Eclipsed Existence

The young woman felt her heart stop as the frigid water of the shower body slammed her head. She hated the shower before jumping into the pool, but she was still uncertain if jumping into a pool without that dreaded shower would turn her bleached hair green, so she did it anyway. She endured ten whole seconds of water before she jumped out, shivering so hard she was afraid her skeleton was going to vibrate out of her body. She grabbed her vomit-green towel and wrapped herself quickly.

"Come on, Crystal!" her little sister shouted.

"Yea, yea," Crystal said, her teeth clattering together.

"I think I'm going to try the deep end today."

"Whatever you say, squirt. Just don't drown. Mom would kill me if that happened." Her sister, Hailey, celebrated the permission that Crystal gave to her and darted outside just slow enough not to be running. Crystal rolled her eyes as she followed her far-too-energetic sibling.

Crystal batted away the somber feeling that threatened to wash away her positive mood. In the past, the pool was where the whole family would spend time together; her mom, dad, and baby sister. Her father's death was hard, and they stopped going for a while. Her mom, in particular, avoided places that her dad loved so much that she sold Crystal's childhood home. In an attempt to escape the house and hold on to any positive memory of her late father, Crystal had saved up her babysitting money for pool passes so Hailey and herself could spend this summer with friends. The last time Hailey was here, she was a baby. Now Hailey wasn't a baby anymore, and her mom was overworked and overprotective.

The sun blasted onto Crystal, warming her up instantly. The dull roar of conversation, screaming, and laughing, combined with the smell of the chlorine really solidified that summer was here. Hailey was ecstatic. All of her friends hung out at this pool, but even if they didn't, she loved making new ones. Crystal was jealous. It felt like making friends as a teenager was insanely harder to do. If she could only go back to being nine years old.

Hailey tossed her towel aside, screeching at her friends as she jumped right into the water. Crystal scooped up the towel into the pile of pool essentials she had in her arms. Sunscreen, towels, phone, money, and flip-flops were all there. She scanned the pool for Brenda, her friend who enjoyed the outdoors way more than Crystal did, and spotted her chatting it up with some other friends and cute boys. Anxiety grabbed her by the throat and stopped her in her tracks. People. She could just go home right now and not deal with interacting with anyone.

Too late. Brenda spotted Crystal and waved her over. Crystal gritted her teeth. A graceful smile sprung to her face so no one would see her discomfort. This was going to be a long summer if she was going to have to socialize all the time. She tried to remain calm as she dumped her belongings next to Brenda.

"S'up girlie?" Brenda asked, throwing a packaged pickle at Crystal.

"Not much. Just got here, you?" Crystal sat on the edge of the pool, putting her feet in the water, which, thankfully, wasn't as freezing as the water that came out of the showers.

"Look who I see," Brenda said, pointing. There was Julio. Crystal longed to perish on the spot.

"Don't point!" Crystal shouted, grabbing Brenda's offending appendage. Brenda's mischievous grin appeared on her face at Crystal's protests.

"Come on, it's just Julio. What's he going to do? Bite you?" Brenda asked, yanking her arm away.

"If only..." Crystal said somberly.

"He would if you would just..."

"No. No, thank you. That sounds like the last thing I want to do. Ever," Crystal said, crossing her arms. Brenda rolled her eyes.

"If you don't do something soon, I'm going to have to intervene," Brenda warned.

"Brenda," She warned back.

"It's for your own good. A certified Brenda intervention," Brenda smirked.

"It's a boy, not a drug," Crystal argued.

"Are you sure?" Brenda teased. Crystal sighed loudly, put on her best grumpy face, and glared hard. All this did was egg Brenda on.

"End of today," Brenda said. Before Crystal could even react, she jumped into the pool, swimming away.

"Brenda, don't!" Crystal asked with a tinge of panic. Brenda pretended not to hear her as she swam toward Julio and his friends.

The dread hit Crystal like a semi-truck. How would she possibly go about telling Julio she liked him? It was inconceivable. There was no way. Crystal had no clue how people went about telling even basic emotions, let alone big ones like romance.

She went back to her belongings to put on sunscreen. It was impossible to get Hailey to sit still long enough to put some on, so Crystal was strategic. She put it on her little sister before they got in the car and when she dragged her out of the pool for snacks and lunch, which just so happened to be every hour or so. Crystal, however, enjoyed putting it on before going into the water as a little ritual.

