Mariam kicked wildly and her arms flailed without direction.
The more she struggled, the deeper she seemed to sink.
Every time she tried to open her lips water rushed into her nose and mouth, suffocating her.
Fear exploded inside her.
She had never learned how to swim.
The lake wasn’t even particularly large, but to Mariam it felt endless like an ocean.
When she resurfaced again, tears were already mixing with the water on her face.
“Help!”
Her arms slapped helplessly against the surface.
The movements only exhausted her further.
still she continued to scream, “Somebody help!”
Her clothes had become heavy with water, dragging her downward.
For a terrifying second, Mariam genuinely thought she was going to die.
Then—
SPLASH!
A much larger disturbance erupted nearby as something—someone had jumped into the water.
Before Mariam could process what was happening, strong arms wrapped around her from behind.
She reacted instinctively, and badly.
Desperate and terrified, she clung to the person like a lifeline.
Unfortunately, in her panic, she nearly dragged both of them underwater, struggling so frantically that they risked sinking together.
“Hold on!” She heard a familiar male voice.
“Don’t move!”
She was so overwhelmed by terror that she couldn’t stop struggling.
“Stop fighting the water,” the boy ordered.
The voice sounded frustratingly familiar.
Mariam stopped moving, only because she was too exhausted.
The arms around her tightened securely.
The person adjusted his grip beneath her shoulders and began pulling her toward shore.
Mariam coughed repeatedly, barely aware of what was happening around her.
Eventually she felt solid ground beneath her.
She was dragged completely onto the shore.
The second she was safely on land, her body folded forward violently.
“Cough!”
She vomited the lake water onto the grass.
Her lungs felt as though they were trying to tear themselves apart.
Then collapsed onto her hands and knees, shaking uncontrollably.
Several long moments passed before she finally managed to breathe normally again.
The world slowly came back into focus.
Mariam looked up at the person sitting beside her.
“Jackson?”
Water dripped from his dark hair, and his black t-shirt clung tightly to his body.
Mud stained the sleeves of his clothes, adding to his thoroughly miserable appearance.
Yet despite the state he was in, he remained annoyingly handsome.
Mariam stared at him with complete disbelief.
“What are you doing here?”
Jackson frowned.
The expression on his face suggested that of all the things he expected to hear after diving into a lake to save someone’s life, that question ranked near the bottom.
A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“That is what you say after I save your life?” he clicked his tongue in a displeased manner.
Mariam bit her pink lip unconsciously.
Now that she thought about it…
Perhaps that hadn’t been the most appropriate first question.
If Jackson hadn’t been there…She would have drowned.
The realization made her stomach twist.
Slowly, she lowered her eyes, her eyelids fluttering.
“…Thank you.”
Jackson could tell that she was being completely sincere.
But his mood didn’t improve.
If anything, his irritation became even more apparent.
“Why did you jump into the lake?” he demanded, his expression darkening.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”