They walked for a short time before Emilia let go of her, bending down and rubbing at her knee.

‘Are you alright?’

‘Yeah yeah I'm fine’ Emilia mumbled dismissively. ‘Dammit. Maybe my mother was right. She always told me I’d never stop growing.’

‘She did?’

‘Yeah’ Emilia sighed, straightening up again and adjusting her leg, shifting her knee from side to side. ‘My mother always called me ‘a stork’ because of my height. Dam woman. She knew how to get me. She knew I was self-conscious about my height. And then I lost my leg. She honestly made fun of me for that too.’

‘That’s awful.’

‘Not really’ Emilia said nonchalantly. ‘Now that I think of it, it was kinda funny.’

Tulip sighed then, shaking her head. ‘You can be very odd sometimes.’

‘Do you really think so?’

‘How’s your leg feel now?’ Tulip asked, avoiding the question.

‘It’ll be alright’ Emilia replied. ‘I am looking forwards to taking it off though. It would be nice to swim without it.’

‘That’s good.’

They continued walking.

Along the way Emilia spotted a girl she knew, though had rarely spoken to. She slowed to a stop, staring at the girl.

She had rose-red dyed hair falling freely about her shoulders, thick black-rimmed glasses and a strong build. She was reading a book silently amongst a small group of friends a short distance away. She stood out to Emilia, and not just because of her hair.

Emilia had seen her for the first time a few days after she had first arrived at the school. She instantly felt her heart jump to her throat, her palms begin to sweat, unable to look away, scared her fixation would be noticed.

She had yet to speak to this girl. She did not have the courage. But Emilia had learned from others, that her name was Naomi. Every time Naomi was close or Emilia noticed her from any distance away, she became suddenly shy and awkward.

Tulip was not the first person to have noticed this, but those that had said very little about it. When a few of her friends had mentioned this to Emilia, she would always shrug them off.

‘Are you coming?’ Tulip asked Emilia, pausing and glancing back. She noticed the focus of Emilia’s attention then. ‘Oh’ she said. ‘Naomi.’  

‘It’s nothing’ Emilia huffed, marching forwards with her shoulders hunched, face beginning to redden.

Emilia hated being caught off-guard like that.

She stormed on ahead, calling out to Tulip behind her.

‘Are you coming or what?’

‘Sure’ Tulip sighed.

She hurried after Emilia, and together they made their way on towards the pool.

The building was empty as far as they could make out. They dressed quickly, slipping on their bathing suits. There were no specific rules when it came to swimwear, as long as it was ‘decent’, the girls could wear whatever they wanted, no matter the shape or colour.

Emilia wore a simple dark one-piece, a basic horizontal blue line running across the front, the rest was a single colour. Tulip wore a cute little bikini, splashed with colours of lime green and bright pink. She looked great in it, and wore it like a queen.

Tulip waited for Emilia as she made her way gingerly towards her. Emilia was always a little nervous when she was walking on certain surfaces without shoes. She had fallen many times in the past because of surfaces that were ‘too smooth’ for her prosthetic leg.

Emilia reached out and grasped Tulip’s forearm as she offered it to her. Tulip helped Emilia walk the rest of the way, supporting her so as to keep her safe from the merciless force of gravity.

They walked down the corridor carefully, coming to the pool at last.

Tulip led Emilia to the water’s edge, Emilia continuing to hold onto Tulips arm as she carefully positioned herself at the edge of the pool.

‘Thank you’ Emilia smiled, letting go.

Tulip nodded at that, moving around her to her other side and crouching down, feeling the water.

‘So warm’ Tulip sighed contentedly, sitting down and dipping her toes in. ‘Ahhh….’

Tulip slipped quickly into the water as Emilia fiddled with her knee, taking off the prosthetic leg and placing it carefully at the side of the pool.

‘That’s so much better’ Emilia sighed with relief, slipping into the water and leaning back against the edge of the pool. ‘It’s so great to take that thing off every once in a while. It rubs me so bad some days…’

Emilia glanced about, noticing Tulip was out of sight. She waited a few seconds, and then Tulip re-emerged a few feet away, leaping out of the water dramatically.

‘You look like a mermaid’ Emilia grinned.

‘I feel like a mermaid. I wish I were a mermaid. I would be a much better and faster swimmer.’

