The consequences of drenching a bunch of mutant teens with a cannonball.
They were all so peaceful. Leila hated to disturb them. A smile curved across her face. No. That was evil. She couldn't. And yet, as she stared at the calm blue of the pool beside which her friends lounged, she couldn't repulse the thought. Cannonball. She slipped behind some tall shrubbery before they saw her.
"I must NOT do that. That's awful. They'd be so mad..."
The thought tickled her mind again, sickeningly sweet. It was so tempting. She made up her mind. Dropping her towel behind the shrub, she phased out and walked toward the pool. They were all dozing, not asleep, but not quite aware either. They would not be looking for the slight warp in reality she made when her invisible form caused a 'light ripple'.
She stopped at the edge of the pool to survey the scene. Danika was basking on a little floaty in the center of the pool. Joe and Alex were stretched out on towels poolside, sunning themselves. Dominique and Crystal occupied lounge chairs. It was too perfect.
She backed up gently to a suitable distance, paused, then ran for the pool. She leaped...
* * *
Danika loved the sun on her face and her feet dangling in the cool water of the pool. She didn't care if it never ended. A light breeze made it perfect. She sighed.
She was completely unprepared for the huge, nearly explosive splash right next to her head. She shrieked and sat upright, tipping the floaty. The wave from the splash threw her off, plunging her into the pool. Struggling to the surface, she gasped for air.
"What the heck was that?"
She looked around at the others, who were sputtering and drying themselves off. They too had felt the effects of the huge splash. They all stared at her.
She looked stunned. "It wasn't me! I can't make a splash like that by falling off a floaty thing..."
"No, but there's something to be said for your shockwave power..." Dominique muttered. Danika's eyes were wide in horrified innocence.
"But I swear it wasn't me!"
She climbed out of the pool, dripping wet and rather confused. The others looked at each other.
"My towel is drenched!" Dominique complained. "Who did that if it wasn't Danika?"
"No one," Crystal said, looking around. No one but Danika was wet enough, and she claimed that she was not the cause of such a cataclysmic splash. Alex rolled his eyes.
"Maybe no one we can see..."
The meaning of his words sunk in and the eyes of the small group followed Alex's gaze to the bottom of the pool, where a shape-so faint it was like a bubble, or the shadow of a bubble- flitted toward the opposite side. Leila.
In a flash, Joe and Alex dove in, slicing through the water after the shadow. Danika, Dominique, and Crystal ran to the opposite end, ready and waiting for the threesome to surface.
In a matter of seconds, Joe, then Alex caught up with Leila, who was cornered, and hauled her to the surface. They all surfaced, gasping for breath. Leila was now fully visible and blushing. She'd been caught.
"Caught red-handed, eh?" Joe mused. He turned to Alex. "You're good at this sort of thing...what should we do with her?"
Alex grinned unnervingly. "I say dunk her."
Leila was wide-eyed. The guys were just joking around, but they meant to get her back for the cannonball. She knew that they certainly would, too.
Joe turned to the rest of the group, who stood watching. "All in favor?"
The proposal met with universal approval, Dominique even stating that it was appropriate to match the punishment to the crime. Leila, though officially 'condemned', offered her opinion.
"I don't see what good it'll do to dunk me. I can't get any wetter..."
Joe's sly grin told her he had bigger plans. She swallowed as he and Alex exchanged telling glances, and dragged her from the pool.
"What are you doing? NO! Put me down!"
"Dude, you asked for this one," Alex said, holding tightly to her left arm. Joe held her right. Together, the two half-marched, half-dragged her toward the high dive. Leila squealed in protest, but the others only cheered and laughed, and Joe and Alex ignored her pleas.
Somehow, they hauled her up the ladder. With Alex behind her and Joe behind him, the two guys managed to prod her to the end of the diving board.
"Hey this is NOT funny! Let me down from here!"
Alex grinned at her for a moment. "Sure! Here you go!"
Then he gave her a shove. Leila shrieked all the way down, impacting the water with an even bigger splash than before. The entire company broke into whoops and cheering. Leila, now humbled, surfaced and swam to the side of the pool, blushing brightly from her deserved 'punishment'. She found her towel and dried off, half smiling. At least she knew they liked her. She looked up at Joe and Alex, still standing on the high dive, cheering. Joe smiled and waved before shoving Alex off and following after him. That was all it took to get all the others in to join the chaos. Leila only smiled, shook her head, and jumped in with them.
