*from my Tumblr*
www.graceelizabeththefab.tumblr.com
Nash and Anna Grace
On Saturday morning, I sat in the locker room of the biggest indoor pool I’d ever been to. And that’s saying a lot, as I, a competitive swimmer, have been to plenty of pools in my lifetime. Today was the state championships, and I was seriously stressing out. Whenever I get stressed, I listen to music. Today, my Ed Sheeran playlist was on repeat and I closed my eyes, droning out the stress into the song. I began to hum the tune of Give Me Love when Gracie, my best friend, tapped me on the shoulder saying we had to go for warm ups. I nodded, stuffing my phone and ear phones into my swim bag. After pulling off my sweatpants, I grabbed my swim gap and goggles and headed out to the pool area, Gracie by my side.
The crowd was way loud, enough to burst my eardrums. But that wasn’t going to stop me from concentrating. If I cut just a second and a half off my backstroke time, I’m making it to nationals. NATIONALS. I can’t miss this. I pushed my ponytail of long brown hair back into my swim cap, pulling it down firmly and running my hand along the edges. I rolled my shoulders back and shook my legs out, warming myself up. My eyes wandered the stands, searching for my mom. She was sitting with Gracie’s parents and an unknown boy sat next to her. He caught my eye immediately and I squinted mine to try and see his face.
I’d never seen him before, but let me say, he was absolutely gorgeous. I could see his blue eyes sparkle from what? Fifty feet away? He was laughing with the guy next to him… who was wearing a bandana around his head. Mystery boy’s hair was neatly groomed, how I like my boys. He was smiling and showing a mouth of pearly whites. He must have felt me staring because just then he turned and looked at me. My head shot down and I stared down at my purple-painted toenails. My face got a little red. Apparently Gracie noticed.
“What’s wrong? You nervous?” I shrugged the second question, but pointed toward the guys with my hand. Her eyes glanced over to where I was pointing and widened at the sight of the boys. “Who are they?” emphasizing the last word.
“I don’t know. But I want the one with the blue eyes.” I said. I desperately wanted to keep watching him but my coach yelled at us to get in the pool and do our warm up laps. I dove in, the freezing water feeling refreshing against my raw skin. I blew a little air out of my nose as I rose in the water, bringing my right arm out of the water and starting my first lap of freestyle. I tried to get mystery guy off my mind and think about the races I would soon swim, but he kept butting into my thoughts.
A little before my second and final race, I caught the boy staring at me again. I decided to be brave and give him a little wave. He smiled at me; butterflies erupted in my stomach. I grinned madly to myself, turning away and plugging my ear phones back in.
My race went better than I thought it would. I came in second place, but still cut two whole seconds off my time! I’m going to nationals! As I jumped out of the water, screaming, Gracie came up and gave me a huge hug. The rest of my friends, teammates and family members filled the pool area, surrounding me with hugs and congratulations. I just smiled and thanked everyone. The pool soon emptied, leaving Gracie, our parents, a couple of our teammates and coaches, and the boys in the building. I had pulled my sweatpants back on and had my phone in hand, texting all of my non-swimmer friends about my big news.
Just as I was texting my last contact, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned, seeing the blue-eyed mystery boy behind me, smiling.
“uhh.. hi,” he said uncomfortably. The bandana boy behind him nudged him, urging him on. “I’m Nash. I… I uh… you’re really pretty,” he blurted out. I was startled by the sudden statement but smiled at him.
“Thanks… I’m Anna. Anna Grace,” I said quietly, shaking his hand. He held onto mine for a surprisingly long time.
“That’s a beautiful name… classy. Anyway… uhh… You did great in your races. Congratulations,” he said, looking down at his hands, obviously embarrassed. He laughed to himself slightly, distracted by what he was about to say.
“Thanks,” I said, trying to get him to say something else.
“Well… I uhh… You seem like a great person,” he said awkwardly. His face flushed red. I mumbled a thank you, but was still confused about him. The bandana boy punched him a little in the arm. “I was wondering if you’d like to come out to see a movie with me tomorrow?” he said all in one big breath. Gracie squealed from behind me, clapping her hands like a retarted walrus.
I blushed a very dark shade of red. “Yea, yea. I’d love that. It’ll be fun,” I said honestly. He looked up at my eyes suddenly.
“Really?” he asked in a breathless tone.
“Of course!” I said, giving him a hug. “You’re very pretty too,” I joked, even though I was serious. He chuckled into my shoulder, squeezing me tight with his big strong arms. And as I was about to let go to ask for his number, he planted a big sweet kiss on my cheek.