When I was in school I was athletic, I participated in many sports and pushed myself to learn new things all the time, but one thing I couldn't ever learn to do was swim, I never went to lessons or had anyone in my life who taught me.

As soon as I was under the water there was a loud sound of water gushing in my ears and I was kicking my hands and legs around trying to reach the surface but I couldn't, my legs needed to touch a surface but when I looked down I couldn't see anything but water.

My heart was racing, and I was panicking, I was drowning, and no one was coming in to help me. The water was very deep and dark, I could see anything nor could I hear anything other than the sound of water.

I couldn't hold in my breath anymore and I felt water go in my nose and mouth and fill my lungs, as each second passed I found it harder and harder to breathe. My brain was becoming fuzzy and my mind couldn't stay awake, my eyes were shutting, and I was slowly slipping into an unconscious state.

Just as my eyes were about to close, I felt two strong arms grab me and hurriedly pull me up to the surface.

I wasn't fully aware of what was happening but as soon as oxygen touched my nose and mouth, I began coughing and gasping for air. I spat out whatever water was in my mouth; my throat and nose were burning, and my chest hurt like hell.

I felt a hand on my face and when I opened my eyes fully, I looked at Mitchell in front of me, his face and hair were drenched, his one hand holding tightly onto me.

"Mila." He called my name.

I didn't respond, I was still in a state of shock and panic. I was gasping for air and hyperventilating.

"Hey, Mila." He called again. "Look at me."

Still breathing heavily, I looked at him and he was frowning.

"Hold onto me." He instructed me.

I shook my head.

He clenched his jaw. "Don't be stubborn with me right now!"

I was too weak and breathless to argue. I blinked twice and took in a deep breath before I looked him in the eye.

"Don't let me go." I said between gasps.

He shook his head and earnestly said. "I won't."

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck, as I did, he let go of me for a split second and as soon as I lost feeling of his touch panic set in and I began hyperventilating.

"Don't." I gasped.

He quickly wrapped an around me again. "I got you."

I was still gasping, looking at the frightening water.

"Mila." He calmly called my name. "Look at me."

I looked at him and he reassured me with his eyes that he wasn't going to let me drown.

"I got you, trust me okay." he said softly looking into my eyes.

I tightened my hands around his neck and literally held onto him for dear life; my body was practically clutching onto his. I looked into his eyes and I could see that there was no funny business or anything sarcastic, for the first time Michell was being sincere with me.

I swallowed, feeling my throat burn and my chest hurt from all the coughing and water invasion as I nodded in response.

"I'm going to need my arm to swim to the shore so I'm going to have to let one arm go, so don't freak out." He calmly said.

I nodded again.

He looked at me for a long moment before he removed his arm and I instinctively held onto him even more tightly.

He glanced at me for a moment before he swam and pulled me with him to the shore of the lake. Even though it was only a few moments, but it felt like forever until we finally reached dry land.

When we were out, I was still clutching onto to him, I didn't know why but my mind was still in a state of panic and I couldn't think straight.

I took in a few breaths and coughed out some water, not caring that some probably messed Mitchell's shirt.

"What happened in there?" Mitchell asked, his eyes studying my features.

I took in a breath and looked at him staring at me. I hadn't realised how close we were until I looked at him. He was sitting on the grass, his one hand on the ground and the other around me, his legs stretched out and me sitting between them, to anyone who didn't know us would think we were a couple.

"I," I began and paused to clear my burning throat. "I can't swim."

His brows furrowed slightly. "What? Why didn't you say anything?"

I gave him a look. "Maybe because I was too busy drowning."

"No I mean before you fell into the water." He clarified.

"You wouldn't have believed me."

Mitchell remained quiet for a moment probably knowing I was right.

"When we fell into the water and you took forever to come up, I thought you were playing but then a lot of time went by and I figured you were serious." He said.

"You think?" I retorted.

There was silence for a long moment, I was composing myself and sucking in as much oxygen as I could, thanking the stars that I didn't die in that awful water.

