#a h

It was a particularly humid summer. You were a counselor at camp Nevermore for the 3rd consecutive year, and even though you wanted to say that you’d grown used to every shenanigan the campers (and fellow counselors) could get up to; that couldn’t be more far from the truth.

Sometimes you’d get a group of chill, pretty easygoing kids who at most would stay up late after curfew and maybe, just maybe, throw a fit at being put in a separate group as their BFF. Other times, you’d get feral gremlins posing as children who’d cause enough chaos to make you reconsider your life choices. Like right then. Not only had you gotten a bunch of rowdy kids with too much energy in their bodies, like seriously, what did they feed these kids? Oh, no.

That summer there had been a couple of new additions to the team; a girl with self-esteem issues so bad she should contemplate therapy (and a taste in men just as bad if not worse); a twink that seemed to just fade into the background 50% of the time, and Satan incarnated.

At that point, you weren’t sure what was worse: the incessant screaming and arguing between Ada and the elementary school kids, or the fact that Montresor had managed to make himself the leader of a kid’s cult dedicated to antagonizing the other counselors.

“Ten bucks and you don’t report Montresor missing after I drown his ass on the lake, what do you say?” You sighed, closing your eyes, “Good morning to you too, Berenice.” “Psh, don’t good morning me. It’s never a good morning when that guy is still here.” Said Berenice, frowning while she crossed her arms, staring at said man in the distance.

It was eight in the morning, the campers had just gotten up to get breakfast, ushered by a very grumpy Prospero and an overly-enthusiastic Eulalie; while the rest of you prepared the activities scheduled for the day.

Fortunately, or not, it was supposed to be pool day. The children had been pestering you all about it for days, asking when were they going to go to the pool, how long until pool day, complaining about the heat… Some going so far as to threaten some sort of mutiny proposed by Montresor to “overthrow the bunch of wimps that lived with sticks up their asses. Anyways, you had to get “your” kids to pack everything they needed for the pool, because you were sure as hell that most of them hadn’t done so despite you telling them to the previous night, and had to make sure they wouldn’t forget about anything like their flip flops, towels, swimsuits or sunscreen. You really didn’t want to deal with a couple of 7-year-olds with red blistering skin by the end of the week. It would be unpleasant for everyone, honestly.

And so, after everyone was done eating, you joined them at their cabins to help with the packing.

…After forty minutes of yelling and desperation because one of your campers could not find his towel, you were done, so you and your 15 kids went to join the others at the camp entrance to get to the pool together.

It really was a nice day, not unlike any other pool days you’d gone to. Along with Lenore and Ada (who were bickering as always), you took the kids to the changing rooms so they could leave their belongings in the benches there before going to the pool to hear the lifeguard’s safety instructions.

You’d heard that the previous lifeguard had been temporarily replaced by a fellow counselor, but you had no idea of who had been tasked with that. Deep down though, you kind of hoped that it was Annabel Lee, since you had barely seen her the past few months at the camp.

“If your swimsuit is so uncomfortable then why the bloody hell did you decide to wear it!?” Your daydreaming got suddenly interrupted by the two other supervisors, whose bickering had quickly escalated.

“Well first of all it’s not even that uncomfortable- No it’s not don’t you even start!” Ada exclaimed while pointing her finger angrily at the raven-haired girl, “And second of all, I look great in it! So, excuse me for not wanting to look like something that a cat dragged in like you!”

“Excuse me!? How dare you say that while you look like some knock-off Barbie!? I look perfectly fine while you look like a freaking airhead who’s wearing a swimsuit 2 sizes too small so Prospero notices her ass! Or was it Montresor now, huh!?”

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOU STUPID-?”

“THERE ARE CHILDREN PRESENT!” You finally exploded. “You!” You said looking at a very red Ada, “Shut up, stop complaining and tend to your campers, and if you need to get changed then do so but hurry up!” “And you!” You said pointing at a snickering Lenore “Don’t talk back because it always ends like this! If she’s complaining so much, let her have at it, just frigging ignore her and don’t. swear. In front. Of the kids!”

“Why are you all taking so long, eh!? And what’s going on back there!? Sa Majesté is waiting for everyone to go over the safety procedures and the children are growing impatient! So hurry up!” Yelled Duke from the pool.

Sa Majesté? You only knew one person Duke called that. “Yeah, yeah, we’re coming!”

