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Chapter 11:
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Rosalie stepped to the edge of the diving board, her face wet and set in concentration. Her blonde hair was dark from the water and sticking to her back and she wore a navy blue swimsuit with the Academy's logo printed small and pretty on her chest. The suit was onepiece and the fabric clung tightly to every curve of her slender and statuesque body. The ceiling overhead was glass and the sun was high and bright and little droplets of water were glistening on her long legs. She looked like a swimsuit model. It was the highest diving board, the one over the deep pool, and she was looking down at the dark blue water. She exhaled slowly and bounced a couple times on the tip of the board, loose and limber, and then she leapt—a high backflip and half twist that carried her into the air and down again before she straightened out into an arrow of arms and legs and slipped succinctly into the water with hardly a splash like a mermaid.
Bella sighed longingly.
She was sitting in the stands with Leah, both of them in their uniforms, not swimming today. There was an echo of voices in the long cool hall but she hadn't been the only girl watching. Rosalie's dives were the best in the school. Bella and Leah been chatting but they had both paused to watch. Rosalie was now resurfacing, breaking water as gracefully as she entered it. Bella watched her climb out of the pool, scaling the little ladder in a series of steps with water dripping from her body like some scrupulous sea goddess.
Bella sighed again.
"Rosalie is so beautiful," she murmured.
Leah chuckled. "You really like her, huh?"
"Yeah," she grinned.
She was still staring at Rosalie's dripping form but then someone else got out of the pool who drew her attention.
Alice.
They still hadn't spoken and things were as strained as ever. Her class had been doing laps in the shallow pool and now they were all climbing out. Alice hefted herself up onto the tiles in one motion and sat there for a second with her feet still in the water. She was aware of who was in the stands and she glanced over her wet shoulder. Her eyes met with Bella's and Bella pretended not to notice.
Leah followed her gaze and smiled. Alice had rose to her feet and now she was trudging away to the locker room. Leah turned to Bella.
"What about Alice?" she asked.
Bella gave her a weird look. "What about her?"
"You kind of like her too, don't you?"
"No," Bella objected, ignoring the strange surge of emotion that passed through her. "I just feel sorry for her."
Leah smirked. "So how come you're not even talking to her?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because she used me and broke my friend's heart," Bella said, frowning. "And then she won't even admit it or apologize."
Leah gave a careless shrug. "So?"
"So?" Bella repeated incredulously.
Leah chuckled and shook her head. One of the coaches by the pool blew a whistle sharply and a flock of girls jumped into the water like a school of dolphin. Leah crossed her legs and turned back to Bella.
"I just think you might be overreacting, that's all," she said. "I mean, she used me too, you know. Do you see me walking around carrying a grudge? No, and you know why? Because me and Alice had a great time together. It didn't last long, but it was fun. No hard feelings, you know?"
Bella frowned at all this. "Yeah, but…"
"But what?"
"She hurt my friend," Bella insisted.
"Sure she didn't hurt you?"
Bella's frowned deepened even further. Her stomach was tightening, and sure Alice had hurt her—but not because of that. Leah chuckled and turned to face Bella, speaking seriously but with a smile.
"Look," she said. "Alice isn't a bad girl, she just has different ideas about relationships than other people. Wrong ideas, maybe, but she's not gonna learn any better when even her own friends are shunning her like the village whore. I mean, give her a break, you know? Look at her, look at how miserable she is."
Alice had just emerged from the locker room and Leah gestured at her. The small girl looked over at the stands, at Bella and Leah, and adjusted the strap of her bag as she looked away again. With her sadness and her damp and messy hair she looked like a stray kitten who'd been lost in the rain.
Bella didn't answer and she pretended not to notice Alice. Alice was pretending too and now she was making her way around the pool to the exit. Leah smiled at how they were both pretending and then she stood up and gave Bella a tap on the shoulder to say so long.
"I'm gonna go see if she wants to hang out," she said. "Tell Rosalie I'll see her later."
"O-okay," Bella stuttered in surprise.
