Tree Hill High, Sports Hall

When our cheerleader team met in the big sports hall the next day after class had ended, only Lydia and I knew why it had even come to this meeting. I still couldn't believe that my best friend was doing this all because of me. But of course that had to stay between us. Nobody could know the real cause. I looked at Lydia who was standing in front of us, ready to make her speech.

"Hey girls! Nice to see you all here. As I have already announced in my message, it's about a change in the training plan, more precisely, a change of location."

There was a babble of voices and I turned to the others. Not everyone seemed so excited about the news.

"What exactly does 'change of location' mean?" A voice from the crowd called.

"It means we go to another place for one day," Lydia explained. "And I thought, as long as the weather is so nice, we could go to the beach."

Once again there was a murmur from the crowd, and I turned to Izzy, who clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"That's a great idea!" She exclaimed. "I wanted to suggest that for a while. You can train much better in fresh air. And if you fall, the sand softens the crash."

She was right. I gazed at Lydia with a meaningful look and she winked at me.

"Are you all okay with that?" She asked, looking around. "If you agree with my suggestion, please raise your hand!"

I looked around quickly and was really surprised to see that almost all hands were up in the air.

"Then the decision is made." Lydia nodded satisfied. "We'll meet at the beach tomorrow afternoon."

"Great!" Izzy nodded pleased.

"Oh yeah, don't forget to take your swimwear with you," Lydia added. "We will probably try some figures in the water. Are you all able to swim?" She looked questioningly at the other girls.

"The undercurrent can be dangerous."

I turned to Jennifer. "Don't be silly," I said, rolling my eyes. "We don't want to go deep inside, just stay close to the shore." Okay, to be fair, the girls couldn't know that I was the only one who would go deeper into the water. It had to look real when I got into 'distress'.

"I'm afraid of the water," confessed a squeaky voice.

"Then you just stay on the beach, Erin," Lydia suggested. "Nobody forces you to go into the water."

"I have my flow. I'm not allowed to go into the water either."

I saw Lydia rolling her eyes about this comment. Why couldn't she use tampons? But there were more important things to discuss. "What about supervision?" I asked for the others.

"Oh yes, right. Don't worry about that. I asked my older brother, and he agreed to take care of us," Lydia said.

"Shall I ask my brother, too?" Izzy asked. "He told us yesterday that he won't move to California for another month. So it wouldn't be a problem for him to look out for us."

I wanted to hug her for this good news. My heart started to throb faster with excitement.

Lydia smiled. "Good idea, Izzy, ask your brother. I could do it myself, but it's better this way. Let me know how he then decided."

"Was that it? Can we go now?"

I realized how impatient the girls were to get home quickly. Many had long lessons and just wanted to relax. Some others had to do homework and learn for upcoming exams. I, on the other hand, was way too excited to go home. When everyone was gone, I turned to Lydia. "Would you like to go to the ice cream parlor?" I suggested. I saw how she hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay, but just one scoop, not more. I can't afford to gain weight."

I rolled my eyes. Lydia wasn't skinny, she was in a good shape with just the right curves. But she always thought that she was too fat. "One scoop of ice cream," I promised and then took her arm "Thanks again, for doing this for me. And if Justin agrees, then it's really perfect." I looked at her because she didn't respond to my comment, but looked very thoughtful. "Lydia?" I asked, looking at her worriedly.

"Sawyer... I... there's something I need to tell you," she said hesitantly, then lowered her head.

"Would you prefer that we go someplace else instead?" I asked.

"No." She shook her head. "I prefer to tell you at a neutral place."

She didn't say much more and I was suddenly really curious what she had to tell me. When we arrived at the ice cream parlor, we immediately decided for a place in the far corner and I sat down opposite her. "Okay, spit it out!" I urged her. "What's troubling you?"