Crystal violently rubbed sunscreen on her skin. She did not doubt for a second that Brenda would go talk to Julio and humiliate her. If she didn't get this anxiety under control, she was going to cry. She could feel the prickles already. Maybe it would be best to just grit her teeth and do it. Humiliate herself and just stay home all summer. Who needed friends, anyway?

A hand grasped her shoulder.

She yelped, dropping the sunscreen bottle. The hand immediately withdrew. Crystal turned around to face a rather peculiar man. First off, he was drop-dead gorgeous. He had perfectly wavy hair that was tied at the back, and eyes that were almost blood red. It had to be the way the sun was hitting his eyes.

"H-hi," Crystal stammered out. He smiled gently.

"Hi. Sorry about this, but I think this is yours," he said as he handed her an ID. She looked at it in shock.

"O-o-oh... Thank you," Crystal replied. There was no way. Her ID should be under her phone case, so unless her phone case had fallen off... Crystal's eyes darted to her phone. Her case was still on it. She took the ID and turned it in her hands. Sure enough, there was her dopey, flat, monochrome face staring back at her. Those DMV photos really don't do anyone justice, do they?

"I saw you came in with a little girl," He started. Crystal nodded.

"My sister? Is she okay?" She asked. She spotted her sister animatedly talking to Brenda.

"Just an observation..."

"Oh." Crystal's alarm bells were going off. She was cornered. Trapped. He stepped closer to her.

"Be careful. This pool is really strange." He cocked his head as if he was trying to solve a puzzle that was where she was standing. "If anything pulls on your foot at the deep end of the pool, don't look down," he warned.

"What?"

"Don't look down," he repeated. She swore that this man hadn't blinked once. She usually avoided eyes, but something about his dark red eyes lured her in. She was getting lost as the world quieted, and gradually it felt like they were the only two there.

She snapped out of it when Brenda called her name, which was closely followed by a splash of cold water.

"You coming in or what?" Brenda asked. Crystal spun towards Brenda.

"Yea, I was just..." Crystal looked at where the mysterious stranger was standing, but there was no one. She looked around.

"Juuust... trying to figure out how to approach Julio?" Brenda smirked. Crystal gave Brenda a confused look before rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm not, because you will not talk to him." She tried shaking off the weird interaction, but couldn't. There was no way her ID wasn't in her phone. Crystal dropped the sunscreen onto the pile and grabbed her phone. She opened up her phone case to see her ID tucked away. Had she put it back while getting lost in his eyes? She stared at her ID for a few moments, much to Brenda's loud dismay, before putting her phone back the way she found it.

Crystal eased her way into the pool and slid into the cold water. She took a quick moment to make sure Hailey wasn't dead before she followed Brenda and pretended to mingle.

That's how it had always been. Brenda mingled while Crystal remained by her side with a big smile. A little moon that didn't speak to the other planets. As a result, she had a handful of acquaintances that had a positive opinion of her but barely knew her name. Crystal didn't mind until she did. The drama Brenda got into sometimes meant Crystal was "involved" but, luckily, things had calmed down now that the school year had ended.

Crystal clung to the edge of the pool, lightly kicking her feet. She didn't want to be surrounded by these people. What Crystal wanted to do was try to pinpoint where that guy went so she could talk to him. What did he mean don't look down? Crystal's gaze wandered along the bottom of the pool, tracing along the blue and white tiles. The only things she could see were a discarded bright pink plastic ring, some dirt, and maybe someone's lost jewelry. She couldn't shake what that man had said. Couldn't shake his eyes either. Her gaze flattened as she visualized them in the shimmering water. She saw them vividly, like two frightening scarlet inner tubes. Dark. Deep. Had they been shimmering as well?

A whistle pierced the air, jolting Crystal back to the real world. It was time for the entire pool to take a forced break. Thank goodness.

"What were you staring at?" Brenda asked, helping Crystal out of the water.

"Nothing... I mean... Okay, there was this really weird guy," Crystal started. She told Brenda everything, including the ID, but excluding that it never left her phone. Brenda gave a curt nod and declared she was going to find him, leaving Crystal alone on the bench. Before she had too much time by herself, Hailey flew in to update her sister on all the fun she had been having. Finally, Hailey took a breath.