"Mila, I-" Mitchell began but was cut off by Olivia's voice.

"What the hell happened?" she exclaimed.

I looked up to see Olivia, Owen and Faith standing a few feet away with worried and confused looks on their faces.

Mitchell sighed. "Mila fell into the water so I jumped in to save her life since she can't swim."

"Oh my God, Mils." Faith gasped. "Are you alright?"

I didn't want to talk let alone answer questions, I only wanted to dry up and maybe take a nap.

"Mila?" Owen repeated.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Can we just head back?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's get you dried up." Faith said extending her arm.

"For that you'll have to let go of Mitchell first." Olivia muttered.

She had her eyes fixated on where my hands were still clutched around Mitchell's neck and then her eyes moved to where his arm was placed around me.

I averted my gaze at Mitchell before I looked down at where his hands were then up to his gaze again. "You can let go of me now."

Mitchell blinked and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah." And he let go of me.

I removed my hands from him and stood up, Faith was immediately at my side. I pushed my wet hair backwards and glancing one more time at Mitchell who was standing up behind me, I walked with Faith back to camp.

The walk back to camp wasn't long at all, within twenty minutes we were back at the camp site. The walk was silent, I just needed to drink something sweet and warm and I'd be good, I just wanted that damn lake water taste out of my mouth.

As soon as we reached, I walked into my tent not saying a word to anyone at all. I just wanted to dry up, change my clothes and be alone for a while.

Faith asked me something, but I didn't answer her, she knew me quite well so she knew when I was in a mood like this, I just needed my space.

I grabbed a towel from my bag and began drying my hair, thereafter I removed my wet clothes and changed into more dry and comfy clothing, as I changed, my mind took me back to a time when I was about seven years old and was visiting my aunt in Michigan with my mom.

My Aunt was my mom's elder sister and she was married and lived with her husband in Michigan and sometimes in the summer when I was kid, we used to visit and I loved it because she lived in the suburbs with a nice house, backyard and swimming pool. That was so much better than the apartment I lived in with my mom.

I remembered one Sunday afternoon, my uncle and aunt went out and my mom and I were home, we were in the backyard. My mom was sunbathing on a recliner with a magazine in her hand and I was running around like a normal seven-year-old did, while running about I tripped and fell into the deep end of the swimming pool. I remembered how scared I was, my feet couldn't touch the ground and I couldn't reach the surface. I didn't know how to hold my breath or swim, I was kicking around frantically, screaming for my mom to help but she never did.

Right to this day I could still feel the burn in my throat and nose as water filled my lungs, the feeling of being unable to breathe was something I could never forget but mostly the fear that ran through me and the fact that my mother didn't jump in and save me scarred me forever.

I fell unconscious in the water and when I woke up again, I was in the hospital with my uncle sitting by my side. I was told that if my aunt and uncle hadn't returned home in time and if my uncle hadn't jumped in and saved me I would've been dead, no one really told me then why my mom didn't save me, all I was told was that she was so shocked that she sat there and just stared at the situation, unable to move or comprehend what was happening. But as I grew, I understood exactly what happened that day to her and maybe to this day apart from having slight PTSD about swimming, I was still haunted by what my mom was going through in that moment.

Today when I was in that water, it took me back to that awful moment in my childhood, something that I couldn't really forget and that's why I reacted the way I did but no one knew that, not even Faith and I wanted it to stay that way.

"Mils." My reverie was broken by Faith's voice from outside the tent. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, I'm just drying up." I answered. "I'll be out in a minute."

After I was changed and dried up, I took in a breath and exited the tent. I tucked a damp strand of hair behind my ears and looked quizzically at everyone who was looking at me oddly.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" Owen asked.

"Of course, I am." I answered. "Why wouldn't I be? I didn't drown and die, so you can quit looking at me like I'm going to break."

"As long as you're fine." Owen said.

"I ask again, why wouldn't I be?" I raised a brow at him.