Leah was already jogging over to Alice. She called out half way and bounded up with a grin and put her arm directly around Alice's slender shoulders. Alice giggled and they walked out like that. Bella watched them, trying not to be jealous.
Rosalie, meanwhile, had been speaking to the coach and patting down her face and hair with a towel. Now she was coming over toward Bella. Bella didn't notice her until Leah and Alice were gone but then she looked up at Rosalie and all the jealousy went away. Rosalie smiled at her and Bella smiled back, lighting up inside with that simple joy of having a beautiful blonde girlfriend.
"Hey, baby," Rosalie said, sitting down and giving Bella a quick kiss on the lips.
"Hi," Bella gushed. "You were amazing up there."
Rosalie smiled. A drop of water ran down her forehead and she lifted the towel to dab it away. "Thanks," she said. "Although I still need a lot of practice before the championships. I think I might come back tonight, when I can have the whole pool to myself."
"Can I come watch?" Bella asked hopefully.
Rosalie didn't answer right away and she seemed a little hesitant. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea," she said. "It'll be after curfew and you won't have a pass. I don't want you to get in trouble."
"I can sneak out," Bella offered.
"I don't know, I'll be there till late."
"Please?" Bella pleaded. "I'd really love to watch."
Rosalie sighed and smiled. A whistle blew by the pool. She still seemed hesitant for some reason but Bella's big brown eyes seemed to melt her. She had the towel in her lap and now she leaned and cupped Bella's face and placed another kiss on Bella's lips.
"Alright," she said.
—
Alice and Leah had gone back to Leah's dorm where they were soon sprawled on the carpet and playing video games, just relaxing and hanging out. Leah had her own TV and Xbox and they were playing a fighting game, each mashing the controller in her hands. Alice was sitting with her legs crossed, the tip of her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth in concentration. Leah was smiling and sitting back against the bed, one knee drawn up and not even a crease to her brow as her thumbs nimbly danced on the gamepad. Alice wound up with her ass whipped and burst out giggling as her character hit the ground. Leah chuckled.
"Maybe we should play something else," she said. "Something you don't suck so hard at."
But Alice just giggled again and hit the buttons for a rematch. "No way, I'm gonna kick your ass this time."
"Whatever you say, sweetie."
Alice giggled some more. She glanced at Leah and glanced again. It was the first time she'd laughed in a week and she felt a surge of affection for this uber-cool brunette who was being nice to her when all her friends hated her.
"Thanks for letting me hang out Leah," she said. "I was worried you didn't like me anymore."
Leah smiled and glossed over that last sentence. "Don't mention it," she said, "I like the company."
Alice nodded and looked about the room. There was only one bed and the décor was all Leah: heavy metal posters overlapping on the walls, discarded leather clothes on the floor. The nightstand strewn with dark shades of makeup. It looked like a really cool room but that wasn't what Alice was thinking.
"It's funny," she said. "I used to think it would be awesome to be a senior and to have a whole room all to yourself. But now that I actually have a room all to myself it's just lonely. I liked having a roommate."
The game was on pause and she looked down at her controller sadly, a subtle supplication for sympathy in her voice. Leah smiled and resisted the urge to playfully roll her eyes. Instead she jostled the other girl's knee.
"Don't worry about Bella and all them," she said. "Girls can be petty."
"Tell me about it," Alice pouted.
Leah chuckled and wrapped her arm around Alice's shoulders in a rough little half hug. "Friends fight all the time," she said. "It's no big deal."
"Yeah," Alice agreed, and then she offered Leah an apologetic smile. "And I'm sorry I never called you back. After we…you know."
"After I asked if you wanted to be my girlfriend and you never got back to me?"
Alice blushed guiltily. "Yeah."
Leah chuckled again and let the girl go, putting her hands back on the controller. "Don't mention it," she said. "Now all you gotta do is apologize to your little friends, huh?"
Alice snorted and unpaused the game. The two characters on the screen flew at each other with their fists and the sound of smacked flesh filled the room.
"No way," Alice said adamantly, jabbing at the controller. "If they wanna hate me now, fine. I don't care. They can hate me as much as they want. I don't mind apologizing to you because you're really cool and you don't hate me, but I'm never apologizing to them."
