Midnight swim

Belinda was in France for the time being. She walked to the lake and took off her shorts and t-shirt and jumped into the lake. She swam to the bottom and looked around in the lake. She saw nothing but the clear water and it was a refreshing site. Belinda was losing air so she swam to the top and gasped for her breath. It was nice to be under water but she didn't want to over due it by not bringing air in her lungs.

Emelie giggled childishly, as she sat on the edge of the lake with her feet dangling into the water. She watched the person underwater for quite some time.

Why she was at the lake, the Prideux didn't have a clue about herself. Last time she was there, hadn't been brilliant. She had confessed to being 'Isadora', the kid that killed her father. Emelie supposed that the place didn't bother her as much as it should have. It was the action, not it's placement.

She watched curiously as the person came up for air. "Hi!"

Belinda was a little startled by the voice and she looked to see a girl. The unfamiliar blonde looked around Belinda's age but maybe a year older than her. "Hello" Belinda said to her. Belinda decided to swim over to the girl but she kept her distance and stayed in the water. The girl was quite pretty, Belinda also took realization that the girl was French.

Emelie thought for a second. "You are from England, yes?" She needed any opportunity to practice her english if she was going to be living in a country where it was the language they spoke, namely England.

She stared at her feet in the water for a second. "This is a nice place," the blonde stated. "One of my favourite places in France."

Belinda nodded. "Yes and by the sound of it, you're from here" Belinda said. Belinda watched as the girl thought about something. Belinda went under water to wet her hair and than came back up. The girl started to talk again.

Belinda looked around and nodded. "It is a nice place, if I say so myself. There is probably only one good lake in England and that's about it. It's nice to be able too get away from there".

"I am," Emelie said. She watched the girl go underwater gain, tead shightly tilted to the left.

"Ah, yes," the french girl nodded. She frowned and concentrated for a second. "I do not know about lakes in England. The only one I know is the Thames, yes? But that is not a nice lake. It is all grey."

Belinda nodded to her. "That's cool, France looks amazing, better at night because of the lights" Belinda replied. The stars looked great at night also, Belinda mentally added.

Belinda nodded and started laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just what you said is actually so true, went there once because a lot of people talked about it and left after five seconds, it looked bad and smelled just as worse" Belinda made a face of disgust.

"Ah, yes," Emelie enthused. "The lights are pretty."

She frowned. Why was the girl laughing? Had she said something wrong? She bit her lip, but it didn't seem that way. "Oh, ew! No. I do not think that that sounds like a good place. Why is it so famous if it is so bad, then?"

Belinda nodded. She swam closer and looked at the girl and waited for her to say something.

Belinda shrugged to her. "I have no clue, but I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that it is so horrible and disgusting" Belinda explained to her. Belinda didn't know what to say, that had to be one of the reasons.

"Ah, yes yes," Emelie nodded. "I am not sure why they would waste their time with a disgusting, dirty place. Yuck!" She shook her head in disdain. What was up with these english people and tourists?

"You like to swim?" the blonde Prideux quiestioned.

Belinda nodded in agreement. She didn't get how who ever owned the damn city or the lake, why couldn't they take time out of their day and just get people to clean it so people can take a swim and enjoy the sun. No, they keep it dirty and drive people away.

Belinda got taken out of her thoughts by the older girl. "Yeah, sometimes I do it too relax, what about you" she asked.

"Relaxing," Em repeated, trying to ignore how extremely french her 'r' sounded. It sounded way too french for someone living in England. "Oh, yes. I do sometimes. It is relaxing, yes, but I can say that there are other things that I prefer."

Belinda nodded to the older girl. "That's cool, what other things do you like to do" she asked. She than realized that this girl didn't know anything about her, she was a complete stranger in the French girl's eyes. "Sorry, it's just I wanted to make conversation".

She frowned. The things she liked to do were probably unnatural and strange, but Emelie decided to say anyway. "If you want the truth, I prefer to play with sharp things and fire." The french girl shrugged as it was the most natural thing in the world.

"It is alright- or is that not the right thing? It is fine? It is great?" Emelie pouted. Why was english so hard?

Belinda shrugged at the girl's answer. "People have their hobbies, that's not something to really be ashamed of if I'm gonna be honest" Belinda had her hobbies and it didn't matter what people thought of her.

Belinda watched as she struggled with English. "If it helps, make your tongue sort of hit the top of your mouth a little, than try it" Belinda suggested. English came to Belinda naturally so she didn't know how hard it was for other people.

"Yes," she nodded. "Hobbies are hobbies, no matter what they are. What other hobbies do you have?"

"It is aaallllriiiight," Emelie tried, her lips twisted into a pout of concentration. "I think that is right, or at least something similar to what it should be."

Belinda shrugged. She really didn't have a particular hobbie. "Well I just like to be me, I'm not really good at many things but the thing I like to do the most is just let loose and have some fun. That's all it really takes for me" Belinda explained.

Belinda nodded her head slowly. "It wasn't that bad".

"Oh," said the girl. "I suppose that's a good thing to be doing." Emelie wasn't sure what 'being herself' meant. She didn't really know who she was.

She sighed. "I need to learn the language properly."

Belinda nodded to her. "Yeah, maybe when one time we can go somewhere and let loose and have fun together. Unless that's not your thing" Belinda suggested. She didn't know if the girl would but Belinda thought it couldn't be hard to ask.

Belinda shrugged. "That would be a good idea, but don't stress about it" Belinda replied.

She shrugged. "Definitely. I'll keep that in mind. I do try sometimes, but too rarely, I must admit." Emelie nodded. That could be fun.

The Prideux snorted. "Nah. I recently got adopted, and my foster family live in England. Suddenly, everyone expects me to be great in english, but I'm not." She gave a small chuckle. "I'm rubbish, actually."

Belinda gave the French girl a small smile. "That's great, we should definitly set up the time and place and have fun somewhere that would actually let a couple young girls in and say nothing" Belinda replied.

Belinda shrugged. "Then don't. Don't live up to someone else's expectations and be you. If your foster family can understand that then keep being French" Belinda advised. Belinda let out a small laugh but didn't reply.

She laughed. "Yes. That would be great."

Emelie shrugged. "That is possible, but then again, I was never the type to try not to. I always lived up to all the expectations anyone had for me. It's just the way I am." Always striding to perfection, she mentally added.

Belinda nodded in understanding. "My twin sister can be like that. When ever someone tells her that she needs to be perfect or they expect her to be perfect in school, she does it because she will feel like a disappointment if she didn't do it" Belinda explained. Valerie could get like that at times.

Emelie nodded. "In that case, I suppose that your twin sister and I are similar in some aspects. Nobody has high expectations for me... what was the word? Ah, usually, so when they do, I take it too seriously."

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "My grandmère always felt sorry for me. She never expected much of me. Never told me much, aside from 'you are a bright kid, Emelie. Take that to your advantage." The Prideux sighed. "I suppose it's just newer to me than many others."

Belinda then took that into consideration. "Yeah, my sister and you do have some similarites. Well that isn't a bad thing, it could be a could thing at times, but I'd never be able to live up to anyones expectations but my own" Belinda said.

Belinda nodded her head. "Well one day your grandmother will push you to do your best and then everything will be alright" Belinda replied. Her family was constantly down her and Valerie's back, so she didn't know how it felt. "I see".