I deposited my clothes by the bike and started making my way into the water. There was a nice breeze blowing some cold air in the late summer sun. These were probably the last warm days out here, at least that's how I always remembered my mothers birthday. It used to mark the end of the summer for me, and I guess it still did. It just wasn't so obvious with seasons when you spent most of the time jetting around the country, always encountering different weather no matter the season. Suddenly the hairs on my skin stood up. The breeze suddenly got a little bit colder but that was enough to put my body on alert. I started to rethink my decision to go for a swim, but what was the point on going back now? I was already naked and the lake was just a step away. A hint of madness went through my mind and I backed away, and then I got a running start. I probably would have chickened out if I dipped my toes first. "Rip it off, just like a band aid"

As soon as my feet hit the water I regretted it, but the momentum did it's thing and there was no stopping me. I flung myself in the water. My body went stiff at first but I forced a couple of strokes and then it got better really fast. The lake actually wasn't that cold, and it certainly did wonders for my mental state to focus on swimming. At first I put some force into the strokes, really warming up my muscles as I swam back and forth along the lakeside. I didn't want do go out over deep water, because I wasn't sure how much swimming I had in me. But after a while I kind of lost focus and started to just swim casually and playfully even. I started to hold my breath and see how far I could swim under water. The lake cooled me off so I didn't get the same feeling as I get at gyms when I work out. It felt like a playground more than a chore.

- "I take it the water is fine?" I let out a high pitched yelp and turned my head towards the beach where the voice came from, and I saw Jamie on the beach, laughing.
- "Go ahead and laugh, but if I was wearing pants I probably would have pissed them right then." I said.
- "I'm sorry... but that sound you made was priceless. You even scared away the ducks." She pointed as a family of ducks that were in fact in flight. She had trouble speaking because she was laughing so hard.
- "If you laugh any harder you might be in danger of wetting your pants."
- "I'm so sorry." she said again and sat down, ghasping for air. I resumed swimming as casually as I could while she snickered to herself on the beach. "Don't be like that now. Please?"
- "Like what?"
- "Ignoring me... I said I'm sorry. Look, I saw you dive as I pulled up, so of course you didn't hear me. You were under for a long time, and then you kept on diving so I watched for a while, hoping you'd notice me, but you didn't."
- "You've been there long enough to watch me?" She nodded and mumbled something. "What was that?"
- "I've been here for 20 minutes!" she said with a huge smile. I was however not smiling. I'm not sure why I was ticked off. She hadn't done anything wrong. I kept swimming in silence for a while. I tried not to look at her, but I saw she was up to something in the corner of my eye.

- "Look... If I can hold my breath longer than you, you will forgive me. If you win... I'm not sure... stay mad or name a punishment or something. But you're not going to win. Because I am a champion at this." She had put her clothes beside mine and was making her way out in the water. I'm not sure what happened because she seemed so shy yesterday when her pants slid down, but today she was braver. She was just as naked as me, but perhaps that was why she dared to be as well. We were at the same level today.
- "I'm not mad. I'm miffed..."
- "All the same to me. You will forgive me when I win. Deal?" It was really provoking to me that she was so sure she was going to win.
- "Alright. And if I win?"
- "You won't." She was swimming beside me now. "You dive and swim, any direction. You stop when you surface. Then I will swim the same direction under the same conditions."
- "You seem awfully clear about the rules."
- "My brothers used to challenge me all the time, but they never beat me. When I got old enough they used to tease me and say my boobs were filled with air so I could cheat." I just shot her a strange look and then I took a deep breath and dove. I swam for the middle of the lake, slow and steady strokes, trying not to waste oxygen on movement.

