Jackson stepped into the first place he had ever visited at this high school, the Pool. The smell of chlorine lingered in the air, the only smell to ever calm him down when he needed it. There was always something about the air around a pool, so thick with chemicals and yet free of any burden life threw his way. The glow from the water reflexed around the room, painting various waves of light on the walls. His mom was being particularly difficult to deal with and he really just needed an escape.

She stripped down to his black swim suit and dove into the deep end. The slightly warm water rushed over him, taking his problems at home away with him. He just swam lap after lap, breath stroke and freestyle. His father had always taken him to the pool when he was younger, so he felt at home in the water...at peace.

He stopped after almost two hours of laps and just hung his arms over the edge and held himself up on the wall. The quiet that accompanied empty pools, the tranquil sounds of the water lapping at the walls...it was soothing for him. The pool was his escape, his sanctuary.

Brent loved to swim. He hasn’t swam since he lived in Florida. He remembered the salty smell of the ocean and the slight breeze running though his hair. How he would sit on a wooden dock dangling his feet in the ocean water. He loved going there just to be alone, away from everyone and everything. No one could yell at him, no one could harm him. It was his only real place of escape. He would look up into the red and violet clouds swarming the sky as the florescent orange sun was engulfed into the horizon. Once the sun was set and all he could see the first star appear out of the darkness he plunged into the pitch-black water. Everything was calm like the entire world stopped spinning. All he could hear was the slow thump of his heart and the occasional swish of the water as he creped deeper into the darkness.

Brent’s image had faded away and he was back in reality. Wondering the halls of the school. When he came to a swimming pool there was no doubt in his mind that he wasn’t going to check it out. He opened the doors and he could smell the strong sent the chlorine. The air was moist and warm. Brent looked around to see a guy around his age. He had short brown hair and was in the water seeming to have a good time. Brent wanted to swim as well, but unfortunately he didn’t have a swimsuit at the time. That wasn’t going to stop him from greeting him. He really needs to make some friends because he was going to be here awhile. “Hey.” That was all he managed to say, but it was hopefully enough to get the guys attention.

Jackson looked up at the guy standing by the pool. He had never seen the kid before, but he seemed around the same age as Jacks. "Hey..." he said as he pulled himself out of the warm water. He walked over to get his towel and dried off. Once he was fairly dry, he gave the kid a once over. He seemed athletic, but slightly overwhelmed...like he was new to the school. Jacks remembered that he had that same look about him during his first few days.

"I'm Jackson, and you are?" he asked, extending his hand. He remembered how nervous he had been when he first started and how important his friends had become. They were trapped in the eerie silence of the hall, the water casting strange shadows on the walls as he waited for an answer. Hopefully this kid was a swimmer, Jacks was starting to get tired of racing himself.

((Can another join?))

Slena wore her parka and walked into the swim area. She looked and saw that there were guys around and she sighed. Great Slena what are you gonna do now? she asked herself as she took her parka off revealing a turquoise blue two peice. Might as well join in on the fun she said as she jumped into the water and swam to to the deep side of the pool.

Jacks turned away from the new guy to see a girl in a blue bathing suit dive into the pool. He watched, mesmerized by how gorgeous she was in the water. Her movements were natural and fluid. Her long dark hair trailed behind her in the water, almost like a cape. She was tan, from the short glimpse he caught of her before she jumped in, he thought she seemed Native American...but he couldn't tell. All he knew was that she was beautiful and definitely out of his league, as always.

When he finally found his voice, he shouted over to her, "Who are you?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. How could he have just shouted that across the pool. It seemed like that always happened to him, when he was around pretty girls his amazingly articulate self would disappear into a bumbling idiot.

Slena turned around at the sound of the guys voice, "Oh Hello!" She said swimming over near him, "I'm Slena Jara," She smiled holding out a hand for him to shake it. He is really cute!...oh but he is so out of your league she thought. She was so clueless about guys that she didn't think he would think she was attractive. "And you are?" She asked. She looked at his well built frame, and saw that he was indeed a good soul. I wonder what the reservation would say if I were to bring him there...hmmm, for some reason she kept thinking to herself while she looked at this reincarnation of a Greek Solider from the battle of Troy. He was truly a handsome warrior from mythology in her eyes.

Brent walked over to Jackson and smiled a bit. “My name is Brent.” He looked over to see someone else dive into the pool. She was a girl with very long wavey brown hair. She doesn’t look American.. Maybe she’s Indian. He watched her as she approached Jackson. Brent thought she must like him by the way she talked. To Brent, she wasn’t really his type. Well actually he really didn’t want to get screwed up with girls right now. He is way to busy trying to get his life together.

Unless I find another girl like Caroline… No that would never happen. No girl could ever come close to replacing Caroline. I can’t believe I just thought that! Brent was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice how close he was to the edge of the pool. What was I thinking!? But before he knew it, Swoosh! Brent went sailing into the water… SHIT! COULD THIS DAY GET ANY WORSE! Brent was mortified.

