Here we go. This is the first half of what I would call a chapter, but I figured splitting the chapter in half would be ok. Here we go.

Finally, school was over. Now all I had to do was do Shark tryouts, and I'd be able to leave.

I managed to convince my teacher to let me leave 20 minutes earlier so I could get ready for tryouts. So I went to the girls locker room and changed. Then I walked out to the pool area.

But apparently, I wasn't the only Shark who thought to ditch class early.

"Hey Diego," I say.

"Hmm. Oh, hey Andi," he says looking up from the pool. He's just sitting with his feet in the water. I sit down next to him.

We sat there for a few minutes in silence. Then Diego asks me, "So, what's up?"

"Oh, um, nothing much. Same old me. Playing video games, hanging out with Emma."

"Oh, that's cool."

I pause before saying, "Yeah. But a little difficult to hang around Emma when she's in Daniel mode."

"Yeah, I guess that probably would be a pain to have to be watching everyday."

"Well, how about you?" I ask, "Anything new?"

"Um, not really I guess. I've been practicing with my Kanay powers. I have to, otherwise Maddie… you know," he says.

"Yeah, I guess. So how's your epic quest to get together with Maddie going?"

"Not well," he says looking back down. I should feel bad for him, but as bad as this sounds, I kinda liked hearing this.

"Oh." I say

"Yeah."

Another moment of silence.

"So, um…" he starts.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Well...I was wondering what's going on between you and Jax?" he asks, looking me in the eyes.

"What're you talking about?" I ask, confusion written across my face.

"Nothing. It's nothing. I just saw you two at lunch together, so I thought…," he says.

"Oh…OH…no, there's nothing…we aren't…yeah," I say. What can I say, the question surprised me.

"Really? Okay then," he says, a bit happier now.

I was glad he was cheering up, but he still seemed sad. I tried to think of how I could cheer him up further. Then it hit me. We were alone at the pool, one of our favorite places. I remember a couple years back, we were messing around after school for detention. We were cleaning up around the pool, then I…

Splash

Diego resurfaced a couple seconds later, looking at me, then grinning. I should've realized what was about to happen, but I was too busy laughing at him. The next thing I knew, I was underwater. I surfaced up, and looked at Diego, who smiled, and then we both started laughing.

We got out in our soaking wet gym uniforms. That's when we heard the bell ring.

"Dude, I think we should go get dried off," I told him.

"Here. I got it," he says. He then blows out air, which hits me like a hurricane. Once he stops, I look down and find that I'm dry.

He does the same for himself, and then we grab our clipboards and timers. A few minutes later, Daniel and all the students who were trying out came.

Burning with Jealousy (Part 1) completed