Kiss of A Titan
Chapter 33

Against Coach Robbins' expectations, I didn't turn up for practice the following day majorly like he had hoped I would nor did I show up in school for classes because I thought it was best to rethink the decision of becoming an athlete to overcome my fears. I haven't fully decided yet if giving up to avoid anything that had to do with Richard was the best option I had to stay out of trouble and it had been the major reason for me to a day off from school but aunt returned back from work on Friday evening, taking along with her the some of the gym equipments I needed to trained with. I was thrilled to find out that my aunt had already paid the needed sum of money required to get the equipment for training. She had unexpectedly got a call from Coach Robbins who told her that he got her phone number from the principal when she was in at work in the office and she relayed to me how concerned the coach was that he didn't see me in school after two days passed by without setting eyes on me in the gymnasium with the rest of the girls which he told her on the phone.

Taking into consideration what aunt had already done in certifying my place in the athletic team, I decided to push on with my plans on learning how to swim regardless of the fact that it would inconvenience me greatly having Richard teaching me the basics. The first thing that came to my mind after resuming for school on the first day of the new week was to confront Coach Robbins to humbly request for someone else most likely one of the female gymnast to help me practice instead of Richard but I didn't find him at the office for the second time I went in search of him after the first lesson.

After the third lesson, I went straight to grab the swim suits and other things I brought to school with me inside a little duffle bag from my locker and went to the gym with the thought of going out for a quick swim.

The gymnasium was completely empty with nobody there except the silence that greeted me when I first walked into the gym. There was enough light for me to see the empty seats at the far corner side of the hall and the tranquil waters on every pool that lay stretched below the broad colossal roof that covered every nook and cranny of the spacious gymnasium. The serene silence in the hall and absence of the other female gymnasts gave me the opportunity to change my outfit into that of the knee-skin swimsuit and the freedom to stand exactly where Richard and I had stood in front of the smaller pool meant for the trainees last week but this time, I alone was facing the quiet pool with my body ready to get wet by the splashes of water and with the thought jumping in for a swim to the other side of the rectangular pool.

Despite all the preparations I knew I could do as a rookie, I couldn't bring myself to make a clean dive into the water nor could I summon the courage to step into the water. I found myself staring blankly on the stale bluish medium of water and all I could see was my reflection as well as that of the roof gleaming on the water surface.

I never thought it would be this difficult to get into a pool ever since fourth grade and it was one thing that I had never been able to deal with when I was still in the foster homes before my aunt took me as her own child. To be sincere, everyone that I had come across except for people in Houston High with the likes of Chloe and Amanda including Richard knew I hated coming in close contact with water which made areas like the beach or lake places I wouldn't pretty much like to visit and not until recently have I had the feeling of how being swallowed completely by its watery depths when the accident occurred weeks ago and the party at Richard house.

For several minutes, I stood there waiting to compel myself to take a leap into the water but my bare feet felt glued to the side of the pool expecting some sort of force within my body for it to launch my weight off the ground into the pool. Minutes trickled away slowly and I was still yet to make the dive into the water. Before long, a few of the female gymnasts, already dressed in their gym attire, were making entry into the gym for their usual practice even when Coach Robbins wasn't present to oversee their progress in the sport.

They saw me there standing beside the pool without moving a muscle and two out of the ladies that walked inside curiously stopped at the entrance to see if I would make a dive into the water but they were disappointed when I didn't make a move for the next ten minutes.

"Paige, what's wrong with her?", One of the two curious girls asked her friend when they saw me not moving a single muscle nor even a single move to enter into the pool. "I have no idea.

"What do you think she's doing, not swimming?", "Maybe she's meditating", "I sincerely doubt that", They both watched for some time hoping that I would make a surprising breakthrough by jumping into the water but Paige mumbled something even when they both discovered that they were greatly disappointed.

"I think she might be the new girl", "Who?", "Haven't you heard that the coach picked someone new, last week?", Paige asked folding across against her lower abdomen that enhanced her busty boobs. The other girl shook her head and another girl coincidentally stumbled into them before she could respond to Paige's question. The other girl quickly recognized the third female and left Paige to find out if the news she had just received was true. "Katherine, did you hear anything about a new intake?", "A new intake?", Katherine questioned back, not too sure of what the other girl was talking about.

