Ana knew there wasn't a chance in hell that she'd miss the first swim meet of the season. For most schools across the country, it's either football or soccer that's the staple big-time sport, the one thing that everyone supports without question but at Spenser? No, it was all about swimming. Her father had been on the same team with the Sons' fathers back in the day, though of course, he had been two years below them.
The moment she stepped inside and that chlorine hit her nostrils, memories flooded her mind's eye whether she wanted them to or not. Her parents took her to plenty of meets in her youth and she remembered always thinking how big, grown-up the teenagers were. That she couldn't wait to be one. She'd see a boy emerge from the water and a girl come up to kiss him, the only congratulating he seemed to need at all, cheering simply background noise. There was just something about it that made her inexplicably happy.
Seeing Kate get so dreamy-eyed over watching Pogue crush the competition just made the memories all the more real, the same look replicated on her friend's face currently being the one she'd witnessed time and time again as a yearning child.
"Whose swim is next?" Kate asked absentmindedly, her attention clearly directed at a shirtless and dripping Pogue, not that she could blame her any.
"Um," Pausing, she failed to see much of anything through the chaos of the switch. "Tyler, I think?" She answered halfheartedly, knowing she'd surely have to correct herself when the appropriate swimmers approached their lanes.
Spotting a bleach blonde melon in the crowd putting on a navy blue swimmers cap, she smiled in spite of herself.
"Oh, Reid's up."
As he crouched in his lane, his absolute focus was hard to ignore while he stared directly into the area of the water that was practically calling his name, the pool now eerily still and ready for action. Jumping in mechanically, practiced at the sound of the whistle, he initially took the lead and Ana shamelessly looked on in wonder as he made the breaststroke look so effortless, able to observe his back muscles contracting with every swift movement he made. She was well aware that she was most likely yelling encouragements for him louder than for the others before, but it wasn't the time to care.
It was the final lap and he was in second, all three girls cheering just as loudly as before regardless of his place and just when it seemed as though the other swimmer would snatch the win, Reid got the jump on him just enough to surpass. The crowd went berserk, resounding off of the walls with a deafening roar as he touched the edge before that poor boy could even realize what happened. He'd popped out of the water with the look of victory that faded as quickly as it had appeared, the boys huddling around Reid the second he hoisted himself from the pool with a deserved megawatt smile.
His outright laugh filled her with an indescribable warmth, defying logic and she found that he was unintentionally entwining his roots into every crevice of her mind until she felt she was suffocating and yet he seemed to be breathing just fine. A breathy laugh of her own at his joy pressed past her lips, glancing downward at her thoughts before slowly lifting her sights back up to a pair of awaiting baby blues. She could swear it didn't matter where they were or how many people were around; his eyes would always find hers.
All four Sons reined victorious, walking away with gold plated medals, always a promising start to any season.
The girls began their trip back, the uproar still ongoing even into the hallways, breathing life into the dated building. It had made it quite difficult to speak, causing them to yell over the boom to hear one another even slightly clearly, but the chatter had honestly dimmed substantially in a matter of minutes, minus the boy running past yelling "SPENSER WINS AGAIN, BITCHES!"
Sarah broke off to find Caleb as some congratulating was in order, the girls wiggling their brows suggestively at her before she'd left and watching as she turned scarlet.
"We can have one more cram study session later tonight, right?" Kate begged, hands folded over one another and the fear of that test glistening in her brown eyes.
"Sure, but no distractions this time!" Ana lightly scolded and Kate dropped her praying hands in excitement.
"Yes ma'am," She promised, "I remember everything better with you as my teacher."
Kate kissed her cheek with an audible 'muah!' before waving quickly and starting in a run, assuming she was catching back up with Pogue, her figure fading farther into the distance. The rest of the slow bustle began to fade fairly fast, the sight and sounds of other people already becoming a rarity as she allowed herself a calm walk back. It felt like she'd only just put in her ear buds when there was a hand landing on her shoulder, taking the right side bud out and turning her head to see a dimpled smile boy.
He'd made it a point to catch up with her in the hall, every other student finding their way back to the dorms by that point and leaving the pair alone. The only sounds heard were their light voices and consistent padding of shoes against tile, sounding as a heartbeat reverberating between the walls of the strictly empty corridor. The conversation had been very friendly thus far, but it was Reid, after all. She had the feeling it wasn't going to stay that way for much longer.