And lo and behold, there she was, Annabel Lee in all of her sun kissed glory, looking at you three unimpressed as always.

“Well, now that everyone’s here, let’s go over the safety procedures as always, shall we? Make sure to listen carefully because I wouldn’t like to repeat myself. And if you have any questions, please make sure to save them for after I’ve finished!” The blonde said with a smile.

Even though you really tried to focus on what Annabel was saying, you couldn’t help but stare at her and the ease with which she explained everything, moves smooth and practiced, as if she’d always been a lifeguard.

Nothing could shake you out of your stupor; you were on cloud nine and not a soul would be able to get you down from there. Not even your friends, who teased you endlessly about your tiny little crush on the girl after watching you sneaking glances at the blonde throughout the whole morning.

“I think if you stare at her like that for too long you might drill a hole on her head. Or worse, she might even notice your staring.” Mused Pluto, unimpressed.

“Hmm, maybe it would be nice if she noticed, wouldn’t you agree Berenice? Maybe that would spice things up; I swear I’ve seen graveyards have more energy than this.” Said Lenore, already cooking up a plan in her head. “Oh yeeeah, maybe we should call her! Give you a little push wouldn’t hurt, right? Then maybe we’d stop having to see you look at her like that?”

“I agree! I think you should talk to her!” Said at last Eulalie, who seemed the most reasonable of the bunch, even if what she was suggesting was absolutely out of the question. You? Talking with Annabel Lee out of the blue? That looked way too risky. But it looked like you either went and talked to her out of your own volition or the others would get involved. And that. That should be avoided at all cost. You could only shudder as you imagined your friends pulling the most ridiculous and embarrassing stunt of their lives to “help you”.

And so, armed with what little courage you had, you stood from where you were supervising the kids with the other counselors to approach the lifeguard. To do what? You had no idea, maybe try to chat with her? She didn’t look like she was too busy, since the children were just picking up their stuff and drying themselves after the other counselors had told them to do so. Wow, was it snack break already? Time surely flew by

Filled with determination, you failed to notice not only how slippery the floor was, but also a certain brunet sporting a devilish smile that promised no good.

Splash

That was the last thing you noticed before you fell into the pool, followed by a sharp pain in your neck that made your vision darken for a second and water filling your lungs.

You flailed around helplessly as you tried to make out which way was the surface and which way was the floor. Had the pool always been so dark? So deep? Is this how you were going to die? In front of kids?

All of a sudden you were getting pulled to the surface by someone and laid on the wet and warm tiles next to the pool.

You immediately started coughing and spitting the chlorinated water that had just been filling your lungs a moment ago, it burned. As you were gasping for breath, a voice yelled over your coughs.

“I believe I warned you all against running carelessly so close to the pool without paying attention! I stated multiple times to watch out for slippery floors as they can cause a very nasty fall!” Annabel Lee said. “Now, if that’s it for everyone, I’d like to speak with my fellow counselor please. If you all would excuse us…” She said, helping you up.

“I told you all how dangerous and slippery the pool deck can get! Especially with all the children splashing around and using their water guns all over the place! Do you know how irresponsible it was of you to so carelessly run around the pool knowing this?? We were so fortunate all the children had exited the pool to get their snacks; imagine what would have happened if you fell on top of one of them!”

Annabel Lee didn’t seem to waste a second to continue chewing your ear off as soon as you were both “hidden” behind the pool house.

“And what if I hadn’t made it on time!? What if you had hit your head against the pool railing, or the deck? You could have gotten seriously injured or worse!”

At that point, the blonde’s face was just a few inches away from yours; and as she yelled at you the only thing you could do was to just gape at her like a fish out of water. Was that concern in her voice?

“I’m…sorry? I’ll be more careful from now on, promise.” You finally managed to tell her.

Those cherry blossom eyes of her looked at yours for an instant, seemingly filled with loving exasperation.

“Sigh…Just be more careful, alright?” For a second, you felt something warm and soft brushing your lips.

The contact was so brief, you felt as if you had just hallucinated it; brain still filled with chlorinated water from the pool. Your eyes widened, unable to process what just happened.

“Ahem well, seeing as you seem to be well enough, let’s go back with the rest now, shall we?”

You could just stare at Annabel Lee as she brushed a loose strand of her golden hair behind her ear bashfully. A lovely pink blush seemed to start tinting her beautiful face; mirroring yours as your face began heating up as you realized that she’d just kissed you.