Early Morning Awkward (Izabelle)

[Wren O'Hara]

Wren emerged from the locker room, looking over the clear blue water of the pool in the high-ceilinged Hammel natatorium. It was early – just a hair after six-thirty – which was just the way Wren preferred it. Swimming a few hundred meters in the morning put him in a good mood for the day, just like swimming a few hundred meters in the evening made him feel rested and ready for bed.

He placed his towel over the back of one of the white plastic chairs behind the starting block and made to pull his swim cap and goggles out of his gym bag. He had only just secured the cap over his mess of brown hair when a splash from the other side of the pool caught his attention. He turned, blinking; it was pretty unusual for anyone else to be here at this time of morning.

Holding his goggles limply in hand, he studied his teammate. He recognized her from the swim team – or, well, he was pretty sure it was her, anyway. The tattoo along her back certainly looked familiar. He tended not to dwell on other people while he was swimming, because it drew his attention away from the smooth feel of the water, but it was also hard to forget that sort of face.

He swallowed absentmindedly. Somewhere in the center of his freshly-showered, slightly transparent chest, he felt his heart thump as Izabelle Phillips (yeah, it was definitely, for-sure her) swam to his end of the pool.

There was a beat of silence, during which he considered not speaking. If she was like him, then she had probably wanted to be alone; he didn’t want to bother her. On second thought, though, wasn’t it weirder if he jumped in the lane beside her without saying anything?

“Hey,” he said, a little too quietly. Even in the large room, his low, gentle voice often failed to carry. He cleared his throat. “Do you mind if I take this lane?” he asked, pointing to the starting block labeled with a large, black number four.

[Izabelle Phillips]

If there was anything Izzy enjoyed, it was getting in a work-out before classes. It made her feel refreshed and in her opinion, it was a good start to every day. She often tried having a big variation in what she did for training during the mornings, and today she had decided on swimming. Swimming was also a good way to wake up whenever she felt tired. Working out, whether it was in the pool or on the track field was a big part of her life and she always felt restless and grumpy whenever she didn't get some training in during the day. Then again, Izzy usually felt restless whenever she didn't have anything to do, which was part of the many reasons she had signed up for so many clubs. That and she enjoyed being social and interact with other people.

After changing into her swimwear, she put her hair up in a messy knot on top of her head and headed out of the locker room. She didn't really expect to see anyone around this early, because most teenagers seemed to enjoy their sleep a little too much in her opinion. She didn't want to brush them all under the same carpet, but she rarely ever saw anyone working out - at least not where she usually did her training at this hour. Not that it really mattered anyways. She had rest of the day to socialize with people, so she'd survive a little time on her own. However, at her surprise, there was someone else in the pool. She wasn't entirely sure who it was, but even from the distance she recognized him from somewhere. Maybe he was on the swim team too?

His voice made her stop and she turned her head in his direction. She wiped the water off of her face and greeted him with a smile. ''Hi! You're-'' What was his name again? Wren? Yeah, that was definitely him. Izzy hadn't really paid much attention to the people during swim practice, but surely the boy who grew invisible in water had caught her attention more than once. Man, what a cool power. ''Wren, right?'' She followed his pointing finger towards the lane and chuckled. ''By all means. The pool is free for all you know.'' Why was he asking? It wasn't like she owned the pool. But, it was still sweet of him nonetheless.

Her eyes then traveled to his chest, which was more or less transparent. She envied him that ability. It was almost as if he and the water were one and the same. And he could just let his body sink into the blue liquid and disappear. It was really cool in her opinion. Way cooler than having wings and pixie dust. But then again, she could fly. ''I didn't really expect to see anyone else around here this early.'', she then said, her eyes back at his.

[Wren O'Hara]

Wren met Izabelle’s eyes for a moment, although he hadn’t necessarily been prepared for it; they were very blue, weren’t they? Perhaps it was only the reflection of the pool water, but Wren thought offhandedly that they were rather nice. Blue was his favorite color. He stared just long enough to see her brush away the water droplets that had collected on her face before turning his attention back to his goggles. He pulled them over his head, trying to keep his gaze focused on the cement beneath his feet rather than the girl in the water. It was pretty difficult.

He realized with a pang of embarrassment that he was standing up straighter than usual. He tried to relax a little.

“Right,” he replied to her question, looking up again and offering a small, warm smile. Even though he’d been on the swim team for years, a lot of people knew him solely as ‘the invisible guy.’ It heartened him to know that she knew his name, even if it had been a lucky guess. There was a small pause.

