Only Us

*| 1 |*

~Braiden~

I push myself through the water, and swim to the railings.  My legs ache, but that's part of swim practice. As I remove my swim cap, my dark curls fall down my back, the water drips down, leaving a trail.  I grab my towel that has my name sewed in fancy cursive letters.  I hurriedly pat myself down with the remaining water still lingering on my skin, and slip on some flip flops.

I'm about to turn to go to the girl's locker room when two girls run to me, and tackle me in a bear hug.  I can barely breathe, as I gasp for air.  Their squeeze on me, is unexplainable as I try to breathe normally once again.  They finally let me go unscathed.

"We saw you Brai, and you were awesome!" Gushes my two best friends, Tristan and Estria.  I grin at them.

     "Thanks my loves, but my legs hurt now," I say to them as I throw my towel over my shoulder.

"Well, yeah. You were like a dolphin, gliding through the water," Estria raves. 

  "That's why they call us Dashing Dolphins, am I right? Or am I right?" Laughs Tristan.  I nod, agreeing with her.

Tristan Cordona and Estria Darrin are my two best friends.  I've known them for so, so, so, long we are practically considered sisters.  So many people look at us and assume us as being related.  I've known them since I was four; we all attended preschool together.  They're my everything.  I've done everything I possibly could with them.  They've been with me through thick and thin. 

We share so many memories together like when we broke our mother's vases (we're always so busy cracking up, we don't see the poor vase sitting on the counter), eat Nutella while watching the most saddest movies together, prank call our teachers over summer breaks, and we went away on a trip together by ourselves with no parents last year.  Lets just say that a squirrel can do a lot of damage than you think to a log cabin... well, when you're talking about ten squirrels, I guess you can understand.

"I'm going to go change.  Then we go get ice cream?" I ask them. 

"Definitely! I'm down for it," Estria throws her hands in the air pretending to surrender.  I chuckle at her response. 

"Yeah. I'm done diving for today," Tristan plants her hands in the pocket of her jeans. 

"Okay. I'll meet you guys outside," I say as I start walking away.  They nod okay, and leave.  I hurry to the locker room, and quickly wash the chlorine out of my hair. 

When I'm done, I slip into my shorts and crop top.  I pull my jacket over my shoulder, and try to brush my hair.  It hurts since it's still kind of knotty after swimming, but I suffer through it.  My skull feels like it got banged against a wall one-thousand times, but at least I look decent to pass as a normal person than a zombie.

I'm walking out the locker room, when I make impact with a compressed, and adamant body that sends me kissing the dust on the dirt-filled floor of Aqua-Water Swimclub.  I groan when my butt barks in pain from hitting the floor.

"Shit!" Murmurs a voice, "sorry Braiden."

I look up to come in contact with beautiful cerulean eyes that impel my heart into a pool of rainbow, and make Cupid's arrow strike across my rainbow heart.  A smile creeps onto my face as I grin at Taelor Kirsten. 

"Ugh, Taelor, why do you want to hurt me even more?  My legs already feel like they're going to snap," I playfully scold him.  He gives me his hand, that I cordially take.

   "Sorry Braidy. I'm a mess today," he says holding me close to his broad chest that I've known and studied.  Okay, that sounds hella weird, but yeah.  I've studied Taelor since I met him in fourth grade.  It's not my fault he doesn't know that I've lent him my delicately tender heart to be held in his roughly, smooth hands, carved by Gods.  I still try to convince myself that he's a descendent of a Greek god, because no teenage boy (I think) is sculpted as gorgeously as he is.