Hi, guys! I am happy you are enjoying the story. I wanted to focus on Paige, because she's a great character. Here's chapter 4. Enjoy it!
I never liked school, but right now I am hating it more than ever. After two awful days it is highly probable I will see Emily today, although I don't have any classes with her and I won't go to swimming practice, because I convinced my mother my back was still sore and she believed me. Thank goodness my dad is not at home, otherwise he would probably tell me to go and swim some laps, that I need to stay fit for the upcoming meets. I go downstairs and I see my mother eating cereals.
"Good morning, sleepyhead, how are you feeling?" – my mothers asks nicely.
"I'm better, mom, thanks. I am not hungry. I will eat this banana on my way to school. See you later, mom." – I tell her, while I open the front door.
She smiles at me and I smile back. I don't know if she knows I'm lying, but I prefer not to talk about my problems with Emily. She's accepted this relationship after a lot of fights with her and I'm not in the mood to tell her that it may be over.
When I get to school I go straight to my locker to get my calculus book. I like Calculus, so finally something good happens in my pathetic life. Yay! I frown while this thought comes to my mind. I am trying to find my book when I hear a girl laughing loudly. If I'm not confused that laugh is definitely Hanna's. I don't want to look, because I know Emily is probably with her. All of a sudden I hear Emily's voice, but I refuse to look at her, so I lower my head and keep looking inside my locker even though I have the book I need in my hands. I'm just waiting for them to go and get to my class without interacting with them. I know that in the long term I will have to deal with it, but right now I am not strong enough.
"Stop, Spencer, don't do anything." – I hear Emily shouting.
I can feel someone is behind me, she taps on my shoulder. I hope it's not her. I turn around and I see Spencer looking at me like I had killed a puppy.
Okay, this is not going to end well. – I think to myself.
I look at her and then I look at Emily and the other girls. Hanna tells something to Emily and suddenly they disappear, leaving me with the pleasant company of Hannibal Lecter.
"What did you do to Emily, McCullers? She doesn't want to talk about it, but she spent all weekend crying and we know it's because of you." – she says furiously.
"Hastings, wrong day to piss me off. Go talk to her, please. I am going to be late for my Calculus class." – I reply.
"Bullshit! What did you do this time? Did you try to drown her again? Did you cheat on her? I know what you are capable of. You disgust me! – she yells at me, with half of the students looking at us.
"Wow! Why so much anger, Hastings? I can see you need some time alone with your boyfriend. I'm sorry he is out of town, but it's not my fault. I heard a cold shower could work for you, maybe jogging too." – I say ironically.
I know I shouldn't have said that, but she's attacking me and I am the victim, not Emily. Yeah, sure, she wants to protects her friend, but I am not as strong as they think I am, I have feelings too.
"This is not over, McCullers. If you keep on hurting Emily… you'll pay dearly for your mistake. I warn you. Leave her alone." – she insists.
"You should tell Emily what you've just said, I don't want to see her." – I lie.
"What the fuck are you saying, psycho? She prefers being alone to being with someone who is always hurting her and letting her down. Don't come near us! – she says.
"Ok, bye, Hastings, it was nice talking to you, you made my day." – I say sarcastically.
I close my locker and I go to my class staring at the floor. Everyone is looking at me.
Great, now I'm famous. Thank you, Hastings.
I enter my classroom and everyone is staring at me like I'm an alien. My encounter with Spencer is spreading quickly. I sit down on my chair and I start thinking about all that has just happened. It's not fair, Emily cheated on me and I am the guilty one. I try to concentrate on taking notes, math is logical, it's not like real life. After almost an hour writing and listening to the teacher, I hear the bell ringing. The class is over, so I get my books and I step outside the class. The coach is standing in the hall, I think she's looking for me. She sees me and approaches me.
"Hi, Paige. Your mother called to my office this morning and told me your back is hurting since Friday. Can we talk before practice? See you later, Paige." – she says and leaves almost running.
She didn't even give me the chance to talk, so I suppose I must go. I will try to go early and try to avoid seeing all my teammates. Well… one in particular.
My other classes till lunch are really boring and Spencer is in all of them. Meaning,.. I am having a hell of a day! She keeps staring at me creepily. If looks could kill… I avoid her, concentrating on my cellphone. Two texts… both from Emily.
Text number 1: I'm really sorry. I don't know what Spencer told you, but I suppose she wasn't nice. I tried to stop her, but I couldn't.
Text number 2: I miss you a lot. Can we meet and talk? I won't give up until you give me another chance, you know it's true. XOXO
I am madly in love with her, but things have changed, I can't forgive her yet. I look at my watch and I see it's lunch time. I always go to the cafeteria and have lunch with Emily or my teammates, especially when she decides to spend time with her friends. I'm not an asocial girl, but I know sharing a table with Spencer is beyond awkward. I'm not thinking that because of what is going on right now in my life. After her friends knew about our relationship and we were hanging out, I could feel they didn't like me. Well, maybe Aria was the nicest and the only one that attempted to strike up a conversation with me. Hanna was nice too, but by the way she looked at me I knew she didn't trust me completely. I guess I needed to show her I really care about Emily to gain her trust, it makes perfect sense. I guess that won't be a problem anymore, I don't think I will be sharing a table with them in a long time. This thought saddens me, not because I want to spend time with Hastings, obviously, but because I love having lunch with Emily although she always steals all my fries. I enter the cafeteria trying to look self-confident and avoiding to have to look at the table where Emily and her friends usually have lunch. I see my teammates are sitting at the biggest table of the place, and there are empty chairs at their table, but I rather sit alone, so I walk across the cafeteria and I sit down at the only empty table, sitting with my back to Emily's table. I don't want to exchange looks with her and admire her from the distance. In just five minutes I eat the sandwich my mother prepared, I drink a sip of water, I stand up and I leave the cafeteria, looking ahead and not turning my head to avoid uncomfortable looks.
