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| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume One|Volume One]], [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Omnibus 1|Omnibus 1]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume One|Volume One]], [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Omnibus 1|Omnibus 1]]
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Gym class hits the pool, and everyone has to get in — everyone except [[Lucy]]. The reason is a story [[Mike]] would rather not tell, and one Lucy relives in painful detail from the quiet of Room 104.
Gym class hits the pool, and everyone has to get in. Everyone, that is, except [[Lucy]]. The reason is a story [[Mike]] would rather not tell, and one Lucy relives in painful detail from the quiet of Room 104.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
A new marking period sends the gym class swimming, and no, [[Tess]], there are no alternative activities.<ref name=":c30p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p1}}</ref> Only Lucy is excused, packed off to Room 104 for the rest of the marking period while her classmates wonder why. Poolside, Tess presses Mike about Lucy's "trick," and he wearily admits she's deathly afraid of the water, all because of something he did a long time ago. Tess reaches the worst available conclusion: "You tried to '''DROWN LUCY?!?!'''" The entire class turns on the mortified Mike.<ref name=":c30p1" />
A new marking period sends the gym class swimming, and only Lucy is excused, packed off to Room 104 while her classmates wonder why.<ref name=":c30p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p1}}</ref> Poolside, Mike wearily admits she's deathly afraid of the water because of something he did long ago, and [[Tess]] reaches the worst available conclusion: "You tried to '''DROWN LUCY?!?!'''"<ref name=":c30p1" />


Room 104 turns out to be [[Sir Poodles of Noodles|Mr. Noodles]]' detention room, though he's relieved to be minding Lucy instead of the usual regulars.<ref name=":c30p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p2}}</ref> Left with her homework, Lucy watches the seniors gathering outside the window, and the sight of two of them embracing sinks her mood. She tells Mr. Noodles she's just a little tired, puts her head down, and lets the memory come.<ref name=":c30p2" />
Alone in the detention room with only her homework, Lucy puts her head down and lets the memory come.<ref name=":c30p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p2}}</ref>


Her memory goes back to the summer before sixth grade, when [[Paulo]] challenged Mike to a tree-to-tree race with a distant apple tree as the finish line.<ref name=":c30p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p3}}</ref> [[Daisy]], who has been tagging along after Paulo, protests that the race is unfair, which only makes Mike take it as an official challenge. Midway through, Mike swerves in the air to avoid landing on a terrified bird in its nest. He slams into the trunk instead and drops straight into the river below.<ref name=":c30p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p4}}</ref>
Her memory goes back to the summer before sixth grade, when [[Paulo]] challenged Mike to a tree-to-tree race.<ref name=":c30p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p3}}</ref> Midway through, Mike swerves to avoid a bird in its nest, slams into the trunk, and drops into the river below.<ref name=":c30p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p4}}</ref> Lucy, who can't swim, holds out a branch, but slips in the mud and loses her grip, and the current drags Mike away unconscious.<ref name=":c30p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p6}}</ref> When he surfaces face-down downstream, Lucy hesitates for only a moment. "'''IT DOESN'T MATTER!! I NEED TO TRY!!'''" She dives in and reaches him, but she can't keep either of them afloat, and both are going under when Paulo pulls everyone to the surface.<ref name=":c30p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p7}}</ref><ref name=":c30p8">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p8}}</ref> On the bank, Lucy shakes Mike and presses on his chest, begging him not to leave her, until he jolts awake coughing up river water.<ref name=":c30p9">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p9}}</ref>


