Into the water

As much as Fiona would have loved to go to the ocean, she knew it just wasn't possible during the week since it was quite a distance to travel. Espeacily if she wanted to go for a swim before school started. She tied up her long red hair while she forced herself out of bed. She never enjoyed waking up early, but she knew if she were to spend the day in classes trying to make her parents proud she needed something to make the day have a good start.

Slowly she made her way to her closet to get her skin from where it hangs. When she first arrived she was a bit paranoid that someone would think it would be a funny prank to steal it but now she wouldn't think twice about leaving it alone for a few hours to go to class. She took her leathery skin off the hanger farthest to the right and took a small duffel bag with her containing her school uniform and slowly exited her dorm.

The majority of the other students must still be sleeping at this time since she hardly ever saw someone wandering the halls or outside. She tried to make as little noise as possible, sensing that it wouldn't exactly be the best idea for her to wake up a bunch of sleep deprived teenagers. She could hear the quiet breaths of her peers coming from the other bedroom. Her ears always made it hard for her to sleep without ear plugs. She could hear the other students breathing or snoring from the other rooms.

Closing the door behind her from the dorms, she started running as fast as she could towards the lake. She could feel every muscle in her small legs working to bring her as fast as they could towards the lake. Her lips pressed into a overjoyed smile. She felt her body tempurature rise just enough to give her a warm feeling throughout her body. A safe feeling.

Once she was at the lake she layed down her skin and her duffle bag close to the shore and ran her fingers through the water. The water cold as to be expected but nothing she wasn't used too. She returned back to her duffle bag and her pelt. She took a quick glance to make sure no one was around. This was the part she wasn't to found of, she quickly undressed before slidding into her skin. The feeling of warmth intesified throughout her body as she knew that she was in a place that made her feel good. Without thinking any longer she slid into the clam waters of the lake.

@ReD

Fiona’s Vision cleared up very quickly as soon as she was under water. She might be as blind as a bat when she was on land but under water she could see perfectly. Close to the shore of the lake there weren’t as many fish as there were more to the middle once the water got deeper and that’s exactly where she was headed. Before she could see the figure that rushed passed her in a hurry she was able to smell it and whatever it was, was not making any attempt at being discreet. A figure rushed passed her leaving her completely confused for a moment before she realized she wasn’t alone.

Fiona had no problem with not having the large lake all to herself, but she was stunned at first. In the past years of her attending the academy not ever did she run into someone swimming this early. Nor did she ever encounter someone who voluntarily got up this early. The figure that passed her disappeared as fast as he came into her site, but she could still tell he was there from his smell. Why this person was in such a rush to get out, she couldn’t tell. Maybe whoever it was wasn’t so keen on sharing the lake as she was.

She didn’t have enough time to continue her train of thoughts, as the figure splashed back into the water right before where she was swimming. The guy that was behind all the noise and commotion slowly sank under the water. At first Fiona didn’t seem to care much, since he was in the lake before she just assumed the guy was able to swim.

She wasn’t able to make it that far before she heard a sound coming from the direction where she left the stranger to his own fate. She let a small sigh out before turning around only to see a figure sinking deeper and deeper into the clear water of the lake. She dove deeper into the cold water to see if she could pull him out. She tired reaching for guy’s arm, but it was hard for her to get a good grasp on the stranger with her slippery seal skin.

Once she was on shore again she removed her seal skin and changed back into her pajamas. An oversized call of duty t-shirt and pair of boxer shorts she stole from her cousin back in Monterey. All she could think of is the wonderful first impression she was making.

Fiona sat next to the boy that almost drowned, wondering what to do in a situation like this. She never had to pull someone out of the lake before and she didn’t know what came next. Does she just leave or should she take him to see a doctor? She didn’t know, but leaving him alone in a situation like this didn’t seem like the appropriate thing to do. So she just sat there, waiting for him to say something to break the awkward silence.

Finally, the stranger spoke and Fiona let out a small sigh of relief, she almost thought she would have to speak first. A quick thank you and an apology. Nothing else really. Fiona gave the stranger a quick almost fake smile before speaking. “Well no problem, it isn’t every day that you have to save someone from drowning” she pressed her lips together thinking about asking the guy why he couldn’t swim, but decided to let the question go. She didn’t even know his name; why should she ask a question like that.

At his confession, Fiona let out a slight laugh. The stranger wasn’t the only one who wasn’t used to swimming alone at the lake. He definitely confused Fiona at the beginning since she wasn’t used to people going swimming this early either. “Well, I’m here pretty much every day at this time, and this is the first time I actually see someone else here too”. Now she was getting more confused if they guy went swimming in the lake, why did he almost drown. “This is probably a dumb question, but why do you go swimming if you can’t swim or at least if you can’t swim very well?”

Fiona could already sense that she said something wrong. When she mentioned the guy drowning his face seemed to turn as pink as cotton candy. His facial expressions just signalized that Fiona said something wrong or embarrassing. She couldn’t tell if she was supposed to feel embarrassed or the stranger next to her. She let out a nervous laugh and a quick smile as she stared at the floor beneath her for just a second trying to avoid having to actually look at the stranger.

“The lake is public domain; you wouldn’t have a choice to share.” She replied with a sarcastic attempt to it. She quickly realized how that might have come over, if he didn’t catch her sarcastic hint and quickly added an almost impossible to hear sorry afterwards. She let out a small sigh, it was clearly way to early in the morning for her too even be capable of small talk or knowing what to do when you pull a stranger out of water. When he didn’t answer Fiona’s question right away she slowly wondered if she hit a sore spot. The last thing she wanted was to have a complete stranger confess his life issues at around 5 in the morning.

She decided it was just best to observe the water in the meantime. While he decided if he was going to speak again. She almost completely zoned out, but then he told her that he wasn’t drowning. “Upps” she said with a little shoulder shrug. Now it was clear to her that she was the one who made the mistake. “Well in case you were drowning I didn’t want to end up part of an investigation because I let you drown, I was just thinking of myself.” She joked with a sly smile forming on her face. “But you know, you’re still welcome”

She could only laugh at the stranger when he hoped that swimming to clear your mind wasn’t the dumbest thing she has ever heard. She needed at least half a minute to control her laughter before she could even speak. At this point she was just lying on the ground, because she couldn’t sit any longer. Once she stopped laughing, she sat back up. “That is actually the most normal thing I’ve heard you say. It’s definitely not dumb. I’m a Selkie, that means water is my home. It’s where I feel safest and it’s the place I always go to if I need to clear my head. So yeah, I have heard a lot dumber things before. I’m Fiona by the way” she grinned trying to contain herself from bursting out in laughter once again.