Leah rolled her eyes. "You're just as bad as they are," she said. "Bunch of little girls."
Alice went to protest but her character was taking a beating. Leah smiled and calmly executed a button combination. Alice tried to block but her character took a punch to the face and a knee to the gut before a swift roundhouse kick emptied her life bar and almost took her head off.
Alice pouted and sagged with the controller in her lap. Leah smiled and put the controller down and turned to speak with Alice properly.
"Look," she said. "One of you chicks needs to grow up and it might as well be you. You're the one that took advantage of them"
"No, I didn't," Alice objected, "I just—"
"Alice, come on," Leah interrupted, her cool façade slipping into disapproval. "No one likes to be played, alright? It's insulting. I'm old enough that I don't really care about this highschool crap, but they're not. If they were really your friends and if you really cared about them, then you need to grow up and make things right. Okay?"
Alice shrank slightly. On the TV screen her character was laying on the ground in a bruised heap. She glanced at it and back at Leah. Leah's face softened and she gave the girl a smile.
"I hate seeing you mope around school like a lost dog," she said, wrapping her arm once again around her shoulders. "I just want you to be happy, you know?"
Alice nodded quickly, glad the older girl didn't suddenly hate her like everyone else. "Yeah," she said. "I'm sorry, I just…"
She trailed off. She was flushed with embarrassment and a little awkward from having her childishness revealed to her. Leah still had her arm around Alice's shoulders and she was studying Alice's face. Then she smiled.
"You're cute when you're sad, you know," she said.
Alice blushed even more. "I am?"
"Mmhm," Leah murmured. She had let the controller slip out of her other hand and now she reached into Alice's lap. Alice stiffened slightly. Leah's fingers toyed with the hem of her miniskirt and lifted it slightly. "And even cuter under here…"
Leah went to reach under her skirt but Alice quickly clenched her thighs together and fumbled with the controller.
"Oh, look!" she blurted at the TV screen. "The game's starting!"
Leah glanced at the TV, sighed, and retracted her hand. She took up her controller and sat back against the bed. Alice was sitting beside her, rigid and fully focused on the game. Leah smiled to herself. She was glad Alice had chickened out. That was kind of the point.
—
It was a beautiful night, that night, and even though Bella was only sitting in the stands while Rosalie practiced her dives, it felt really romantic.
She had bought some homework to do but she had discarded it a while ago. The small stack of books sat on the bench beside her and she was wholly absorbed in watching Rosalie climb the ladder to the highest diving board, take a deep breath, and then spring into the air like a wet gymnast. The moon was full and waxing and it shone brightly just beyond the glass ceiling overhead and there were stars spread all across the black night sky. Bella couldn't stop marveling at how beautiful and graceful she was. Climbing that ladder with those long legs, bare and wet. Leaping from the board and twisting artfully through the air. A light splash as she broke the water. Resurfacing again and flinging back her hair in a fan of spray. Other than the sounds of water there was no sound at all in that long cool hall.
Bella was watching well over an hour before Rosalie was done. She had completed her last dive and when she surfaced she was at the edge of the pool, facing Bella. Hair wet, water dripping from her face. She blinked her eyes to keep the water from them and her eyes met with Bella's. Rosalie smiled at the way Bella was looking at her and then she lifted a hand from the pool and beckoned for the other girl to come closer, a come hither curl of her finger with her wet hair and wet face like a siren or a water dryad.
Bella smiled and blushed. Then she rose and went over.
"I think I'm done practicing for the night," Rosalie said, gazing up at her from the water. "Wanna take a dip quickly?"
Bella looked over her shoulder, as if there was someone back there she had to ask permission. "Oh, I don't—I don't even have my swimsuit."
Bella chuckled awkwardly but Rosalie only shrugged a bare and wet shoulder.
"So?" she said. "I'm the only one here."
Bella hesitated but she was smiling.
"Come on," Rosalie enticed. "Just take off your clothes."
Bella bit her lip, blushing, and finally she nodded.
"Okay," she said, and started with the buttons on her blouse.
