Page 57 of Bound By Stars

I dip under the surface to hide my shame, coming up face first so the water trickles through my hair like warm fingers. I wipe it away from my eyes, trying not to gasp for air.

She swims backward and I drag myself along the wall to follow.

“How’d you learn to swim?” The question slipped out before I had time to gauge if it would offend her. She seems to be as proud to be from Earth as she is desperate to leave it behind. “It’s just…people always talk about the dust and I…”

She narrows her eyes like she’s considering being mean again and then turns away, pulling herself through another long stroke. “There’s a seasonal lake about an hour walk through the woods from my house. It doesn’t get very deep, but deep enough to swim in spring and early summer. Plus, the area was used for agriculture like a hundred and fifty years ago, so if it rains enough the old canals flood. Every kid learns how to swim just in case.”

“What’s that like?” I move farther down the wall.

She peers over her shoulder, the water lapping at her chin. “Do you not know how to swim, Big Six?”

“Swimming is more of a choice than a necessity on Mars. I never really saw the appeal.”

“Oh, god.” She hurries back to my side like she’s afraid I’m about to accidentally drown myself. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t exactly give me the chance between all the relentless mocking.” I laugh.

She looks horrified.

“Icanswim.” I roll my eyes, letting go of the edge. “Just not well. Or often.” I manage a smooth enough breaststroke, not quite as graceful as hers. “That’s not what I was asking, though. Rain. What’s rain like?” I’ve read about it in books, seen it in old movies, but I always wondered if it was as magical as they made it out to be.

“Wet.” She laughs, flicking droplets at my face.

“Poetic.”

She pushes off the wall and twirls in the water. “Didn’t we have a storm a couple weeks before theBoundlessdeparted? Were you too afraid to go outside and see the miracle of precipitation for yourself?” Dipping under the reflected stars again, she doesn’t wait for an answer.

My heart pounds, like I’m alone, drifting in open space.

She pops up on my opposite side.

I flinch.

I wish she would stop doing that.

She wraps her elbows over the edge of the pool next to the giant window, staring out into the vast, sparkling darkness.

I hold onto the wall next to her. “I wasn’t allowed out much on Earth.”

She glances at me, blinking away the droplets glittering in her eyelashes. “You’ll have to go back, then. Climb a hill. Touch dirt…”

There it is. That note of cautious pride in her voice. I wish I could see her face better.

“Run in the rain…or I guess walk, in your case.”

“I’ve also never seen the appeal of running.”

Her lips twist into that apprehensive smile I’m getting used to. I don’t know what she’s holding back. Are there meaner thoughts trying to get out? Harsher jokes? Or maybe honesty too deep to trust me with? She might be the most guarded person I’ve ever met.

“Think you will?” She rests her chin on her folded arms.

“What?

“Go back to Earth.”

Not likely. Until there’s business there and that’s usually handled by a company representative. “Maybe. I really want to.”

“But you’re an heir.”

---