Humming
There is nothing more lovely than the near-silence of being underwater.
Niamh liked to hum songs from her favourite musicals while submerged. Sure, there were plenty of Disney songs up her sleeve, but the ones from her mam’s Best of Musical Theatre playlist were the best to act out. Niamh liked to pretend she was the Wicked Witch of the West when she swam, humming Defying Gravity as she floated, weightless, through the water.
No way would she ever sing on stage at the school talent show, or at the annual cousin’s day that always ended in a sing-along. She didn’t want to. But humming and singing underwater was perfect. It was just for her, nobody else can listen.
Bubbles escaped her mouth. Niamh kicked against the floor of the pool hard and shot up to the surface. She hummed the high note at the very end of the song as she burst out of the water. She gasped a breath and was about to dive back in when Jenna, the swimming teacher, pointed her finger at Niamh.
“Niamh O’Driscoll. You had ten minutes of free time after the lesson ended. It has been nearly twenty minutes.”
“Sorry, Jenna.” Niamh pulled the goggles off her eyes. After trying to rub the red marks away, she looked around to see the pool was nearly empty. Just two old ladies floating along in the lanes beside her.
“Up and out, shower and dress. Your mam will be here any minute.”
“Has everyone else gone?” Niamh asked.
“They’re getting changed now.”
“Oh. Can I just have five more minutes in the pool? Mam said she might be late and – ”
“Niamh, your mam is never late. Now please, go get changed.”
Jenna walked off to the end of the pool to tidy away all of the floaters. Niamh sighed, stuck the goggles back on, dipped underwater one last time and kicked off from the wall. She kicked hard until she could reach the metal bars of the ladder. Her feet could touch the ground, she stood, fixed her swimsuit, and climbed out.
She walked into the changing room, eyes to the floor. She grabbed the shampoo and conditioner from the locker, rinsed off in the shower as quick as she could. She almost slipped on her way back to the locker. She pulled the towel from the bottom of her gear bag, snatched the bundle of clothes and made her way to the bathroom cubicles. Her hand was on the door when she heard them.
“Where are you going, Niamhy? Off to hide in the bathroom, are you?”
Siobhan, Tara and Ellie walked up to Niamh. They looked like they were just about to leave, they all had their wet hair done up in perfect plaits, and it looked like Siobhan put make-up on.
Niamh threw her towel over her shoulders and threw her clothes onto the floor of the toilet cubicle.
“I’m just getting changed,” she said.
“Why are you hiding in there, Niamhy?” Siobhan sneered. Tara and Ellie giggled behind her.
“I’m not hiding anything. I just need to get changed. My mam will be here soon, so – ”
“That’s because you can’t hide that belly, Niamhy” Siobhan said, and Tara and Ellie laughed like it was the funniest joke they had ever heard.
Niamh bent over, wrapping the towel around her stomach. She turned around to run into the cubicle when Siobhan pulled at the towel. Niamh gripped it as tight as she could but stumbled into the door. The three girls laughed loudly, and Niamh slammed the door shut and turned the lock.
“Alright guys, let’s go,” Siobhan said.
“We’re going to get spice bags, Niamhy,” Tara shouted for her to hear, “We’d invite you along, but you probably would eat everything in the chipper and leave nothing for us!”
Niamh stood in the cubicle, shivering, and waited until she couldn’t hear the girls anymore. She dried off, got changed and stepped out. She looked at herself in the mirror over the sinks. Her cheeks were red. They seemed to glow brighter against her knotty brown hair. She tied it up in a tight bun and threw her jumper on. It was her favourite jumper, big and grey that nearly reached her knees. She could hide a cat, or even a small dog, under that thing.
Niamh walked out the front door of the swimming centre. Her mam was waiting in the car, musical blaring out the window.
“Heya!” she called to Niamh.
Niamh sighed in relief. She hopped into the front seat. As the car pulled out the entrance, she glanced and saw the three girls standing at the gate. Waiting.
“How did the swim go?”
“It was okay.”
“That’s good. How many lengths did you do today?”
“Fifty.”
“Wow! That’s great Niamh, is that your personal best?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d say Jenna is super proud of you. You’ll be well able coming up to the community games.”
“I guess so.”
Niamh’s mam looked at her. She drove in silence for a few minutes.
“Were those girls at you again?”
“Yeah.”
“Right.”
Niamh’s mam didn’t speak for the rest of the car ride home. When they pulled into the front-drive at home, she turned to Niamh before getting out.
“Niamh, those girls have no right to treat you like that.”
“I know.”
“You are no better or worse than any of them. You are fine as you are. You are healthy and you should get to be as happy as anyone else.”
“I know.” This wasn’t news to Niamh. Sure, she knew that she shouldn’t care what the other girls thought. But it was hard to not care when someone tells you that the way you look is wrong.
“What I want you to do,” her mam said, “is make a bet with that Siobhan.”
“What?”
“You bet her you can beat her in a race. You make a bet. If she wins, you’ll buy her a spice bag every week for the rest of the year – ”
“Mam, that’s insane – ”
“And if you win, you tell her to leave you alone, for good. Or else you can tell everyone that she wasn’t able to beat you.”
“Mam, I don’t know.”
“Trust me, Niamh.”
The next week, Niamh went into the swimming centre, early before the lesson. She got changed into her swimsuit and ran into the pool as quick as she could. The lesson wasn’t meant to start for another fifteen minutes, but Siobhan, Tara and Ellie were in early too, determined to see Niamh beforehand.
Niamh floated in the deep end of the pool, waiting.
“Hey, Niamhy! How are you managing to float all by yourself? I would have thought you’d sink to the floor by now!” Siobhan swam over to her like a shark.
“I want to make a bet with you.”
“With me?” Siobhan threw a look to Tara and Ellie and laughed.
“A race. Two lengths. If you beat me, I’ll buy your spice bag after swimming every week for the rest of the year. If I win, you leave me alone. For good.”
Tara and Ellie sniggered behind Siobhan. Siobhan looked up and down at Niamh and smirked.
“You’re on.”
They floated over to the edge of the pool and lined up side by side. Tara and Ellie climbed out of the pool to watch. Niamh grabbed the edge of the wall behind her and stared ahead.
“On the count of three,” Tara said, “One… Two…”
Siobhan kicked off and sped away.
“Three!”
Niamh kicked off as hard as she could. She pushed through the water, staring at the wall ahead of her, the water splashing loudly around her ears. She gasped for breath and could see Siobhan barely ahead of her. She pushed ahead, as fast as she could.
Siobhan reached the wall and kicked off, but slowly. Niamh was only seconds behind her, and when she kicked off the wall, she cut through the water. Fast. Weightless.
She caught up to Siobhan and could see the panic in her eyes. Niamh turned her head and looked straight ahead. Faster and faster, she slammed against the wall. She looked up to see Siobhan was almost half a length behind her. Siobhan stopped, floated and looked at Niamh.
“A deal’s a deal,” Niamh called to her. “Unless you want me to tell everyone you cheated, and still lost?”
Siobhan’s cheeks went bright red. She climbed out of the pool and ran into the changing room, Tara and Ella following her.
Niamh sighed. She looked up at the clock on the wall. Five minutes before the lesson started.
She took a deep breath, dove underwater, and began to hum.
Ruth Ennis is a co-founder and features editor for teen literary journal Paper Lanterns. She has a B.A. in English with Drama from UCD and an M.Phil. in Children’s Literature from TCD. She is an aspiring children’s / YA writer. You can find her online at @rurooie.
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