The first week of school flew by. Professor Duran, while disappointed in last semester's grade, seemed to be impressed with my dedication. I mean, it's been one week so I'm sure he's waiting for me to fuck up again but not this time. I'm making this class my bitch this semester.
"You have got to be kidding me," Nova grumbles from beside me in the library Friday afternoon. That's right, it's Friday afternoon and I'm voluntarily in the library.
My head whips up from where I'm staring at my laptop screen, I see what could only be a freshman, standing outside the glass door of the conference room Nova and I booked. Narrowing my eyebrows in confusion, he holds up two small pieces of paper.
His body visibly shakes from nerves. Poor kid.
Thinking of Nova's words a few seconds ago, I face her. "Do you know him?"
Her frustration bleeds into the room as she shakes her head. The worst time to bug someone like Nova is when she's in her element. In this case, her element is being surrounded by textbooks and stationery. "I don't know but he's looking at you."
My face scrunches again. "Me?" Waving him in, he walks in with a sheepish look and silently holds out his hand with the pieces of paper. I awkwardly reach out to take them. "Thank—" he turns and runs out of the room, "—you." I give Nova a weird look. She shrugs. "Okay then."
The pieces of paper turn out to be two tickets. Two tickets for Levi's Swim Meet tonight. Oh, boy.
That's something else about this week. Levi is everywhere. From that morning he took me out for breakfast, he's made a point of either texting me throughout the day or managing to get even a glimpse of me from across the quad. Granted, he's busier than ever. The spring season for swimming is starting soon.
He told me one afternoon when we sat in Coffee Buns together that in June, while he'll be finished swimming for the school year, he immediately goes into a sort of trials session for Olympic qualifications. Seeing as the Olympics are next year, he's got until June to prepare to make the official team.
That kind of pressure alone would scare the shit out of me.
Next year he'll be finishing his final year at college and then flying off to compete for his country in the Olympics.
Snapping out of my thoughts about Levi, I slid one of the tickets over to Nova's side of the table. She angles her chin to read the piece of paper before sliding it back to me. "The humidity would murder my hair, if I wanted to ruin my hair, I'd move to Florida."
Wordlessly I pout, audibly sliding the ticket back in her direction, fluttering my eyelashes for good measure.
Her shoulders lift with a deep breath she slams a hand on the table, directly over the small piece of paper, and slides it into her lap. "You're lucky I love you," she grumbles, flipping me off when I blow her a kiss.
With a victorious smile, I pull my phone out of my backpack, ignoring the other text messages from friends and acquaintances, and open my text thread with Levi.
Sending a poor freshman to deliver your tickets? Sounds like an abuse of power to me...
I barely wait a minute before a reply comes through.
He's on the diving team and doesn't get out much. Coach made me stay late to run relays with some teammates. — Levi
You couldn't have waited until you saw me in person?
Nova eyes me from the other side of the table, watching me helplessly shrug and point to my phone with a sheepish smile. She rolls her eyes, focusing back on her schoolwork, a small smile on the corner of her mouth.
Wait? I don't know if you know this, Peeps, but you're a hot commodity on campus. I'm lucky you grace me with your presence at any time of day. — Levi
My face flushes. Guess you've been on a lucky streak with my schedule, Superstar.
And here I felt special —Levi
Someone has to humble you.
Thank you for making that sacrifice, I appreciate you —Levi
I chuckle quietly to myself, praying Nova doesn't through a pencil at me and stare down at the screen.
Another message pops up before I can even think of a response.
So you'll come tomorrow, right? —Levi
I'll be there.
Instead of words, he sends a few party emojis followed by a single purple heart and my insides twist.
|| ✨ ||
"Good God, it is hot in here? How does no one get sick just walking in and out of this place? The change in temperature alone could give someone a viral infection," Nova mumbles, lightly touching her forehead as we make our way across the pool area to our seats.
I wrap an arm around her waist, squeezing her gently. "Come on, you love it, it's like summer in here," I say cheerfully, slowly unzipping my hoodie.
She gives me a pointed look. "I love a lot of things; my hair, my vibrator, getting an A," she smiles wistfully before a frown mars her face, "but this? This is what I imagine a sweaty asscheek to be like." She turns to me, dead serious. "I don't love sweaty asscheeks, Perrie."
I snort, following the slow crowd to the bleachers. The swimmers are near the diving pool, away from the crowd. A few of them are doing warm-up laps. Levi and a few of the other guys on his team are standing grouped together, intensely discussing something. The opposing school take up the other side of the diving pool, stretching and swimming lazy laps.
We've just past the pool when an arm wraps around my neck from behind and Nico drapes himself over my shoulder. "I've missed you, Bestie," he mumbles into my hair, pressing my face into him.
