Chapter Nine
"I was swimming with turtles." Layla gushes to Leland. He smiles as something so little makes her so happy.
"Yeah?" He asks and she nods enthusiastically.
"It was amazing, we also saw a shark, but Taylor said it wasn't going to harm us. She really knows her animals. She could name almost every single one." She says and Leland laughs.
"Yeah, we both loved to read books on them." He says and kisses her. "You're too cute." He says and she blushes.
"Get a room," Jack yells with a laugh. Leland rolls his eyes and flips him off, not having a care in the world.
"Hey, now. No need for that." Taylor says with a smile at him.
Leland huffs and mumbles "Sorry.", but then shakes his head. Taylor laughs and Jack just turns away from him to talk with Carson.
Taylor goes over to the bags of food and searches for something she wants. She finds a bag of Takis and grabs it. "What are those?" Chloe asks looking at the bag confused.
"Takis, they're really good." She says and holds the bag out for her. Chloe grabs one and takes a bite from it.
"They're hot." She says with a twisted face.
"Just a little," Taylor says putting one into her mouth.
"Oh, no thanks. Here." She says and hands back the Taki. Taylor laughs and eats the rest of it. "I really don't like those." She shivers and grabs a drink. Taylor laughs as she swishes water around her mouth. "Ahh." She says after swallowing. "I think I'll just have a bag of chips." She says walking around Taylor.
"Where are Julia and Carson?" Isaac asks looking around.
"Probably having sex somewhere," Jack says and Analyze hits him as everyone chuckles lightly. Within a few minutes after that, they show up. "Have fun?" Jack asks. They look at him confused a nod causing everyone to laugh.
Julia looks at Layla confused, she just shakes her head and mouths nothing. "Are any of you going to want to go when it's dark?" Isaac asks. Taylor and Leland nod right away. Julia shakes her head.
"I'm done swimming. It's cold." She says and grabs her shirt.
"I want too," Analyze says and Jack nods his head. Layla nods her head as well as Austin.
"So, Taylor, Leland, Layla, Analyze, Jack, and Austin?" He asks trying to make sure he got everyone. They nod. "Before we go I'll get you guys some special lights that don't upset the creatures and so you can see." He says beginning to dig around in some bin.
"This is going to be scary." Layla says and Taylor looks at her confused.
"Why?"
"Because it's dark and you can't really see." She says.
"You'll have Leland to protect you." Taylor says and she smiles.
"Yeah, my big bad defender." She says sarcastically as she watches him trying to unwrap something. They laugh at him and shake their head.
"Just don't get stuck in plastic," Taylor says quietly. Layla nods still laughing lightly.
Everyone warms up and eats again before getting ready to go back into the water. "Ok, now I'll be picking the groups. I need to make sure the that everyone will be safe." He says.
"Layla and Analyze are with me because it's your first time snorkeling in the dark, Jack and Leland you are together and welcome to come with us." He adds knowing that he has their girlfriends with him. "And Austin and Taylor, you two are both strong swimmers and I know Taylor's practically like me when it comes to the water. I trust you know what to do if stuck in a difficult situation." He says. Taylor nods her head and looks down to the ground. "Ok, then here's your lights and make sure to be very observant." He warns.
"How long are you guys going to be out?" Chloe asks in a blanket.
Isaac looks at the group. "I'll be back in about two hours with these two for sure." He says. Chloe nods her head. "I want you to have a watch though." He says handing Taylor one.
"Why?" She asks putting it on.
"Because I don't want you to be out there for more than four hours and this way you know how long you've been." He says. Taylor nods her head and plays with the watch before setting a timer. "And are you sure you don't want to wear one of the shirts?" He asks. He had everyone put on things that are like wetsuits to help keep them warm, but Taylor only has the bottoms on.
"I'm good, but thanks." She says and he nods.
"Then let's get going." He says with a clap of his hands.
"That's cold," Layla says as she gets into the water. Taylor goes in after her and nods.
"At least you have a shirt on." She reminds her.
"Not my fault you can't wear a shirt." She says back. Taylor nods knowing it's true.
"Taylor which direction are you guys going in?" Isaac asks. She points her left. Isaac nods before having Layla and Analyze go another direction. The boys plan on staying with the girls for a little, but then want to head off somewhere else.
Taylor goes under the water holding the little light ahead of her. She can't see very far ahead of the light but doesn't care. Austin follows along side of her looking at the fish that seem to like the light. Austin sees a strange looking creature and taps Taylor on the back. She turns to him and he points to it.
She points up and begins swimming. He follows and goes above the water. "It's a Banded Sea Krait, may be the most toxic thing in the world." She says and his eyes open wide as he looks down at the water. "Don't worry, they rarely bite even when threatened. Plus all of its children are on land so she doesn't really have any reason to bite you."
"Comforting, but I think I'm just gonna go all the way over there." He says and she laughs before beginning to swim in the direction he pointed.
The two-point out creatures that are cool to them and Taylor makes sure they don't run into one that can hurt them. Taylor sees a scorpionfish and quickly grabs Austin's arm and pulls him away from the coral. She doesn't let him go until they're really far away from the creature.
When she does Austin grabs her arm lightly and pulls her up the surface. "What'd you see?" He asks removing the tube before talking.