Rosalie smiled and pushed back from the edge of the pool, treading water and watching Bella undress. Bella kicked off her shoes first and then she had her blouse open. Her bra underneath was a padded pushup with a pretty pastel print, light green with pink flowers. Bella blushed some more and took off her socks, lifting one foot then the other, and then she lowered her skirt, revealing a matching pair of panties, boyleg briefs with lace elastic and flowers on the front. Rosalie smiled and gestured with her chin.
"Jump in," she said.
Bella stepped up to the edge, the tiles wet and cold under her bare feet, and then she dived in. It was a clumsy dive, nothing like Rosalie, and she laughed as she resurfaced, shaking the water out of her face and struggling to stay afloat.
"Not bad," Rosalie said. "I could teach you how to dive properly if you wanted."
Bella laughed and stuttered in the water, like a floundering dog. "Are you kidding? I suck at anything that requires coordination. I'd probably land on my head or something."
"You're supposed to, silly," Rosalie said, taking the other girl's waist under the water to help steady her. Bella relaxed and treaded water more easily. Rosalie was looking into her face and Bella got a little shy.
"Water's kind of cold," she mentioned.
Rosalie smiled. "Want me to warm you up?"
Bella giggled and she didn't need to answer. Rosalie swung her through the water, like some aquatic dance move, and pressed her against the edge of the pool. The tiles against her back were even colder than the water but she didn't mention it. A lock of dark hair was stuck to her face like seaweed and Rosalie moved it aside with her fingers before that same hand cupped Bella's cheek. Bella waited, her lips wet and slightly parted, and finally Rosalie leaned to her mouth.
Bella's eyes fell closed. A little moan came out of her. Rosalie's lips were pressed flushed to hers and the kiss was already warming her up. Bella moaned again and tilted her face, keeping her hands on Rosalie's shoulders for support. It was the only thing keeping her from sinking. Rosalie was holding the edge of the pool with one hand while the other reached into the water and touched Bella's body. Bella wrapped a leg around Rosalie's hips like a tentacle. Rosalie held her thigh and broke the kiss to chuckle. But the chuckle drifted away when she saw Bella wasn't smiling.
"Hey," she said softly. "You okay?"
Bella was a little surprised but she nodded quickly. "Of course," she said. "Why?"
Rosalie was looking at her. "You don't look okay."
Bella blinked. And now that Rosalie had mentioned it, Bella could feel it. A hollow sensation in the pit of her stomach. She had hardly even noticed it was there but it was. A cold feeling. An empty feeling.
Rosalie tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Bella said, shaking her head. "It's just…"
"Just what?"
"I don't know. Alice, I guess."
Rosalie paused a moment. Her legs moved in the water. Bella seemed ashamed she'd mentioned it and after a minute Rosalie shrugged.
"What about her?" she asked.
Bella sighed. She still had her hands on Rosalie's shoulders but her leg had slipped away. "I don't know," she said. "I just feel kind of bad. I mean, in a way it's all my fault that she's lost all her friends. Angela and Jess never had a problem with her until I did."
"Alice made her choices. None of it's your fault."
"It feels like it, though."
"Well," Rosalie said gently, "why don't you just make up with her already?"
Bella sighed again. "I don't know."
Then she shivered. The water was cold and the tiles were cold as well but it wasn't only that. Rosalie noticed and her eyes drifted away across the pool and then they drifted back.
"Maybe it's time you told her how you feel," she said.
Bella looked up at her. "Who?"
"Alice," Rosalie said, smiling gently.
Bella balked. "I-I don't feel anything."
Rosalie chuckled and used one hand to cup Bella's cheek, gazing into her eyes. "It's pretty obvious, baby," she said. "Both of you. Anybody can see it."
"I already have a girlfriend," Bella said, frowning adamantly.
But Rosalie only chuckled again, softly, and shook her head. "Not anymore," she said, and then she lowered her hand from Bella's face and turned away.
Bella was so stunned she almost sank. Rosalie had moved over to the ladder and she was climbing out of the pool. Bella watched her, treading water frantically. Rosalie turned back, standing on the tiles, and wrung out her long blonde hair. Then she smiled sadly, let her hair fall, and started for the locker room.