‘Wouldn’t you get bored of that?’ Emilia asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’d be stuck in the water forever. Imagine trying to get to your lessons with a great tail instead of legs.’

‘Yeah, I guess that would be rather inconvenient’ Tulip replied, shrinking back into the water.

She moved further away from the pool’s edge, heading towards the deeper end, her movements smooth and graceful like an otter. Or a mermaid.

‘Are you coming?’

Emilia hesitated only briefly. She had rarely spoken of this before, but she had a mild fear of the water. Nothing severe but, she was always cautious around it, especially out in the open sea. An indoor swimming pool was far more comfortable for her.

I still can’t shake this fear of drowning. Oh mother…

Emilia moved away from the edge of the pool, easing herself through the water.

She rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling as she waved her hands gently around her, hearing Tulip splashing nearby.

Emilia turned on her side in the water, swimming in a side-stroke, before pausing and glancing around, noticing after a time that once again, it was suddenly silent.

Tulip broke the surface of the water, gasping and huffing.

‘That was pushing it.’

‘What are you doing?’

‘Seeing how long I can hold my breath’ Tulip breathed heavily. ‘I’m getting slowly better. I can hold my breath a lot longer than I used to.’

‘That’s cool.’

I’d try the same if I wasn’t so afraid.

‘Come on’ Tulip said. ‘Let’s have a race.’

‘You’re on.’

They swam to one side of the pool, positioning themselves.

‘Dam I wish we had a whistle’ Tulip mused.

‘On the count of three?’

‘One?’

‘Two.’

They pushed away from the edge, beginning to swim.

They raced.

Unbeknown to them, the small door in the corner of the hall opened, and several figures entered.

Minutes passed, and Emilia lost her rhythm in the water, gasping at the wrong time and breathing in water.

Tulip didn’t notice at first, instead went on to win the race.

‘I win!’ She looked around. ‘Emilia are you ok?’

She swam back over to her friend.

By this time, Emilia had stopped coughing.

‘I’m sorry’ Emilia gasped, gathering herself at last and sweeping her wet hair back from her face. ‘I forgot for a second you can’t breathe underwater. Well done Tulip’ Emilia congratulated. ‘You’re such a great swimmer.’

‘Oh, come on Emilia’ Tulip replied teasingly. ‘You could be better if you worked a little harder.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?!’ Emilia replied indignantly. ‘You’ve got an unfair advantage! You’ve got more paddles!’

‘Paddles?’ Tulip cocked her head in confusion.

‘You’ve got four, I’ve only got three.’

‘Hu?’

Emilia leaned back in the water, lifting her amputated leg.

‘Oh, I see’ Tulip said flatly.

‘It’s hard to paddle with only one foot.’

‘That’s just an excuse.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

Tulip slapped the water playfully, sending splashes over Emilia’s head.

‘Hey!’

Tulip only laughed at this, before slipping back beneath the surface.

Emilia watched her as she swam close to the floor of the pool, slowly turning gracefully in the water before rising to the surface again.

Emilia felt a twinge of nervousness.

Calm down. It’s ok. Don’t let yourself panic.

Emilia let out a steady breath.

‘Hey Emilia! Come and catch me if you can!’

Tulip dived forwards into the water, back below the surface and away.

Emilia was just about to make her way after her, before she glanced around purely by chance.

Perhaps it was something in her subconscious that alerted her.

She noticed then that something was wrong. Something was missing, not where she had left it.

My leg!

She swam over to the pool’s edge, eyes darting around.

Where the hell is it? I know I left it here. Someone must have taken it.

And then a figure appeared.

Oh, great I should have known….

It was Sarah, slowly walking towards her, holding her leg.

‘You don’t need that’ Emilia smiled sweetly. ‘You already have two legs, And besides, it wouldn’t fit you anyway. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. I bet you’re really stretchy.’

Sarah sneered at her. She was mad.

‘You’re always so funny aren’t you.’ Sarah said. ‘Always so clever…’

Without warning she swung the prosthetic leg as hard as she could, hitting Emilia in the side of the head.

Emilia cried out in pain and surprise. On the other end of the pool, Tulip who had only recently surfaced again, watched in shock and disbelief.

Emilia had no time to gather herself, before Sarah grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head under the water.

Emilia began to panic.

Before she went under the surface, she saw Sarah’s two friends behind her, laughing as she struggled to free herself…

[END OF CHAPTER 7]