Just Keep Swimming (Open)

[Georgina Speer]

Was she doing this?

...

She was doing this.

George Speer was a difficult person to describe. She had so many traits that showed her in many different lights to lots of people. However, we're not talking about her popularity, not right now anyways. What we're talking about is George's spontinuity. Like I said, she's generally difficult to describe, but the past events and situations she has been in help to define her the most, and this... this was one of those days which showed her unplanned, random, excitable side. It was because of this past of her that she was walking through the partically empty halls of the school she lived in to the swimming pool.

In her pyjamas. (She had a coat and a pair of shoes on too, don't worry.) (And a hat.)

(You can never forget the hat)

The existance of the pool was scarce in the knowledges of the students at Hammel. It wasn't a regular occurrence to see George doing any excersize at all actually, but that particular morning she felt like actually moving off of her fat arse for once and doing something.

She walked through the double doors to the changing rooms and turned into the girl's side, putting down the bags that she carried and beginning to get changed in one of the cubicles. She planned the swim ahead, she would probably do quite a bit of diving, she enjoyed that quite a lots. She'd also probably do a few widths too, and afterwards she would slide under the water and swim around at her pleasure until she wanted to get out. When she was ready, she began to do just as she had thought. She walked to the far end of the pool and took a run in, jumping and diving quite gracefully into the water, cutting through it smoothly and quietly, not making much of a splash.

She bobbed out of the water and swam away a little, until she could stay in one place with her head in the air without having to tread water; she was too last for that. She looked around, she hadn't checked to are if she had an audience before, she was too tied up by the energy she had put into doing the dive. Not spotting anyone obvious, she got out and took the position to dive again.

(Outfit)

[Jack McCarthy]

Not many people, took advantages of the local swimming pool facilities but one jack Mccarthy certainly did, he couldn’t believe that a rare few actually did, when Jack spent his nights, drinking to all hours of the night and generally getting up to some form of extreme tom-foolery, nothing was more referring to him then taking a quice dip in the pool in the early hours of the morning just to wake himself up and prepare himself for the day’s activities ahead.

True that plunging headfirst into a pool full of ice cold water first thing in the morning wasn’t exactly comfortable,but it certainly woke you up make no mistake about that. It was certainly a novel approach to curing a hangover.

Jack quickly made his way to the building quickly gilding into the stails where he got dressed into his long light blue swimming trunks and not much else. He quickly made his way quite happily to the pool where he was more then a little surprise to see someone beat him to the punch and even more of a surprise to see that he knew the person. Georgia Speer. He might have known that he would have met her doing something weird like going to a almost abandoned swimming pool first thin in the morning.

Jack hung back in the shadows for a moment noting that Georgina was quite the impressive swimmer…but the real point of interest was when George got out and stood at the edge of the pool.

And Jack’s evil mind whirled into life.

Feeling like a lion hunting his pray, Jack quietly creeped behind George before quickly running forward and using his momentum shoving her into the pool.

[Georgina Speer]

Drinking... an interesting topic when it came to George. She wasn't an alcoholic (that would be difficult enough, she was only 17) and she didn't go out for drinks on a daily basis but when the oppurtunity shows itself, George isn't one to back away. She has been drunk before, but she tries to be a little responsible at least about it. She'll only get drunk in the company of trustworthy friends, so she doesn't do anything dangerous and doesn't get made to do anything dangerous. She's mature in that sense.

And drugs were a no-no. Off limits; she never wanted to smoke or take drugs. Yeah, it might help with stress or whatever, but you're just destroying your body. And that's not good at all.

George stood by the edge of the pool, smiling at the waters a little. Her last plunge had been nice, and she was deciding which dive to do next. There was the pencil dive, that would send her straight down. Or there was the -

"AAH!" George screamed out as some unknown force shoved her into the pool. She hit the waters in a starfish like shape, arms and legs splayed out from the shock, and the contact made a harsh sounding 'crash', as she sunk under a little. The impact made her whole body tingle with the slightest twinge of pain flowing through her skin. She quickly recovered and swam up to try and find out who the culprit was. Her eyes met with the person who was now standing where she had been before.

Oh. Of course.

