CYOTF

Joining Jacob

Jacob couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun. He had felt so energetic! Admittedly, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that there was something wrong, but he was sure it wasn't anything important. Really, the only downside was that Seth wasn't playing with them. "I wish Seth could play with us," he said idly, before getting back to the game.

_______

Seth had looked everywhere for his friend before giving up. Presumably, he must have gone home without telling him, the asshole. Right now he was in the shower - he had a date with his girlfriend tonight, and he didn't want to smell of chlorine for it. With the fancyness of the restaurant, and his parents out of town, he was pretty sure that this would be the night that he finally went all the way.

He suddenly felt the urge to have another swim. He should really get going... but one more swim couldn't hurt, could it?

As soon as he reached the pool, his attention was drawn to the boys playing water polo on the other side of the pool. It looked like a lot of fun, but he couldn't join them... could he? No! Someone his age couldn't play with a bunch of kids. People would react strangely. Still, he felt the urge to go over and play with them. There was no harm in asking them if he could play, was there? He swam to the other side of the pool, and asked the nearest boy if he could play. It was the same boy he'd noticed earlier.

The boy grinned back at him. "Of course!" For some reason, he felt incredibly happy that he'd be able to play.

______

The game was over - Jacob and Seth's side had won. They met each other by the pool afterwards, as Seth towelled himself off.

"Hey! You were really good!" Jacob said. He didn't know why, but the boy looked familiar to him.

"Thanks! You too!" Seth grinned. He couldn't remember why he'd initially felt so strange about playing with the other kids. It had been so much fun! He'd have to do this again. "I'm Seth!" he said.

"I'm Jacob..." Seth... for a moment an image of a much older boy came into his head, but it was quickly dismissed. Of course, Seth was his best friend! They were in middle school together. They'd always been friends.

There was a moment of strangeness as the boys both remembered their new shared history, and forgot the last remnants of their old life, and that they had just introduced themselves. Seth noticed the other boy was shivering - it was cold outside of the pool, but he had the towel around his shoulders. He held out one side of the towel, offering the other boy shelter, which he leaped upon. Neither boy felt awkward about being so close - they weren't old enough to care.

"I want to swim again," Jacob said. "Wanna race?" He smiled.

Seth couldn't think of anything else he should be doing, or anything else he'd rather do.

What do you do now?

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