Emily's POV

So, it's the first day of school….senior year, a new day. I hope it's going to be better than last year. Let's just say last year was, not so memorable for me. Getting thrown of the team from the swim team for something that wasn't my fault was bad; I also got accused of taking drugs, thus prolonging my return on the team. The worse was when my jerk of an ex-boyfriend, Ben almost raped me in the girl's locker room. But not everything was bad, I eventually got back on the team, and I also discovered who I really am. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, but eventually I found out that I was into girls. I was denying myself for such a long time…..only dating guys to prove it to myself and to my friends. My parents were cool with it, and so were my friends. Not one girl has caught my eye, I mean sure, I found some of them pretty, but none them were…..WOW. Lost in my thoughts, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to be met with my best friends Aria, Spencer and Hannah.

"So Emily, any girl caught your eye yet?"

"No Hannah, not yet" Hannah sighed, but turned back to her bubbly self once we sat down at the benches and began to talk. Hannah swore that she'd find someone for me sooner or later. In fact you could say, she was the one that was less surprised by my news when I came out to her. I could remember her screaming, "I knew it!" three times. It was really entertaining. Aria wasn't surprised, but she didn't think I'd admit it so soon. Spencer, only nodded and then said something which caught me of guard, and that was "I was wondering when you'd come out". So, turns out that ever one of them knew I was gay except for myself.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, so sorry!" The sudden commotion two benches behind us caught my attention. I immediately stood up, and helped her with her books, only looking up, when my hand slightly brushed hers. It was only when I looked up that I was lost for words. In front of me was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Her long blond hair fell far below her shoulders, her eyes were a rich grey blue….and she was just breath taking. I found myself standing and the girl talking to me, but I couldn't hear the words that were coming out because I was too distracted by her angelic beauty. "I'm so sorry about our friend, she had a bad morning, hi, I'm Hannah, and these are my friends Aria, Spencer ….and of course this is Emily." Hannah's voice shook me out of my blonde beauty daydream and I found myself blushing. I heard her giggled, and saw her sweep her long fringe behind her ear. The action was really cute, and caused me to bite my lip. "Hi, my names Samara, Samara Cook. It's nice to meet you."

My heart melted when I heard her voice, and before I knew it the bell had rang, signaling the start of the school day. "It's nice to meet all you of you, but I've got to go, bye…bye Emily." With that she strolled of, leaving me staring at her in a daze. "Emily's got a crush; I'm so going to set you two up!"

"Hannah, no…she's new, we've only jus met, and besides I don't even know if she bats for my team."

Aria giggled and nudged Spencer. "What, come on guys, what is it, something you'd like to share?" I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, waiting for a reply. Aria finally spoke up, her words catching me by surprise. "Oh trust me Em, she's gay alright, you may not have seen it, but we all did, the look she gave you when she said bye, was a look that said "You're cute". That can't be…..my gaydar is fine. I could usually tell when girls are straight or gay, but she didn't come off as someone gay. Perhaps it was the fact that she hid it very well. I bit my lip, and briefly smiled. But when I looked at my other friends I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. Not wanting them to know there right, I gave them all a hug, and told them I'd see them soon. I could barely hear them, but I swear Hannah said "Yeah, she so likes her".

Swim Practice

"Come on girls, let's do two more laps come on! Two more then you get to go and hit the showers. My arms were killing me. Coach was making us do lots and lots of laps in preparation for the competition against the other schools. We had two weeks, but coach wanted us to train and train before then. When I reached the other end, she yelled stop, and told us to get out the pool to shower and change. I took my goggles of, bringing my hand up to wipe the water of my face. My friends were of course watching from the stands like they always do, but one girl also caught my attention and that was Samara sitting a few seats behind them, doing something in her book. She caught my attention, and smiled back, waving. My friends, being the trouble makers that they are, immediately turned and saw Samara. I got out the pool, stretching my arms, and walked on over. Once I reached them I grabbed my towel and let it rest on my shoulders. "Wow, never knew you were that great of a swimmer".

"Um yeah, uh thanks Samara, I uh…I uh, I mean yeah, oh I'm just going to uh, hit the showers. Bye guys bye, uh Samara."

I heard my friends laugh, and I mentally slapped myself for sounding so lame in front of her. Lame? Really? More like stupid! She probably finds me weird as it is.

The showers were nice and warm, and I managed to get change and pack my clothes before heading out. "Hey Em, we invited Samara along to have lunch with us, so hurry up and get your ass over here!" Oh no, she was coming to lunch with us. Oh god, now I know I'm going to make a bigger fool out of myself. It's weird enough already.

Lunch

To say things are awkward would be an understatement. I was sitting next to Samara, trying so hard to keep up with our conversation without staring at her, but the temptation is really strong, and I managed to sneak two glanced. I knew she caught me the second time, but I managed to look away before she could see me. One of my hands was fidgeting on the table, lightly tapping on the hard surface. My other hand badly wanted to hold hers but of course I resisted. "Oh my god, guys look at the time, we've got to study for that group project that Mrs. Coleman gave us during history."

"Sorry Em, come on guys, were going to get so screwed if we don't do it. And I don't think I'd fancy a few days detention on the first week of school". I am so going to kill them later. We never get set projects at the begging of school, there setting me up, trying to get me alone with Samara. Once they paid they all got out quickly, leaving me at the table next to Samara. It was so awkward, but the tension was broken when she began to talk about swimming. "So your friends told me that you won a lot of gold medals."

"Yeah, yeah I did, but that was nothing, any swimmer can win that many gold medals."

"I think you put yourself down too much, your friends seem to speak really highly of you, and of course your swimming."

The conversation eventually came to an end, and I found myself walking by her side, walking her home. When we came to a stop, I realized that her house, was right across from mine. "Hey, your house if right across from mine!" She giggled and again brushed her hair back. "Well, that's kind of cool, now I finally know someone in this neighborhood. Looks like our parents are getting acquainted." She nodded at the figures not far from us, and sure enough, our parents were in a very interesting conversation. I smiled and looked back. "Yeah I guess they are" I looked at my watch. It was almost 4:30pm. "Sorry Samara, but I've got to go, I promised my mum and dad that I'd watch a movie with them….we always have a movie night."

"Yeah I understand Emily, that's totally fine. I'll see you tomorrow?" I nodded, and was about to go when I felt her hand on my wrist. "Wait, before you go, I just wanted to do this". And with that she gave me a hug, then kissed my cheek. She whispered goodbye In my ear, and then stalked of, but nor before winking. I blushed again. This year Is going to be a great year.