They say water remembers.

I don’t know if that’s true. But I do know this—sometimes, when everything goes quiet, I can still hear the echo of my own heartbeat beneath the surface.

5:00 a.m. The smell of chlorine. The cold bite of the tiled floor against my bare feet. My reflection in the pool—razor-sharp, then gone with a ripple. This was my entire world.

I was standing by the side of the pool, already in my swimsuit, goggles on my head, looking down at my reflection in the clean water.

I was early again. Classes normally started around 5:30 a.m., but I always came early. That’s how much I loved swimming—or at least that’s what I told myself.

The real reason? Maybe it was because I didn’t want to stay in that house. With those people. So I kept searching for excuses to stay away from a home that never really felt like one.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a loud SPLASH.

I turned toward the sound—it looked like someone had fallen into the pool. And whoever it was clearly didn’t know how to swim.

“HELP!” he shouted.

I looked around. No one else was there—just me. So without wasting another second, I jumped in. I swam to the guy, who was barely conscious but still trying to swim but failing miserably.

I wrapped my arm around his stomach, dragging him toward the edge. He was heavy, but somehow, I managed to pull him out of the water.

He lay there on the poolside, unconscious. I checked his pulse—faint, but it was there. So I decided to give him CPR.

He coughed the water out and thankfully, came back to consciousness. I helped him sit up and handed him some water.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice laced with concern.

“Yeah… thanks for saving me,” he replied.

“It’s fine. But I’d advise you not to go near deep water surfaces if you don’t know how to swim,” I said.

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m really sorry. I wasn’t in my senses—I stumbled and ended up falling in.”

After a pause, he added, “I think I should leave.”

“Wait,” I said, diving back into the pool. I retrieved his specs that had fallen in, then handed them to him with a polite smile.

“T-Thanks… I-I should leave n-now,” he stuttered, looking everywhere but at me.

“Are you sure? Do you need help?” I asked.

“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks again for saving me.”

He walked off through the exit door, and I watched his frame until it disappeared from my sight.

Strange.

Usually, guys weren’t allowed here—this swimming area was just for girls, and the rules were really strict here.

Then how did he get in?

And why didn’t anyone stop him?

And… why did I feel like I’d seen him before?

Shrugging off my thoughts, I went back to the pool—my coach had arrived.

---

After we finished training, I changed and decided to head home. School started at 9:00 a.m., and it was already 7:30. Since my house was just a fifteen-minute walk from the academy, I took my time.

But the moment I stepped inside the house, my father's voice hit me.

“Who told you to go out without my permission?”

“I-I just went to the academy,” I said, mustering every bit of courage I had. My voice came out small and fragile.

“I told you to quit swimming and focus on your studies, didn’t I?” His raised voice made me flinch. My grip on the strap of my bag tightened.

“Y-Yes…” I replied, looking down.

“THEN?”

“I’m sorry…” I apologized, even though I didn’t even know what I had done wrong.

I just love swimming. And when I say love, I mean it’s not because of the medals or awards—I genuinely love being in the water.

I don’t know why, but when I’m swimming, I feel like I have control. For once.

I don’t understand why my father had a problem with it. It wasn’t like I was doing poorly in academics. In fact, I was an A-grade student—always on top of my class, with countless academic awards.

I even wished he would attend just one of my award ceremonies. Just once. Like he did for my cousins. But he never came.

Still, he acted like my education was the most important thing in the world.

“Now don’t stand here like a statue. Go get ready—you have school,” his cold voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Without saying anything, I walked upstairs to my room.

---

I reached school just in time. I walked into my classroom and sat in the front row, like always. As I was pulling out my books, Aalok came up to me.

“Heyy, h—” I began, but he cut me off.

“Why did you save him, huh?” His voice was cold, accusing—like I had committed some unforgivable gruesome crime.

“Who are you talking about?” I asked, completely confused.

“The guy you saved at your swimming academy.”

Then it clicked.

But wait—I hadn’t told anyone about that yet. So… how did he know?

“Oh… he was drowning, so I saved him. That’s it,” I said, shrugging like it was no big deal. Because really, it wasn’t. I just helped someone in need.

“You were hugging him. You touched him,” he said again.

I closed my eyes and drew in a sharp, deep breath.

“I saved him. He was drowning. I had to drag him out of the water, or he would’ve died.”

“You could’ve just let him die then,” he said.

My eyes widened.

“You gave him CPR. You kissed him,” he accused.

“What the hell—who told you that?”

“Smriti… she… she told me.”

God. Of course. I should’ve known.

“Aalok, look—she’s lying.”

“Why would she lie?” he asked.

“So you think I’m lying?”

“I never said that…” he replied quickly, his voice defensive.

“Forget it. I don’t want to talk to you,” I said, opening my textbook.

“D-Did you kiss him?” he asked, his voice breaking.

“Look. I’ll explain this one last time. Yes, I gave him CPR. But it was just chest compressions. Nothing else. But if you still want to believe her over me, fine—go ahead. Just don’t ruin my mood. I already have enough people who do that.”

He stood there, silent, staring at me as if trying to read my soul.

I didn’t look up. Didn’t give him a single shred of attention.

Eventually, he walked back to his seat.

---

The class began.

Physics.

Sir was teaching us derivations. I was focused, as always—writing down notes, answering questions. But I couldn’t shake the feeling of someone staring at me.

At first, I thought it was Aalok. But when I glanced back, he was busy talking to his friends.

So I dragged my focus back to the lesson.

---

Second period was of Physical Education, which meant games.

We all went to the school playground. As usual, I was with my best friends—Shikha and Yushra. We were talking about random things like we always did.

That’s when a female teacher came over—Madhuri Ma’am.

We called her that, but her name and her tongue were a complete contrast.

She took us back to our classroom. We were all confused.

“What’s wrong, ma’am?” Yushra asked first.

“You girls just come to school to get boys’ attention, right?” she accused us, just like that.

“Ma’am, what are you talking about? We didn’t do anything,” I said, stepping in front of Yushra.

That earned me a slap.

I covered my cheek with my right hand, stunned.

“So now you’re talking back?”

I looked at her with wide, tearful eyes. But before I could move, she grabbed the bracelet on my wrist.

The beaded bracelet.

The one my grandmother gave me—her last gift to me.

One second, it was safe on my wrist. The next—it was scattered all over the floor.

She muttered a few more hurtful things before walking away.

And I just stood there. Frozen.

My eyes locked on the broken remains of my bracelet.

My tears flowed freely, still trying to understand what just happened...