Jack McCarthy. She smirked at him (and blushed slightly at the sight of him topless, but you could hardly tell; her face was red already from.the impact against the water) and began to tread water. "Hey, Irish!" She had to shout slightly to be heard over the extractor fan, "What brings you here?" She swam to the edge of the pool, a few metres to the left of the bulldozer, and climbed out. She put her hands on her hips and signalled to the very much disturbed waters, "I'm pretty certain your sole purpose in life isn't to push people into pools on a regular basis."

Although, if that was true, she wouldn't exactly be surprised.

[Jack McCarthy]

Ah, drinking was quite a weird subject, because when it came down to it, Jack had quite unique. Because Jack started drinking at quite a young age thanks mainly to being around a complete and other drunken bastard and his constant need to prove that he’s cool and grown up to the other kids and perhaps even get the acceptance he for so long has sought….not even getting close but hey he looked cool. Or so he thought.

Jack stopped himself just in time before he went over the edge himself and landed in the drink. Now THAT would have been embarrassment, Jack laughed heatedly to himself enjoying greatly the sight of George failing around like a fish out of water, and yes if Jack could bottle the feeling of pranking someone and made it into a drug, Jack would totally get addicted to it.

Jack pointed his two forefinger at Georgina and shot them off like her fingers held invisible guns. “Boom!” Ha! You didn’t see that coming did you! I’m like a ninja! A sexy,sexy ninja!” Jack said while raising one solidarity fist in victory like he had just won the Olympics.

As Jack waited for Georgia to get back to her feet, Jack took a moment to fish out his celtic chain from his trunk pocket and putting it around his neck where it rested against his chest (Yes, not even at a swimming pool does he take that off)

“Oh, you know me. I see someone standing right at the edge of a pool, I HAVE to push them it! I’m sorry I can’t help it, it’s compulsory, Every time someone is at the edge of a pool I’ll be there. I’m the poolside menace of the world!

[Georgina Speer]

She heard the distorted laughs from under the water, making her smile too, and almost laugh as well, but she tried to keep her mouth shut, swallowing chlorine just didn't exactly seem like a brilliant idea. She wasn't one to get angry about being pranked or pranking someone unless someone ended up hurt. The point was to have a laugh and muck around, not get stroppy because you're too sucked up in your own world that you couldn't care less about enjoying your life. That was just silly.

"You can be a ninja if you want, but you might wanna leave that adjective off, it isn't exactly..." As she spoke, her voice held a slight monotone that weighed it down. She tried to ignore it and waved her hand around in the air a little, pretending to think seriously, "...I don't know..." she did this for another second before 'getting an idea',"...true?" She bit her tongue and winked. When she saw him don his necklace, she felt slightly empty. She didn't wanna wear one of those stupid swimming caps, so this was probably one of the only times that Jack would ever see her without a hat.

Probably.

She put her hands against the top of her head and dragged them down her face, she was too used to the presence of something on her head. But... that wasn't the only reason why she felt a bit empty. Of course, seeing Jack had cheered her up, and even made her forget about it for a second, but ever since the incident with Kodi... she hadn't felt right. She knew that he was just an angry misogynist, but, something he had said had stabbed a knife in her. And he had just twisted it around and around and then sharply pulled it out. How she was feeling was... different.

And not a good different.

She sighed and sat at the edge of the pool, swirling her legs around in the water. She hadn't worn her bright smile for days, and the prank just a minute ago was the closest she'd come to laughing as well. She'd avoided talking to people, and just sat in her classes and tried to ignore everything by learning, but his words and actions just kept spinning through her head. She hadn't been able to think straight, and just spent her time be herself listening to rock music and eating way too many sweets. Not even her favourite YouTubers could cheer her up. Her mind had gone to dark places but nothing had come of it, thankfully. She cried herself to sleep once or twice, and it felt like no-one would ever understand.

Well, she didn't before, when others had had similar issues. What will have changed now?

[Jack McCarthy]

Oh dear, this certainly wasn’t going to plan…

This scene started off as Jack had suspected that it would. With George being naturally being charmed by Jack’s antics and George and Jack would spend the rest of the morning playing around in the pool but just as Jack expected the zinger to come…it didn’t it was almost like George didn’t have the enthusiasm to go through with that.