"Good job out there, by the way."
"Ah, I can only try." He shrugged off, the ghost of a smirk hinted on his lips.
"Oh, me and Kate are studying for Mr. Platten's test one last time later on if you want to join us?" Ana offered, wrapping the cord of her ear buds around her iPod.
He pretended to be in thought, bringing his pointer finger and thumb to rest against his chin and cocking his head to one side.
"I'll pass. I can think of about ten things I'd rather do."
"Okay secret genius, you can just admit that you aren't scared for this test." Nudging his shoulder with hers, she laughed.
"Fine, I'm not worried about it at all." He shrugged once more, seeing her smile in his peripheral.
"You ever gonna tell me how you got that shiner?" Nodding her head up toward his eye as she inquired, she assessed the slight damage that remained in better light.
"It was an odd event, really. Nothing too interesting." He dismissed, "Not like the proposition I have for you."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh really?"
"Aaron's parents left on a little impromptu vacation, so he's throwing a party this weekend and we're all going. I was told personally to tell you."
"You're about to raise some hell, aren't you?"
A wide smile overtook his features for a moment.
"The whole school is going, not like he could even find me to stop me."
She couldn't help the laugh that fell easily from her lips, shaking her head at his antics and realizing he wasn't adding any more to his speech. Stopping her steps in the middle of the hallway, he copied, standing in front of her expectantly with hands in his pockets.
"Is that all, Reid?"
Ana took a step to the right and he countered it, mimicking every move of hers as to not allow her to walk past.
"Now, you know that's never the case."
Putting a foot forward, he patiently walked closer and closer, knowing full well that she'd take a step back to keep the distance every time until she felt her back make contact with the cool wall. She was defeated, her expression told him that as he almost closed the space amidst them fully, placing a palm on either side of her head and having her cornered, exactly where he wanted her.
"Look, this really needs to stop."
He raised a perplexed brow. "What would that be, exactly?"
"This," Ana pressed, gesturing between the close proximity of their bodies, "It needs to quit."
"And what am I doing, hm?" He tested, slowly inching closer, "Why don't I show you some more?"
Gently grasping a blonde strand framing her face between his digits to twist, he never broke the eye contact he'd established, stepping just an inch more to successfully close the gap that felt as though it had been keeping them miles apart.
Her stomach swarmed with raging fire, desperately trying to deny to herself that she enjoyed this hadn't been working, had never worked, not with him and yet something always held her back regardless. She found herself glancing at his hands often and wondering what it would be like if they were tangled into her hair, casually skimming down her body purely by the memory locked within fingertips that had been there many occasions before, baby blue eyes gawking at her like a piece of art.
He'd placed a kiss against her jaw, outlining the contours of her neck with a road map of affection as her back arched further into him and allowed further access toward her collarbone and chest. His hand moved from trapping her to letting his fingers trace where his lips had been, settling to rest at the curve of her hip. Peppering kisses and tantalizing licks along every millimeter of exposed skin was proving insufficient, a telling moan slipping from her mouth, wanting. He needed more. She needed more. The thought to slide the hand at her hip up just so to tear off her button down at the seems crossed his imagination, practically seeing the trajectory of the white buttons soaring to the floor with silence only exciting him all the more, curiosity of a cat to wonder what could possibly be hidden underneath the garment.
Their position was dangerous, risky. It didn't give them the sensation of good, more that it was right.
Keeping it together was no longer an option, pretending this wasn't everything they both wanted wasn't remotely going to fly, not when she could feel the warmth of his spearmint breath now fanning against her lips with the knowledge that if she just moved a damn millimeter, they'd finally touch.
"I should get going." The breathy words halted, pressing a finger to his pink pout and swallowing roughly.
Resting his forehead against hers, they took a deep and necessary breath before she'd slipped out from between him and the smooth plaster of the wall.
He dropped his hand to his side, that effervescent smirk returning to rest on his features once more while his eyes followed her every move.
"So, I'll see you there?" He mentioned for a final time.
"Yeah," She answered slowly, "You might."
They smiled at one another, too busy and too lost to care about the pair of intruding eyes scrutinizing the despicable scene from the enclosed darkness of the hallway.
"Okay, we need to take another break." Kate suggested, flipping the book closed lazily.