Slena looked over at the guy who had just fell into the pool, she nodded quickly at Jackson and went under water to help the guy out. "Hey are you okay?" she asked smiling. "That was quite a fall you took." She got out and grabbed her towel, "Here you go." she handed her towel to him and then sat on the edge of the pool and beckoned Jackson to join them."So you seem to be contemplating something that is of dear importance...or else you wouldn't have fallen into the pool." she chuckled and held her hand out "I'm Slena." He is cute no doubt but he doesn't seem to be the kinda guy I like. I mean he oh why do I keep talking to myself in my head?

Pulling himself out of the pool he chuckled at how stupid he was. He thankfully took the towel and tried to dry himself off. It didn’t help much considering he was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. “Wow.. I so didn’t see that coming” Brent pushed back his hair and sat on the edge of the pool next to Slena. “Ya. I’m new here, this is my first day.” He laughed at the thought of how he could possibly get himself into the position he is now, actually only being at the school for a couple of hours. Slena and Jackson probably think I’m such a freak now. I know I think a lot, but I have to control it somehow. I just get so caught up in my thoughts I don’t know what I’m doing halve the time. God, im such a screw up..

Jacks laughed as he went to sit down by Brent, his feet sinking into the water. It was slightly amusing to see the poor kid just go right off the edge, but he still felt bad since it was his first day. "My name is Jackson, but people call me Jacks....or Jay, if you want," he told the girl. The water was reflecting just right over her face, casting shadows in the perfect places.

He leaned forward, looking at Brent, "Sure it's your first day...but I mean, you have to know that if you keep walking towards a pool, you will eventually fall in..." He was teasing the poor kid, unable to resist since he basically set himself up for. Jacks decided that he needed a little hazing, being the new kid. "But at least now we know you can swim and I for one feel safe knowing that I won't have to be saving you if it happens again." he laughed. He was happy knowing that there were people who enjoyed the water as much as he did.

"How funny today is my first day of school but I've been around for about 2 months." She chuckled, "I think I will call you Jay," She smiled saying to Jackson "You can call me Luna, or Lena, or Pocahontas...haha, my friend started calling me that and it stayed.". Wow the reflection of the water makes him look so handsome...crap your thinking again. she thought and she shook her head. "So Jay, have you grown up here or what? Whats you story?" She asked Jackson.

Slena started to wring the water out of her hair. She then stood up and went to her duffle bag and pulled out a hair brush and a hair band. She liked looking at Jackson, he was very good looking but she would not have a chance with him EVER. She sighed and pulled her hair back. She walked back to the egde of the pool and said, "Sorry my hair gets in my way and its annoying." She smiled at Jackson and then looked at the water in the pool. The smell of Cholrine was intoxicating, she always loved swimming but she didn't it very often at the Reservation. But when they moved to Bakersfield she was on the Varsity Swim Team for the Trojans, she sighed and thought, I'm the captain of the team here...its amazing how far I've come since last year She slipped into the water and went under water for a minute and came back up.

He watched her get out and fix her hair. He really wanted to just run his fingers through it, but there was no way he'd ever get close enough. He just sat there as she gracefully dove back into the pool. He was starting to get nervous and self-conscious, sitting in front of someone so gorgeous in nothing but low cut 'swim regulation' swim shorts. He caught himself staring again, realizing that she's asked him a question...about his life so far.

"Oh I was uh- I was born in Philadelphia, but I moved here when I was five. I barely remember it. It's just my mom and I living around here. I have a dorm, but I spend a lot of nights at my house...my mom gets sick sometimes and I have to take care of her... he explained, skirting around the topic of his mom's illness called 'alcohol.'

"Oh I see." She said giving him a warm smile, "I was born on a Navajo Reservation, my father is Spaniard and my mom is a Chieftess for the Navajo nation. I am also known as Slena The Navajo Reject." She mock tipped her imaginary Hat. She looked up at him, he was gorgeous and she would never stand a chance. "Then my people told my mom to kick her family out of the reservation, so she did and she got remarried and is pregnant with her "holy" child." Slena scoffed and then said, "She tore my dad up, he attempted Suicide didn't work because my little sister was home...and yeah so we moved to Bakersfield, lived there for a few months, then moved here." She smiled and decided to skip what her people would do to her when she was little, the abuse was to much to relive to another person especially someone she had just met. "and the rest as they say is history" She turned to Brent and asked "What about yourself?

Swinging his feet back and forth in the water he was thinking of jumping in. He probably wouldn’t because his clothes were just getting dry. Plus the fact that they would probably thing he fell in again. So Brent just looked into the glowing water as it made silent rings around his feet. And of course, he thought so more… Brent listened to Jackson and Slena talk. They had pretty interesting stories; he never really met a real Indian before. He was glad he was staying in the background for this conversation. He really didn’t want to talk about his life right now. What would I say… oh I hit my head on the bottom of the pool and forgot everything? Nooo that would never work, they would just laugh. What if I told them my life was so perfect there isn’t really any point in talking about it. No, that would be too suspicious. Why don’t I just hope and pray they just keep ignoring me. Yep, I’ll go with that..