In the water, everything goes wrong in a hurry. Mike grabs hold of a rock, only for [[David]] to leap in heroically and land on his hand, knocking him loose.<ref name=":c30p5">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p5}}</ref> Lucy can't swim, so she holds out a broken branch instead. Mike manages to catch it, but Lucy slips in the mud and loses her grip. His head cracks against a rock, and the current drags him away unconscious.<ref name=":c30p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p6}}</ref> [[Yashy]] spots him floating face-down downstream, and Lucy wars with herself over what to do. "'''IT DOESN'T MATTER!! I NEED TO TRY!!'''" She dives in and reaches Mike, but she can't keep either of them afloat. Both are going under when Paulo grabs her hand and pulls everyone to the surface.<ref name=":c30p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p7}}</ref><ref name=":c30p8">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p8}}</ref> On the bank, Lucy shakes Mike and presses on his chest, begging him not to leave her, until he jolts awake coughing up river water.<ref name=":c30p9">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p9}}</ref>
When a bandaged Mike later greets her like nothing happened, Lucy erupts, screaming that he almost killed her and she nearly drowned.<ref name=":c30p10">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p10}}</ref> Her fury collapses into tears, and Mike pulls her into a hug. "I promise.. Never again.. I never want you to risk yourself like that again.."<ref name=":c30p11">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p11}}</ref>
 
Lucy quietly slips away while an adult checks Mike over, and she isn't in a forgiving mood for some time afterwards. When a bandaged Mike later greets her like nothing happened, she erupts. She hates him, he almost killed her, she nearly drowned because of him. When he tries to speak, she shoves him away.<ref name=":c30p10">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p10}}</ref> Her fury eventually collapses into tears, and Mike pulls her into a hug. "I promise.. Never again.. I never want you to risk yourself like that again.."<ref name=":c30p11">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p11}}</ref>


Awake at her desk, Lucy stops Paulo and finally gives him the thank-you she never managed after the river, hugging him and assuring him this one is a freebie.<ref name=":c30p11" /><ref name=":c30p12">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p12}}</ref> Paulo admits to a stunned Mike that he never mentioned the rescue because he didn't want Mike feeling indebted.<ref name=":c30p12" /> The next day, Mike tears through the pool for a new school record, telling Paulo he's "been motivated by someone very important to me" and leaving it at that.<ref name=":c30p12" />
[[File:c30_p12_panel5.png|alt=Lucy pulls a blushing, wide-eyed Paulo into a hug and says "T-thank you, Paulo..".|thumb|For once, hugging Lucy doesn't end with anybody getting hit.]]
[[File:c30_p12_panel5.png|alt=Lucy pulls a blushing, wide-eyed Paulo into a hug and says "T-thank you, Paulo..".|thumb|For once, hugging Lucy doesn't end with anybody getting hit.]]
Awake at her desk, Lucy stops Paulo before the boys walk her out, and finally gives him the proper thank-you she never managed after the river. She hugs him, assuring him that "this one's a freebie."<ref name=":c30p11" /><ref name=":c30p12">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c30/p12}}</ref> Paulo floats through the rest of the day on cloud nine. He admits to a stunned Mike that he never mentioned the rescue because he didn't want Mike feeling indebted, then ruins his own nobility by gloating that he's better at climbing and swimming both.<ref name=":c30p12" /> The next day, Mike tears through the pool for a new school record, telling Paulo he's "been motivated by someone very important to me" and leaving it at that. Daisy, for her part, sinks flustered beneath the water.<ref name=":c30p12" />


