The end of the day seemed to come rather quickly and after Zoe's advice from earlier in the day i felt a slightly more at ease with things. I still hadn't talked to Emily though.
Joyce and Emily were already working on their lab, the red head occasionally peering at me from across the room with a look as if saying "when are you going to talk to her", while motioning towards Emily whose back was to me.
I shook my head and focused my attention to the experiment i needed to get done, i would apologize to Emily later on when the time felt right. It's not like this was the first time there was ever any tension amongst our friend group.
I would've forgotten that Eretria was my lab partner if it wasn't for her barging into the room 15 minutes late. She sauntered her way over to the seat next to me, a few individuals fixating their gaze onto her, Emily included.
I hesitated, mixing the chemicals and liquids provided to us in attempt to reach the reaction we were trying to conclude in class.
The black haired girl was scrolling through her cell phone, drowned in her own little world of no worries.
I rolled my eyes at the sight, continuing to mix two liquids together but failing to solve what we were assigned to find.
I groaned, letting go of the test tubes and plopping myself back down onto my stool in defeat.
Eretria stopped scrolling through her phone and looked over to me with a raised brow.
I looked over at her, curious at her sudden interest in whatever the hell captivated her attention. "What?" I asked, dragging the word as her face looked at me in slight amusement. I felt a little uneasy.
"You're mixing the wrong amount of solution." She stated simply, putting her phone down on the surface of the table and standing to reach for one of the liquids i had been working with before giving up. I shifted over in my seat to give her space to work.
I watched in surprise as her hands smoothly worked with the substances, mixing a turquoise liquid with a teal one and stepping back for a second.
Before i could question what she was doing, smoke began to bubble up from inside the tube and pour itself upwards and onto the table, creating a loud sound.
"Woahh." A couple other students watched in awe as the bubbles then fizzled out, leaving behind a trail of smoke.
"Splendid job Eretria!" Our professor called out from his desk, startling me as he never once paid attention to anything we did in class.
I looked at Eretria who was smirking as if what she had just done with the simplest thing in the world. Guess i could cross show-off from my list of all things learnt about Eretria in the few days she's been in Bellmare Springs.
"How did you-" I trailed off, looking at the lab beakers in total surprise.
"I'm not as dumb as i look." Eretria replied with a smirk, as if reading the thoughts that were running through my head.
"No it's not that. I just-" I shook my head, trying to stop the conversation from steering downhill. I didn't think she was dumb, i mean she was in an honors class after all. She just doesn't seem to care much for school, or at all for that matter. I definitely wasn't expecting her to be able to understand any of the junk we were learning in class whatsoever.
"I saved your ass, you probably wouldn't have figured out how to do that crap if it wasn't for me." She cut me off blunty and sat back down on her stool as she pointed towards the worksheet we had to fill out.
I scoffed at the girl. "Excuse me? I'm pretty sure i could've handled it, it just takes time."
She gave me a sheepish look and without saying anything, slid the worksheet towards her so that she could fill it out on her own.
My pencil ended up in her hand as she didn't even bother asking whether or not she could use it.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance and reached over to get my pencil back. She grabbed my hand which in turn caused me to lose my balance and stumble forwards, my face aligned with hers for what appeared to be half a second.
"I think i got it, pretty face." She said quietly, sending me a wink. Pretty face, exactly what she had called me the first time i saw her down at the lake. When i threw that rock at her.
My eyes landed on the small fading scar on the top of her forehead.
I felt all the heat in my body rush to my cheeks and i quickly scooted back into my seat, wiggling my hand out of hers and regaining my posture briefly.
I peered around the classroom to see if anybody had seen what happened, to my relief everybody was engulfed in their own problems to pay any attention to the arrogant female and i.
What was her problem?
"You're so full of yourself." I huffed at her, her brown eyes bounced from the paper that was filled with her handwriting and back onto me, looking taken aback at my statement.
"Full of myself?" She repeated with emphasis.
I nodded my head, slightly regretting what i had said as i took a look at her darkened eyes.
"You don't know me." She retorted, holding no trace of emotion on her structured face. The worksheet she had began a few minutes ago was already completed and she placed my pencil into my opened hand.
Without any dialect, she collected her things and walked out of the noisy lab room, leaving me to my thoughts.