But of course it was to late for him. Crap.. Slena just asked the dreadful question. Brent thought about it for a moment. He really couldn’t think of anything else so he just winged it. “Um… ya it’s a long story, you probably don’t want to here it.” Brent wasn’t at all satisfied with his answer, he knew it wasn’t going to work.

Slena floated in the water looking a Brent with a quiet understanding He doesn't want to talk about it...just let it slide Lena just let it slide. She nodded and then smiled, "You don't have to tell us, I mean you just met us...and I just met you guys so I hope that we all can be friends." She said looking at Jackson and then at Brent with a smile.She smiled at Jackson one more time thinking He is so cute...i wonder if he has a girlfriend...gah your getting off subject quick think of something that doesn't make you look like a moron in front of the guys...hurry! She looked around at the pool and then asked Brent, "So your on the swim team?" She thought Nice recovery, thank gods that they can't read your mind and hear you talking to yourself

Thank god it worked. Brent was happy she got of subject, but he wasn’t overjoyed ether. I guess I should tell her something. I mean, I can’t just block the subject out of my life. It was my life. I guess it still is. “It's not that I don’t want you to know.. I mean it’s just hard for me to explain… The best I can say is I lived in Florida all my life. And then I came here.” Brent was glad he told her something, but he really wanted to get of that subject. “Ya, I guess. I just signed up for it. I love to swim.” Finally, he was on a subject that he could relate to. He wondered if Jackson was on the swim team. That would be cool, I need to make some friends and all.

She nodded and looked at Brent with a smile. "I've never been to Flordia before..." She paused and then said, "I'll bet its beautiful out there, huh?" Whew you didn't look like an idiot after all, cool Brent is on the team, I think Jackson is on the team too. she then heard Brent ask Jackson the question she wondered about "Yeah Jay, are you on the team?" she paused and then put in "I'm Captain for the Varsity Girls...its a first for me."

Brent looks down at Slena and smiled a bit. “Oh that’s cool. It’s actually my first time joining a team. I would have loved to join when I was in Florida, but my dad wouldn’t let me.” Of course, Brent’s dad wouldn’t let him do anything, but that wouldn’t stop him from sneaking out of his house to go swimming in the ocean. That was one of his favorite things to do. Unless he got caught…

Brent was so tempted to get I the pool. He ran his hand across the surface of the sparkling water and watched the circles form around the edge of his fingers. Smiling at Slena, he scooped up a big handful of water and splashed it at her.

Slena screamed and then laughed, she cuped a handful of water and then splashed it all over Brent and getting some on Jackson. She dove under the water and swam to the egde of the pool on the other end. "Try and get me now!"She smiled and laughed, "Hey Jackson! Do you have some extra shorts that Brent can borrow so he doesn't get his nice clothes wet again?" She shouted over to Jackson.

Brent laughed and shook the water out of hair like a dog. He wanted to swim after her so badly. Controling himself was one of those things he just wan’t very good at. Soon he was standing up heading towards the changing room. He wasn’t thinking about swimming with jeans on, but he did have some kaki shorts in his bag.

Brent came out in a matter of seconds with his shorts on instead of jeans. “You are so dead now!” He smiled and took his shirt and shoes off. Revealing a long scar down his back. His mind was else wear; he did not seem to care if Slena and Jackson saw it. Everyone has scars, maybe not like mine, but I don’t care. I need to swim. It’s in my blood. Brent laughed silently to himself. Actually I don’t think anyone in my family swims…
Diving in the crystal clear water made Brent feel like he was home. Brent actually only swam in a pool a couple of times before. It didn’t madder to him, a pool or the ocean, as long as it is water.

Lena saw him jump in the pool 'You are so dead' she screamed and then she dove under the water and went under Brents Legs and then poked her head out of the water. She saw the scar on his back and thought, It probably has to do with his past that he doesn't want to talk about... "Did you have surgery or something?" She asked hoping that he wouldn't have an outburst. She gave him her most innocent smile and her most caring eyes.

“Oh that? No. I got burned. Hah, I wish it was an operation.” He said, laughing a bit. Even though he is laughing about it now, that day still haunts him. He started to think about that awful day, but he quickly shook it away. Brent loved to just “pretend” that never happened. He just loved to just swim his past away. Diving underneath the water he grabbed Slena’s legs, bringing her down with him. He was in a very playful mood and loved to fight in the water. Caroline would always do the same thing to him.

Lena screamed playfully as he pulled her down into the water. A burn? Hmm he must have a history...oh well She thought to herself, as she dwelled in the water. She then poked her head out and smiled as she turned to Jackson, "Did Ya Miss Me?" She asked with the cutest most flirtatious smile she could manage.