"More like we need to wrap this up for tonight," Ana informed, checking the time on her phone, "It's past eleven."
Kate yawned on cue with eyes wide, stretching out on Ana's bed and resembling a starfish.
"I'd like to thank you, master, for teaching me in a way that paid professors seem to not be able to."
"Yeah, yeah, get out of here." She laughed, tossing a pillow toward her face.
Ana stood from her previous sitting position, stretching herself and hearing her back pop in the process.
She grabbed a fresh towel from her bathroom, not neglecting her sanitary essentials and following Kate out of the room, closing the door securely behind them both. She'd ran the Chase idea past her once again, Ana rolling her eyes and telling her again that it was a hard no. She questioned why, Ana giving the same answer as before, saying she didn't know him well enough. It wasn't a lie after all, however it definitely wasn't the whole truth and she got the overwhelming feeling that Kate could sense it, but thankfully she wouldn't press on.
Dropping off Kate at her room, she was to able to see for a brief moment that Sarah had returned, having missed the study session for a sudden date night with Caleb and it looked as though she hadn't been back very long at all. They talked for a bit before she realized that he had to have walked Sarah to the room. Ana practically bolted down those creaky wooden stairs, refusing to miss him on his way out and smiled with delight at spotting the back of his tall, muscular frame heading to the door. Deciding in a haste on throwing her loofah at his head to stop him dead in his tracks, he turned around with confusion written across his face, picking up the pink material before looking up to the awaiting girl.
"Have a celebratory date, now did we?" She teased with a shimmy of her shoulders, Caleb letting out a small chuckle as he caught the last of her dance.
"Just a simple outing, really." He insisted, raising his hands palms up in defense and handing the item back.
"Fair enough, but in all seriousness Caleb, I think she's great for you," She began, "Even though you promised you'd marry me in the second grade, but you know-"
Playfully shoving her shoulder then, she took a step back to catch herself, biting her lip to keep from smiling too wide as she saw the childlike spark in his eye.
"You know you'll always be my number one." Caleb spoke, taking her small frame in a side hug. "It never felt complete with you gone."
"Reid did find you earlier and told you about the party, right?" He questioned.
He sure found me, alright, she thought.
"Yeah, and I wanted to ask, you aren't worried about him starting something?"
"Please, we can handle Aaron." Caleb laughed.
"As long as you say so. Oh, and you know that you can always gush to me what you'd never tell the boys."
"I wouldn't dream of telling anyone else." He ruffled her hair, ruining the direction of her part and the hair obscuring her vision, pouting.
Heading to his parked Mustang, he got drenched in the sudden downpour that promptly initiated when he was telling Sarah goodbye, Ana convinced that it was karma working some subtle and harmless magic.
Ana was delighted when she opened the door to the showers, the room not harboring a single person within and having her first choice of the shower with the best water pressure and heat.
Only having to wait a moment for the water to reach an absurdly high temperature of her liking, she stepped in and gladly let the warm, calming liquid cascade down her tired limbs. Thinking over her day in reflective silence, her mind wandered to the section that a certain boy was taking up a considerate fraction of, washing her locks with the scent of coconut as the soapy water circled the drain, the perfect end to a night and exactly what she needed. Well, almost perfect, except that she could swear she heard someone whisper her name.
She whipped around, wet hair slinging in a clump to her opposite shoulder and being unsuccessful to see the silhouette of a person through the frosted glass.
"Anyone in here?" She called out shakily, receiving no answer and figuring that it had to be her imagination, her mind just playing tricks on her yet she felt sick to her stomach.
Going through the motions of her routine at that point, she was now moving as fast as she could, no longer even close to enjoying and only attempting to be finished, to leave. Turning the knob completely around to the left, the only sound was the dripping of the remaining water, opening the door a crack just large enough for her head and peeking out. Scanning the room and seeing nothing but steam evaporating, she'd just persuaded herself that she simply misheard a noise and was scaring herself for nothing when she heard it again. This time, directly in her ear.
Rapidly throwing the towel over her exposed body, she gathered her things at breakneck speed, storming out of that room and without daring to take a look back.
Chapter five, what's up! This girl ain't gonna let classes get in her way of being creative, I promise. That being said, please be sure to follow and favorite if you enjoyed reading and leave me a review down below. Don't be shy, seriously! I'd love to know what you think! xx