Underwater

Couple: Dagbert and Olivia

There were times that Dagbert wondered what would have happened if he didn't side up with Charlie Bone and his friends. For one, he would have never defeated his father. For two, he wouldn't be standing there wondering about what might have happened. And for three, he would have never fallen head over heels with Olivia Vertigo.

Honestly, he thought that she was a strange crazy person at first, and when he meant 'at first', he meant at first. Back when he was with Manfred, he never liked the drama queen. She was too perky, too cheerful. Olivia made him want to bang his head on the wall until his brain cells die.

And then he teamed up with Charlie. And after the whole ordeal, when everything was at peace once again, he started to come to terms with his annoyance of Olivia, and he didn't mind her dramatic reactions to anything anyone says. Nor did he mind how she dressed. It made her...her, and to keep an identity that anyone could recognize was admirable of her, and he started to like her.

My dear readers, we all know the typical style of love stories, yes? The annoyance turns to neutrality. Neutrality turns into liking.

We all know what happens next.

Dagbert Endless, endless because his surname was incredibly long that even he couldn't remember everything at times, was absolutely smitten. And when Olivia asked him out to the lake, he nearly tripped over his own feet as they descended the stairs and out to the buses.

"Just me?" Dagbert asked, recovering from his little surprise.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Not just you, silly! Everyone! And you're part of 'everyone', so you're definitely coming."

Oh. Everyone. Oh well, at least there wouldn't be any awkward tensions between the two of them. That would ruin everything.

"Uh, sure, I guess." Dagbert frowned, scratching his head. "When?"

Saturday came quickly, perhaps a little too quick for Dagbert. It seemed as if it was the day before Olivia had asked him to join her (and everyone) at the lake.

"No, it was yesterday." Dagbert said to himself as a long car pulled up to the cobblestone curb. A door opened at the end and Olivia, with her electric blue hair, waved him over.

"Get in! It'll be an hour's ride to the lake. I hope you went to the men's room, because you're stuck here for a while." she grinned.

Dagbert got in and was greeted by Charlie and Billy. Both boys sported matching red swim trunks. Billy looked unusually pale, and a faint scent of sunscreen blocked out all other smells.

"Mom did it." Charlie said, picking at the end of his swim trunks and sliding a single finger across Billy's face. Charlie left a skin colored streak on his face, although Dagbert was certain that it was Billy's face and not skin colored paint. "She bought us swim trunks and she didn't want Billy do get a sunburn."

Dagbert looked at his own skin. Should he have brought sunscreen as well?

Olivia noticed his concern and as the car sped up down the old street, she reached down to a big beach bag and pulled out a ginormous bottle of sunscreen. She flipped it upside down, holding her palm out, and squirted a mountain of goop onto her hand. "Here, give me your arms." she said.

Dagbert stuck his arms out like a zombie. "I'm probably going to be in the water all the time. I won't be out in the sun." he said uncomfortably as Olivia randomly finger-painted the sunscreen onto his bare arms.

"Nonsense, you can still be burned." she chided as she pushed the short sleeve of his t-shirt out of the way.

They picked up Emma next, then Fidelio, and then the boys at the hills; Gabriel, Lysander, and the ever stormy Tancred.

"Alright!" Tancred tossed his backpack into the seat by Gabriel and climbed in. He stepped over stray flip flops and sunglasses, trying not to break anything. When everyone was tightly nestled in the back of Olivia's big car, the trip started and they all were headed to their day at the lake.

The lake was surprisingly placid; it was big, although probably not big enough to have rough waves. Dagbert was slightly disappointed. He enjoyed rough waves; it reminded him of the seas and how dangerous and exhilarating it was.

As they all piled out, Tancred, Fidelio, and Charlie dashed to the dock down a grassy slope. Tancred, being the tallest one of the three, made it there in a few seconds and leapt into the air, tucking his feet in. Before disappearing into the clear beautiful lake, he yelled a loud, "CANNONBALL!"