“Your name is Izabelle, isn’t it?” he asked politely, although he already knew.

He huffed out a small, breathless laugh as she reminded him that the pool was free for everyone to use. Of course, he thought to himself. He had probably sounded pretty dumb just then.

“I guess I just didn’t want to startle you,” he said, and the words escaped before he’d even thought about them properly. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “The invisible thing—“ he motioned to his well-toned but transparent upper body. “—tends to freak people out sometimes. One of the freshmen thought I was a ghost once.”

He wondered briefly if he was talking too much, and looked to Izabelle in an attempt to register any precious social cues he might glean from her expression. To his surprise, she didn’t look bored. Or disgusted.

She actually looked kind of interested. They were actually having a conversation, weren’t they? Encouraged, he opened his mouth to speak again.

“Yeah, it’s pretty unusual,” he echoed, smiling a little as he looked out over the water. “Everyone’s still asleep, I guess. This is the best time to swim, though. They have no clue what they’re missing.”

He took a moment to stretch, rolling his arms back so they wouldn’t tense up when he hit the water.

“Do you come here often?” he asked after he’d stretched satisfactorily. Once the words had left his mouth, though, he realized that they sounded like some sort of creepy pick-up line, and he quickly amended. “I mean, do you swim every morning? I usually come at five-thirty, but I overslept.”

[Izabelle Phillips]

As far as Izabelle could tell, the guy was rather sweet. A little clumsily awkward perhaps, but she didn't mind it. It surely was far better than those other arrogant fools on the swim team. Izzy didn't like those guys all that much, and that was when her ability to focus solely on her training came in handy. This boy was cute. No, he was far more than cute. He has this kind of adorableness around him that too few seemed to appreciate these days. There was nothing more attractive than a blushing guy who kept tripping over his own words in Izzy's opinion. Not that this guy was acting all that awkward, but still. He fit the 'adorkable' genre pretty well.

And of course, having such a cute smile as he had, that surely helped. A lot.

Izabelle nodded slowly, pursing her lips as she tilted her head to the side. ''You can call me Izzy, though.'' She preferred that over 'Izabelle'. It made it sound so formal, and formality wasn't really her thing when it came to friends. Not that she could count herself his friend or anything, but at least him calling her by her nickname was a step closer. ''You didn't startle me. In fact- I don't really mind the company.'', she admitted with a smile. And then she laughed at his next statement. How people could find it freaky was beyond her own ability to understand. Sure, maybe it was a little biased, but it was a really cool ability. ''Well, for whatever it's worth, if you ever feel like pulling pranks on someone, you clearly have the upper hand.'' Well, maybe scaring people who were swimming wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it'd still be funny to watch. And the pool was usually filled with great swimmers so no one had to worry about drowning, and really, if you can't swim, why be here in the first place? ''I have to admit, I kind of envy yours power.''

Izzy nodded again in agreement. ''Yeah, I agree. It's nice to be here without the pool being crowded. And without all the brutes running around making a lot of noise, the silence is rather serene, don't you think?'' Ah, yes. There was nothing like swimming in silence and blocking everything else out. Just you and the water.

''No~'', she said, letting the word roll on her tongue a little before continuing. ''I train every morning, but I try having some variation in it, you know? One day here, the next at the track field. And so on.'' Variety was good. Variety kept things interesting. ''But if I had known I'd have such great company in the morning, I'd surely come more often.'', she said with a grin and folded her hands together behind her back.

[Wren O'Hara]

Wren was vaguely aware that Izabelle was studying him, and he tried his hardest not to blush or fidget under her gaze. She seemed like a very confident person, and from what he knew of her, she was pretty social, too; he didn’t want her to think he was a loser or anything.

Was he a loser?

He fiddled with the blue-lensed goggles hanging around his neck absentmindedly.

“Gotcha. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Izzy,” he said after a moment, smiling a small, kind smile that dimpled his cheeks. He looked over the water for another brief moment, then lowered himself to a seated position on the edge of the pool. Where his legs entered the water, they disappeared from view. He positioned his arms behind him so that he could lean back comfortably.

He normally liked to swim alone, but this morning, he didn’t mind the company, either. The laps could wait – he had plenty of time.

He surveyed her curiously as she mentioned pranking people, but his look quickly dissolved into an amused chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s true,” he murmured. “My clothes don’t disappear, though, which is pretty awkward. A floating swim cap is usually a pretty big giveaway.” He smiled wryly. For a few moments, he watched the moving water from the pool jet behind his legs ripple around his invisible calves; it looked weird, but it felt nice, at least.

