The Writer’s Corner features poetry, essays, short stories, satire and various fiction and non-fiction from SCAD Atlanta students. To submit your own work for the Writer’s Corner, email features@scadconnector.com.
‘Still Waters’ by Amanda Glover
Being swallowed by the once beautiful blue waters is not the same as admiring it from the safety of the dry sand.
I kept my throat tight to keep from breathing as I tumbled through the fast moving waves. I couldn’t tell if the voice calling my name was Rhiannon, Krista, or my imagination. I briefly saw the sky when the water pushed me to the surface. I assumed Rhiannon, who was now a few feet away paddling towards me on her surfboard, called out to me. But, my ears built their own ocean.
I barely had time to hold my breath when the waves covered me whole again.
I remember the first time I spoke to Rhiannon. We were in 8th grade, and she was sitting in the cafeteria with a group of my friends.
“Hey, I’m Aliya,” I said.
“That’s a pretty name,” she said. “I’m Rhiannon.”
“Oh my gosh, I love her! My favorite song is definitely ‘Take a Bow’.”
She frowned. “Not Rihanna, Rhiannon.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “It happens all the time.”
We met Krista a year later when we were all put in the same gym class. Rhiannon had freaked out when she saw Krista in the girl’s locker room, mistaking her for a boy. That’s something we laughed about as the years passed.
We had many sleepovers as teenagers, but almost always ended up staying at my house.
Rhiannon had too many siblings running around, and Krista’s mom was always looking for a reason to pop in to check on us. I wouldn’t know why until our senior year of high school.
That year, I remember thinking that Krista never dated or talked about boys for as long as I’d known her. She came out as gay to Rhiannon and I the night we all went to prom. We wanted our dresses to be a surprise, but Krista stood before us in a black tuxedo and pink bow-tie. Rhiannon and I took turns slow dancing with her when ‘Thinking Out Loud’ played.
Krista got her first girlfriend the summer we graduated from high school, while she was volunteering at a horse ranch. My house was her first stop after the girl broke up with her.
“I’m so sorry, Kris,” I told her. “Did she say why?”
Krista wiped her tears. “It’s her ex … boyfriend. They started hanging out again and decided to get back together. I didn’t even know they still talked.”
I wrapped my arms around her and promised that everything would be okay.
As bad as I felt for Krista, I also felt anger towards the girl who broke my best friend’s heart. Krista is kind and sweet. When she cared for someone, she would hold onto them to make sure they stayed happy. I was surprised we all became friends in the first place. Rhiannon had humiliated her in front of our entire gym class, yet she still stuck around us.
Krista’s good heart made her easy to love; but, she had latched onto the first girl she fell in love with, only to watch her sever their grasp.
Even though I’m only twenty-two, I’d spent a while thinking I wasn’t meant to find someone special. I’ve only ever called two different guys my boyfriends. The first one was just a high school thing that lasted three weeks. The second guy, I found on Tinder when I was twenty.
I was close to deleting the app when Lucas and I matched. After a while, I began doubting I would have any luck. Once Lucas and I matched, we ended up going on a date that same day.
Rhiannon and Krista had a plan set for when Lucas turned out to be a creep and I was ready to bolt. I didn’t bolt when I saw Lucas sitting at a booth at Mellow Mushroom, staring out a window and nervously rubbing his hands together. Part of me was just grateful he was the guy in his profile pictures; the other part was immediately drawn to him.
We both sat at that booth and talked for four hours. Once the dinner rush flooded in, we could no longer hear each other talk and decided to call it a night. I actually said the word: “special” when talking to the girls about Lucas. I almost didn’t, so I wouldn’t jinx anything, but I felt like it needed to be said. I could see our entire future behind his smile.
It’s been two years since Lucas and I went on our first date. He became part of my family and my friend circle. I was so happy once he came out of his shell around Rhiannon and Krista.
That didn’t mean I saw what was coming.
The girls and I were finishing up our senior year in college and hadn’t really been hanging out like we used to. Krista’s new relationship had a lot to do with that. I assumed Rhiannon had met a new guy and just wasn’t admitting it. I loved the girl, but she didn’t have the best track record with boys. She would jump into relationships feet first, do everything possible
to get them to love and stay with her, then fling herself off a cliff when they didn’t.
I was really missing Rhiannon, so I decided to stop by her apartment after my classes. Krista and I both had keys.
She’s usually in her bedroom, watching Netflix on her laptop. This time, her laptop wasn’t out and she wasn’t alone.
Rhiannon cursed as she pushed Lucas off her and out of her bed.
“What the f—” “Aliya! I’m sorry. Please let me explain,” Lucas cried scrambling off the floor.
I stared at Rhiannon, who was wrapping herself in her bedsheets. She refused to meet my eyes.
“Go ahead,” I said. “I’m listening.”
When no one spoke, I turned around and never looked back.
I was surprised when I agreed to go on vacation Rhiannon and Krista after everything that happened. Krista had ditched her two best friends for her new girlfriend, and Rhiannon slept with her best friend’s boyfriend—my boyfriend. The day I walked in on them, I almost got a speeding ticket because of the anger stirring inside me. Not just anger; betrayal, sadness, and humiliation. Listening to Krista constantly cancel on me to be with her girlfriend made me feel like I no longer mattered.
Rhiannon had begged Krista and I to go away with her to Florida. She said it was a chance for us to rebuild our friendship—to be who we once were to each other. It took time to get me to agree. Rhiannon spent a long time apologizing: “It was so stupid! I was weak and an awful friend! I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t plan on this happening. I am so sorry!”
Krista didn’t agree right away, either. She also didn’t see Rhiannon the same way anymore. The crazy thing was that part of me still saw Rhiannon as the girl who cursed out a girl in high school who made fun of my acne. She was still the girl who spent all of fall break working doubles to get me the perfect Christmas gift. Rhiannon was still the girl who convinced
Krista to sit in the car with her in Mellow Mushroom’s parking lot in case I didn’t want to finish the date with Lucas.
She wasn’t a bad person.
An activity we all enjoyed learning together was surfing. We’d only been once in high school. I don’t know what I expected to happen once we got to Florida. Would we go back to being who we used to be to each other? Or, would it end in goodbyes?
I remember the sinking feeling inside me once the growing wave hovered over me. It covered the sun, so all I saw was darkness. I reached for my surfboard, but it got away from me.
As I spun through the cruel waters, I thought about how I ended up here. My two best friends had pulled away once new people entered their lives. Krista chose a new love, and Rhiannon chose the guy I loved. But at that moment, they were the only people I wanted to see.
Once I saw Rhiannon paddling towards me, all I felt for her was joy.
I woke up in the sand, the sun blaring through my eyes. Krista’s face was the only one I recognized in the growing circle of concern.
“Oh my gosh! You’re okay,” she cried. She looked like she’d been crying for a long time.
Once the fog left my mind, I realized who was missing.
Rhiannon must’ve saved me. I assumed she was giving a statement to the lifeguards, or was somewhere else close by.
“Kris, where’s Rhiannon? I saw her coming to help me before everything went dark.”
Krista sucked on her lips, which she always did when she didn’t know what to say. Police and EMTs swarmed the beach. My neck was sore as I lifted my head to see a body bag being rolled across the sand.
“Krista?” I whispered.
She let out a heartbreaking wail before looking out to the ocean.
The waves were still.