"A scorpionfish, they can kill in minutes and only hunt at night. Don't normally go at humans, but rather be safe than sorry." She says and he nods.
"Thanks then." He says. Taylor nods and turns to look for the boat. She turns a few times and realizes they went out a little too far. She looks down at the watch and sees the compass.
"We should be heading back." She says seeing the timer's almost down to an hour. Austin nods and looks for the boat.
"Taylor?" He asks. She turns to him. "Where's the boat?" He asks looking slightly nervous.
"We just have to go west and should find it. We aren't too far off." She says and puts the tube back into her mouth. He nods doing the same and then follows close to her.
They swim for about a half an hour before they can see the boat. Taylor points to get Austin's attention. He looks up and nods. Taylor beings to swim quicker as she's feeling really cold. Austin notices her pick up the pace and keeps up with her.
When they get to the boat he helps her up and she pulls a towel around her. "Brrr." She shivers and Julia laughs.
"You a little cold?"
"Just a little." She says and begins to dry herself off.
"You had me a little worried there," Isaac says coming into her view. "Cutting the time kinda close." He says. She smiles and takes the watch off to give it back to him.
"We went a little too far," Austin says grabbing a towel for himself.
"Kinda figured, my watch worked though." He says and Taylor nods. Isaac motions for the two to go into the little area where he drives. "Warm up in here." He says and closes the door behind them.
Taylor takes the pants off and is back in just her swimsuit. She wraps her towel around her and gets ready to go out and grab her close, but Austin puts his hand on the handle. "You stay in here, I'll grab our clothes." Taylor nods jumping a little to dry and warm up quicker.
Austin leaves and quickly grabs his clothes before searching for her bag. "Where's Taylor's bag?" He asks Leland. Leland points by his and he nods.
"Better be turning your head when she changes." He says and Austin nods grabbing the bag.
"You don't have to worry, I'm not going to do anything." He says and Leland seems to debate whether or not to let Austin go back.
"Yeah, well if she says anything otherwise you'll regret it." He warns. Again, Austin nods and then quickly walks back to the enclosed area. When he gets in he sees Taylor closed all the blinds and turned on a light.
"Here." He hands her, her bag. She takes it with a nod and begins looking for something warm to wear. He grabs his sweatpants and a shirt to change into. "I'll stay this way until you tell me you're dressed." He says wanting to make sure she knows he's not going to creep around while she's changing.
"Ok, thanks." She says quietly. She also turns around and then quickly changes into her undergarments.
Austin gets done changing before her and begins packing his bag back up. He waits for her to tell him she's done, but she continues to struggle with her sweatshirt. "You all good?" Austin asks thinking maybe she just forgot to tell him.
"Yeah, you're fine, just trying to get my sweatshirt on." She says and he turns around. Her back is to him and he tries not to laugh as she tries to get the sweatshirt on. He walks over to her.
"Here, let me help you." He says. Taylor turns looking frustrated. He laughs because she has the right sleeve in her left arm and it's twisted. He helps her out of the sweatshirt and then puts it over her head. She gets her left arm in, but her right isn't as easy.
"Now the fun part." She says and he holds the sweatshirt out as much as he can to give her room. She bends her arm and pushes it through the sleeve with pain in her side. "Ok, thanks." She says and pulls the sweatshirt away from her side.
"Still being a pain?" He asks looking down at her side.
"Yup, but hopefully I'll be able to wear things that aren't crop tops and baggy sweatshirts soon." She says. He nods and grabs his towel to try and dry his hair better. Taylor grabs her towel and fiddles with it to try and dry her hair. "Austin, you wanna help me with this too?" She asks. He looks over at her and nods his head.
"How do you want me to dry it?" He asks.
"The way you did your hair is fine, it's already going to take me hours to brush this out." She says. He puts the towel over her head and begins to dry it.
"Your hair doesn't dry." He says as he continues to use the towel.
"That's how long hair is." She says with a smile.
"Well, it's exhausting. My's dry within like five minutes. I've been trying to dry your hair for five minutes and it still seems to be soaking wet." He says and then hears Taylor small laugh.
"It's fine, I'm just gonna have Layla put it into a bun." She says and he takes the towel to hands it back to her. Her hair is all in her face and he laughs.
"Guess my skills need to be improved." He says as she pushes her hair back.
"Just a little bit." She says with a smile. He smiles back and notices that her face is red.
"I think you got burnt." He says. She pulls the hoodie off of her shoulder and you see a white line surrounded by red.
"I'm just not going to be able to move at all." She says shrugging and he laughs.
"Don't worry, we have aloe." He says and she nods. She goes to grab her bag and forgets about her side. She winces and stands back up.
"I think I'm going to make a list of what I can do with my side. It's only going to be like ten things, but then I know not to do anything else." She says. Austin smiles a little and grabs her bag.
"Or you can just develop superpowers so you don't have to do anything, but snap your fingers."
"I'll get right on that." She says with a smile.
"Great and you know since I was the one to help you get the powers you can help me?" He asks and Taylor thinks about it for a minute.
"We'll see." She says and he huffs.
"Wow, so nice." He says playing along. Taylor laughs at him causing him to break the facade and smile. The two smile as they walk out of the enclosed area and onto the boat deck.
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