Saintwood: The Next Generation

ul friendship or s

ch of a headache to handle. Boy, I was wrong. He tried to wait for me at my locke

someone saying the wrong thing to me. He showed up and harassed the kid as if it was a guy or girl. Now it wasn’t mean and intimidating harassment. It

talk to people. I’m wondering if it related him to this Hunter guy. Drew showed me his birth certificate showing and his parents were. Father was Hunter Michels,

scared people, I saw him as this goofball who liked to have fun. We

ed and laid his head on my lap, looking up at me, batting his eyelashes at me. I laughed an

. He plopped down next to me, thro

t?” I qu

me you rolled your eyes; you

a look. “Uh

down. You wait and see,”

ling. Drew sat there for a while and jum

hing,” he said, pac

l have class,” I sa

, or better yet, skinny dippi

ept my family that I can’t swim, and water terrifies me except in the bathroom. I rememb

for Elijah working as a lifeguard one summer, I would have died from drowning. Matt could swim but

the. I had a panic attack, something I got from Mom. I clenched my

’s wrong?”

. “Matt.” I couldn’t get a full sentence out be

ard. He took me to Matt and got to the classroom

running over to me. He took me from Drew’s arms and yelled to E

e we got to the hospital, Matt ran inside with me in his arms.

ned?” Matt

I mention going swimmin

” Matt

appened?” Dre

her in the school pool in the deep end to punish her,” Elijah said. “Someone came and got us; the

e man! I’m sorry,” Drew

le at school along with Maddox. She had a pan

Dad and Mom came burs

she?” Da

r back alread

yelled as they walk

n. I was asleep in bed. Mom walked up and took my h

lease wake up,” Mom s

asked to speak to my

lizabeth okay

ng to relax her so that her heart rate would return to normal. She m

anted to know what happened, and the guys filled him in. I thought Dad flew into a rage, but once Matt and Elijah explained everythi

leave until Dad relented. There was no chan

t want him to see me, but Mom persuaded him to let Drew see me. She reminded hi

appeared at the door. Drew stood there for a few minutes looking at me asleep in the hospital

the rail. He looked down at me, “Well, I guess swimming

sorry. I didn’t know. I would never make jokes about something like this. I know what it’s like to have a fear that keeps you hostage. I

sume me to the point I made sure it would never happen again. That’s why I started training with Dad.

r seeing this girl with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was with another boy playing. I remember playing tag with them and having fun. Before they left, she aske

sn’t sure until you chased me. Then I remembered the day at the park. I remember I foun

ing at the door liste

nd Matt used to play with

n Matt was teasing her one time, he

I never realized it was because Hunter

ew said, Hunter kept his life private for a

bigger problems

” Dad

,” Mom whispered, making Dad look a

had to be anyone, I’m

ed in ag

ked around and sat up. Then Drew knocked o

” he said, holdi

im, a bit con

aused you to come

my forehead in frustration. Drew walked over a

in his front pock

n and opened the back to find a chocolate chip muffin. I took it out

and pulled out a blueber

you went through that,” Drew sai

ling the wrong person,” I said, breaking off

o into the water as long as you don’t have a pa

ute, then took

hen I pulled my hand away. Drew continued munching on his muffin, and all I could th

, I’m the last person he would ever see li