Sommerstall Academy

Chapter 21

Elija

"Sh! They're coming. Shut the hell up, I swear to god!" I hiss at my friends. They haven't stopped teasing me about the comment the girl next to Florence said and I don't want her to hear it. She told me that I'm confusing her last night and I'm pretty sure the guys making comments about how whipped I am won't help that.

The last thing I want is to lead Flo on when I'm not sure what I want in the first place.

"Almost done, guys. Come on!" Marcus cheers the two girls on as they get closer. He's really warmed up to Florence but I guess she just has that effect. Even on a guarded person like Marcus.

The girls pretty much collapse as soon as they crossed the finish line while I and the guys start cheering for them. The race ended like fifteen minutes ago but it's a really Florence thing to do to finish it either way.

"I will never move again," Florence announces. She finishes untying the rope binding her to her friend and lays down on her back.

"Remind me to think twice before agreeing to one of your ideas the next time," the other girl says. "I'm Sarah, by the way," she adds as an afterthought, not sitting up to look at us.

"Nice to meet you. Now, Lorence, you do know that it was a race, right? You were supposed to run," Orion teases her.

"It's impossible to run while being bound to another person!" Florence protests.

"Is it, Elija?" At my name, Florence raises her head softly. Her eyes find mine in a heartbeat and even though she looks exhausted my heart skips a beat.

"You guys won?" she asks, sounding like she already knows the answer. I smile at her and nod. "How long?"

"Six minutes," I tell her, trying not to sound too smug. Truth is, Marcus and I totally rocked this task.

"Six?" Florence exclaims while her friend groans. "It's so unfair! Of course, you finish four times faster with legs as long as yours!"

"Five," Benji chimes in.

"What?" Florence officially looks lost and it's so adorable I want to scream.

"They finished five times faster," my friend clarifies.

"Sure! Now you can do math! If I were able to get up, I'd totally hit you!" the short girl announces. Seems all it takes is little sleep, a hangover, and thirty minutes of exercise for Florence to turn feisty.

"You wouldn't hurt a fly, Flo. Your threat would have been more believable if you had mentioned a flying bigfoot," Benji retorts.

"You are the worst friend," she pouts, lying back down.

"You want a hug?" he offers in return. I can see the girl smiling but she shakes her head.

"I'm sweaty and gross."

"Well, I know a way to fix that." In a heartbeat, Benji picks the girl up while she voices loud protests and more threats. I consider coming to her rescue but she seems to be enjoying herself even as she kicks her feet and pounds her little fist against my friend's chest.

Jamie has already pulled out his phone by the time our friend has reached the end of the docks.

"Benji, I swear-" Before Florence can finish her sentence, she's thrown towards the water and her words turn into a shriek. That ends with a loud splash and a lot of cheers from my friends.

The rest of our group, including Sarah who seems to be wide awake now that there's drama, has gathered on the docks as well. Jamie pushes Orion into the water to my right, only to be pulled in with Elsa. While the others laugh, I pull off my shirt and sprint toward Benji.