[Aeolynn]: 217.Scene3TrappedSoul

Scene 3: Whale Song

The basket ball courts were dark, the only light coming from the EXIT signs and a few lights in the pool area. Marco had accidentally left his water bottle on one of the benches near the glass wall. As he walked over a movement caught his emerald eyes. The new swimmer was still in the water, this time without a cap or goggles. Marco looked back at the exit then back in the pool area before sitting slowly on the bench next to his forgotten water bottle. He had never seen such a graceful swimmer as she was, this made Jessie look like a blundering idiot in the water compared to this and was sure he looked even worse. Near the glass wall atop of some bleachers was her swim bag and on it in white and silver letters was her name. Lena McKean. 

“Lena…” Marco said softly, savoring its sound as his green eyes followed her form across the water. Lena McKean paused in the middle of the deep end, flipping her longer black bangs out of her eyes before treading water. She was a delicate looking creature with a soft blend of tan and pale cream skin that made a startling contrast to her stark black hair and eyes. Lena looked around once before taking a breath and diving down to the bottom. He stood so he could see her and watched as she curled into a tight ball, letting out small amounts of bubbles. She had been down there for almost a minute when he first heard. A high pitched hum was reverberating through the ground, and then rose up through the glass making it vibrate under Marco’s hands.

“What the-“ then he realized it had changed slightly, making itself more pronounced into separate notes. Lena had been down there for four minutes yet, bubbles continued to float to the surface of the water. He almost decided to pound on the glass or something, however, stopped when he recognized the sounds he was hearing. It was the haunting sound of a whale singing. Marco’s eyes widened as he listened closer, staring at Lena’s still form twelve feet under water. Fifteen minutes passed quickly before Lena surfaced calmly, climbing out of the pool to grab her towel then proceeded to dry herself off. Suddenly, she looked up to stare at the glass… to stare straight into Marco’s wide eyes. Both were motionless for a moment before Lena blinked and wrapped the towel around her slim body all the while keeping eye contact with Marco as she packed up her bag. He stood and placed a hand on the glass, then pointed to the door. She nodded. Together, they walked towards the exits and entered into the hallway, the soft sound of the doors shutting behind them fading into an awkward silence. 

“Hi.”

“Hey,” She replied, water dripping from her chin, “Why were you watching me?”

“I was just getting my water bottle. I had left it there from practice earlier.”

“You were watching me during your practice too.”

“Oh-“ Marco rubbed the back of his head, “I didn’t… I mean, well, the thing is I knew you were new so I was interested and then I saw you beat Jessie...” His words faded as Lena’s eyes met his and held. She flipped her bangs out of her eyes to look at him more clearly,

“You… heard me. Didn’t you?” Marco didn’t answer but continued to look into her depthless eyes.

“It was very… very beautiful Lena.” Her eyes widened at him knowing her name but she knew how he had gotten it. Lena’s hand trailed over the letters on her bag,
“How did, how can you hold your breath that long? It isn’t physically possible, is it?”

“For me it is.” Lena said softly, “Look, I can tell you more but not here. If you come to my apartment, I’ll explain everything.”

He nodded, “Just let me call my parents, they like to know when I am staying out longer than usual.”