This Shall Be Our First Date

Kira never learned how to swim. Her father tried to teach her when she was a kid, but she would just clutch the floatie and cry whenever she was put in the water. Eventually, her father gave up. Now the same feeling returned. The same feeling of being underwater, of drowning. There was no air. She couldn’t breathe. She opened her mouth and gasped for air, but something took the opportunity to slip inside. The intruder took possession of her mouth and forced her tongue to respond. It was taking air away from her lungs. Kira’s eyes snapped open. She saw black, thick eyelashes. Then Austyn’s face. Kira shrank back and slapped his arm, hard. Austyn drew back and let go of her. Kira sucked in a big lungful of air. ‘You almost suffocated me!’ Austyn swept his eyes over her parted lips. He felt thirsty. ‘You were out like a log. I couldn’t wake you up.’ This was the only method he could think of. A method he enjoyed immensely. ‘You could’ve just given my shoulders a shake,’ Kira thought. ‘The