This set alarm bells a-ringing in his ears as he watched with some concerned George reluctantly got out of the pool looking like a shadow of her former self. Jack didn’t like seeing George like this….in fact she down right hatred it.

Jack’s somewhat recognized the look on George’s face. How many times has he himself had wore the exact same expression on his face in his youth after dealing with this sort of thing. Jack shifted uncomfortably from side to side unsure what to do. Before rolling his eyes and taking a seat next to her. “My intense understanding of how the female mind works tell’s me you’re upset..want to talk about it?

[Georgina Speer]

She watched the water ripple at the movement of her feet, flowing around her legs and making patterns in the water. Her cheeks felt heavy and thick, like she didn't have the strength to lift her own facial muscles. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her for a second: the water splashing, the fan blowing, Jack's breathing (as well as her own). She almost became lost there; this world of darkness gave her a sense of security, for some reason. It felt like time had paused for her, like nothing important or upsetting would happen when she was there.

She was whisked out of the shadows by the sound of Jack's voice. She blinked her eyes open and turning her head to look at him.

Was it really that obvious? She didn't want to draw attention to her sadness, no-one else deserved to feel the emptiness that she did. Only she deserved it. Maybe... maybe Kodi was right. She super-glued on the best smile that she could; she knew that Jack already had some problems, she didn't feel the need to make things worse for him, "No, no! There's... there's nothing wrong!" Her voice shook slightly and a hint of desperation could be detected, "Just... just the same old George!" She couldn't tell if he could see through her act, although anyone would be able to tell that something was wrong. The way she was speaking was so cliche, it could've come directly from a script of Eastenders.

Her face slowly drooped, and she took a few seconds to scan over Jack's features with her eyes. She was looking for a source of hope, something to let her get through her problems, even though her stubbornness wouldn't allow her to actually ask for help. The noises around her seemed to fuzz together, and almost tortured her senses. Her eyes began to blur, her walls began to break. She panicked slightly, catching her breath. It was too much, she wanted a lifeline, but she was fighting with her inner demons. They screamed taunts at her, which reminded her of Kodi,

'You're so fucking weak!'

'Suck it up, you little bitch!'

'What's wrong with you, can't handle a little constructive criticism? Tough luck, psycho!'

She'd never said things like this to herself, and every word she heard in her mind was like a needle in her heart. She looked away and put a hand to her forehead as her breathing quickened, everything began to spin and sway, her head began to throb a little, those words, those hateful, hateful words continued to echo loudly through the crevices of her mind; she just wanted it all to STOP!

She felt the water envelope around her, as she quickly pushed herself straight down into the pool, holding her nose and squeezing her eyes shut. Carefully, she opened them. They stung a little, but she ignored it. All she could see was the blurred blue water around her, and the bubbles that raised to the surface from her breath being released. She used her other arm to keep herself under; all she could see was calm, and all she could hear were muffled sounds, it was like heaven on Earth. As she ran out of air, she let herself float to the surface gently.

All good things have to come to an end, anyway.

[Jack McCarthy]

Why yes Georgina, it was Jack was sure that any other person would have noted that something was clearly wrong with George. But even if George was a master at hiding her emotions. Jack would like to think that he would be able to tell anyway, as the old saying goes you can’t bullshit a bullshiter.

Jack had to wrestle with enough demons to do when someone is wrestling with their very own.

Jack raised his eyebrows just a little as George painted on the most overenthusiastic smile Jack had ever seen on anyone that currently wasn’t planning to take over Gotham city. Wow…overcompensating much. “Ummmm….ok,” Jack said a little freaked out by her sudden desperate behavior. “Yeah, this is definitely how “Ok” people act.”

And then Jack realized that there were tears slowly growing in George’s eye. Oh God, Jack quickly turned away from George, nothing how interested the ceiling was and how cool the ground was. Jack looked ANYWHERE beside George’s face. If Jack was in a good mood or even if she was angry, Jack could deal with that, but not sadness. Jack had no clue how to handle someone being sad and to be honest Jack had to fight the urge to run away just like he did in any emotional vulnerable situation.

