Ethan just jumped. That's how he was in life and in swimming. You just go in. Head first, no thoughts. Just go. He loved it. He liked the shock of cold, and the slap against his skin as his body met the glassy surface. Once he got down deep enough he would dig his hands into the soft dirt and sometimes bring up something for Violet. This time he found a smooth black rock. Once he broke the surface, Ethan spotted Violet still on her boulder. He smiled at her and she gave him a wave. He swam past the group, still splashing around and having fun.
Nemo waded past him spitting out sequences of numbers again. "F-fourty two-eighteen-one hundred-s-seven-sixtynine."
"How's it going Nemo?"
"L-long day. It's a long day."
Nemo was so pale that he looked slippery and translucent beside Ethan in the water. A dribble of snot sat comfortably beneath his nostrils and no matter how often he snorted, the poor kid's congestion never went away. Ethan slapped Nemo's back, half expecting his hand to stick to the slimy looking skin, and laughed. "Oh, don't be so down. The sun is going down, and tonight we celebrate! Right Vi?"
Violet ignored him.
Nemo adjusted the big black rimmed glasses on his face. He didn't need them, to anyone's knowledge, Nemo just liked'em. "What are we c-cel-brating?"
Ethan shrugged. "Nothing."
Nemo began laughing hysterically. But they way he laughed was strange and foreign. It was high pitched and wheezy like an odd cross between a hyena and a jackass. He braced two hands on Ehtan's shoulders and said, "N-no, we're celebrating s-something. We celebrate. Eight-twentyfive-eighty-two-five." And he kept on wading through the water and reached up toward Violet on her boulder.
Her hands quivered a little, and her eyes seemed to focus on Nemo real hard. She looked back at Ethan and then quickly back at Nemo as she helped heave him up out of the water. Ethan could tell she was afraid, and to be honest Ethan was a little spooked too, but that's what Nemo did. He creeped the gang out.
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