"Yes, a new intake. Paige here says that girl over there was supposed to join us last week", "Really? Did the coach really say that?", Katherine queried glancing over where I was still looking hazy at the pool.

"Not exactly but...I kinda heard a silent rumor about someone joining us this summer", "You can't expect me to believe such groundless rumors", "Well...I think she does look familiar", Katherine said with sudden keen eyesight from where she stood in the midst of Paige and her friend.

"You've seen her before?", "I'm not sure...why did she refuse to swim?", "Don't know", "Me neither. Should we help her or....?", Paige suggested but the hopeless look on Katherine's face quickly instilled in her a bit of more doubt in her suggestion. Then Katherine started braiding the ringlets of her brown hair with her fingers after a short silence came into their midst.

"I'd love to but....I think it is better for us not to interfere", Katherine said, leaving to join the other girls already practicing their stunts in the acrobatic arena and the horizontal bars.

“Perhaps she had a bad day and just finding it difficult to swim it out", "Who knows, Emily?", Paige retorted as the two of them joined Katherine to begin their practice session. It didn't take quite long after the three girls had all gone to their individual routines when the boys strolled into the gymnasium led by a geeky tall guy with broad shoulders accompanied by Richard's other best friend, Linder whilst the troupe trailed behind into the gym.

Richard was in the midst of them and Tyler, one of the guys that joined the team at the party at Richard's house a couple of weeks ago, was the last to leave the door closed as they enter into the gymnasium probably to warm up their usual swimming and athletic routines in line with the schedule the coach already drafted to the team before the school session and which they had followed up until now, making the coach's absence some sort of less inclination to harm their performance.

The obvious struck Richard and his friends the moment they entered into the hall but Linder and some of the boys in front walked by me as I stood gazing at the water without checking to see what the problem was though they were a little puzzled as to why I wasn't swimming in the water and paid a bit of attention to me as they walk by the left corner of the larger swimming pool trekking further to the training arena to join the girls barefooted without the need to cover their feet with a sneakers since all the boys were already wearing sporty outfits when they walked in.

"Isn't that Rosalie, right Richard?", Clyde queried as soon as he got attracted to the center of attraction which had compelled four of the boys that were left behind to stop in their tracks. He shifted closer to Richard who was far more surprised than the other boys were when he first caught sight of me along with his friends and prod the side of his left shoulder to shake his friend from trance.

"Yes, I guess....", Richard replied unconsciously stunned like the rest of his friends were at first glance.

"Why isn't she swimming?", The obvious question came from one of the boys standing behind Richard "Don't know, don't care", Clyde responded when Richard and the others failed to answer.

"I bet she must be standing there ever since", "Most likely", "It's clear that she's afraid of water after what happened", "What do you mean, Clyde?", "Tyler, please tell Rick what happened at Richard's party", Clyde answered but Tyler was speechless like the others. He seemed to have not heard what Clyde instructed since he was greatly perplexed as to why I was standing there like a stick without jumping into the water which was the obvious sense of what anyone in my position would do when standing next to a pool fully dressed in a swimsuit and with a pair of goggles on top of a blue swim cap. Richard was the third to snap out of the trance and went to meet me by the pool.

His teammates particularly Clyde wondered what was going on but they didn't stop him but they only watched him as he walked up to me even though he had attracted a good number of eyes by the time he got to where I was. My senses came back to me when he tapped my shoulder and I turned to face him only to find him staring at me in a strange way. I looked past him and saw a few faces of the boys, especially Clyde, also watching us from afar. A sudden flush of embarrassment gripped profoundly as my eyes fell on the faces of those who had been watching me before Richard came to my rescue. All seemed giddy as my eyes roamed around the hall and I felt like fainting right there but Richard grasped my hands and pulled me close to him.