He began to feel quite awkward…like he knew people usually said something, maybe comforting or whatever, but fuck If Jack knew. He scratched his arm a little before gingerly swinging it out toward George and if he was going to put it around her shoulder…and then put it back down. Nope. Too weird. Just say something Jack!

“…Fuck it, George look. If-“

Then suddenly George just decided to jump in the water. Huh. Well that was one way to app out of potentially awkward situations. “Has anyone ever told you, you’re a little weird”

Jack breathed a sign of relief as he watched George stay under the water with some amusement with some amusement, he quite enjoyed George’s spontaneous nature. She was staying underneath the water for quite some time.

…Quite a long time actually

Jack stood up, frowning “Hey…ummm, if you’re suddenly drowning or whatever could you give me like a sign or…”

But then George reappeared much to Jack’s relief, he leaned over the pool edge to talk to her, thankful that they have danced around a potentially tricky subject. “So…was there a reason you did that, or are you under some kind of voodoo curse that forces you to randomly jump in pools at this exact time”

[Georgina Speer]

As her tears formed, George saw Jack turn away; if anything that made her feel even worse. It made her think that he didn't want to be near her, that he didn't want to be around her! She felt the salty drops slide down her face as her thoughts automatically became pessimistic and negative. And then she made a strange desicion; a desicion to do something she hadn't done before. She tracked somebody, tracked Jack, when she could see him.

She took in his features and whispered out his name as quietly as she could, her mental voice still taunting her continuously. She saw the image of him, looking around vaguely, but when she looked at where she was supposed to be...

...she wasn't there.

The water was gently settling from when she had been moving her legs, and it still displaced around them, but they weren't visible. This was basic knowledge in tracking: you can track yourself, so it would be impossible for her to see herself through her tracking vision, but... it was depressing. She came out of it, and the tears increased a little. Her head still wasn't on straight, so she took her vision as a sign. A sign that she didn't belong, a sign that she didn't deserve to be there... a sign that she wasn't supposed to be there. She felt a multitude of emotions wash over her: anger, sadness, confusion, loneliness, emptiness... coldness.

The cool aqua was definitely refreshing and relaxing. She felt a lot more comfortable under the waves. She heard what resonated as distorted mumbles come from Jack. She couldn't make out words, but she could hear the emotions behind them from the tone of his voice and how it sounded: amusement and then worry. She glided up but couldn't look him in the eye. For some reason, she didn't feel like she deserved to be around him, or around anyone. She shouldn't have to annoy or bother other people with her company, so he would probably prefer it.

Besides, he had avoided looking at her earlier. Maybe he thought he was more important, or that talking to her was a waste of his time. He probably went away from their little talks irritated to no end, she was so annoying.

George felt another tear trickle down her cheek as she tread water and looked around the rest of the swimming pool, at anything her eyes caught on. She remained silent, any want or need to joke had been stripped away from her.

She stayed that way for a minute, not ignoring him, but avoiding the possibility of upsetting or angering him. He didn't deserve it after all. And then she spoke two words that she never thought she'd say to a friend, in a monotone, slightly dark and cracked voice:

"Go... away."

[Jack McCarthy]

This wasn’t George.

Jack had no clue who this scared, sad looking girl treading water in the pool, but there was one thing Jack knew; it certainly wasn’t the Georgia Speer Jack knew. He guessed this was just a continuation of the odd moment when she came to Jack’s dorm room, where she randomly started crying. At the time jack just chalked it up to a odd moment.

But watching George now Jack saw that there was certainly more to it then what it seemed, clearly George was holding in some pain of his own and Jack was too much of a moron to notice, or maybe just something happened in her and that incident caused her to act out now. Jack couldn’t get over how miserable she looked and utterly alone she seemed in that pool on her own.

Remind you of anyone Jack?

Jack was a little struck by how harsh George sounded. She had heard that same tone of voice from so many people and Jack could still never quite get used to it. He couldn’t help but think; did he do something? Was he the reason she was so upset? Jack often said things that accidentally offended others. Great. Just add George to ever growing list of people that hated him…

Honestly Jack wanted to leave, clearly George was disgusted by his company and wanted nothing more to do with him…but…he, just couldn’t leave her in the grasp of her own misery. Say what you will about Jack, but he’s ever loyal to his friends and hates to see them in any distress. Especially George’s who Jack had become rather fond of.