Then, Izzy told him that she was envious of his power, and he looked up at her again, not entirely sure what to make of that.

“Really?” was the first thing that came to both mind and mouth. He’d never really liked his power – he had never found it very useful, and it had kept him from seeing his family and swimming in most competitions. He had never considered the fact that someone might actually think it was interesting.

“That’s kind of you to say,” he murmured, after a short pause. He was looking at his swim jammer, feeling a little shy all of a sudden. Then, his eyes darted quickly over to Izzy, tracing over the tattoo on her back.

He smiled.

“I think I’d rather be able to fly, though,” he said softly. Then, with a small splash, he plopped into the water, submerging himself up to the waist.

“Oh, yeah, I totally get that. I like jogging,” he recovered quickly, attempting to break the somewhat awkward mood he’d probably created. He pulled his goggles up to cover his eyes and blinked at her through the translucent blue lenses. It wasn’t until she called him good company that he really felt his heart rate pick up; jeeze, he was going to break a sweat, and he hadn’t even done any laps yet.

“I’d like that,” he managed to say, and he wondered if his cheeks looked as warm as they felt. He pulled an invisible hand out of the water to rub at his nose, which also disappeared.

“Wanna go a few laps?” he asked with a transparent half-smile, motioning out into the water invisibly, the only indication of which was a gentle splash where his hand must have been. “What’s your best stroke?”

[Izabelle Phillips]

Wren wouldn't have to worry about Izzy thinking of him as a loser. In her world, even if people often seemed to think of her as a typical Queen Bee-person, she didn't really put people into groups. Sure, at times she was pretty judgmental, and honestly, she didn't like that about herself. So she tried her best being open-minded to everyone without putting them into clicks. If people were nice, she was nice back. If people were mean, she wouldn't stand around just taking it. Either way, she didn't see him as a loser. Far from it.

''It's nice meeting you too, Wren.'', she chirped happily and watched as he re-positioned himself. It was quite facinating watching his body grow transparent once it touched the water. Izzy leaned against the pool wall and rested her chin on top of her hand. Powers and abilities never seized to amaze her no matter how often she saw them. It was really interesting, especially the more unique powers that not a lot of people had.

When he spoke again, Izzy started laughing. He had a good point, though that would probably be pretty hilarious. ''Well, I don't know if I'd call it awkward.. I think it would be pretty hilarious.'' Floating clothes swimming around the water? She's pay to see people's reactions. No joke.

''Having the ability to disappear whenever you want, even if you need water to do it, sounds pretty cool to me. Imagine having a really bad day, and you just wanna escape, and woop, all you need to do is jump into the water and no one will bother you.'' Not that Izzy really had a lot of bad days, but it'd still come in handy. Especially if you wanted to avoid someone or someone kept bothering you. ''And imagine all the cool effects you could make in the water if you sprayed yourself with waterproof paint or something!''

Izzy didn't really take much notice of it when people looked at the tattoo, by now she was pretty used to it. And honestly, the tattoo was far better than constantly having her wings out, and it looked cool. Well, kind of. It wasn't exactly what she'd choose to have tattooed, but it was far better than a lot of the other tattoos she had seen. ''You'll say that until it's winter outside and the ice cold face hits you right in the face.'', she said with a smirk. Flying wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Ah, jogging. Jogging was enjoyable, and was also a good way to relief stress. Though, she preferred jogging in the forest while it was sunny outside, rather than on the track field. ''We should go jogging together sometimes then.'' No, he hadn't made the mood awkward. At least she wouldn't have thought so. She was enjoying herself, maybe a little more than she should have. But it couldn't be helped. He seemed like a really great guy.

He didn't really have to worry as much about blushing, or worrying about saying something stupid. If anything, Izzy would probably just find it even more adorable. ''It's a date then.'', she said with a cheerful tone. That could actually end up being really fun, having someone to train with in the morning. She hadn't really tried it before, but when that someone was as nice as this guy, there was no chance it could be a bad experience, right?

''Sure!'' She pushed herself away from the edge and let her arms fall to her sides. Her eyes scanned over him once more before ending up focusing on his face again, and then, then she smiled. She really doubted she'd ever grow tired of watching this facinating water ability unfold in front of her. ''Probably the butterfly.'', she said with a chuckle. ''Kind of ironic, isn't it?''