~
I didn't feel like meeting up with the group once the bell rang since i had a swim meet to attend, Avalon knew i had to stay after school so i would have to find another way to get home and the rest of the group lived too far from my house.
I don't know why i felt a slight nagging sensation of guilt in my chest. It's not like i knew Eretria, she was right about that. But from how she presents herself and acts around people in the past few days she has been at Northdale, i could've sworn i had painted a pretty accurate picture of the girl. In my mind she was careless and only cared about hanging out with the crowd, or the crowd that seems to worship her feet for whatever reason. She was extremely cocky and wreckless, like she doesn't care about anybody else but herself.
I shook my head, groaning at the headache that was sweeping its way to my temples and entered the unlocked gymnasium. The lights were off and the only source of brightness was coming in from the skylight windows on the ceiling. My shoes squeaked against the polished floor as i made my way into the girl's locker room which seemed to already inhabit a few individuals.
I was greeted by yet another wave of heat and humidity when Coach Rogers fixated her attention towards me.
"Alessidil! Glad you could make it!" She announced, flashing me a smile as she fixated her whistle around her neck. I immediately felt at home.
I smiled back, walking past a few girls from the team who gave me a pat on the back as i made my way towards my locker, squishing my bag into the small compartment.
I loved being on the swim team, i won the swimming championship last school year earning Northdale a golden trophy that was displayed at the school's entrance. Even thought we hadn't earned that many trophies, i was the one that won at most of our swimming competitions against opposing high school teams. I was extremely close with the girls off the team as well, seeing as most of us have been a family since freshman year.
I stripped myself from my clothes and into my navy blue one piece swimsuit, already accustomed to its rubbery sleek texture. I grabbed my swimming cap and goggles, throwing it around my neck once my hair was completely covered by the cap.
"Hey Amberle i'm so excited for this season!" Rebecca squealed beside me, i turned to look at the taller female who was already in her swim attire. She had been a close friend of mine from the team; very motivated and free spirited. Her and i were the best swimmers on the team, sometimes she was extremely close to coming first place.
"So am I 'Becca." I replied with enthusiasm. The other girls smiled at me in reply.
Coach clasped her hands together, drawing our attention.
"Alright ladies we're going to go head to the pool and swim some laps to get warmed up!" She called out, turning off the lights to the locker room and walking towards the pool which was located across from us and horizontal to the gymnasium.
We followed suit, there were about 12 girls on the team so it was pretty easy to notice when somebody wasn't present.
Once the doors opened, my eyes quickly landed on the clear body of water positioned in the center of the spacious room. I've made a lot of memories in this room, from my very first swim practice to swimming competitions. The water gleamed silently underneath the bright lighting pouring from the ceiling and i wanted nothing more but to dive in. I truly missed swimming season and i would miss this once autumn was over but for now, i would savor the moment.
"What are you waiting for?" Coach asked, motioning towards the pool. She knew how much i was waiting for this moment to roll by again.
I smiled and inhaled a sharp breath of air, my bare feet stepping onto the cold edge of the pool before extending my arms out in front of me and diving in head first.
I felt the all too familiar and very much missed cool sensation of the water caress my body as i stayed underneath the surface for a split second, bubbles accumulating around me at the impact.
I rose to the surface, bringing my hand up to my eyes and looking at the rest of the girls who were watching me.
The team cheered and jumped into the pool after me, creating massive amounts of splashes and water to spill onto the floor outside barley missing Coach.
Laughs radiated through the spacious gymnasium, traveling up the empty bleachers and losing themselves among the heightened cieling.
I positioned the goggles that had been around my neck onto my face, feeling as the straps tightened the tops of my cheeks and my vision became a shade of blue.
"Get ready to begin!" Coach called out, observing as we all simultaneously swam to the edge of the pool were we would commence our laps.
Once she blew her whistle, i began to swim forcefully towards the opposite end of the pool. My arms and legs were rotating in a pattern i knew too well, splashing water all around me as i caught glimpses of the girls on either sides of me when i turned my head.
My hands grazed the hard surface of the pool's end and i pulled myself towards the edge, resurfacing from the water. The rest of the team was still swimming, Rebecca finishing right after me.
