"I so don't think this is going to work."
"Shut up! Be silent," Adelia pressed her fingers on his lips, trying to force him to shut up.
Willow struggled and made her remove her hands before saying, "Adel, this is ridiculous."
"It isn't."
"I'm like 99.99 percent this is going to end in disaster."
"Can't you be silent for like, 1 minute? This is such a well-known trope! The main character is bullied and falls in a pool. The male lead arrives like a hero to save them. Then, he says that his house is nearby and asks if they'd like to change their clothes there. That's your chance, idiot!"
"Hey, isn't that a modern straight trope? Haven't you read enough bl?"
"Well, yeah...But the ones I read won't, ah, how should I say it... 'fit' here."
Adelia looked away, indicating she didn't want to continue this conversation. Still, Willow couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
"Wanna be a substitute for someone and be abused by Charlie? Or would you prefer being imprisoned in a remote villa with no help?"
He forgot just what sort of BDSM and angsty novels his sister likes to read. No thanks, he'd rather have the modern straight tropes.
"Is your curiosity satisfied now? Let's get to business. Look, you will fall in the pool-"
"-But that's like, 5 feet!"
"Oh, come on, it's not that much. Besides-"
Willow furiously shook his head. "No, nope, never. I'm not going in there, no matter what you say!"
A murderous look flashed in Adelia's eyes on Willow's constant interruptions. She threatened, "Willow, my dear brother, did you hear the news? A sister angrily stabbed her brother with a pen in the neck when he kept interrupting her." She took out a pen from her coat pocket. "Aren't you curious about tomorrow's headline? Or would you prefer shutting the hell up and just letting me speak?"
Since Willow was, in fact, not curious about tomorrow's headline, he kept his mouth closed.
"So, as I was saying, the pool you'll be falling in isn't that one." She pointed to another one by its side. "We're gonna use that one."
Now, the other pool was so obviously not the one normal people would fall in so Willow hadn't even considered it before. Yes, you guessed right. It was a children's, no, toddler's pool.
Even Willow, who was a little short, won't soak fully even if he was to sit in it.
Don't ask why a toddler's pool is in a high school. If the novel says it's there, it's there.
"Adelia. Are you even serious right now?"
"Yeah. I can't exactly make you fall in the first one, can I? You'll die-"
His sister was actually worried for him? Oh, are pigs flying? Which direction did the sun rise from? Is the world ending!?
"-And Charlie would kill me too. Plus, if you die, I'll also die because of the plot and all." She patted his shoulder and assured, "Don't get the wrong impression, okay? No sibling love, bro."
"..."
Her phone buzzed. Adelia was alarmed by the message and hurriedly pushed him. "Go, go, go Will! Louise just texted me. He's coming! Charlie's coming! Go, fall!"
"Louise texted you? Didn't you hate her-"
"No time for that! Go, act like your life is in danger! Scream for help!!" Adelia cried as she hurriedly dragged him towards the pool.
Footsteps could be heard. She quickly pushed him in the pool, without a hint of hesitation or pity for her only brother.
Willow was shocked by the sudden push. A scream escaped his lips, "Hey! What are you doing-"
His words were cut off as he fell in the pool with a splash. Sure enough, the water wasn't even enough to wet his neck.
Adelia had already run off to the ladies changing room, hiding there.
Someone slammed open the door and rushed inside. Charlie ran inside, looking for the source of the scream. He...He heard Willow's voice, right? Why would he be here? Will...Willow is safe, right?
Charlie didn't think there would be a time when he would find himself wishing that the one he heard wasn't Willow. He knelt beside the bigger pool, looking inside.
Willow could already imagine the amount of embarrassment he's going to feel when the worried Charlie finds him in this sad excuse for a pool.
Charlie looked some more, and was even ready to remove his shirt to dive in. This whole time, he didn't even glance at the pool on the side.
"...Charlie. I'm here." God, please let him survive this embarrassment.
Charlie whipped his head sideways, shocked. "W-Will? "
He hung his head downwards, unable to look at the other boy anymore. He's so not going to follow Adelia's stupid plans again. This... This is so embarrassing! He wondered how many points they'll lose today because the readers got too much secondhand embarrassment.
Charlie soon fixed his expression and rushed over. He extended his hand to him and asked, "Will! Are you okay?"
Willow took his hand and stood up. He awkwardly replied, "Uh, yeah. Thanks for helping me up."
Charlie nodded, a little flustered by the strange situation.
"..." Willow was silent, waiting for Charlie to say something.
Charlie thought Willow was silent because of embarrassment, which was, partly true. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and tried to make him feel better, "Uhh, Will... Everyone has something they're afraid of. There's no need to be shy about calling for help. Even if it's just a puddle-"
"..."
He hurriedly attempted to correct his words, "I mean, uh, pool. Yeah, this is dangerous too... Oh, now that I look at it, it's pretty deep. A person can even die if they were to lay down in it! Thank God you called for help!"
"..."
Well, at least he's trying to be supportive.