III. Underwater pg. 6
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She’d go to a good school, wear nice shoes and perfume that stunk, and she’d major in… Something. Sports medicine. Business. Education. She’d figure it out. She’d find a major she didn’t hate and then she’d find a place at the beach to dive, and maybe even friends to dive with. And after diving they would all head to a bar and fill themselves with happy hour drinks.

Phoebe realized now the feeling she’d been so unsure of- or been so reluctant to accept. When she faced Silver, it was the same feeling that she got when she stared out over the ocean. His claws dipping into her felt like being plunged underwater. Struck and dragged down by a powerful wave. Phoebe flopped back down and cocooned herself under the covers, shifted and rolled over, then rolled again. The heaviness in her eyes and head felt oppressive now, the once-cozy blanket now hot and muggy.

Image: The same reflection of Phoebe, except now everything is rendered in black, white, and red. She is no longer in her room, but a black void, and ripples suggest that the mirror is submerged. She struggles as Silver grabs her from behind, tearing into her dress and causing blood to spill down her front. End description.

She was no longer sure how many of her original desires she’d be able to have. Not with Silver, not with Connell after her, not with the unreality of her own immortal body. And there was another Phoebe, too. A shadow-Phoebe, the one who had made the wish, who she couldn’t pin down no matter how many times she’d combed her memories for gaps.

Accepting defeat and sitting up once more, the next hour was spent on her phone. Catching up on her handful of acquaintances and her zero friends. Trying, aimlessly, to find answers to all her problems. She spied the date--August 23rd--and was overcome by the sinking realization that the first day of class was getting closer and closer. She looked, again, at the course offerings at Stern, and the gen eds that she had signed up for. All of her luggage was already there. It had been shipped to the college ahead of time. For now she was just a visitor living out of a backpack, who was running out of time.

Image: The image is split in half. On the right, Phoebe sits up in bed and dejectedly scrolls through her phone. Darkness pours in from the left side, and another version of herself rests against her back- the two Phoebes are almost mirrored. This other Phoebe looks back at her with a sinister gaze, and is holding up her feather, which glows in the darkness. End description.

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