"Crys, can I have some money? I want sunflower seeds," Hailey said, panting. Crystal threw her sister the sunscreen bottle and ten bucks.

"Get a water bottle too so you can drink it and spit your seeds into it," Crystal instructed. Hailey excitedly nodded her head before bounding towards the concession stand. Crystal would likely have to force Hailey to avoid skin cancer, but just maybe Hailey would remember to do as she was told.

"Well, I don't see him," Brenda said, returning with an arm full of popsicles. "I think he's just messing with you. What could possibly be in the water you couldn't look at? SAT answers?" Brenda plopped down across from Crystal. "But if you see him again, sic me on him. I'll give him a piece of my mind."

"Thanks," Crystal said. Crystal's eyes caught Julio's, and her entire body grew hot. She looked at her arms to make sure steam wasn't rising from her skin. He started walking towards the bench. Her heart thumped painfully as she tried to put a friendly smile on her face.

"Hey there, beautiful," Julio said, sitting next to Crystal. Her stomach lurched.

"H-hey," Crystal sputtered out. She scooted over so he could sit comfortably. She looked at his muscular arms and toned body. Her eyes darted away to find something, anything, to give to him.

"How's your summer so far, Julio?" Brenda asked. Crystal's desperate hand grasped a pair of popsicles and handed one to him.

"Thanks, Crystal," he said, taking it from her, their hands brushing for a moment. Like most boys, Julio couldn't be bothered to use scissors and quickly bit the tip off the thin plastic encasing the popsicle, spitting it out into a nearby grocery bag. Crystal blushed and suddenly became very focused on opening up her own popsicle. He took Crystal's popsicle and opened it with ease. Brenda watched with such an amused expression, it was a wonder she wasn't laughing.

"Ah, it's good, you know. Good weather, good vibes... Good company," Julio bumped into Crystal. It took everything in her willpower not to swoon right there.

"Well, Crystal and I are thinking about going to the movies. Want to come with?" Brenda asked. Oh, God bless Brenda, Crystal thought.

"Of course," Julio said around a mouth full of flavored ice, "what're we watching?"

"Just the latest slasher film," Crystal chimed in.

"Sick. I love a good horror film," Julio said. Crystal melted.

"I love horror too! What movie is your favorite?"

"Mmm, letsh shee," he said, past more ice. "I choose... all the classics. Can't pick between them."

"Oh my gosh, me too!"

"Really? Then why are we going to watch some overdone modern film when we could head to my place and pop on The Thing?" Julio offered. Crystal nodded her head.

"That sounds amazing. Doesn't that sound great?" Crystal asked Brenda with pleading eyes. Brenda's expression fell just a tad.

"Great," Brenda said, getting frighteningly close to rolling her eyes out of her head. Crystal's face split into a huge grin.

"Well, it's settled," Julio said. His demeanor was infinitely more cheerful. "Pool closes at seven. Give me your number so I can text you the address."

After they exchanged numbers, Crystal found herself in the water and on cloud nine. She had a date with Julio... Well, a date plus Brenda, who was pouting next to Crystal. Brenda would've complained about having to watch yet another horror movie, but she was mostly just pleased that Crystal had finally talked to Julio.

"Can't let you go to a boy's house alone," Brenda teased. Crystal's mind raced. She started thinking of conversations that would come up so she would have a response. Her mind also started wandering a little further than conversation, entertaining the thought of how it would feel to cuddle next to him... Pretend to be scared so he would hold her tight...

She lightly slapped her cheeks. She had to stop this line of thought before it went down a terrible road that would make her blush for the rest of her life. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, hoping that maybe the thoughts would lose their grip and fly off into the water.

As Crystal opened her eyes, she was blinded by the light of the sun, which quickly became eclipsed by a long, dark silhouette. As her eyes adjusted, there he was. The man with the red eyes.

A slight panic flared in her chest and she looked for Brenda, who wasn't next to her anymore. No one was next to her. Wait, how had she gotten to the middle of the deep end by herself? She looked around for anyone else, and to her horror, no one had faces. Every person walking by with smooth, featureless faces was still speaking in whispers just outside her hearing range.

Someone, or something, pulled lightly on her foot. The panic rose to her throat, cutting off her breath. Don't look down. She chanted the advice in her mind, hanging onto it desperately.

