His Words (bxb)

chapter two

Saturday, September 12, 2020

✧noah✧

The sound of the front door slamming shut jolts me out of my peaceful slumber.

Dad.

No, no, no, no, no. He doesn't come home until after I'm out of the house and on my way to the pool. I look at my clock. 4:47pm - shit, I'm late. Training starts at five, and although I usually walk to the swimming pool, I might have to take the bus today.

My whole body freezes as I lean against my door and listen carefully to my father's footsteps, loud and heavy. I hear the keys jingle as he sets them down on the coffee table. He grunts as he makes his way towards the kitchen (I think) and the sound of the water dispenser confirms his location. I get dressed as quietly as possible and wait patiently for him to go to the bathroom so I can slip out the door unnoticed. I finally hear the bathroom door slam shut and I sprint out of the house. Even after I'm a couple minutes away from home, I keep running.

You think just the swim training is going to keep your weight in check? Keep running! Faster, faster, faster!

By the time I make it to the bus station, the air is tearing its way in and out of my body. I keep my eyes trained on the ground the entire time, but as soon as I look up, I see the same head of curly hair from Saturday. Elijah Beckett is staring right back at me. His facial expression isn't concerned, scared, or confused. He's not even weirded out. He just stares at me with his eyes slightly wide, then turns his attention back to whatever he was doing on his phone.

After he was introduced to the squad on yesterday, I never really saw much of Elijah. He would get straight out of the pool and to the changing rooms and always was the first one to start making his way out. He was constantly swarmed by a sea of obsessive teenage girls who want his number (apparently, I'm not the only one who finds him attractive) but he doesn't give them much of his attention.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, he finally speaks.

"You missed the bus that gets you to the pool on time," he states nonchalantly, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

"Oh..." is all I can reply with. "There's another bus coming in about-" I check my phone, "- three minutes... So we should be okay."

He just shrugs. "I wouldn't know, I'm new here."

Oh. We stay in silence for a few minutes, though it feels like hours. I remember really wanting to talk to Elijah just a couple days ago, but now I can't find the guts to even introduce myself. I take a deep breath and start speaking.

"I've lived here my whole life, so if you ever need help with anything around town just let me know. I'm Noah Cohen, by the way," I say shyly.

Shock and a hint of annoyance are written all over his face at my sudden attempt to start a conversation, but he replies anyway. "How would I let you know?"

I have never felt so dumb in my life. "My phone number," I say a little too quickly. "You can have my phone number." I hand my phone over to him and he takes it cautiously. He doesn't put his number in my phone, but instead gets my phone number from my phone and puts it into his. Our fingers lightly touch as he hands me my phone back. He mumbles a small 'thanks' just as the bus pulls up to the stop.

We climb in and scan our cards, but decide against sitting next to each other. Baby steps, Noah, baby steps. I check the time - 4:56pm. Great, we're late. Though Coach will probably be happy to hear that I slept a little today. As I stare out the window of the bus, I feel Elijah's stare on me. My skin crawls at the feeling and suddenly, I am extremely self-conscious of every small detail - what the back of my head looks like, how messy my hair must be after just waking up, the way I'm breathing. I try my best to ignore it.