"It's just for the first time since I know you, that I've seen you so quiet, so it was odd." He answered.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah I wanted to dry up, I don't like wet clothes or being wet."

Mitchell who was drinking water choked on his drink.

"Man, are you alright now?" Owen asked him.

Mitchell caught his breath. "Yeah, all good. Just drank too fast."

I looked at Mitchell, who was also changed and dried up and said. "His mind is in the gutter, so don't mind him."

"Are you a mind reader now?" he asked me.

"No but you clearly still think like a teenager, so it was kind of obvious why you reacted that way." I answered.

Without waiting for him to respond I turned to Faith. "Do we have any snacks? I'm starving."

"Yeah there should be a bag of chips here somewhere." Faith answered as she began digging around in search of the chips.

While she looked, I took a seat on the camper chair and pulled out my phone, thinking of checking in with my mother but just as I was about to call, another person appeared, taking a seat on the chair next to mine.

I looked up at Mitchell who was looking at my phone screen. "Who are you about to call?"

I locked my screen and shoved my phone in my pocket. "I don't see how that concerns you."

He shrugged. "I'm a curious person by nature."

I wondered why he was talking to me all of a sudden, I mean we were basically nemesis and here he was sitting next to me and trying to engage in a conversation, I found it extremely odd.

"Why are you talking to me?" I asked, curiously.

"What kind of question is that?" he asked.

"Who answers a question with another question?" I replied.

"Well," he began. "Apart from me, you just did right now."

I took in a deep breath. "What do you want Mitchell?"

"Does it look like I want anything?" he replied casually.

"Okay you're doing it again." I rolled my eyes and was about to stand up, but Faith tossed a bag of chips at me, and out of reflex I caught it.

"Sharp reflexes." Mitchell commented as I opened the bag.

I popped one chip in my mouth to prevent myself from speaking to him, I figured the less we spoke the less chances we had to get into another fight.

"So, I'm guessing you're quite athletic, that's why I must say I find it pretty peculiar that you don't know how to swim." He remarked after a long moment of silence.

I swallowed down the food in my mouth and repeated. "Peculiar."

"Yeah peculiar, if you have an issue with my word choice don't speak to me." He retorted.

I gave him a look. "Who came to speak to whom?"

"I guess being kind doesn't pay off with people like you." He replied.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't narrow your eyes at me." He spat. "I can do the same." And he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Mitchell, what are you trying to say?" I asked, not in the mood for a prolonged conversation.

"All I'm saying is, I find it extremely hard to believe that you cannot swim." He replied.

"Then don't believe it." I casually said.

"Admit it, you wanted to be a damsel in distress and have me save you." He cockily said. "You just wanted me to touch you."

"I'd honestly rather peel off my toenails one by one than ever want your hands on me." I said each word slowly, for emphasis.

He chortled. "You keep telling yourself that sweetheart."

"You do know that if you weren't so adamant on me saying thank you before you let me go, we wouldn't have fallen in that damn lake in the first place." I pointed out.

"So, the thanks I get is actually being blamed." He scoffed. "Wow, you really need to go back to kindergarten and learn some manners."

"Thanks?" I ridiculed. "You expect me to say thank you when you are the reason I almost drowned."

"I am also the reason you're breathing and alive right now." He snapped.

"Are you even listening or are your ears just to make you look pretty? I only fell into that water because you were being a stubborn ass and refused to let me go unless I said thank you." I shot back.

"The only reason I expected you to say thank you was because I saved you from falling; in the human society it's only good manners to express your gratitude." He said and I could see that his temper was rising.

"I didn't ask you to catch me." I smugly replied

He glared at me and shook his head. "Did your parents teach you to be so glib or were you just born this way?"

"Did your parents teach you to be such a whiny pussy, or were you just born this way?" I mimicked his tone.

He leaned forward in his seat so he could look squarely at me. "Is it that hard to just say those two words to me? Why is it so hard for you to show any sort of emotion?"

"Why is it so important to you for me to say it?" I asked.

