I woke in the morning to the excited sounds of twittering girls. I scowled, rolling over and pressing my head against my pillow.
"I can't believe it!" Danielle cried excitedly.
"Me either! Holly! Holly, wake up!"
"No," I moaned, covering my ears. "I want to sleep..."
"Holly, it's noon. Half the class is already at the beach!" Casey responded, nearly shouting. "Plus, there is something I want you to see!"
"Trust me, you'll want to see it!" Danielle added.
"Come on, get up and get ready!"
I felt the covers being ripped off of me and I clung to them for dear life. I heard Casey grunt, and yank harder.
"No," I moaned, keeping a firm grasp. "Just a little longer..."
"No!"
With tremendous force, Casey was able to pull the comforter off me. I sat up straight, scowling at her. Danielle's hands were also on the blanket. She dropped them immediately, a sheepish grin on her face.
"Sorry, but we should go to the beach," she said, and Casey nodded.
"Fine," I said, sighing in resignation. "Let me change into some clothes-"
"Don't bother," Casey responded quickly. "We'll be swimming and stuff, so just throw on your swimsuit."
I frowned slightly. "I'm at least wearing shorts..."
Casey rolled her eyes. "Fine, wear shorts then, but hurry up! And do something with your hair."
I gave her a quizzical look. If we were going swimming, why would I have to do my hair? Sighing, I climbed out of my bed and walked over to my backpack. I grabbed my bikini top and bottom, a pair of shorts, and my hairbrush before going to the hotel bathroom.
I used the toilet, and washed my face before stripping out of my clothes and pulling on the bathing suit and shorts. I brushed out my hair, fixing my bangs. When I thought they looked presentable, I left the bathroom, snagging my beach towel from the towel hanger on the way.
"You ready?" Casey asked, waiting by the door with Danielle.
I nodded, slipping on my flip-flips, and following them out of the hotel room. The door locked behind us, and I hoped either Casey or Danielle had the hotel key.
We made our way to the hotel lobby, where a few kids from out class were hanging out in the very comfortable looking recliners. They seemed to be playing catch with a hacky sack. Ms. Kirk was there too, probably keeping an eye on them. She waved at us as we walked by and I returned the wave.
I yawned as we stepped outside the hotel. A cool breeze nipped at me immediately and I looked at the sky with a frown. It definitely looked like it was going to rain. However, it was still warm enough to go swimming, so as long as it didn't rain for a while, I didn't mind.
We trudged across the street that led to the beach, and climbed up the boardwalk that went over the dunes. At the top, the ocean suddenly spread out in front of me, stretching out for what looked like forever. I smiled at the sight of it; it was so refreshing.
A large group of people were playing beach volley ball off to the right a little. I caught Casey looking at the group of people with a grin. She looked at me, and nodded her head at the group of people.
"Want to go play?"
I raised an eyebrow. "No..."
"Are you positive?" she asked, slowly frowning. "Do you not see...?"
"Let's go closer," Danielle suggested, pushing my back and leading me down the other side of the dune, to the beach.
I stumbled for a minute, but managed to maintain my balance as she pushed me down the boardwalk. Casey trailed behind us, an excited grin still on her face. For some reason, I felt weary for the reason of Danielle and Casey's giddiness. I hope they weren't planning on a surprise attack on me with water guns or something...
The closer we got to the group playing beach volleyball, the louder they became. A few people on the sidelines were cheering, and the girls playing were making loud, unnecessary squeals and shouts. I rolled my eyes slightly.
That's when my eyes caught sigh of him.
I froze, my eyes widening. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? I glanced at Casey, who grinned back at me.
"Now are you glad you came?"
I turned back the group playing volleyball, putting a hand over my eyes to shade them against the small bit of sunlight that was peeking out from the many clouds. There was no way I was imagining things.
There stood Mr. Heywood in all his bare-chested glory.
But then a girl falling into him blocked his body from view. I narrowed my eyes slightly. Was that an accidental trip, or was it on purpose? Casey's smile slowly disappeared and she turned to me sheepishly.
"Okay, well... there may be girls all over him, but he's here!"
"I don't care if there are girls all over him," I stated stubbornly, crossing my arms.
"I do," Danielle interjected, scowling at the girls who stood at a two feet radius around Mr. Heywood. "I mean, you have positions in volleyball! Why are they all standing so close to him?"
"You jealous?" Casey asked, jabbing her in the side.
"Yeah," Danielle admitted without hesitation. "It's annoying."
Something in my gut twisted, and I stared at the ground, biting my lip. It was funny. I was feeling jealous of someone being jealous. I almost laughed out loud at the idea.
"Let's go join in then," Casey suggested, nodding her head towards the game.
"I'm in," Danielle said, grabbing Casey and dragging her towards Mr. Heywood.