An explosion of water took his place as he hit the water. The sound of Tancred' cannonball urged Dagbert to jump in after him, but he resisted the urge just to look at Olivia and see what she what she would be doing.

Charlie and Fidelio jumped in after Tancred; Fidelio in a clean swift dive and Charlie in a somewhat ungraceful manner; his legs kept moving as if he were running in the air.

Lysander and Gabriel helped Mrs. Vertigo, who was kind enough to take a day off and drive them to the lake, unpack their belongings and Olivia, Emma, and Billy were making their way down the slope, laughing at the older boys as they emerged from the lake, shaking their heads like dogs.

"The water is cold..." Charlie shuddered, paddling back to the docks.

Tancred teased him. "Aw, come on Bone! Swim a little further! Watch how fast I can swim." He ducked under the surface and moved like a snake underwater, popping up for a brief second for a breath of air.

Emma watched him with admiration.

"Hey Dagbert, you're accustomed to water, right? Can you swim faster than Tanc?" Olivia asked him.

Dagbert couldn't help but grin slyly. "Watch me." He dove into the water. At once, as he hit the water, he felt more alive. He felt like he could run-no, swim- a marathon.

As if the water favored him more than Tancred, he pushed forward with his hands, kicked his feet, and sped forward. He would arc his back and lean upwards to grab a breath of air, but he did it so fast that it seemed as if he was underwater for the entire swim.

Charlie and Fidelio watched in amazement as the force of his kicks sent back waves to rock them back and forth in the water. "Incredible...he should join the olympics." Fidelios whistled.

"He'd get gold in every race." Charlie said.

Tancred felt something behind him. He paused for a while, only to feel something moving by him like an underwater train. The power of the swimmer sent him drifting a few feet ahead before he realized what passed him.

"Whoa..." He stopped swimming completely, staring at the dark figure underwater. "I have seen a lot of things, but I've never seen anything like this..."

And soon, Dagbert was a good thirty meters away.

When Dagbert couldn't feel any other movement from Tancred, he stopped at last and glanced backwards. Tancred was a small dot, and the people crowded at the docks were just a clump of figures.

"Time to head back." Dagbert said to himself, and he ducked back under the surface.

"Well, thanks to you the dirt on the bottom of the lake made everything murky." Olivia mused as Dagbert pulled himself up onto the wooden docks.

"Sorry..." he said meekly, looking back at the cloudy water.

Tancred laughed, draping a towel around his shoulders. "Don't worry about it, water is water. You're amazing, although you have to admit I'm pretty amazing too for a normal swimmer."

"Oh please, Dagbert can beat you in any water event." Olivia said to Tancred. "Isn't that right?"

Dagbert shrugged.

Olivia laughed.

Dagbert looked up at her, and then he smiled, shaking his head. "Whatever."

"What do you mean 'whatever'? That was great! I don't know about you but-"

All of a sudden, Olivia, and Dagbert toppled over the edge of the docks and fell into the water. Before they hit, Dagbert heard Fidelio and Emma yell, "Lysander!"

As he sank into the water, allowing himself to rest there in the cool water, Olivia reached out her hand and grabbed onto his arm, pulling herself closer to him. Dagbert could have sworn he nearly yelped out in surprise, but that would be bad, because then his air supply would lower drastically, so he swam them both back up in time to hear the conversation going on.

"What did you do that for?" Fidelio asked Lysander, who was laughing.

"It's about time, don't you think?" he asked.

"But without warning..." Emma said quietly.

"Yeah Sander, at least send them an e-mail a day in advance to warn them that you'd push them over the edge." Tancred grinned.

Lysander shrugged. "I forgot."

Dagbert was red, but when he dared to look at Olivia, he saw that she was pink in the face. "You guys are so awful!" she exclaimed in mock anger. "So rude, the lot of you!" Then she burst out laughing.

She stopped as Dagbert leaned in to peck her on the cheek. She looked at him, stunned. Out of embarrassment, he sank down under the water. What would she say? What would the others say?

To his surprise, she went down with him, held him close, and kissed him on the lips.