"Still got it in you, huh Amberle?" She teased, playfully nudging my shoulder once she stopped swimming.
The sounds of splashes were all that could be heard until everybody reached the end of the pool where Rebecca and i were at, water droplets dripping down their faces and fogging their goggles.
"Good job girls, and splendid job as usual Elissidil." Coach addressed, i smiled at her in return. This was going to be a good season.
~
Once practice was over, we practically scurried back into the locker room at how cold life outside the water was, careful not to slip on the polished flooring.
I wrapped myself in a towel, drying my arms and legs before proceeding to remove my swimming gear. We tossed our bathing suits into the clothing bin that coach brought into the room along with our extremely dampened towels.
I managed to scrounge my outfit back on and dismissed myself from the team.
"I'll see you guys next time!"
The locker room was now growing empty as we filed out to head home. It was already five in the afternoon and since school ended at three, campus seemed like a dead man's land.
I sighed, knowing that Avalon was probably already at home eating a bowl of ice cream, leaving me stuck having to get a ride from my either of my parents.
The sun was overlapped by massive grey clouds and the air was a bit chillier than before. I made my way towards the front of the school, phone in hand contemplating whether or not to dial my parents. Or even worse, if they weren't home yet my sister would have to pick me up.
I hated how my parents didn't want to buy me a car even though i had already gotten my driver's license. Sabrina got her first car exactly when she turned sixteen; as always she was the favorite daughter.
My fingers dialed my household number, bringing my cellphone up to my ear as i closed my eyes in hope while leaning against the brick wall of the school. Even though my parents were hostile, it was better to get a ride from them than from Sabrina. I didn't have my card on me so i wasn't able to order an Uber.
The ringing radiating from the other line seemed to last forever before her voice appeared on the line.
"What do you want?" The sass in her tone made me want to punch her through my screen.
"Are mom and dad home?" I dragged through gritted teeth, bouncing my leg up and down in annoyance.
"No. Just Ryan and i." She replied curtly before a small laugh escaped her lips. "What? Don't tell me poor little Amberle is stuck at school without a ride." She mocked.
"You know what? Forget it, i'd rather walk." I snapped before abruptly hanging up the call. Why was she such a bxtch? Of course my parents weren't home, she didn't have to put up her perfect daughter facade while they were gone.
I couldn't believe she was at home, MY home.
She was nothing but an intruder to me at this point and there was no possible circumstance where i would ever treat her as a sister.
I reluctantly began walking towards the direction of the city's metro station, the chilly air finding a way to wrap itself around the tip of my nose as i held onto my phone.
I absolutely despised having to walk, especially since my upper and lower extremities were aching due to all the swimming i did in the last few hours. But it was the lesser of two evils.
I quickly dialed Avalon's number in order to facetime the blonde and hopefully pass some time until i got home.
To my relief, she picked up after the first ring.
"What's up, how was practice?" She asked, voice slightly mumbled as she chewed on a granola bar.
"Wait- where are you?" She asked not too long after her first question; seeing as my cellphone was facing up in my hand and the front camera was giving her a clear view of the cloudy sky above me.
"Walking home." I groaned, lowering my phone so that she could see my annoyed expression.
"You should've just called me! I could've driven you home." She face palmed herself.
I sighed. "I didnt want you to have to being your ass all the way back to school." I justified, crossing the busy street i was currently walking through before fixating my attention back to the blonde on my screen.
"Hey, gas may be expensive but your girl can sacrifice her cash for you."
I laughed, briefly dodging a guy who sped through on his bicycle, barley missing me as he did so.
"You better watch where you're going before you run into something." She warned as she switched locations from her kitchen to her bedroom.
"I think i'll be fine."
Before she could answer, the blasting sound of a motor engine appeared from behind me. I gritted my teeth before practically ripping my earphones out of my ears and snapped my attention over to the roaring noise that seemed to radiate from right behind me, ready to tell off the jerk that was probably trying to cat call me.
To my surprise, it was Eretria on her damn motorcycle. Why was it not a shock that i ran into this girl at least a hundred times a day? What was she even doing at this time?
She came to a halt on the side of the road i was walking on, causing a few cabs behind her to honk and switch lanes to avoid running into the girl . She removed her helmet and snapped her dark eyes over to me, her structured features in view.
