Lily dipped her toes in the pool. It was a public pool, yet nobody else was there despite the summer heat. Maybe that was for the better.
She sat down poolside, letting her lower legs sink into the cool, still water. As a kid, she'd been afraid of the pool--her feet couldn't reach the bottom, even in the shallow end. Fears of drowning kept her away from the water. Now, it wasn't that bad. The pool was relaxing.
How many times had she come here? She didn't know why she bothered to change into a swimsuit anymore when she never swam anyway. She didn't know why she even came anymore, when all she would ever do was lie there quietly. Maybe the only thing that pushed Lily to get up and walk to the pool was force of habit.
Leaning back, she propped herself up by her elbows and gazed up at the plain white ceiling: if not for the skylights scattered around it, the building might have felt claustrophobic. Blinding sunlight streamed in through the skylights; when she closed her eyes, blurry blue-green afterimages were burned onto her retinas. She kept her eyes closed, and the afterimages went away after a while. With a soft sigh, she laid back on the concrete floor, her legs dangling into the pool. The water felt warmer. The air was stuffy, as it always was.
Abruptly, Lily felt a shadow cut through the static warmth enveloping her, like a cloud drifting in front of a sweltering sun. She shivered slightly and opened her eyes to the sight of someone standing next to her, glancing down at her with curiosity. They were standing with their back to the light, so at first, all Lily could see was a dim silhouette.
When they saw that Lily had opened her eyes, they smiled brightly.
"Hey," they waved. "My name's Aster. What's yours?"
"You're new," Lily said, after blinking slowly up at Aster. Her eyes had adjusted to the light, and she could tell Aster was a girl. She sat up and rubbed her arms. Goosebumps had formed on them. She pulled her legs out of the water--it felt uncomfortably cold now.
Aster didn't seem phased by the fact that she hadn't answered her question. "Yeah, I am. Just moved here. It was pretty hot out, so I came here."
Lily didn't say anything for a while. The other girl, Aster, sat down beside her and waited patiently for a reply.
Finally, she whispered, "I haven't seen anyone new in a while."
Aster tilted her head, as if there was something she didn't quite understand about Lily's words. "Well, this is a pretty small town. That's not surprising."
Hesitantly, Lily turned her head towards Aster. Her dark eyes were suddenly bold, rather than timid. As she looked at the other girl, a kind of deep sadness overtook her gaze, like she was mourning Aster's death before it happened.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?" Aster asked.
Lily shook her head before answering, "Nothing. I'm sorry for...I'm sorry for staring at you like that. That was rude of me. I just...I'm not used to meeting new people, and I got a little excited."
There was something off about her answer. She hadn't seemed excited. Actually, she had seemed extremely melancholic. Nevertheless, Aster smiled and replied, "That's alright."
The other girl tried to smile back. It was a little stiff. She dipped a toe in the pool. It felt...alright.
"Aren't you gonna go in?" Aster asked as she watched Lily tenderly dip her feet into the water.
"I can't swim."
"Why are you at the pool then?" There was no malice in her tone, only curiosity.
Lily bit her lip and squinted at the skylights. She didn't have a good answer. "I don't know."
They sat silently for a moment, before Aster grinned and told the other girl, "Watch this!", and ran to the diving board. She climbed up, then bounced up, down, up, down, and cannonballed into the pool. A few droplets of water landed on Lily's shoulders. It was kind of refreshing.
Aster came up from underwater, her blonde hair a mess. She shook out her hair, sending water droplets flying everywhere. She looked exuberant.
"Pretty cool, right?" she had to shout for Lily to hear her, since she was farther away from the poolside.
Lily smiled back at her again. This time, it wasn't as stiff.
"Yeah."