[Wren O'Hara]

The sound of Izzy’s laughter put Wren at ease; it echoed in the expansive room, and washed over him gently, like ocean waves. More than anything else, it allowed him to put his worries aside and get a little more comfortable.

Wren watched her politely as she talked, offering a small nod and a half-smile. He didn’t really have to imagine the scene she was describing; hitting the water was the first thing he did when he was upset, period. He didn’t necessarily like being invisible at the same time, but on the bright side, it was just like Izzy said – people hardly ever bothered him while he was swimming, probably due in no small part to the fact that they couldn’t really see him.

“Ah, I’d never thought about that,” he said suddenly in reply to her idea about waterproof paint. “That could be pretty awesome. I wonder if they have any waterproof paint in the studio…” he trailed off on this thought, temporarily involved with the idea. He wasn’t any good at painting, but he enjoyed it. If he could pair painting and swimming, wouldn’t it be double-fun?

Her comment about the detriments of flying snapped him back to reality, and he looked at her a little sheepishly.

“That does sound pretty bad,” he admitted, chuckling a little. “But it’s still pretty fun, right? I mean, not that I would know,” he amended quickly. “But I imagine it would be really peaceful. You could totally leave everything behind, and see everything from above, and just kind of… transcend everything, right? I think I would like that a lot.”

He realized that he was rambling, and promptly closed his mouth, lest he ruin a perfectly good conversation by blabbering through it. He wasn’t generally very talkative – he tried to say only what was necessary, and little else – but for some reason, his filter had been compromised.

He couldn’t be sure, but he figured it was the eyes. Or maybe it was the hair – her hair was really nice, too.

And she could fly.

And she thought his ability was cool.

“Sure, that would be awesome,” he said, grinning. He wasn’t a very fast runner, but he could run about three miles without stopping, which he figured was something. And, as soon as the word ‘date’ left her pink, soft-looking lips, even as a figure of speech, he knew that he was totally sold. He also knew that it was futile to try to stop the heat rising in his cheeks.

“Awesome,” he repeated, a little breathlessly.

He turned away momentarily, positioning his feet near the wall and shifting in the water so that they were in a similar starting position. He looked over at her with an eager grin, although he wasn’t sure if she could see it or not.

“A hundred meters of butterfly, then,” he said, gauging her interest. “And we can meet back here. Ready?”

He paused, readying his arms.

“Go!”

[Izabelle Phillips]

Izzy smiled at his sudden realization. She was happy if she had given him some ideas for how he could enjoy his power further, and it didn't seem like the idea rolled right off him, which was probably a good sign too. ''There's only one way to find out.'', she said and winked.

She nodded slowly at what he said, chewing on the inside of her lips. ''Yeah, I guess you're right.'', she said silently, thinking about what he was saying. Well, it wasn't all that bad, having the ability to fly. But surely, she was more of a water person than air. She was probably not the only one in this world who wished they had another power, and really, there was no point in complaining about it. It wasn't like their powers would go away either, so. ''It's peaceful until a herd of ducks decide you're in their way.'', she said with a chuckle. Angry birds weren't exactly her favorite thing meeting in the air.

He was cute. Really cute, and he was nice, which seemed to be rare these days. She didn't mind him rambling or even tripping over his own words, or blushing. It just all added onto the cuteness that was already there. And it should have been something he'd be proud of, because it was freaking adorable. But then again, if he was proud of it, he'd probably act a little more arrogant about it, rather than sweet. ''Great.'', she chirped again and chuckled.

So cute.

And then her thoughts was ended by him turning around and placing himself in competition mode. Izzy wasn't really much of a competitive person, but she didn't mind playing along for the fun of it. She only worked out for the purpose of being healthy and fit, and not for the competition itself. She followed his lead and placed herself at the starting position, crouching down with a smile. ''All right, Cowboy. Let's do this.''

And at his signal, she dived into the water, feeling the refreshing liquid surround her. She didn't pay much attention to the rest. She did her moves at her own pace, never pushing herself too hard, never going too easy. She knew he'd probably win, but that didn't matter. She didn't really mind losing as long as it was fun.

And the serene, calming water pushed every other thought of her head, and she was surrounded by the silent echo of rushing water.

[Wren O'Hara]

“Does that happen often?” Wren asked curiously, looking simultaneously worried and a little amused. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘Angry Birds,’ that was for sure.

She was looking at him again. His cheeks were still burning, much to his disdain, but she didn’t seem to mind. Their eyes lingered on each other for a few moments, and Wren felt that thump in his chest again. She was smiling, and he thought to himself that, although they’d just met, he would have done anything to keep her that happy all the time.

