Hah... I'm tired. To begin with, they actually dragged me from my bed this morning. They said that we should bath in sunlight, and nagged me to death every time I complained that I was getting sunburned. Which, by the way, is true.
After that, we practically went to every store and bought a variety of souvenirs. I thought we were done, but then, they decided to participate in the beach volleyball tournament. It's a competition teamed up by pair with the overall winner receiving a monetary award. By the time the competition is over, it is already early evening. But looking at Belle, I think it's worth it.
"Hehehe. Dani, you're really the best! We won!" Belle beamed at me.
"Are you that happy?"
"Huh? Of course! Money is the best!" She said to me as if that's very obvious.
"Hey Dani? I remember the first time you played volleyball, you still didn't know what to do..." Eugene spoke to me.
Eugene and Kenneth were our opponents in the final match and they lost. While Dave and Jun lost in the elimination round. Recalling my memory, I completely agree. "Yeah, I just learned to play it because of that old geezer. He scolds me whenever I don't do physical activities." I clicked my tongue. That's one of my hectic days in school.
When Jun heard that, he laughed and stopped bothering Dave. "Hahaha, we know it well. Because the look on your face was very funny."
"Among our teachers, he's the only one who criticizes you, you know," Dave interjected. His clothes werere spotless clean without any dirt. No wonder Jun is blaming him for their loss in the match.
"It looks like you ate some shit." Eugene smirked at me.
I'm annoyed by just remembering it but these guys keep adding fuel to the fire, "Well, thanks to him, I can crush your face during P.E." I smirked back.
Eugene's eyes went wide before he roared, "Damn, I knew it was always intentional!"
Let me tell you a good story. It happened during my first senior high when I played volleyball for the first time. Watching my classmates, my only idea was just to hit the ball. I didn't bother myself knowing the rules and Eugene mocked me because of it.
So, when I attempted volleyball, it was shockingly simple for me. I can't control my force, though. My classmates were wary of my attacks and Eugene used to berate them about it, telling them that they should confront it head-on. So when I found out he was going to be my opponent, I knew he wouldn't back down. I got excited.
And... it happened. Maybe my excitement was the reason, or maybe he underestimated me too much, but my spike went directly to his face. I swear he's cheek was totally swollen and his nose was bleeding. Of course, I apologized profusely to him, but all he did was frown. Since that day, I've always directed my attacks at him during P.E. because I knew he wouldn't avoid it. And our conversations always went something like this:
"Are you doing this on purpose? Why would you always target me?"
"What are you talking about? It just went that way."
I always gave him apathetic responses. However, it was true that I purposely send all the balls to him since the other players, particularly the girls, are scared of receiving it. Sometimes he would explode and cross the court.
"What are you doing? Are you really picking a fight with me?"
"What now? We're just playing, right?"
Another reason is because he is really a skilled player capable of receiving my attacks more effectively than anyone. He's gifted. That's why he's so full of himself, sometimes to the point of narcissism.
"Just avoid it, if you're that scared."
Since he's a total narcissist and his pride is so high, there's no way he would run from my attacks. Thanks to him, I learned to control my force. In other words, I used him for practice like boxers do in a punching bag. I don't know when, but somehow, the annoying bickerings with him ended up being fun.
"Was it when you're always being targeted by Dani?"
"Dani sure has her ways of bullying."
"Scary."
The guys continued to talk nonsense. Anyway, I think I've been reminiscing about the past too much lately. It started from that dream. Looking at the red-orange sky, I realized that today, my mind is not occupied with useless things.
I can't believe these guys were able to divert my attention. Maybe they planned it noticing that something was bothering me. I tried hard to suppress my smile. Thinking about them makes me think that I can at least bring myself to what's in front of me. Can I stand against my fears just like what Belle did yesterday to protect me? And Dave... I find his actions nowadays unbelievable, but it's not like I don't have a guess. They're trying to overcome themselves and move forward. And I'm the only one being left behind. Thinking about that, I started to approach the water.
"Dani?" They called me and followed me as well.
"Are you going to swim? It's getting late, we should head back now." Kenneth reminded me.
I stopped when I could no longer see my feet. I didn't know that the color of seawater was between the shade of blue and green. Because that time, to me, it was all gray.
"Come on, why do we need to head back when it's not even that dark!? Don't spoil Dani's mood." Belle whined.
"It's okay. I just tried soaking my feet."
"But it's the first time you have been here. Let's enjoy ourselves please. Come here, what are you afraid of?" Belle asked me lightly, seeing my hesitation.
"It's cold."
"Okay." She stopped and floated away into the ocean. I had no idea what she was thinking as she looked up at the sky. Did she take my rejection to heart?
I tried to advance and the water already reach my waist. Is this the only far I can go? I snapped back to my senses when I heard the guys saying something from the shore, but I didn't understand a thing of what they were saying. All I knew was I noticed some abnormality in the water.
Splash...!
"Belle..!?"
I panicked when I saw her two arms struggling out of the water. "Belle! It's not time to joke with me!"
What is happening? She used to pull pranks at me just to get my attention. My mind became chaotic and before I knew it, my body moved on its own. I went deeper to reach her out.
"!"
I was startled when two arms suddenly pulled me under the water. And my mind went black...