Wallflower by Cookie O'Gorman (first color ebook reader .TXT) 📗

had made a run for it that I didn't react quickly enough to grab her leash.  A moment later, I was bounding after her.

"Hermione!" I yelled desperately.  "Please girl!  Stop!"

I realized her goal within seconds.  There was a community pool on the other side of the road that I hadn't noticed before.  Though it was closed to the public at this time, it looked like the gate was wide open.

Oh my God.

"Hermione, no!"

"Viola, slow down," Dare said from behind me.  "She'll be okay."

"No, she won't," I said back.  "Don't you see that pool?  She's going to jump in!"

"So?" he laughed.  "It's hot.  Maybe she needs to cool off."

I shook my head and kept running.

"Hermione!  Please girl, come back!"

Dare just didn't get it.  We didn't give the dogs at the shelter swimming lessons.  This could all end in tragedy.  There was too much of that already in the world.  I refused to let my girl be one of the fallen.

Hermione rounded the gate and was inside before I could stop her.  With a bounding leap, she jumped into the pool.

"No!"

In the next second, I'd jumped in after her.

There was only one problem with my plan, I realized as my body hit the water.

After flailing and gasping, I began to sink like a stone.  In my haste to save Hermione, I'd forgotten a very important fact.

I didn't know how to swim either.

Oh no, I thought as my head went under the water, cutting off my air.  I tried to kick up or use my arms, but nothing seemed to help.  Dark spots started circling above me, but I kept struggling, thoughts of my wonderful girl running through my head.  Oh poor, Hermione.

A pair of strong arms banded around my waist.

The next thing I knew my head broke the water's surface, and I could breathe again.

"What were you thinking?" Dare yelled as he tugged both of us to the side of the pool.

"Don't worry about me," I sputtered.  "Save Hermione!"

I could feel him shaking his head.  "She's fine," he said as he brought me to the edge where I could hold on.

"But she can't swim," I gasped, still trying to gain my breath back.

"No, that's you."  Dare tilted his head.  "Turns out Hermione's an excellent swimmer."

I looked to the side and saw Hermione happily dog paddling, going round and round.  It was her I'd seen as I went under, I thought.  The little black spots—or spot.  It had been Hermione living her best doggie life.

"Oh," I said with relief.  "I'm so glad she's okay."

"And what about you?"

I looked at Dare's angry face, and realized I'd never actually seen him upset before.

"How could you jump in if you didn't know how to swim?"

"I was just thinking about saving her," I said.

"Flower," he said and held my face between his hands.  His eyes hadn't left mine once since he'd saved me.  "You could've drowned.  Are you getting that?"

Actually I was.  The reality began to sink in as my teeth started chattering, and I gripped the edge of the pool tight.

Dare nodded.  "Okay, that's it.  You're coming to my house."

"But—"

"No arguments," he said.  "We have a pool, and I'm going to teach you."

"I'm not sure my parents will let me do that," I said.  "After what happened."

Dare leaned forward.  "I'm not asking, flower."

"Okay," I said quietly.

At her bark, we both looked over to see Hermione, her mouth open in what seemed to be a grin as she looked at something behind us.  And there was Professor Snape, sitting beside the pool, looking at all of us like we were ridiculous.

"He seems unimpressed," Dare remarked.  "I had to jog with him in my arms to try and catch you."

"You're such a good boy, Professor Snape," I said.  "Good boy for staying out of the pool."

In response, Snape let out a big yawn.

  CHAPTER 16

"So, how'd you get them to let you come?" Dare asked.

"Just told the truth," I said.

"And that would be…?"

"I said I was going to a friend's house."

Dare smiled at that.  "And they didn't ask any questions?  Maybe they're more like my parents than I thought."

"No, they had a few.  But it's all good," I said.

I thought back to the conversation I'd had with my parents after returning Snape and Hermione to the shelter.  Paris had given us and our wet clothes a strange look, but she hadn't said anything.  After drying Hermione off with a towel and grabbing my cello, I'd driven Dare to his house and immediately called my mom.

"Which friend?"  My father was the one who spoke after I gave my initial explanation.  That was when I discovered Mom had put me on speakerphone.  "Have we met her?"

I'd hesitated and heard my father sigh.

"It's Dare isn't it," he'd said.

"Yeah," I'd said.  "But he is my friend, Dad.  You were the one who encouraged me to make more friends, remember?"

"I did…but honey, I just don't know about you hanging out with him.  At his house."

"I'm sure his parents will be there," I'd said, though I really had no way of knowing.

He was silent a beat, and Mom came on the line a second later.

"We trust you, Viola," she'd said.  "Right, Becks?"

"Yeah," Dad had said, sounding reluctant.  "Call if you need anything, and don't stay out past curfew."

"I won't, Dad."

"And tell Dare I'll tear his limbs off one by one if he touches you," he added.

I'd laughed, but he didn't.

"I'm serious, Viola."

"I absolutely will not tell him that," I'd said.  "He's your best player, and I want DHS to win state.  A limbless Dare may endanger that possibility."

Dad had grunted.

And now, here I