"Is there something wrong? Why can't you swim?", He inquired searching for answers which I knew I wasn't in the right frame of mind to answer. I giddily allowed his left hand to venture further to my back to help placate the nervousness that had stung me without prior warning. There was no denial that he noticed that I had lost my composure and I discovered I wasn't paying attention to his question but except to the eyes around me.

He kept saying some words to me and it kept echoing into my ears but I wasn't listening. After a brief moment of exhaustion, I exhaled twice trying to overcome the shock and he could see that I needed to take a break but at first I regained my composure, I pushed his hands off my back and tried wriggling from his clutches.

"Let go of me...I'm fine...", I stuttered as my voice felt hoarse after coming back to myself.

"You don't look fine....Are you sure you're alright?", He asked again, unwilling to let go.

"I", "Is it an accident?", "I said I'm fine...It's nothing...I just...got a bit nervous", I barked at him when he reminded me of the incident at the party at his house but he didn't bulge and tighten the grip of his manly hands on my left wrist while his other hand was all around my shoulder.

"I understand it might be your first time...but you gotta calm down", "I'm trying...", I whimpered.

"Let me help...", He said and what came next was a splash of water from the pool slapping my face after pulling off his shirt.

Richard as well as everyone clearly knew something had gone wrong which had prevented me from taking a dive into the water like everyone who had seen me earlier expected particularly Katherine and her teammates who became enthralled to see what would Richard do next but I could barely dissuade Richard from jumping into the water when he figured that my refusal to enter into the water had to with the incident at the pool party. Richard came out of the water shaking off water from his hair which he had left bare before he entered the gymnasium with his teammates with half of his body still covered with water from his waistline down to his legs leaving his bare white chest exposed.

Water dribbled harshly from his hairless chest. His hands were wide open gesturing for me to join him. I not only felt embarrassed but I was furious at his intentions of wanting me to join him there under the eyes of everyone in the hall. There was this handsomeness he had on his face after his hair and entire body got wet enticing me to join him there but I was already distracted by the presence of the other trainees, even Clyde and the other boys passed by when they had enough of the show and went back to join Linder. I froze up despite knowing what he was doing and wondered what to do next.

"Take my hand and get in", "Are you nuts? No! I'm so not joining you", "Come on...It's quite clear you need to overcome your fear of water besides what better than chance than to start teaching you the basics like the coach said?", "You mean Right Now?", "Of course, right now. You're already perfectly dressed for a swim. All you need is to fill the water around you, trust me, you'll be fine", He said convincingly with his two hands hanging in the air. I looked around for the second time and saw that a few of the spectators had already given a watching hand and had returned to practicing their routine. I felt confident seeing his strong desire to help me out of all the athletes that I thought would even show concern for the situation I was in, especially Paige and her friends.

"Fine...You win but don't do anything stupid", I warned and he blinked his eyes in affirmation.

"Here goes...", I said to myself and took a deep breath to clear out the rest of the tension that was left inside my heart. I paused and took a brief moment to gather my composure since I was clearly not ready to enter the pool let alone diving into the pool. He sensed that I was hesitating even when it looked like I was determined to join him in the water.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you", He reassured and an irritated smile beamed on his lips.

"Stop smiling otherwise I'll walk out of here", I threatened not looking too amused by the way he was baiting me to join him on the water.

"As you wish", He said changing his countenance. Confident than ever, I bent down to enter the pool and disappointment was clearly written on the faces of the remaining onlookers hoping to see me leap into the water including Richard who withdrew a bit further away for me to enter the pool. It was my left foot that first touched the water which felt a bit chilly on my skin and it sank further for the rest of my body to join in as well but I entered slowly, savoring every tingling feeling the water had on my skin.

***

I had intently left my leg drop halfway in the water which had swallowed my entire fibula up to my knees and I was extremely careful not to get completely drawn into the water while my hands were touching the bare floor as well as my butt. For a moment, I felt relieved that nothing happened and I thought everything was going to be fine as long as I kept the slow pace but Richard caught my hand after he drew closer before I could even notice his intentions and pulled my entire body into the pool.

"What the heck?!", I shrieked as I was engulfed by the surrounding water and felt the whole of my body submerged in the water which was frantic all round me. I lost my balance the moment I entered the water and felt the water taking full control of my body.