== Character dynamics ==
== Character dynamics ==
* '''Lucy and Paulo:''' Paulo was Lucy's first crush, something the flashback quietly backs up every time kid Lucy blushes at his arrival.<ref name=":c27p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c27/p2}}</ref><ref name=":c30p3" /> Her present-day affection usually arrives as a punch,<ref name=":c1p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c1/p4}}</ref> which is what makes the ending stand out. Reliving the rescue moves her to hug him voluntarily and thank him outright for saving her life. Paulo, after years of pining, can hardly believe it. "So this is what it feels like to hug you, huh?"<ref name=":c30p12" />
* '''Lucy and Paulo:''' Paulo was Lucy's first crush, something the flashback quietly backs up every time kid Lucy blushes at his arrival.<ref name=":c27p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c27/p2}}</ref><ref name=":c30p3" /> Her present-day affection usually arrives as a punch,<ref name=":c1p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c1/p4}}</ref> which is what makes the ending stand out. Reliving the rescue moves her to hug him voluntarily and thank him outright for saving her life. Paulo, after years of pining, can hardly believe it. "So this is what it feels like to hug you, huh?"<ref name=":c30p12" />
* '''Mike and Lucy:''' This shift happened years before the present day. The kids' carefree squabbling ends with Mike's near-death and Lucy's failed rescue, and her grief-driven outburst collapses into the hug where Mike promises never to let her risk herself like that again.<ref name=":c30p10" /><ref name=":c30p11" /> That accident is the origin of Lucy's deathly fear of water,<ref name=":c30p1" /> and the memory still weighs on her in the present, where she goes forlorn at the sight of the embracing couple and wakes murmuring "I'm sorry.."<ref name=":c30p2" /><ref name=":c30p11" />
* '''Mike and Lucy:''' The childhood accident is where their bond as we know it was forged. It left Lucy with her deathly fear of water,<ref name=":c30p1" /> and it gave Mike a promise to keep. Her grief-driven outburst at him collapsed into the hug where he swore never to let her risk herself like that again.<ref name=":c30p10" /><ref name=":c30p11" /> The memory still weighs on her in the present, where she goes forlorn at the sight of the embracing couple and wakes murmuring "I'm sorry.."<ref name=":c30p2" /><ref name=":c30p11" />
* '''Mike and Paulo:''' Mike learns for the first time that Paulo was the one who pulled him out, and that Paulo kept quiet so Mike would never feel he owed him. Mike is genuinely impressed, but the truce lasts about a minute before the rivalry reignites. The chapter closes on Mike's pool record and Paulo's defeated "I just can't win.."<ref name=":c30p12" />
* '''Mike and Paulo:''' These two are athletic rivals before anything else, and this chapter doesn't change that. What it adds is an unexpectedly noble side of Paulo: he was the one who pulled Mike from the river, and he kept quiet for years so Mike would never feel he owed him. Mike is genuinely impressed, but the truce lasts about a minute before the rivalry reignites. The chapter closes on Mike's pool record and Paulo's defeated "I just can't win.."<ref name=":c30p12" />


== Trivia & observations ==
== Trivia & observations ==
Line 34: Line 32:
* Per Veronica's commentary, the two hugging seniors who set off Lucy's flashback are based on Bill and Briana, class-bully characters from her old series who were "madly in love with eachother."<ref name=":c30p2" />
* Per Veronica's commentary, the two hugging seniors who set off Lucy's flashback are based on Bill and Briana, class-bully characters from her old series who were "madly in love with eachother."<ref name=":c30p2" />
* Veronica's commentary mentions Oliver suggested it would've been funnier if Mike coughed the water up onto Lucy. She agreed, but kept the scene serious.<ref name=":c30p9" />
* Veronica's commentary mentions Oliver suggested it would've been funnier if Mike coughed the water up onto Lucy. She agreed, but kept the scene serious.<ref name=":c30p9" />
* The first page went up alone on March 22, 2010, and the remaining eleven pages all followed the next day.<ref name=":c30p1" /><ref name=":c30p12" />
* Lucy's fear of the water was visible long before it was explained here. She winces at the sight of a river as far back as [[Simple Pleasures]].<ref name=":c1p4" /><ref name=":c30p1" />
* Lucy's fear of the water was visible long before it was explained here. She winces at the sight of a river as far back as [[Simple Pleasures]].<ref name=":c1p4" /><ref name=":c30p1" />