I could feel the vibrations of Avalon's voice through my fingertips as i held my headphones in hand but i couldn't make out a word she was saying over all the sounds of traffic.
"Trouble in paradise?" Eretria asked, clearly referring to me walking home instead of having a ride as usual.
I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms in annoyance at her remark.
"What do you want?" I asked. If she was trying to taunt me for what i said back to her in the lab i really wasn't having it.
She rose an eyebrow. "Just trying to help out." She defended, still looking at me. I wasn't buying it.
"If this is your way of trying to get back at me for offending you earlier today then i'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to make any assumptions about you because you're right. I don't know you. And yes, karma is a b!tch." I let out, trying to clear whatever tension there might be between the two of us because if things continued to go on the way they were; me seeing the girl everyday i didn't want to have any bad blood with her. Especially when she was some careless rule breaker.
She stayed quiet for a minute, a car honking her back into reality. She groaned and gave the car behind her the middle finger before the angry driver proceeded to switch lanes, clearly muttering obscurities as they drove by.
"Fxcking asshole." Eretria called out, a few individuals walking on the crosswalk past me threw dirty and perplexed looks our way.
I rose my brows at her predicable outburst and realized that she was probably not going to listen to my sappy apology. I rolled my eyes again and continued to walk. I just had to ignore her and she would go away.
Before i manged to make five steps, she sped up, halting right in front of me this time.
I stopped briefly , eyes wide in shock at her sudden act. Was this girl crazy?
"Where are you going?" She asked, definitely proving to me that she was even crazier than i thought
"Home?" I answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I didn't know what exactly was wrong with her but she seemed to be quite impulsive for the strangest of reasons.
"Hop on neighbor." She said, scooting forward on her seat and tapping the space behind her for me to get on. There was the stupid nickname again: neighbor.
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, looking at her as if she were an alien.
"What does it look like? Offering you a ride." She motioned to the space behind her yet again.
I scoffed. "You're crazy if you think i'm actually willing to get on that death contraption."
She tilted her head and gave me a look as if showing that she wasn't fazed at all by my rejection.
"Oh come on, it's just a motorcycle. You don't always have to act like you're too good for things, you know."
"Like i'm too good?" I repeated with disbelief. Is this what she really thought of me as?
She just nodded, crossing her arms.
The clouds above suddenly seemed to darken as i felt a droplet of water hit my cheek. Curse mother nature and her awful timing.
"Would you look at that? Seems like its about to pour any time soon." She said sarcastically, eyeing the sky.
I grumbled under my breathe, walking up to the motorcycle seeing as i had no other choice unless i wanted to be drowned in the rain that was about to fall.
I sat down behind the female, a bit nervous as the unfamiliar feeling of the seat underneath me caused me to panic and quickly bring my arms around her waist as if the action would save me from a fatal death.
She obviously noticed this and chuckled in response.
I cleared my throat and quickly let go of her, why was i so good at embarrassing myself?
"Here, wear this and i promise nothing will happen to you." She handed me her helmet, i reluctantly took its heaviness into my hands.
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine." She brushed it off and placed her hands back on the handles of the motorcycle.
Hesitating, i slid the helmet onto my head, watching as my vision turned into a shade of blue due to its tinted screen.
I felt out of place and extremely out of my comfort zone but it was too late to change my mind and run away like the goody two shoes she thought of me as so i managed to suck it up and place my arms back around her waist.
"You good?" She asked.
"Yup." I replied curtly, ignoring the panic that was erupting at the of of my stomach.
We began to pick up speed and drive down the street past cabs and vehicles. I couldn't believe i was actually riding a motorcycle, something i swore to myself i would never dare get on after seeing how dangerous and prone to accidents these things were. And out of all people I was riding with Eretria? The same girl who made girls flock at her feet , the girl i threw a rock at the day she moved to town, my neighbor.
The wind and a few rain drops were all i felt on my skin as we zoomed through different neighborhoods and past traffic lights. I barley noticed our neighborhood lake at the rate the vehicle and my thoughts were travelling.
We came to a stop right in front of her house and it was then that i let out a breathe of relief i didn't know i was holding. She turned into her driveway, slowly coming to another stop before shutting the engine off.