"Because it's called mannerisms." he replied.

"Maybe if you weren't such an asshole about the whole situation, I would've said it, but I have this little three-word thing called an ego and nothing can fight it." I told him.

"Saving you from falling makes me an asshole?" he questioned.

"No but saving me and then being arrogant about it by saying I'm always looking for excuses to touch you makes you an asshole." I coolly stated. "I mean you're the one who keeps on catching me, doesn't that make you the one who looks for excuses to touch me?"

"My mother actually taught me to be a good human being and a gentleman, so when you see someone in trouble, you do what you can to help." He retorted. "But obviously, your mind will come up with some other theory."

"No, actually it was your mind that came up with that theory, not me." I said. "You started this war of arrogance so I won't sit and take it when I know I can win."

"You're the most insufferable person I've ever met." He said, glaring at me.

I placed a hand on my chest. "Aw, thank you for the compliment."

I stood up, deciding I had enough of Mitchell for one day but before I could walk away his voice stopped me.

"I should've just let you drown." He mumbled.

Now he was really pushing my buttons, this is why I never got close to anyone because they had expectations from me and I could never live up to that, they always involved feelings and I was terrible at all that. And here was Mitchell, who wasn't even my friend and he expected a thank you card and maybe a gift to express my gratitude for pulling me out of the water. He called me insufferable but he was the petty insufferable one.

I turned around, extremely annoyed at him and walked up to where he was sitting. "Yeah maybe you should've just let me drown then you wouldn't have had this expectation from me to be eternally grateful to you."

"I do not have any sort of expectation from you, you're no one to me Mila." He spat.

"Exactly as you are to me, so why the hell are you sulking like a sour puss just because I didn't say thank you? You say you saved me because it was the gentleman thing to do and your mom raised you to be that way, well maybe she should've added something else to her lesson and that is when you do something good for someone don't expect anything in return because if you do then it wasn't done from the goodness of your heart but rather for your own ego!"

"Ego?" he repeated, raising his voice. "The only one with the ego here is you Mila!"

"Yes, and I'm not afraid to admit it, I'm not fake or trying to show the world I'm something completely opposite of who I am!" I retorted.

"Truth is you're an ungrateful little girl with issues that have scarred you for life which is why you're so damn rude and insolent!" he shot back.

"That's your opinion of me and you can stick with that cause frankly I don't give a damn about what you think about me!" I stated.

"All of this just so you don't have to thank me for literally saving your life." he scoffed.

"You know what Mitchell," I stepped closer. "Suck it up because you'll never hear those words from me!"

"I don't want to hear any word from you ever again!" he spat. "I have had it with you!"

"Yeah so have I!" I yelled at him and without thinking I threw the packet of chips on his face to show him I could also have cheek.

That got him really angry and without waiting to hear him curse me out, I stormed off to my tent, ignoring the looks I got from Owen, Faith and Olivia. I was not in the mood to have another fight with Faith regarding Mitchell.

I huffed in annoyance as I sat down on my sleeping bag, I was never one to get angry easily but Mitchell Clarke really brought out the worst in me.

"Mila?" Faith called from outside my tent.

I sighed. "I'm not in the mood for a lecture Faith, so please just leave me alone."

"I just want to know what-" Faith began but I cut her off.

"Look Faith, I barely slept last night and you know how grouchy I am when I don't get enough sleep so please let me be for some time." I told her.

"Alright." Faith said softly and I heard her footsteps walk away.

"Where are you going?" I heard Owen shout.

"For a drive, I need to get away for some time before I lose my mental balance." I heard Mitchell's voice say.

"Do you want some company?" Olivia asked.

"Don't take this personally but I'd like to be alone." He replied and shortly after I heard a car engine start and drive off.

"Some weekend huh?" Owen said.

I shut out the voices thereafter, I wasn't in the mood to listen to anyone else. I lay flat on the sleeping bag and within a few minutes I felt my eyes get droopy and before I knew it, I was asleep.