The week had passed by seemingly quickly and I caught glimpses of the girl, but my new workout regimen has kept me busy. Finally Friday was here and I was ready to relax and cuddle up with Cade. We were still stuck in our honeymoon stage, and it helped that I had my dad for an extra week around the house. I relaxed in my bath when I heard the bell ring and didn't fight the urge to roll my eyes. The first time I had time to myself and someone has to intrude. Cade went with my parents to pick up supplies to make repairs on the house before my dad left, so I'm the only one who can answer. I put on a robe and rush down the stairs to open the door and I'm met with all four girls.
"Hey guys," I say and wave them in.
"Hey Em, sorry to interrupt," Aria says as they pile into my foyer.
"It's okay, I was just sitting down anyway, come on up, no one's home," I say and lead them back to my room. "So what's up?" I ask them as I put on decent clothes.
"We just wanted to catch up, haven't seen you in a while," Hanna answers.
"Sorry, I just started going to the studio more over in Philadelphia and New York to prepare for my competition in a month," I say.
"Where's the competition?" Spencer asks.
"In San Diego," I say. "So what have you guys been up to?" I ask.
"Just relaxing and hanging out before I leave for Cape May," Alison says and I frown slightly. "My family has a house up there, you should come with the girls when they come to visit," she says and I nod.
"I'll see," I say and clasp my bra before turning around to face them while reaching for my shirt on the bed.
"So where's the Samoan God?" Hanna asks and I see Spencer hit her in the ribs. "Ow!"
"He's out with my parents picking up supplies to make repairs on the house," I answer before plopping down on the bed.
"Oh my God! You totally slept with him!" Hanna says.
"What?" I yell and immediately sit up.
"I know that glow, it's the, I had some great sex and I'm possibly in love glow," she says confidently.
"Well if you must know, yes you're right Hanna, we're back together, and yes we had sex, and yes it was amazing," I relent, knowing the truth would eventually come out. Damn Hanna and her amazing reading skills.
"You guys owe me $20 bucks each," she says with her hands out in both directions of the girls.
"What? You bet on me?" I ask incredulously.
"Well of course, I knew before the week was up, you'd give into that God like body," she smiles sneakily.
"Nice to know what kind of friends I have," I fake pout before she squeezes on my cheek and we both laugh. It feels like I've known her my whole life, we just click.
"So you guys are together again?" Aria asks and I nod.
"Yeah, we decided to give it another try, even though its long distance. I don't know something changed the night we got back from the restaurant. It was like I realized that's he's always been here through all my ups and downs and I couldn't imagine anyone else. And well you know what happens next," I say and Hanna holds out my hand for a high five.
"OMG! Is he big?" Hanna asks bluntly and I turn a deep shade of red.
"Hanna!" Spencer
"What?" she asks innocently, but I still refuse to answer the question.
"We were thinking of going swimming at the school, want to tag along?" Alison asks.
"Are you sure its open to us?" I ask hesitantly.
"No, we're going later on tonight when no one's there," she smirks deviously.
"Okay, sounds like fun," I can't resist the danger of the situation.
"Alright, we're going to get out of here, but we'll meet at Hanna's around 9," she says and I nod before seeing them out. Cade and my parents return a short while after, with my mom heading for the kitchen to start making dinner and the other two opening their "toys".
"Hey mom, I'm going over to Hanna's later on," I say to her and she smiles in approval.
"Dinner's ready!" my mom calls me down an hour and a half later. We say grace and dig into the delicious food she prepared.
"Save some room for dessert," she tells me and I nod and hope that she made peach cobbler. I smell it before I set she sets my favorite on the table and I'm the first to dig in, taking an obnoxiously large piece.
"I made an extra two pies, one for you to bring to Hanna's mom and one for later since its your favorite," she explains and I'm too busy eating to answer back, knowing my nodding will do all the talking. Soon, its 8:45 and I'm packing my bathing suit and an extra pair of clothes before jetting off to Hanna's.
"You finally made it," Hanna says.
"What? You said be here by 9 and its 8:59," I argue.
"I'm just joking, but you would get here by the exact time," she smiles before the other girls join her. We pile into my truck before I start making my way towards the school. Most of them were caught up in their own conversations while Alison struck up one with me.
"So are you going to enroll at Rosewood High?" she asks.
"Probably not, I want to be homeschooled now that Ballet is taking up most of my life and I have to travel for competitions, and if I get into Alexei's Dance Company, then I really will be eating, breathing and sleeping Ballet," I explain.
"That's a shame, I would've loved to compete with you for Queen B," she winks at me.
"Sorry, those things don't concern me," I say and she frowns for further clarification.
"I'm too focused on my future to worry about popularity contests. Who are those people in high school? Nobodies, they're not doing anything to better my career as a ballerina. I probably won't see them in the future at least not enough for them to make an impact on my life, and if by some chance I do and they hold an authority position over me, do I really want to be remembered as the girl who bullied them or ruled over them? Absolutely not. People these days believe in an eye for an eye, they seek vengeance and I rather not have anything from my high school haunt me as an adult," I ramble on while looking out at the road. Three minutes later and we pull up to the school and I guess she never had a response to that. We climb out and I walk to the door to see it's locked.
"Think fast!" Alison throws me the keys and I unlock it.
"How'd you get those?" I ask not really wanting an answer.
"I have my ways," and that smirk reappears on her face for the second time in one day. We make it inside the school to see its completely dark, save for a few lights and they direct me towards the pool. Hanna takes off her clothes and dives in with Spencer close behind. I strip and redress in my two piece bathing suit.
"Damn Em, I didn't know you were packing like that," Hanna smiles at me and I blush.
"Well you know, dancers do have the best bodies," I wink before executing a perfect dive.
"What aren't you good at?" Hanna asks.
"Hmm, I don't know," I ask and pretend to ponder seriously before we both start chuckling.
"Race me!" Spencer says and we back against the wall before Alison yells go and I take off down the lane. The adrenaline is now pumping through me as the water glides past me. Apart from dancing, swimming is my home. I feel safe and powerful in the water as it propels me forward. I touch Alison's leg that is partially in the water to signal I'm done and I see that Spencer is in the middle of the pool.
"Emily won!" Alison yells and Spencer looks up in disbelief.
"But, what the hell are you on Fields?" she asks before giving me a high five.
"Oh you know the usual," I say sarcastically.
"Why don't you try out for swimming? You'd totally be our new captain, the team is alright, but majority were seniors," she says.
"Sorry, but dancing is my numero uno," I say before the strong force of nature named Hanna wrapped her arms around me.
"You were amazing Em," she says proudly.
"Good job Em, no one beats Spencer," Aria says before pulling the other girls away to talk and I look up to Alison with her feet still in the water.
"Why don't you join me Queen B," I say but her inner thoughts prevent her from hearing me. "Alison!" I say a little louder and it catches her attention.
"What?" she asks.
"Come in," I say and she shakes her head. "Why not?"
"I don't know how to swim," she answers honestly.
"Come here, I'll teach you," I say and grab her thighs to bring her down into the water gently. "Lie on your stomach, and my hands will support you," I say and soon enough she's floating. "There you go, now I'm going to remove my hands," I say.
"No!" she says nervously.
"Hey, you've got this, do you trust me?" I ask and she nods and she didn't even realize that my hands had been off for a while. "Guess what,"
"What?" she asks.
"You're floating on your own," I say and she smiles brightly. "Now start fluttering your feet and move own arm forward and scoop the water backwards and do the same with the next one. "There you go! See it's not so bad," I smile at her.
"Thank you Em, for teaching me," she says and I nod, encouraging her to swim further on her own.