Troubled Waters

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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
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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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