"Rosalie?" Bella meeped. "Rosalie, what…?"
Rosalie didn't come back. Bella watched her go and for a minute she floundered there in the pool, waves of terror rolling over her as if she might drown. Finally she snapped out of it and hefted herself out of the pool, dripping in her underwear, and ran to catch up with Rosalie.
She found her standing at an open locker, toweling down her hair. Bella approached like a wet mouse, her black hair stuck to her chest, her pretty underwear soaked and dark. She was fidgeting with her fingers and her eyebrows were creased in anxiety.
"Rosalie? Rosalie, what are you doing?"
Rosalie didn't look at her. "I can't keep seeing you while you're in love with someone else," she said.
"I'm not!" Bella instantly blurted and she really believed it. "I love you!"
"It's okay, Bella," Rosalie said, as if the outburst was sad but a little funny too in an ironic way. "I'm not angry, okay? We can still be friends, don't worry."
Bella was outright panicking now. "I don't want to be friends! I'm your girlfriend!"
Rosalie didn't answer. She was taking off her swimsuit, lowering the shoulder straps and peeling the garment away from her wet body. Bella bit her lip, not knowing what to say. Her heart was aching from how beautiful the blonde's nakedness was. She was drying herself and now she was stepping into a pair of panties and putting a bra on.
"Rosalie," Bella said, her voice edged with hysteria. "Rosalie, please. I'm sorry. I won't talk about her anymore, I promise. I don't even like her, I swear. Please, just…"
But the other girl wasn't even listening and suddenly Bella burst into tears.
Rosalie paused, buttoning up her blouse. She watched the other girl cry for a bit, sadly, and then did the last couple buttons and pulled on her shoes. She didn't tuck the blouse into her skirt and hadn't put on any socks. She put the rest of her clothes into her bag and closed the locker.
Bella was sobbing and wiping her eyes, standing there in her wet underwear. Rosalie came over and spoke quietly.
"Shh," she said, touching Bella's shoulder soothingly. "Wait here for a second, okay?"
Bella wiped her eyes and looked up. Rosalie walked past her and out into the pool area. Bella waited, sniffing to herself, and in a couple minutes Rosalie came back. She had fetched Bella's clothes and now she handed them to Bella.
"Here," she said. "Don't cry, okay? You'll be alright. I'm still your big sis, but I can't keep pretending. I need to be honest with myself. So do you."
Bella took the clothes and hugged them to her chest. She looked up at Rosalie with her red eyes. She sniffed.
"I am being honest," she insisted. "I love you."
Rosalie smiled and touched her cheek. "It's okay," she said. "Don't cry."
"Rosalie, please," Bella begged. "Please, just—"
She broke off in a sob. She turned away and cried into her clothes. Rosalie watched her for a moment, feeling bad, and then she leaned and placed a kiss on Bella's wet hair.
"I'm sorry, Bella," she said, and then she turned and walked out.
—
It was late when Bella finally made her way back to the dorm. She hadn't bothered to put her clothes on and she snuck through the corridors in her bra and panties. She had cried so long in the locker room even her hair was dry.
She entered her own half of the suite and closed the door softly. It was pitch black and she assumed Alice was asleep. Jessica and Angela would be asleep as well and she didn't want to wake anyone so she decided she might as well sleep in her own bed tonight. She sat down on the mattress and realized it had been about three weeks since she had slept here. She left her clothes on the floor and didn't even think about brushing her tangled hair. She just crawled under the covers an closed her eyes and lay there like a stone.
"Bella?"
A soft whisper in the darkness. Alice. Timid and almost shy, a hint of hope in her voice. Bella frowned in the darkness and pretended to be asleep. It was Alice's fault Rosalie had dumped her and she still didn't want to talk to her.
The voice didn't come again and soon they were both asleep.
—
AN: No lemon. :( Ah well, at least Bella and Alice are closer to making up. It'll happen soon, I promise. Maybe the next chapter, I'm not sure. I haven't exactly planned this shit out, lol.