Emily's POV
I am not hungry, but I need to eat properly to give the best of myself inside the pool. This weekend we have an important meet and we need to win. I know I should concentrate on the practice and try to improve my movements inside the water, but the only thing I can think about right now is spending all weekend with Paige. She doesn't want to talk to me, but we are spending one night away from home, so she can't hide from me. I am not paying attention to the conversation between my friends, I'm in this parallel world with my thoughts and plans to regain trust after the fateful kiss with Nate. I look at my watch, in 15 minutes I have practice, so I need to hurry up. Suddenly my friends stop talking.
That's weird. – I think to myself.
Spencer's face is something to see, it is her serial killer's face, definitely. I think I know why Spencer is so angry, so I look at the door and I see Paige. I can't keep my eyes off her, but she doesn't look at me, it's like I don't exist. She's looking prettier than ever, and I didn't think that was even possible. She is wearing black trousers and a white tank top with her hair down, not her usual ponytail. My heart is racing, but I can't do anything to stop this feeling.
"Stop it, Em!" – Spencer says, looking at me furiously.
"What do you mean?" – I reply, knowing exactly what she's talking about.
"Stop staring at the psycho. You deserve better, Em. I told you a long time ago she was going to ruin your life. She tried to drown you in the pool, for Christ's sake! – she adds.
"She didn't do anything wrong, Spence. I know her very well, she's not the person you think she is. She's adorable and she cares about me." – I tell her.
"Yeah, I can see she cares about you. This morning when I told her to leave you alone she said I should tell you to stay away from her." – Spencer adds.
"Did… she… say that?" – I ask sadly.
"She's mean, Em. It's time to move on. There are other fish in the sea. – Spencer says, holding my hand.
"Yeah, but are the other fish gay? What do statistics say about that?" – Hanna says, laughing hysterically.
"Okay, I'm sorry, Em, I shouldn't have said that, I wanted to make you laugh. Obviously, I failed." – she adds.
"I won't give up, I don't care if you don't like her, it's up to me. I don't want to move on." – I affirm.
"If you want to meet new people, you should try dating sites, like Aria's mother did. After not having a date for decades HotMama is going to break the world record." – Hanna says, laughing louder than before.
"Okay, that was funny." – I add smiling.
"Challenge accomplished! Oh, yeah!" – Hanna says, pumping her fist, while Aria frowns.
"But… what did really happen between the two of you, Em? You haven't uttered a word." – Aria says, staring at me.
I look at the table but she's not there. I stand up quickly, acting on impulse.
"Well… Uh… I'm sorry, guys, practice time. I need to go. See you." – I say, leaving Aria in mid-sentence and avoiding the inopportune question.
I leave the cafeteria at high speed to reach Paige. I can't see her, the hall is really crowded. Okay, I see her perfect athletic body down the hall.
"Paige! Paige, wait!" – I shout.
I don't know if she is ignoring me or she didn't hear my voice. I rather think that she is avoiding me.
I start running, I don't think shouting louder is going to work.
"Hey, are you going to practice?" – I say, breathing heavily after my short marathon.
"Hi. I am going to meet the Coach in her office. She wants to talk about my physical problems." –she replies, with a serious look in her face.
"So… Aren't you going to be swimming in this weekend's meet? We need you so bad. – I say, preoccupied.
Shit! I was willing to be with her this weekend and try to fix this relationship.
"I don't know. That's why I'm meeting the Coach. It's getting late, I have to go." – She tells me.
With a quick movement I take her hand and I squeeze it carefully.
"I'm really sorry, Paige." – I whisper.
Paige's POV
She's staring at me seductively and my hand is burning. I am enjoying this moment, but I should be going, or I am going to regret my next movement.
"Stop, please. Let go of my hand." – I tell her, nervously.
All of a sudden her face expression changes from seductive to sad. I don't want to hurt her, but I'm not ready to engage in physical contact. I turn around and make my way to the office where the Coach is waiting for me with her arms crossed and with a serious attitude.
"Hello, Paige. I will get straight to the point. Is your back really hurting?" – she says abruptly.
"Uh… What… What do you mean, Coach?" – I say, stuttering.
"I know something is going on with Emily too, so… Well, I put two and two together and I've come to the conclusion that you are going through a rough patch." – she says.
"Well… uh… It's nothing, but…"
"You don't need to explain anything if you don't want to, Paige. I don't want to interfere, I only want my best swimmers to get along so we can nail this weekend's meet. It's a really important meet, Paige. So, set aside your differences and show them what you are worth, ok?" – she says touching my shoulder.
"Yeah, Coach, I will make and effort. Do you want me to stay for practice?" – I ask her.
"No, Paige, you can go home, but remember we are having practice tomorrow after class. Be punctual, please. – she says, smiling a little bit.
"Of course, Coach. See you tomorrow. And… thank you for everything." – I say while I open the door and leave.
"Bye, Paige. I will see you tomorrow." – she adds.
This last conversation was weird, but she is right. The upcoming meet is crucial, so I will go home and swim some laps in my pool. Actually, I miss swimming, and it's only been a few days. But there's another thing I miss more than anything else right now.
Chapter 5 will probably focus on the swimming meet, because I've got some ideas in my mind. By the way, you are free to give your opinion, I accept ideas you'd like me to incorporate into the story. Thank you!