What am I going to tell the kids? WHO: Micah, Evelyn, Bryce, Mason WHEN: Who knows? WHERE: Middle of the ocean in a parallel dimension made by psycho faeries (AKA Feeding Frenzy!)
SPLASH.
A movie trope insists that splashing someone with water in the face will wake them up. Micah had no idea if this trope was 100% realistic, but it certainly applied to this very moment. The impact of the water hitting him at full force jolted Micah awake from...from...Micah struggled to remember as he struggled to keep his head above water. Being California-born, one would think Micah was a stellar swimmer. This was not the case. He could swim in the sense that he could kick and flail his arms to get from point A to point B, but staying afloat in water was not something that made sense to him. Someone had once said to pedal your legs like you were riding a bicycle. Micah didn't get that. And it didn't work. Kicking his legs as hard as he could, Micah tried to get his bearings. He'd happily just been passed over for Homecoming King (not that he'd expected to win unless Carrie!blood was involved), Hyemi was pouting at him for losing, and he'd tried to think of something to placate her when even thinking had become difficult. He remembered hitting the ground and looking at Hyemi's feet and then her face as they both slipped into unconsciousness. Speaking of...
"Hye- Mi?!" Micah managed to say in two breaths, gurgling partially as he dipped under the water and then back up. He turned to see three other people, none of whom had Hyemi's trademark hair (among other things) including the smell he'd come to label as 'Godzilla'. That was...well, that was Bryce, of all people. And the other was Evelyn Montgomery, who he had to label by full name for some reason, probably that he didn't know her all that well. And...and...Coach Normandin? What. On. Earth. He knew all these people vaguely from the one year he'd spent on varsity, but it wasn't as if he was best friends with any of them. He spun around in circles a couple of times, just to make sure he wasn't missing her...and then he had a sickening thought. What if she couldn't swim? Lizards weren't made to swim, were they? Ducking his head underwater, he forced his eyes open to take a quick look. He didn't see anyone else, though it couldn't hurt to investigate a few more seconds. It wasn't like he needed to resurface for air, anyway.