The First Time

Chapter 5: Looking Deep Is Hard, But Understanding Is Even Harder

"How much did you put on the shorts?"

"Almost half of the bottle." People were starting to pile in to the gym and starting to stretch. "This is going to be awesome."

I nodded in agreement and looked around for Noah but couldn't seem to find him. Apparently Alex saw him first.

"Look—there he is!" Alex shouted. "Let's go over there."

I was about to tell him no, but he grabbed me by the arm and quickly dragged me over to Noah and his group of friends. We stopped right in front of them, and I noticed Serena was there too. Why would she be hanging out around them?

"Hey, guys. For those of you who don't know, this is my sister Azalia," Alex said. He turned to a guy with brown hair and brown eyes. He was well built and obviously very gorgeous. "That's Damon Anderson." Then, he turned to a familiar blonde haired and blue-eyed guy. "And that is—,"

"That's Sam." Alex shot me a look that clearly asked how I knew him. The rest of the group, except for Sam, also had that look. "I have 3rd period with him," I explained.

Everyone had a "that makes sense" look after my explanation. Like duh, how else would I know him?

"So it's Azalia, right?" Sam went on to ask with an eyebrow raised. I nodded back at him. "At least I finally have your name. I can stop calling you the girl that ran away now. I was going to ask you if you wanted to walk to P.E. together, but you ran away as fast as you could. I didn't know I was that repulsive."

That was a cheap shot; trying making me feel guilty. "I'm sorry about that. I was just in a hurry to—," I glanced at Noah who was watching us closely and had a sudden mind blank. "To, um, to—," I stuttered in nervousness.

Thankfully I was saved by my twin. "She was in a hurry to change so she would have a lot of time to stretch. Believe me—she needs all the time she can get or else one of her dainty little muscles will pull until they snap."

I'll forget the insult just because he saved me. Did I ever mention how much I loved my brother?

I gave him a thankful look and got an obnoxious smirk back. I looked at Noah to make sure the coast was clear, but he was still looking at me weirdly, like he was trying to figure me out. It was freaking me out, and I was becoming paranoid that he was on to me, until I saw his nose twitch. The itching powder was finally going into effect, which meant that Phase 3 was on its way to victory.

He was starting to scratch his upper thigh inconspicuously, and his face showed clear irritation. I wanted to burst out laughing, but I couldn't, or else I'd look like a weirdo. I nudged Alex's arm and nodded toward Noah, who was starting to scratch even more.

The coach walked into the gym and yelled, "Everybody head out to the field! Today is an all lap day. You all have to do a minimum of 5 laps, which should be easy since you guys have the whole period. Okay, off you go."

The six of us headed out to the field and started lightly jogging. After two laps, it was becoming obvious that Alex was scratching himself. Damon was the first to notice besides Alex and I, of course.

"Noah, are you scratching your ass?" Damon asked. He looked confused, but he also had an amused smile displayed.

Sam and Serena both looked at Noah and saw him scratching. I was close to just letting my laughter out since our whole group noticed it, but Alex didn't even bother hiding his.

The poor guy must be dying from itchiness right now. Normally, I would feel bad and harbor a guilty conscious, but when it came to Noah, everything is under different circumstances.