After a brief second to think it over Jack Leant down near the pool edge and reached his hand out toward George with the intention of helping her out. Maybe this will convince her she isn’t so alone after all. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easy hat lady”

[Georgina Speer]

(Trigger warning: suicidal thoughts)

Why was he still there?

In all honesty, she knew that if he left, her suspicions would be true: that he didn't want to be around her, or care about her existence. She'd probably stop him from leaving, as he left, or at least attempt at it, and she'd probably fail. And then she'd spend the next hour with sobs wracking through her until she was done, and then she'd leave as if nothing had happened. Like she had been doing for the last few days.

But he was still there, behind her. She didn't know what to think. She listened to him and that one sentence was enough to fill her with mixed emotions. What was he thinking? Was he planning on taunting her about everything even more? She had enough faults for him to pick out and shine a light on, and that would destroy her. She swiveled around but kept her eyes on the bottom of the pool. She couldn't bear to see his stupid face, teasing her silently with every little movement.

"You hate me." She eyes looked up quickly, right into his, still glazed with un-shed tears, "Admit it, you hate me." It would be easy to hate someone as incompetent and stupid as her, and she knew it. No-one was going to pull the wool over her eyes; up to this point, everyone she had met or talked to had just been tolerating her. No-one actually cared about her existence, if she disappeared, no-one would notice, and if they did, they wouldn't give a shit. Because she was worthless.

And here she was, in front of one of her friends, on the verge of crying; how weak could one people be? It was ridiculous how weak she was, and how selfish too. She ABANDONED her family back in England, they probably all hated her guts, and her parents probably regretted having her. They probably rejoiced every-time she left to come back to Hammel, and probably said terrible things about her behind her back.

"I mean, it's not just you. EVERYONE hates me! I'm... I'm a disgrace, and undeserving of everything, and everyone just puts up with me! ADMIT IT, you do it too!" She breathed heavily, sobbing a little through her words. The whole time, her vision burned right into his eyes, not removing it for a second, "I'm weak, and worthless. No-one wants me, no-one needs me and everyone detests my existence! I mean, what's the point of me being here! Maybe... maybe I should just KILL myself, and save EVERYONE the trouble of having to live with me ANYMORE!" She sank under a little by accident, swallowing some of the water during her last words. Spluttering and coughing, she struggled to swim to the edge of the pool, where she grabbed onto the bar with both hands. She rubbed her red eyes, which were still crying out waterfalls.

Everything she had been thinking since... it happened had spilled out in one go. She rested both of her arms crossed on the bar and cried over them. She was breaking into little pieces, and she felt like at some point, she was just going to be whisked away by the wind, never the same again.

[Jack McCarthy]

The thought of leaving George behind was quite frankly repusisive to Jack. Jack was exactly a paragon of virtue but She was hurting and that was clear. Anyone that could willing walk out that door was a asshole.There was nothing George could do it force Jack out that door,

Jack blinked more then a little surprised at Georgina words. Jack was prepared for anything to come out of her mouth, from pure disgust, to weeping tears…but this? This was unexpected. He hate her? No, surely it was the OTHER way around right? He was the one everyone hated. “Me hate you? Why would I hate you?” Jack asked with as much seriousness as he can muster.

Jack’s face began to grow pale as George revealed her tale of woe and his body seemed to sag with every word, this was wrong. Surely George had mistaken herself f for Jack. Because she’s pretty much summed everyone of Jack’s demons ever since he arrived in Hammel. Did George really thing everyone hated her, Oh my god….he could even imagine…

“George,-I” Before Jack could even thing about what would follow that statement, as George suddenly sank under the water, as quick as a flash full of worry. Jack jumped up and ran to the water edge, He needed to get George out of the water, if she was serious about killing herself, Jack needed to get her out of that pool as fast as he possible could, he leant down and tried pulling George up, which was no small feat, seeing as Jack had the upper body strength of an ant. “Ok, herrreee we gooo upp see daisy! Jack heaved her body onto dry land and force her to sit up “Ok, I know I’m the king of the bullshitters around here but if there’s one thing you need to believe me on it’s this; I know worthless and pathetic, I’m on first name terms with both of them. And trust me, you’re not. You couldn’t be worthless, if you tried. And I’m speaking as an expect, in worthlessness. No body in there right mind could hate you, you don’t have a single unlikeable bone in your body. Believe me I should know, I’m the scum of the earth and public enemy number all rolled into one, so I know what I’m talking about

[Georgina Speer]

George felt her body being lifted up and would've helped, but her body felt numb and loose by that point, like all the energy had been sapped out of her. Still, she let Jack pull her up and out of the cool water, and manipulate her into sitting up.