A stupid smile appears and I lean into the embrace. "Missed you too."
Another body slams into the back of us and Jonah grabs Nova's arm before she can faceplant on the concrete. "Did you get 'em?" he asks excitedly, a dorky grin on his face.
Opening my zipped hoodie, I smile proudly. "You're damn right I did, thank you for delivering them this morning." After we learned that Levi had tickets delivered to the rest of my friends, in the hopes that it would convince me further to come to his Meet, we decided to have a little fun.
Hallie pops up behind us, Charlie on her tail wearing an embarrassed smile. "How is the definition on yours?" Hallie asks, tugging at the picture on my shirt, "I feel like mine is shaded in wrong," she says with a pout.
I pat her arm gently. "It's fine, Hallie."
The crowd cheers as the swimmers wrap up their warm-up and are slowly making their way toward their designated spots. Levi's wearing a thin robe, covering his body. People call his name, waving their arms to grab his attention. He offers short waves but he's wearing headphones so the noise is blocked out.
Nova's eyes scan the space as we settle into our seats right behind the railing that separates the swimmers from the spectators. "It's no wonder you call him Superstar," she mumbles, watching people scream the closer he gets. Eventually, her eyes stray back to the pool and a small content smile tugs at her lips. "All these people screaming his name and yet he's only looking at you," she comments casually.
My head whips to the pool area and the first thing I see is Levi's eyes on me. A blush rises along my cheeks when he winks. His gaze travels down my body but stops at my shirt, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
Without thought he walks over to our spot, grabs the railing, and effortlessly pulls himself up until our chests are practically flush against each other. "Hi Peeps," he says softly. He glances down again. "What are you wearing?"
I lean back dropping my hoodie onto my seat and holding out the hem of my shirt so he can see the whole picture.
He tilts his head. "Is that...my chest?" he asks slowly, leaning closer.
"I couldn't fit your face and your chest so we had to make an executive decision," I answer solemnly. He does have a nice face. But those abs.
He blinks. Someone calls his name from below. "We?"
Nico practically shoves me over to show Levi his shirt, followed by my friends showing theirs, bright smiles on their faces. Jonah offers him some seductive poses for good measure.
Levi's eyes widen slightly. "Wow."
Nico wraps an arm around my shoulders. "We were going to put your face on it but your abs were just too good in this pic, man, good job." Nico offers him a thumbs-up. "Next time you want to send your girl a thirst trap, just let me know, I'd be happy to help you get the good angles."
My lips curl into my mouth, hiding my laughter at the look of horror on his face from Nico's words. He glances down at me accusingly playful. I grin up at him with a shrug. "You didn't think I deleted your shirtless pics after we broke up, did you?" I ask slyly.
His face breaks out into a sexy smirk. "Nope, just like I didn't delete all candids I've got of you," he comments and my smile disappears.
"You monster," I whisper, knowing just how terrible and ugly I look in most of those candid pictures he took of me while we were dating.
He shrugs, copying my earlier movements. "You're adorable in them—."
"Levi! Let's go!" His coach calls from below.
Levi nods once, his face taking on a stoic expression as he faces me again. "I gotta go," he leans forward and presses a kiss to my temple. I don't move. "Cheer loudly for me so I can hear you," he says with one last wink before dropping to the floor, his demeanor changing completely.
"Always," I say to him.
Nova nudges me with her hip. "Sickeningly adorable," she says lightly, her eyes glancing up into the bleachers every few seconds, "his parents are furious. Amazing."
Twisting my head, I see both his parents sitting in a corner at the top of the bleachers, out of sight of Levi. They watch me with blank looks, refusing to even blink while I look at them. Feeling a little petty, I lift my arm and wave with a friendly smile on my face before turning back around.
Nico laughs at my actions. "God, you are brave, Bestie." He squeezes my shoulder, leaning down to talk over the cheers erupting as the first race starts. "He hasn't spoken to them in two weeks, not until they stop pouting about losing their control on him."
Huh, maybe Levi did have a serious talk with them.
Pride swells in my chest at him taking that step further into his independence.
Ignoring their burning stares, I focus on Levi in front of me. Head down, focused on what's ahead for him. The first win comes through for our school and cheers erupt in the pool area. Levi shakes off his robe and moves to stand at the starting block, slipping his goggles on over his cap.
We all hold our breath until the starting beep sounds and he dives into the water, cutting through it like a knife in soft butter. We scream and cheer, jumping in our spots as he pulls so far ahead of his competitors including his own teammates until he touches the wall after two laps, securing his win.
The crowd goes insane, Including me.
|| ✨ ||
I know, I know, I'm off schedule. Unfortunately, it is the busiest time of the year for my work and so I have to put all my time into getting things done on that side of life!
Until next time,
Sammipott xx