Part 57

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I sit on the side of the pool, my feet dangling in the water. I quickly got tired, which was unusual. I could keep up with Sophie for a lot longer usually. It must be a side effect from the ecstasy. I must remember to mention it to Ashton later. 

I laugh as I watch Colton and Sophie having a race. Well, not really. It was more of Colton shouting 'go' and then pretending to be fighting against the water, allowing Sophie to win easily. Every time Sophie would end up with a big grin on her face, which was really nice to see. 

"Mummy, you and Colton race," Sophie calls. I laugh, looking to Colton who wriggles his eyebrows at me. He'll obviously beat me, but I decide to give it a go.

"OK," I say slipping into the water. I swim to the opposite end of the pool from where Colton is situating Sophie on the edge. Only seconds later Colton is beside me. He winks at me, and that's when I know he's going to let me win. Part of me is annoyed, wanting to win on my own merit, but the other is smiling at Colton for letting Sophie and I win.

"Tell us when to go then, Little Mermaid!" Colton calls to Sophie. I wait, bracing myself against the wall. I'm going to make sure that Colton doesn't have to try too hard to let me win.

"Go!" Sophie shouts without warning. I push off and use all of my strength to pull me through the water.

I slap my hand against the side of the pool, surfacing. I look to my left and see Colton is seconds behind me.

"Wow, your fast," he states, out of breath. "You both beat me," he continues putting his hands on his hips in fake disappointment. Sophie giggles.

The sound of a phone ringing bounces off the water, echoing. Colton pulls himself out of the water with ease, and jogs to where our stuff is. He picks the phone up, bringing it to his ear. He turns his back to us, as he talks to whoever is on the phone. I look back to Sophie, extending my hand.

"Want to swim with me?" I ask. We haven't been swimming together in a long time. She nods, pushing herself to her feet. I move back, seeing that she's going to jump in. She jumps up and falls down into the water. When she emerges again her dark hair is covering her face. I laugh, wiping it away from her eyes. She grins at me as she kicks her legs under her. I move so I am beside her, and start off slow, keeping pace with her. When we get to the other side, she clings onto the side. 

"Well done," I tell her. A pair of feet stop in front of us, and when I look up I see Colton is the owner of them.

"Sorry to end it so soon, but we should get back if we want to go and see Levi," he tells us.  I nod, acknowledging. I look to Sophie, and see that she looks conflicted. I see her thoughts going across her face. Does she want to stay here or see Levi more? Finally she lifts her arms up to Colton. He reaches down, pulling her out of the water by them. She giggles.

"We can come back later Little Mermaid," he tells her, as he turns to me, raising an eyebrow in question as he shows me his hands. I shake my head, knowing I will probably pull him if he tried to do the same for me, and push myself up on the side of the pool. We all trudge back to where our things out, collecting them, before moving to the door leading out of the pool. 

Sophie now wrapped in a towel in my arms, starts to shiver as we enter the lifts. I begin to rub her arms to try and warm her up. The lift jolts to life, Colton looking over at us.

"You cold?" he asks her. She nods into my shoulder. Colton moves, so that Sophie is sandwiched between us, his arms going around me. His eyes meet mine, causing me to blush.

"That better?" he asks her. She nods again. A smile comes to his lips as the lift jolts to a stop. I look up, thinking that it was too short for us to be back at Trystan and Ryder's so soon. I was right, as the lights show that we are at the entrance.

The doors slide open, revealing Terry behind them. I cringe away from him, the fact that I am still in my wet swimsuit more prominent. Colton sense this and looks up to see Terry entering the small space, pressing the button for his floor. He stiffens, and shifts his position, shielding Sophie and me from his view more. It doesn't stop me from catching his leering look over Colton's shoulder.

"How's your mom?" he asks a smirk on his lips. I cringe again, hiding my face, hoping for the ride to be over soon.

The rest of the ride is silent and full of tension. When the doors finally open on Terry's floor, and he leaves after sending another glance in our direction, the atmosphere relaxes incredibly. I sag against the wall. Colton begins to rub my arms in a gentle and reassuring way.

"It's OK."

It's not! I can't go anywhere! I always run into Tanner, and now it seems, Terry. He was the one most likely to put the ecstasy in the drink yesterday, as he was with my mom when she had the overdose, and I don't want to know what he would do if he came and found me at home when my mum wasn't there.

When the doors slide open for the third time, I all but run out of the lift. Sophie, who was tired from all the fun and swimming, is now asleep in my arms. Luckily, she missed Terry's appearance in the lift. 

I look around and find that the guys are all dressed and looking ready for the day. The same tension from this morning, before I said that I forgot about what happened last night, seems to be present in the room again. They try and force smiles, but I can see that their eyes are worried. Are they worried about me knowing? I hold back my thoughts, not wanting to make it worse, as I walk to the stairs, to change back into dry clothes after a shower. 

Here you go! I am so sorry for the long wait again! The good news is that my 'exciting things' will most likely wind down and mean that updates are more regular, in just under a week! :) Thanks for sticking with me!

Go check out and support anti_bully! The whole purpose of the account is to try and put an end to abuse, which is very relevant to this  book and an amazing aim! :)

We might, depending if the boys want to tell her everything yet, know next update what the boys have been keeping from Bambi. Or at least, if not everything, we might know some more. I'll give you a hint: Not a gang (like some of you have been thinking ;)) Do you have any new thoughts on what it could be?

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What will happen next?

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