Line 40: Line 37:
* '''[[Carry On]]''': The swimming unit continues right where this chapter leaves off, with Lucy still excused and still stuck in her quiet classroom.<ref name=":c31p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c31/p1}}</ref> It adds a second flashback about her fear of the water, and Lucy sourly rejects Mike's promise at the river's edge ("I don't need his promises").<ref name=":c31p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c31/p6}}</ref> It also introduces [[Augustus]] at the pool.<ref name=":c31p1" />
* '''[[Carry On]]''': The swimming unit continues right where this chapter leaves off, with Lucy still excused and still stuck in her quiet classroom.<ref name=":c31p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c31/p1}}</ref> It adds a second flashback about her fear of the water, and Lucy sourly rejects Mike's promise at the river's edge ("I don't need his promises").<ref name=":c31p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c31/p6}}</ref> It also introduces [[Augustus]] at the pool.<ref name=":c31p1" />
* '''[[Gone Fishing]]''': This middle-school aquarium trip shows the promise being honored between the flashback and the present day. Mike reminds a frightened Lucy, "I gave you my promise.. A promise I fully intend to keep!"<ref name=":c10p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c10/p4}}</ref>
* '''[[Gone Fishing]]''': This middle-school aquarium trip shows the promise being honored between the flashback and the present day. Mike reminds a frightened Lucy, "I gave you my promise.. A promise I fully intend to keep!"<ref name=":c10p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c10/p4}}</ref>
* '''[[Under Pressure]]''': The swimming unit pays off a few chapters later. The gym teacher names Mike, Paulo, and David the best in the class,<ref name=":c35p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p3}}</ref> and Mike dives in to rescue a sinking Daisy, this chapter's drowning replayed with Mike as the rescuer.<ref name=":c35p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p4}}</ref>
* '''[[Under Pressure]]''': The swimming unit is still running a few chapters later, and the gym teacher names Mike, Paulo, and David the best in the class.<ref name=":c35p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p3}}</ref> Mike also dives in after a sinking Daisy, the rescuer this time instead of the one going under.<ref name=":c35p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p4}}</ref>
* '''[[Intervention]]''': Years later, the roles reverse. After Mike falls into the water saving Lucy during [[Search and Rescue]], she strikes him and screams "'''I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DIE TRYING!!'''", mirroring her own outburst at the park in this chapter.<ref name=":c44p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c44/p1}}</ref>
* '''[[Intervention]]''': Years later, the roles reverse. After Mike falls into the water saving Lucy during [[Search and Rescue]], she strikes him and screams "'''I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DIE TRYING!!'''", mirroring her own outburst at the park in this chapter.<ref name=":c44p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c44/p1}}</ref>


Latest revision as of 10:02, 29 July 2026

Troubled Waters
Chapter30 of 127 (list of chapters)
PublishedJanuary 16, 2007 (2007-01-16)
Page count12
Major charactersLucy, Mike, Paulo, Daisy, David, Yashy
Minor charactersTess, Sue, Abbey, Sir Poodles of Noodles, Gym Teacher (High School)
LocationsRoseville High School, Park
Collected inVolume One, Omnibus 1
Chapter navigation
← Tread CarefullyCarry On →
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Gym class hits the pool, and everyone has to get in. Everyone, that is, except Lucy. The reason is a story Mike would rather not tell, and one Lucy relives in painful detail from the quiet of Room 104.

Synopsis

A new marking period sends the gym class swimming, and only Lucy is excused, packed off to Room 104 while her classmates wonder why.[1] Poolside, Mike wearily admits she's deathly afraid of the water because of something he did long ago, and Tess reaches the worst available conclusion: "You tried to DROWN LUCY?!?!"[1]

Alone in the detention room with only her homework, Lucy puts her head down and lets the memory come.[2]

Her memory goes back to the summer before sixth grade, when Paulo challenged Mike to a tree-to-tree race.[3] Midway through, Mike swerves to avoid a bird in its nest, slams into the trunk, and drops into the river below.[4] Lucy, who can't swim, holds out a branch, but slips in the mud and loses her grip, and the current drags Mike away unconscious.[5] When he surfaces face-down downstream, Lucy hesitates for only a moment. "IT DOESN'T MATTER!! I NEED TO TRY!!" She dives in and reaches him, but she can't keep either of them afloat, and both are going under when Paulo pulls everyone to the surface.[6][7] On the bank, Lucy shakes Mike and presses on his chest, begging him not to leave her, until he jolts awake coughing up river water.[8]

When a bandaged Mike later greets her like nothing happened, Lucy erupts, screaming that he almost killed her and she nearly drowned.[9] Her fury collapses into tears, and Mike pulls her into a hug. "I promise.. Never again.. I never want you to risk yourself like that again.."[10]

Awake at her desk, Lucy stops Paulo and finally gives him the thank-you she never managed after the river, hugging him and assuring him this one is a freebie.[10][11] Paulo admits to a stunned Mike that he never mentioned the rescue because he didn't want Mike feeling indebted.[11] The next day, Mike tears through the pool for a new school record, telling Paulo he's "been motivated by someone very important to me" and leaving it at that.[11]

Lucy pulls a blushing, wide-eyed Paulo into a hug and says "T-thank you, Paulo..".
For once, hugging Lucy doesn't end with anybody getting hit.