I overdid it just a bit. Right before I surfaced I lost control and my body tried to take a breath. I swallowed less than a mouthful of water, but I came up coughing ungraciously.
- "Are you okay?" Jessie shouted, and she was far away. I actually was a bit impressed with myself for how long I could hold out.
- "Yeah. Beat that with your boob breath!" I'm have no idea where that came from, but it seemed to psyche her out a bit. She looked angry as she slowly disappeared under water, and then the lake went quiet. There was some wind rustling the leaves and reeds, and I heard myself treading water, other than that there was nothing. I had no watch so I couldn't check how long she was under, but I was actually getting really worried. Suddenly she surfaced, on the other side of the lake. It was kind of a small lake, but still I was beat. We started a bit of shore, and I hadn't even made my way to half of the lake in a painful breath. And there she was on the other beach, waving like it was nothing.
- "Maybe you should try sucking my boobs if you want to beat me!" I just laughed at that strange comment.
- "You were gone for like, a year, and that is the come back you choose?" She was already swimming back to me.
- "Well, I was kind of preoccupied by whooping your butt. At first I wanted to show up just a bit further than you, but you pissed me off there. Only my brothers ever called me that so I decided to leave you in the dust, just like I did with them."
- "Well, that was amazing. I can't believe it. Did you cheat or something?"
- "With tits like these, who needs cheating?" she said coyly as she was beside me again. "I won, am I forgiven?"
- "Seriously. I can't call that a win unless I see it again." I knew she had won, but it was so weird. I couldn't wrap my head around how far she got.
- "Okay, I've been here before as well. This time, we both go under at the same time, but we don't swim. We just hold our breaths and stay close. Whoever goes up for air first is the loser. When I win this time I should get something from you. Are you ready?" I just nodded, then we each took a breath and went down.

Staying under water when holding your breath is really hard. Divers add some extra weight by carrying tubes and a suit, whilst we were just pillows of air. I felt that flippers might have been a good thing to have as well because I had no control over my floating. Jamie on the other hand was completely still, like frozen in a weightless state. Her blonde hair was still in a pony tail, but it was floating around her like seaweed. My hair stayed slicked back, but that was because I was moving around. With the amount of flailing I did I soon ran out of air and turned towards the surface. I was just about to swim upwards when Jamie grabbed my foot and gently pulled me down. Was she nuts? I was starting to feel the panic of my body wanting air, and here she was, preventing me from going up to breathe? She then pulled me close and held me rock solid. I couldn't budge, and in fact it looked like we were sinking. I could actually feel the lake growing colder and see the light from the surface weaken. I lost it. All I could think was that she was trying to drown me, and then I exhaled. It was then that she made her move. Quickly as I exhaled she placed her mouth over mine, and as soon as my body drew an automatic breath she closed the gaps between our mouths and she gave me part of her air. She gave me a stern look, as to see if I got what had happened, and if I was okay with it. I wasn't really and I exhaled again, but she repeated. I looked up and saw some sunrays fighting through the water. I could just barely see her in the massive darkness that surrounded us. This time I kept the air. I was better prepared, and now I was convinced she wasn't going to hurt me. I felt confused but I smiled, and she smiled back. She was still holding me tightly, and as soon as I exhaled she was there to give me more air. I couldn't tell how many times we repeated the process. It was so strange. The pressing darkness, and the weird sounds of the lake and our bodies scraping against each other. I felt my nipples get stiff, and blood started to rush around. Perhaps it was just a reaction to the cold lake. I felt her nipples stiffen as well, and our eyes locked. It was unreal, the way she hardly moved, and the fact that she never seemed to run out of air. She kept smiling, and I felt safe. Her face was basically all I could see, but it was a safe point in this pressing calm. I exahled, and once more her warm breath filled me up. I don't know what possessed me, but I exhaled just a bit of air, enough so that bubbles would form, and she drew close to give me more, but instead of taking her air I kissed her. It must have surprised her because she suddenly made a splurty sound and a cloud of bubbles came from her mouth. She let go of me and swam up, and for a while I just admiered all the bubbles as they broke the light in the lake. She was covered in thousands of small shadows as she swam. Looking at all the bubbles I had a weird thought. If I hadn't surprised her and made her breathe out all of her air at once, we probably could have been down here a couple of more minutes.