I thought I would sink like I did before even though a whole part of my toes were touching the bottom of the pool but Richard caught me by the waist as I battled to stay buoyant. I was too busy splashing the water with my hands, battling to keep steady and he, noticing that my fears had resurfaced, quickly wrapped his hands around me and drew me close enough to feel his wet body touching mine.

For a brief moment, I thought I was being swayed away by the ocean but Richard helped me realize that I was still in a pool that is barely meters deep compared to the one I had fallen into during the pool party.

"Hey, listen to me. Don't be scared. The pool isn't deep", He said frantically, gripping both of my hands tightly to ease the dread that had come over me in an instant.

"I know you are frightened but you gotta have to take a deep breath and erase your fears...but slowly let it all out", He advised peering down on me as I exhaled to cool my heartbeat. I soon regained control of my nerves and realized that we had clung tightly to each other enough for me to feel his wet hands grabbing hold of my feeble hands.

It was clear that he was very much taller than me as he held onto me and all I could see at that moment was his wet face peering down at me with the same charming blue iris I was had seen in his eyes when we first met but this time more wet with water dribbling from his wet hair down his eyelids to the pool.

"Let go of my hand", I said as soon as I could suppress the sensation of the cold water as well as the sensual feeling I felt near him.

He was quick to let go of me and I adjusted my stance on the water which ended above my waist while the rest of my legs stood firm on the tiled floor in the water below. Then he guided himself to the side of the pool where he rested his broad scapula and faced me hoping to see me swim but I clearly wasn't ready to give in to what he wanted.

"Now, listen closely...first things first, we need to clear out things between us", "Things like what?", "I need to know you are cool with having me train you and I'm absolutely not taking advantage of the chance coach gave to me to train you", "It's too early for me to accept you as my teacher", "Fair enough but the coach is yet to give you his consent, so?", "I'm not doing this", "You gotta understand that I'm just following orders and I don't want you to feel awkward because direct contact is inevitable in your case", "Really?", "Uh-huh", "Don't count your luck because coach isn't around to settle this", I replied not knowing if getting out of the pool was the best option to do now that I was all wet.

"You and I know it would do you good for coach to see that you are already making progress even if it's just a day", "And if I still refuse to comply?", "Then you can ask the others to help you and I bet no one's gonna have the time to listen to you because as you can see everyone's busy with their routines and I'm sure no one's gonna give you attention the entire summer...", "Because of the games?", "Exactly and I'm pleased to inform you beforehand that nationals is around the corner. And everyone will likely get busy once coach announces the news to the team", He said shrewdly and saw that he was getting through to me. I figured that there was some sense in what he was saying and felt inclined to heed his coaxing words.

"Alright, I'll do my best to keep a clear mind", "Agreed", He said and swarmed me and when he came to where I was, I had my hand placed akimbo to ensure that my guard was up against him without giving him any room for further intimidation which we both knew was unavoidable.

"So, what now?", I asked as soon as he wormed himself close to me.

"It's better for us if we start with the basics...", "And what will that be?", "For Starters, the easiest swim style is the front stroke but it is clear you lack the skill and neither can you hold your breath while swimming let alone perform a first time swim to the end of the pool", I frowned at his words but he wasn't bothered and seemed to be enjoying the displeasure I felt.

"If I'm that helpless, what do you suggest I learn first?", "It's quite simple. You gotta have to make your body flow with the water and that includes breathing exercise before we talk about limbs", "How am I supposed to do that?", "We'll start with breathing exercises and to do that, you gotta have to lie down on the water", He retorted and I grudgingly obeyed without complaint. No sooner had I lay down on the water, Richard placed his left hand underneath my lower abdomen whilst his other hand was around my hips. I felt even angrier when I felt his fingers glued to my waist but I decided not to do anything rash that would stop him from helping me out with the training though it was subtly peculiar to me with his kind of training which I hadn't done before.