Character dynamics

  • Lucy and Paulo: Paulo was Lucy's first crush, something the flashback quietly backs up every time kid Lucy blushes at his arrival.[12][3] Her present-day affection usually arrives as a punch,[13] which is what makes the ending stand out. Reliving the rescue moves her to hug him voluntarily and thank him outright for saving her life. Paulo, after years of pining, can hardly believe it. "So this is what it feels like to hug you, huh?"[11]
  • Mike and Lucy: The childhood accident is where their bond as we know it was forged. It left Lucy with her deathly fear of water,[1] and it gave Mike a promise to keep. Her grief-driven outburst at him collapsed into the hug where he swore never to let her risk herself like that again.[9][10] The memory still weighs on her in the present, where she goes forlorn at the sight of the embracing couple and wakes murmuring "I'm sorry.."[2][10]
  • Mike and Paulo: These two are athletic rivals before anything else, and this chapter doesn't change that. What it adds is an unexpectedly noble side of Paulo: he was the one who pulled Mike from the river, and he kept quiet for years so Mike would never feel he owed him. Mike is genuinely impressed, but the truce lasts about a minute before the rivalry reignites. The chapter closes on Mike's pool record and Paulo's defeated "I just can't win.."[11]

Trivia & observations

  • Veronica's commentary under the first page notes this chapter exists in at least three versions: an old drawn version that was never posted, the 2010 web release, and the Omnibus-era rewrite that stands today.[1]
  • In the original version, Mike was headed over a waterfall. Veronica rewrote it with Mike battered against rocks instead, calling the waterfall clichéd and unrealistic for a public park.[5]
  • Veronica originally planned for Lucy to save Mike single-handedly, but changed it. Sudden swimming ability would've been unrealistic, and a successful rescue would have undercut Lucy's fear of water. As written, Paulo's rescue confirms her fear was well founded.[7]
  • Per Veronica's commentary, the two hugging seniors who set off Lucy's flashback are based on Bill and Briana, class-bully characters from her old series who were "madly in love with eachother."[2]
  • Veronica's commentary mentions Oliver suggested it would've been funnier if Mike coughed the water up onto Lucy. She agreed, but kept the scene serious.[8]
  • Lucy's fear of the water was visible long before it was explained here. She winces at the sight of a river as far back as Simple Pleasures.[13][1]

Related chapters

  • Carry On: The swimming unit continues right where this chapter leaves off, with Lucy still excused and still stuck in her quiet classroom.[14] It adds a second flashback about her fear of the water, and Lucy sourly rejects Mike's promise at the river's edge ("I don't need his promises").[15] It also introduces Augustus at the pool.[14]
  • Gone Fishing: This middle-school aquarium trip shows the promise being honored between the flashback and the present day. Mike reminds a frightened Lucy, "I gave you my promise.. A promise I fully intend to keep!"[16]
  • Under Pressure: The swimming unit is still running a few chapters later, and the gym teacher names Mike, Paulo, and David the best in the class.[17] Mike also dives in after a sinking Daisy, the rescuer this time instead of the one going under.[18]
  • Intervention: Years later, the roles reverse. After Mike falls into the water saving Lucy during Search and Rescue, she strikes him and screams "I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DIE TRYING!!", mirroring her own outburst at the park in this chapter.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 3
  4. ↑ Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 4
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 6
  6. ↑ Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 7
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 8
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 9
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 10
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 11
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Chapter 30: Troubled Waters, page 12
  12. ↑ Chapter 27: Flirting with Disaster, page 2
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 1: Simple Pleasures, page 4
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Chapter 31: Carry On, page 1
  15. ↑ Chapter 31: Carry On, page 6
  16. ↑ Chapter 10: Gone Fishing, page 4
  17. ↑ Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 3
  18. ↑ Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 4
  19. ↑ Chapter 44: Intervention, page 1
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