What felt like a finger gently dragged itself across the bottom of her feet. She tried pulling her feet away while keeping her eyes up into the bright blue sky, but it grabbed her ankle. Her attempts to feel for what was touching her while keeping afloat were unsuccessful. She swallowed a mouthful of water. Violently coughing, she squeaked out a "H-help." The faceless strangers turned to look at her. A sea of flat, featureless flesh. Don't look down.

"Pl-please, help!" Crystal yelled to the stranger, who hadn't moved or ceased his staring. Terror took hold when she realized he wasn't helping. No one was. More hands started pulling on her and she fought against them. A hand snaked its way up her leg and scratched her stomach. She couldn't help it. Reflex took hold and her eyes darted downward. She shrieked. Hundreds upon hundreds of faceless strangers stretched their arms toward her in a vast ocean of dark blue. Their clawing fingers wound upward like kelp, but that wasn't the worst of it.

The people yanking her down were wearing the faces of her parents.

She furiously tried prying off the hands of her fake parents, but their grips only tightened painfully and the water became cloudy with reddish-brown liquid. Her dad's face was half scraped off and his eyes held the milk of the dead. He opened his mouth, screaming her name.

"It was your fault!" Her mom shrieked at her, her mouth extended farther than a jaw should go.

"Help! Help me!" She screeched, trying to get the attention of someone, anyone who would help. Each faceless stranger's face turned towards her in sync, their silhouettes beginning to crowd around the edge of the pool.

The whispers grew in volume. Voices she knew parroted back conversations she knew she had. She could even hear her own voice.

"I wish you were a better daugh..."

"And this award goes to Cry..."

"If you wanted me to leave, why didn't..."

"Stop this! Please!" Crystal begged over the whispers. "Please! I'll do anything!" Her head sunk below the surface, and she struggled back for air. "Please!"

"You got the job?"

"She's beautiful..."

"And now a word from Crys..."

She could feel the slimy, sharp fingers clawing up her body to her shoulders as the weight of all the strangers inched her lower and lower. The man finally walked forward with a disappointed sigh.

"He-ulp!" Crystal tried to plead past the water as it anxiously threatened to worm its way down her lungs. The smell of chlorine and chemicals burned her nose and throat from the coughing. Exhaustion was flooding into her. Her muscles burned and ached from fighting. She wanted to give up.

The stranger looked down with inhuman, hollow, sanguine eyes.

"I told you not to look down."

One final tug pulled her under the water.

"Come on out, sweetpea!" yelled Hailey's dad, holding a bottle of sunscreen. She pouted as she looked up at him from the shallow water of the pool.

"But daaaad!"

"Uh uh! No buts. You promised if I bought you sunflower seeds, you'd let me put sunscreen on you this time."

Hailey huffed and crawled out of the water to her dad, who held the dreaded towel. She'd always hated the color of her vomit-green towel. Hailey grudgingly looked across the way as her dad lathered sunscreen on her shoulders.

"Hey Brenda," her dad said and Hailey's head whipped around to look. It was the popular pool girl, the one who Hailey idolized and hoped to be like someday.

"Hey, you two!" she said. "You're finally putting on some sunscreen, huh?"

"Yeahhh," Hailey sighed, "I promised."

Brenda knelt down beside Hailey. "Well, good job keeping your promises. It's good to see you!" The two did a small secret handshake, and Hailey grinned widely as Brenda stood back up.

"See you later, kiddo!" Brenda said as she walked away with a cute boy eating a popsicle. They were talking about catching a movie later at his house, just the two of them.

Hailey watched them for a moment and then furrowed her brows.

"Dad?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"I wish I had a sister like Brenda."

Hailey's dad sighed sadly as he finished up. "We tried, sweetpea, but you're it."

Hailey turned to look at her dad, a little bit of sadness in her eyes.

"Hey now, kiddo, cheer up. You," he said, pointing his finger to her chest, "are the best and only gift we could ever want."

She smiled and gave her dad a hug. "Thanks, dad. I love you."

He wrapped her up in a great big hug. "I love you, too."

They stayed together for a moment, and then Hailey tore away to go play some more.

"Hurry up if you are going to the deep end. Your mother is going to be here in twenty minutes!" Hailey's dad called after her. Like a little fish, she swam to the deep end with thoughts about siblings. If only Brenda were her sister. If only she had any older sister.

I bet my older sister would've been so cool.