The Wicked Cat by Christopher Pike Read Free Book Online Page B

jump in.”
    Jessie was worried. “But I’ve never been able to swim. I’ve always been afraid of the water. Do we have to do this today?”
    â€œBelieve me, you want a lesson first. The swimming teacher will pick you up and throw you in the water. And if you try to get out of the pool before the hour is up, he’ll grab you and hold you underwater until you turn blue. The guy is tough—he used to be a Navy Seal.”
    Jessie shook her head. “I don’t know if I can handle this.”
    Adam pointed her toward the girls’ locker room. “You go in there and change. If you don’t have a suit you can check one out. When you’re through changing, meet me out at the water.” He patted her on the shoulder and added, “Don’t worry, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
    Looking miserable, Jessie went into the girls’ locker room. Thinking he was doing a good job on her, Adam went into the boys’ room and quickly got into a suit. A few minutes later he was waiting out by the water for Jessie to emerge. When she did, she kept glancing nervously at the water.
    â€œCan we just start in the shallow end?” she asked.
    â€œSure. But we’ll have to work our way into the deep end, if you really want to learn to swim.”
    â€œBut I don’t want to learn to swim. I told you that.”
    â€œFine. But you’ll probably drown in PE then. I heard a couple of kids drowned last year. But, like I said, it’s a tough PE class.”
    Jessie was anxious. “Things sure weren’t like this when I went to school.”
    â€œTimes have changed, Jessie,” Adam said.
    They got in the water, in the shallow end, which was only two and a half feet deep. Just getting Jessie that far took all of Adam’s persuasive abilities. Jessie treated the water as if it were boiling acid. But once she was in, and she saw the water was only up a little past her waist, she began to relax. But Adam didn’t let her get too comfortable. He pulled her toward the deep end.
    â€œThe first day of PE,” he said, “the teacher makes you jump off the diving board.”
    Jessie was horrified. “What? There’s no way I’m doing that. I would sink right to the bottom. How deep does this pool get anyway?”
    â€œTwelve feet. But you’ve got to do it today before you do it in PE.”
    She shook her head. “No way!”
    Adam spoke in a reasonable voice. “We can jump off together. You can hold my hand. If you begin to sink I’ll pull you up. I’m an excellent swimmer. You’ll be in no danger, and once you get over your fear you’ll be able to swim laps. You’ll love it; you might even start training for the Olympics.”
    Jessie stared at him suspiciously. “Why are you making me do all this?”
    Adam shrugged. “I’m just trying to help you out.” He added, although it was forced, “Because I like you.”
    That pleased her. “Really?”
    â€œSure. I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it.”
    â€œDo you think I’m cute?”
    Adam had never told a girl that she was cute, especially one who had been a cat for the last couple hundred years. But for Sally, he felt he had to stretch his limits.
    â€œYeah,” he said. “You’re a kitty, I mean, a cutie.”
    She hugged him and beamed. “If it means that much to you, Adam, I’ll go off the diving board with you.”
    But a minute later she wasn’t so sure. Standing on the diving board beside him, she shook like, well,a cat that was about to be thrown into a swimming pool. She was holding on to him so tight he started to wonder if they were both going to drown. He had to untangle her arms from his.
    â€œJust hold my hand,” he said. “That’s all you have to do.”
    She looked at him with her big green eyes.
    â€œYou promise not to let go?” she asked.
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