ECHO: Episode 2 // Chapter III

Gavin ran back to his stuff and got everything together quickly and hurried into the locker room to change. While he was on his way, he could faintly hear the pep band play and the students cheer. “A race must have started,” Gavin muttered to himself, “Great …” He looked at his watch. “3:45, okay, that’s cool, I shouldn’t be too late …”

He felt unusually anxious, and he began to rush. Gavin needed to know why she had looked so down ah hour ago. In his haste he dropped his water bottle and it sprayed all over the floor. He took his clothes out of his gym bag quickly, but he fumbled his pants. He bent over to pick it up and something fell out of the pocket and landed in the puddle of water. It was the picture Lindsey gave him earlier that afternoon. This time he wasn't quick enough to catch it before it fell.

He squatted down and picked it up, and looked at the picture again. The water didn’t seem to have ruined the picture, so he sighed with relief. He looked a little closer, and was shocked to see that the water managed only to warp Lindsey’s face. Now, she looks as if she were crying in the picture. Gavin swore under his breath and wiped the water off the picture on his shirt. He turned the picture around, and noticed a message on the back from Lindsey. It read: “Hey Gavin, thanks for helping me out, hehe. I owe you a picture, so here it is! Sorry I couldn’t give it to you though, I’ve been busy. There’s a swim meet today, hope you’ll be there. xoxo, Lindsey.” He felt happy that she actually remembered him. He looked at the message for a while and smiled. Then he heard over the microphone coming from the direction of the pool, “Varsity girls, your race will begin in five minutes.”

“Shit, I’m late,” Gavin thought. He stood up and was still looking down at the picture in his hands. He finally looked up and was startled to see someone wearing all black standing right in front of him. Gavin jumped back, and his blood suddenly turned cold.

“Hey, you little fuckhead.” An imposing figure greeted him. Gavin swallowed hard.

Meanwhile, Lindsey was standing in the sidelines. She had been looking for Gavin in the stands for a while, but he was nowhere in sight. All she could see was a bleacher full of people and banners reading, “Go Lindsey!” or the like. She gave up looking for Gavin because she figured he wouldn’t come. “Oh well,” she thought. She dove deep into the pool, away from the noise, the people, and the rest of the world. She glided across the bottom of the pool and touched her hands against it. She was in a whole new world, a world apart from the rest of the people, the only place she wants to be …