He widened the gap between his hands and tightened the grip around my body to the point that I thought he would squeeze the life out of me. I spread my legs apart savoring the buoyancy of my body on the water medium whilst being supported by his hands but he brought them together instead.

"Now what?", I asked after positioning my entire body on the water just as he had wanted me to do.

"Now put your head in the water and hold your breath for some seconds", "For how long?", "Until I tell you not to", He replied and I did as he told me. For several minutes, we kept on the breathing routine which we did at intervals and afterwards, he had me swim to the other side of the pool with his support to keep me afloat on the water.

Over an hour, we did this several times going back and forth again to ensure I got enough understanding of the therapy for that session that was to last for two hours. Whilst this was going on, the other athletes were almost done with their routine and were about to close for the day when Lori accompanied by four cheerleaders entered into the gymnasium to figure out if it would be suitable for their rehearsal.

They had intently come to check if there was enough room for them in the building and found out that almost everyone getting ready to return back to their classes particularly Clyde and the rest of the male athletes in the gymnasium who were already warming up to head for the dressing room which was hidden behind the backdoor of the building apart from the main exit.

They stood a few meters away from the main entrance, watching the other athletes left one after the other and were anxiously waiting for their leader to give them the order to step forward but it was not until some of them saw Richard in the pool with someone else that their wait lengthened than what they had initially planned.

Claire questioned further the moment she saw him first. Lori and the other three cheerleaders turned in her direction and saw Richard helping someone out to swim. It was clear to them that he was teaching the girl how to swim in the pool which was too shallow to conceal his height as well as her face from being recognized by the girls.

"It's obvious that he's helping her to swim", "But it's not his place to do that, right, Lori?", Claire retorted with both arms crossed.

"The coach is usually in charge of training new girls but it seems not to be the case", "Perhaps he had temporarily Richard take his place since he's not around", "Probably but I seriously doubt that's the case", "Looks like it to me", Lauren rejoined and glanced at Lori whose gorgeous countenance had dwindled ever since they had seen Richard. Her friends knew she longed to be in the girl's position and kept talking to tease her to reveal what she really was feeling inside in spite of the fact Lauren knew Lori would get hurt if they continued the conversation.

"Who's the girl anyway?", "No idea. I can't see her face clearly either", "I think I have an idea who she is...", Claire said after barely recognizing the girl who was in the pool with Richard.

"You do?", "Sure...she does look familiar.", "I guess you are right", Lauren added with a peculiar look across her face.

"Then tell me who she is", "It's that girl we met at the party at Richard's weekend party days back", "You mean that girl that fell into the swimming pool?", Lori asked. "Yes but I could be wrong", "But she looks like her", "It's plausible she might be learning how to swim because she can't swim", Claire deduced.

"If what you say is the truth, then she is shamelessly using this as means to get Richard back", "Lauren, don't be quick to judge others", "Come to think of it, Lauren's right. I found out that she's in the same class with Richard and her motives really does suggest she's into him", Lori chuckled trying to hide the fact that she was beginning to become suspicious as well "Claire, You are highly mistaken", "No, I'm not. For your sake, I did some background checks about the girl we met at the party....". "And what came out of it?", "I heard from Clyde that Richard already met her before the school session even began and she happens to have to attend the same school as a freshman not to mention she's in the same class with him", "That's nothing to get all worked up about, it's no more than a mere coincidence", Lori said, hiding her dissatisfaction.

"I can't believe this. You of all people should be worried", "I know but blaming some freshman is not enough for me to be worried about getting back with Richard", "For all we know, that's not true. She could have intently dropped down from nowhere like an alien probably to prevent you from achieving your goal", "That's absurd", "Absurdity as it may look like, it is the truth and you said you wanted to patch things up with him when school resumes but here you are letting her get the better of you instead of doing what you can to win him over", "Claire, that's enough", "Who knows? She could become an obstacle to what you wish for", Claire fearlessly replied not minding the fact that Lori was furious at her. Lori took one last look at the pool where Richard was and glared at Claire but her chubby friend seemed obnoxious about her demeanor. Then she left them staring blankly as she walked to the door and exited out of the gymnasium leaving Claire and the others bewildered.