent plastic covers off, the bottles of dish wash liquid spilling out and onto the floor.

I grabbed one in each hand and then walked towards the pool. I started off at the far end of the seven feet that I had to do from the pool, squeezing both of the bottles and walking around the whole shape of the pool so that it was covered with the dish wash liquid.

Before I was completely done with covering the area that I started on, the two bottles ran out. I had left a small part of the floor untouched so that I could walk back and forth for the bottles without slipping in the slimy liquid.

I walked to the bottles now, grabbing another two, and starting on the whole process again.

After about twenty-five minutes, - I think - I was almost done. There was only one foot of the area left to do from the pool to the seven feet that I had to do, and there were only three bottles left. That's all I need to finish this.

I couldn't believe just walking around and squeezing bottles could be so tiring. I let out a yawn, stretching my arms over my head. My hands were aching from putting so much pressure on the bottles, and my eyes felt weird after walking around in an almost-circle continuously, staring at the ground the whole time.

I stooped down to pick up two of the three bottles and then started walking around and squeezing them again.

"YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE AND FORTY-FOUR SECONDS ELLIE!" A voice, which I recognized as Jayden's reached my ears. It was muffled, probably because they were all the way inside the house, since the game room was on the opposite side of the backyard.

My eyes widened. One minute and forty seconds?! I picked up my pace, now jogging around and putting even more pressure on the bottles for quick exit for the liquid from the bottles. Just as I was about to finish, the two bottles ran out on me.

"FORTY-EIGHT SECONDS!"

"No you dumb bottles, you can't run out now!" I whisper-yelled to myself, shaking them to no avail. I did not want to get inside the water! I tossed the two bottles on the side quickly, and started running towards the last bottle left.

I forgot about the part that I had left untouched by the liquid so I could go back and forth easily, which was all the way to my right.

And so as I put my left foot forward to run, my right foot slipped backwards in the slimy dish wash liquid and into the air as I sprawled onto my stomach painfully, my palms slapping the marble floor with a *SPLAT!*

I tried gripping onto something with my hands, to stop myself from sliding backwards into the water, but all they found was the slippery dish wash liquid.

No no no no no no no! I frantically dug my nails into the marble floor, trying to stop my body from going under as well, as my legs descended in the pool. For a moment, my waist stuck to the rough edge of the pool painfully, my nails making a screeching sound in the marble floor.

It was only for a moment though, as it's grip loosened on the edge, and so did my nails.'

"NINETEE--"

Their sentence was cut off by the loudest scream anyone had ever heard from me, which was then cut off as I plunged into the water.

I tried holding on to my breath, thrashing wildly as I felt myself descending further down and away from the edge of the pool.

But then my air supply ran out and my mouth and nose instinctively opened for air.

Icy-cold water instantly flooded inside my mouth and further, my throat burning as if a thousand needles had been plunged into it.

I desperately clawed at the water, trying to shoot to the surface while my lungs swamped with the cold water. It was no use. I didn't know how to swim, and my mind was swarming with panicked, horrifying thoughts as I struggled to get to the top, but failing as all I did was flail my arms around wildly.

My head started spinning and dizziness spread through me and I started convulsing uncontrollably. I started coughing, but more water pushed in from all around me and into my mouth and nostrils. My chest tightened with the lack of air, and I continued flailing my arms and legs around, trying to get to the top. I tried screaming for help, but all it did was bring more water into my mouth.

And then suddenly, my muscles relaxed and I was oddly calm for a moment - I very faintly heard the heavy splash somewhere near me and the sound of someone calling my name - but all I felt was numbness.

As I indistinctly felt arms around me, my eye-lids fluttered close of their own.

Then everything slowly faded to black.

♀ ♀

I quickly pecked her on the lips and turned to jog inside the house. I silently laughed at her stunned expression as I did so.

I made it inside the game room, where the three bastards were already engulfed in the car racing game. Yeah, we still played racing games against each other, no matter how childish that sounded. I plopped down on the couch next to Zach, snatching the controller from him as they paused the game.

"Hey! Get your own from the corner," Zach scowled at me, trying to snatch it back from me.

I smirked at him. "Stop being a pussy. I got mine," I waved the controller in the air to mock him.

He muttered some incoherent words and got up to grab the other controller from the corner. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jayden, who was on the floor to my right, check his watch and then grin.

"Twenty-six minutes and twenty-two seconds left," he yelled out loud so Ellie could hear him. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"UNTIL I COME IN THERE AND SMACK YOU ON THE HEAD!" Ellie's sweet voice floated up to us, and all four of us burst into laughter. Oh, Ellie...what will I do without you? I thought, chuckling to myself.

For the next twenty-five minutes, all we did was play the car racing game, and I was bored out of my mind. I dumped the controller half-way through. I'd rather help Ellie in spreading dish wash liquid on the floor than staying in here, bored out of my mind. At least I'll be with her.

I chuckled again as I thought of her flushed cheeks as she tried to avoid looking at my bare upper body. She was too cute.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the time to end so we could finally go and do what we always do; slide in the liquid and splash into the water, each time pulling a new stunt as we continued.

"You have one minute and forty-four seconds Ellie!" Jayden's loud and annoying voice interrupted my day-dreaming.

I smacked him on the back of his head, hard. "Would you just stop that?" I grit through my teeth. I was losing my patience with him.

He laughed, jumping out of my way. "Just letting her know how much time she has left, bro," he moved further away from me, my eyes following him warily.

"Forty-eight seconds!" he then yelled, and ran to the back of the room, laughing like a maniac.

"That's it!" I ground out playfully, and jumped off the couch, running at him. He squeaked like a little girl, making all of us burst into laughter again.

"Ninetee--" I lunged towards him, my arm outstretched, about to grab his collar, when he cut off as a loud feminine scream pierced through our ears.

I froze, with my hand held out, like a statue.

And then I tore out of the room, sprinting at full speed towards the backyard, my heart hammering inside my chest. I heard the thundering footsteps of the others following behind me. Let her be okay, please let her be okay, I chanted in my head as I reached the backyard.

My heart dropped as I saw the dark thrashing figure in the crystal clear water. "ELLIE!" I yelled frantically as I noticed that she only sank in further.

Without wasting a second, I moved forward, only to slip in the slimy liquid of dish wash. "Shit shit shit!" I ground out, grabbing the railing on the side of the pool to keep myself from falling. Then as soon as I regained my balance, I dived into the water.

Holding in my breath, I swam towards her small, struggling body, and in less than ten seconds, I reached her, grabbing her waist as she flailed her arms around, obviously trying to get to the top.

But then she stopped struggling in my arms altogether, making my heart drop in fear.