He wanted to see a lot more of that smile.

His mind was still buzzing with this realization as they prepared to swim, and he tried to shake it away.

“Yeah,” he replied with a grin as she signaled that she was ready. He reached back to his swim goggles and pulled the strap back with a quick snap.

They took off; he disappeared into the water.

Wren didn’t swim the butterfly often – it was actually his worst stroke, and he hadn’t practiced it since about fifth grade. The front crawl had always been a more natural motion for him, because it allowed him to feel the power in the water in ways that other strokes didn’t. His body protested a little at the unfamiliar motion, but he soon got into a rhythm, although it couldn’t be rightfully called a quick one. Splash, kick. Splash, kick… he held his line of sight just above the water’s surface. He could see the end of the pool coming up.

At the turn, he was fully aware of Izzy beside him. He’d spent so much time in the water that it was only natural to feel the stroke of the person in the other lane. He could feel hers now, a smooth, confident sweep of the arms that put his own form to shame. It was a stroke he could definitely admire.

He kicked off hard to catch up and went in for the home stretch.

By the time he touched the wall, he was a little breathless; he emerged from the water and planted his feet on the bottom of the pool, huffing a little against the end of the lane. He looked over at her – they might have finished at the same time, but he wasn't sure, and even then, it didn’t matter – and he smiled a smile that she almost certainly couldn’t see.

“Man, you weren’t kidding,” he panted, pulling his goggles back down around his neck and rubbing at his face so that it would gain some semblance of visibility. “That was fantastic.”

He hauled himself out of the water with some effort, looking like nothing but a dripping, floating swimsuit. He reached for his towel, patted at his arms and chest, and held out his hand for her to take.

[Izabelle Phillips]

''More often than one would think.'', she said with a chuckle. ''Apparently, birds doesn't like big things flying next to them, or even in their area of sight.'' Then again, she wouldn't like something four times her size bugging her while she was flying, so she couldn't really blame them.

She couldn't quite shake of this feeling, a feeling she couldn't even describe. He was really cute, and even if she didn't really see a whole lot of him, because he was sort of.. Transparent, his personality was definetly addicting. That kind of personality that made people happy and feel good. It was that kind of innocent and kindness that so many people lacked, and the world could surely do with a lot more of. It was also that type of personality that made Izabelle a little afraid, because she didn't want to ruin it or taint it. Not that she thought she was actually bad enough of a person to do something on purpose, but one could never be too sure.

Ah, what a dilemma. On one side, she didn't want to stay away, because he was really cute and nice, and she wanted to know more about him. And on the other side, she didn't want to do anything to ruin it all. But she could dwell on it all later, they had some swimming to do.

Izzy could feel the vibrations of someone swimming next to her in the other lane, but she didn't pay it a lot of attention. She was far too focused on how the water felt as she glided through it and how the calming sound of splashing water filled her head. She really enjoyed being in the water, which was probably one of the main reasons she had joined the swim team. She wasn't as good as most of her teammates, but she didn't care. She did it because it was fun and because she enjoyed it.

And before she knew it, they both stood right back where they had started. Well, she and the flying swimwear did anyways. There was no longer a boy there, just water and flying clothes, which was pretty amusing. Just like she had thought. ''I rarely do.'', she said with a chuckle and wiped the water off her face.

She turned to look at him as he got out of the water and with a smile, she took his hand and got up into the cool air. She let her hair fall down from the knot and shook her head. ''That was fun.'', she said and ran her hand through the messy locks of hairs and grinned. Man, why did he have to be so cute? Even when he was barely visible, he still made her smile like a fool. ''We should do it again sometimes.''

[Wren O'Hara]

Wren hoisted Izzy out of the water with little effort; her hand felt small in his, and a little slippery-wet, but he relished the brief contact all the same. He brought his hand back to his side, then, and busied himself with drying off. Wherever he pulled the towel over his skin, he became almost fully solid – he was soon covered in towel streaks, as though he was being painted back into existence.

“Yeah, it was,” he agreed, grinning at her. His eyes lingered on her face for a moment, then traced over the dark-gold wet of her hair, which was now hanging loosely around her face. “We totally should. Actually, uh…”

He trailed off uncertainly before continuing.

“If you wanted to trade numbers, or something, you can let me know when you’ll be at the pool again. And I can sleep in until six,” he joked, smiling a small, closed-mouth smile that reached his pink cheeks. He searched her eyes, feeling more vulnerable by the minute.

“I mean... if you want.”