Things quickly became silent once the powerful engine came to an abrupt end and i removed my arms from around her to take the helmet off of my head.
She was still seated in front of me as i handed her the helmet. An amused grin grew on her face as she slightly looked back and over at me.
"Are you shaking?" She pointed out.
"What? No!" I scoffed, standing from the seat and fixing my hair that was now frizzy due to the wind and water.
She stood after me, fixing her bag onto her back as she looked down at me for a second.
"Well uh, thanks for the ride." I departed myself, the rain already picking up force as i walked away from her house.
"Amberle." She called out as i was already walking onto my driveway. My name sounded foreign coming from her mouth.
I looked at her expectantly over the fence that was separating our houses.
"For the record, i didn't get offended by what you said." She began. "You were kind of right."
I looked at her with no words for a second too long before nodding in response, watching as she walked into her house and out of sight.
I furrowed my brows and unlocked my front door with the set of keys i had thrown in my book bag.
What just happened?
~
A heavy rain was engulfing the sky and nature outside as i spent the next few hours trying to do my homework but failing to do so as what happened earlier with Eretria seemed to replay itself in my head over and over again like a continuous loop.
Why was she suddenly acting so nice when she showed nothing but condescension at school or whenever she was around anybody? It didn't make sense. Neither did why i kept thinking about her when it was probably nothing at all.
We weren't friends. Sure we happened to meet at the lake, sure she was my lab partner and my new neighbor. But we weren't friends and i don't think that fact would ever change. Not as long as i could help it. The only reason i accepted her offer to take me home is because of the rain i was going go get caught up in, nothing less and definitely nothing more.
A knock on my bedroom door startled me out of bed, my rear end hitting the floor in one quick motion before the door proceeded to swing open, hammering the wall behind it with a loud force.
"Ugh, you're still such a klutz." Sabrina's voice muttered from the threshold, her slim body was wrapped in an all to familiar bathrobe and her wet hair was rolled up in a towel. I had forgotten how important the lock on my door was when she moved away.
"Is that my bathrobe?" I asked through gritted teeth. I watched as her face switched from disgust to that of sneakiness.
"Maybe it is." She chirped, leaning against my door with her hip and folding her arms at her chest to get a better view of my messy bedroom in which she was eyeing with pure judgement.
I stood from the floor and walked over to her, ready to rip the fabric from her taller frame and shut the door in her face if it wasn't for Ryan suddenly appearing from the now foggy bathroom. His hair was dripping with water and a towel was covering the lower half of his body as he flashed me a white smile.
He wrapped an arm around Sabrina's shoulder, he too observing my room. I almost puked at my feet from the sight of the pair.
"Are those medals?" He asked curiously, a smile on his lips as he walked into my room barefoot.
I stepped aside and mentally strangled my sister as she winked at me and strutted away to the spare bedroom her and Ryan were occupying, making sure to sway my bathrobe as she did so.
I hesitated with annoyance, turning back around to Ryan who was deeply intrigued with my championship medallions hanging from my wall.
"I won all of those for Northdale's swim team." I explained, standing beside him to take in the view of what appeared to take up almost half of my wall.
"Wow, this is amazing." He complimented. "I don't know what your parents and sister are talking about, it seems like you totally kick ass at the whole swimming thing."
I looked at him with a small smile,slightly taken aback at his remark. His attitude and energy was polar opposites from that of Sabrina and for a second i almost forgot that the she devil was right down the hallway under the same roof as us.
"Hey Ryan , can i ask you something?" I asked, not caring what his reaction would be at my absurd question.
"What's up?" He asked, eyes travelling to me with a curious face.
"What do you see in my sister?" The words left my mouth too smoothly, as if i had been keeping the question stashed away at the back of my throat for way too long and finally had the courage to ask.
He opened his mouth for a second and shut it right after, not knowing how to respond or react but i noticed the brief look of surprise that washed over his structured facial features.
"Babe!" Sabrina's voice pierced through the moment and gained Ryan's attention from me. "Come take a look at these flowers, they seem perfect for the wedding!" She shouted.
Ryan rose his brows and gave me a small smile of departure before exiting my bedroom.
I shut the door after him, feeling satisfied that i had asked that stupid question.