Now it was her turn to listen to a speech. And his words made her more and more confused, they contradicted every bad thought about herself. She noticed the numerous times where he seemed to put himself down as well, and tried to ignore them. She sniffed a little, and spoke up, but when she did, her throat scraped against her vocal chords like sandpaper. She could form words, but it was obviously painful, and her voice was hoarse and dying. She said the first thing that confused her, "But Kodi said... and he seemed so certain... and... and..." she trailed off from a lacck of evidence and the pain in her throat. She rubbed her neck a little, hoping it would help blood circulation or something.

She began shaking her head. She still couldn't believe that what he was saying was true. She had multiple unlikeable bones in her body! Her funny bone probably cried all the time because of how unlikeable it was! "And anyway, you're wrong." And she was right.

She thought.

[Jack McCarthy]

So yeah…this was a really strange position for Jack to be in, usually he down right avoided any and all emotional situations just like this, because it made him feel really uncomfortable, so you can imagine, how surprised he was to find himself stroking George’s hair and telling her everything is going to be ok.

At this point it felt like he was handling a ragdoll then an actual person, she just felt limp and lifeless, and he did not like the way her voice sounded. Jack frowned just slightly at her words…Kodi…. Poop on a poop stick…Not that psychopath, Jack had his dealings with Kodi in the past…well, he said dealings…Kodi chased him through the forest with those big scary teeth of his. So yeah, Jack opinion of the guy was at a all time low…but hearing this, Jack had the strong urge to walk up to Kodi’s room and punch him right in his creepy little face. It was alright for him to pick on Jack, he was used to it. But not someone like George. She’s done nothing wrong and didn’t deserve any sort of abuse…it must make him feel like a bug man, picking on George…

“…and you’re taking his opinion over mine? Mister Creepy, mc creep pants? The guy is nutty! He belongs in a zoo. I saw him the other day rocking back and forward licking windows, writing his name on the wall in his poop and muttering about the magical elfs in his head telling him to kill people. Don’t let him get you down, if he talks to you again…I’ll…I’ll…well I probably won’t do anything because that guy has serial killer vibes…but in my head, he would be in trouble”

Jack just sat there for a moment, holding Georgina close until she was all cried out, when I thought occurred to him “Look, I’m giving away…a friend-“ The way Jack said friend had some very noticeable weight to it “- at her wedding. Why don’t you tag along, maybe it would suck a little less for me, it’s either hanging out with you or the open bar all not”

[Georgina Speer]

She had missed this. The comfort of being near someone else without having to go overseas, and then waiting until the next holiday to do it again. Of course this meant it wasn't something she was used to, but that wasn't her main concern in that moment. And everytime he stroked her head, it sent tingled down her spine, but it definitely helped the tears to dry up, which in turn also helped her throat a little.

It made her heart feel like it was growing with warmth when he spoke. He seemed to be properly annoyed at the very least that Kodi had upset her, and the idea of that alone made her feel better too. One final tear trickled down her cheek and she left it there; she was far too comfortable to move now. She liked feeling the warmth of another person; she rested her head as close to Jack's chest as possible, and could hear his heart beating. Just the simple sound of his thumping heart was soothing and therapeutic, and a small smile slid onto her features, lightening her face slightly.

A friend? He seemed to almost accentuate the use of that word, it seemed a little suspicious. But, she ignored that for the time being and croaked out an answer to his question, "Sounds good to me." Her throat felt stretched, like it was about to be ripped in half. She grimaced slightly into his chest, but her tight features gradually wore off. She looked up at him, "So, should I be meeting this friend of yours?" And that was probably the longest sentence she was going to say for a while.