"Coming, Holly?"
I opened my mouth, about to say no, but decided against it. A smirk made it's way onto my face. "Yeah, I'll play."
Casey beamed at me; happy I was actually going to play. Volleyball wasn't my sport. We trooped over to Mr. Heywood, and he glanced at us briefly but then did a double take.
I pretended to be interested in the sand as we got closer. I heard Mr. Heywood call time, and a resounding chorus of "okay" came soon after from the girls playing. Casey suddenly stopped and I nearly ran into her.
"Hey, Mr. Heywood," Casey started, and I had to resist the urge to look up. "Got room for three more players?"
"Of course," Mr. Heywood responded without hesitation. "It'll make it even, but one of you will have to go on the other team."
I looked up now, raising my hand. "I'll go on the other team."
"You sure?" Casey asked, turning around in surprise. "I don't mind-"
"No," I assured her, "I want to."
My gaze met Mr. Heywood's for a brief moment. For one split second, his eyes dropped and I had the impression he was just now noticing I was only in my bathing suit. Good thing I decided to wear shorts.
I walked to the other side of the volleyball court, ducking under the net. I glanced at my team. Luckily, they were all people I was sort of friends with. Also, Sadie was on this team. She grinned at me, and pointed to the spot next to her. I walked over to her and took it.
"You're serving," she informed me, handing me the volleyball.
"Umm," I hesitated, looking at the white ball in my hands. "I actually don't think-"
Someone blew a whistle and I jumped, nearly dropping the volleyball. I glanced at Mr. Heywood as the whistled bounced against his chest as he dropped it. He smiled in amusement.
"Serve at will, Ms. Evers."
I took a deep breath, staring nervously at the ball in my hand. I didn't even remember how to serve! Why had I decided to play again?
Oh yeah. To try to show up Mr. Heywood.
But how could I do that when I didn't even know how to serve? I groaned internally, letting out my breath. Here goes nothing.
I balanced the ball on top of my left palm, and curled the fingers on my right hand. As fast as I could, I brought up my right hand, and slammed the heel of my hand into the volleyball.
Suddenly there was pain in my face, and people laughing. My face flamed as the volleyball dropped to the ground after bouncing off my face. I rubbed my nose, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
How I managed to hit myself in the face with a volleyball, I would never know.
Scowling, I bent down and readjusted the volleyball onto the flat of my left palm again. This time, instead of looking at the volleyball, I looked straight at Mr. Heywood, who was smirking in amusement. I stepped forward with my right foot, exerting my pressure to the swing of my arm. The heel of my hand connected with the volleyball, and this time it went sailing across the net.
All the way to the out of bounds area.
Both teams erupted in laughter again, and I heard the sound of a whistle. I hung my head in embarrassment, a sigh escaping my lips. Discreetly as possible, I stole a glance at Mr. Heywood. He was just about laughing his head off.
My face burned again as the other team rotated. Sadie caught my attention and mimicked my motion of hitting the volleyball, and then pretended to get hit in the face. Then she mimicked me again, hitting the pretend volleyball, and then looking into the sky, with her eyes shaded by her hand.
"Where'd it go?" she shouted, looking around in the sky.
I scowled at her as my team broke out into fresh laughter. "It's not that funny!"
"Guys, come on, let's continue the game," I heard Casey call from the other side, but I could tell she was trying not to laugh as well.
The game continued, and luckily, the ball never came to me. Sadie landed a point for our team, and we rotated. This time I was in the middle. My team gave me nervous looks and I returned them.
"Good luck," one of the girls, Anna, said.
"I'll need it," I responded glumly.
Sadie was serving now. She hit a clean serve to the other side of the court, which was returned by Casey. The volleying continued until Mr. Heywood made a hard spike, that landed just at Anna's feet.
I glared at him as his team cheered, the girls rushing to give him high fives. Scowling, I rotated out of the center. Now Mr. Heywood was serving on the other team. For five straight serves in a row, he got a point for his team. If someone had been walking by, they would have thought there was a mass murder or something from all the screaming.
"Ms. Evers, this one is for you," Mr. Heywood called, gaining my eye contact.
I blushed and looked away, until I remembered he said he was serving to me. My head snapped up, just in time to see the volleyball coming. Panicking, I tried to remember what move was best to hit the upcoming volleyball. Wildly, I returned it with a set.
Everyone watched as the ball went sailing to the other side, and landed in the dirt before anyone could reach it.
And it was in bounds.
Suddenly, people cheering surrounded me, and even the other team was clapping. Casey wolf-whistled at me. A smug smirk slipped onto my face as I looked at Mr. Heywood. He smirked back, mouthing something. I cocked my head in confusion, and he repeated it.
"I gave you an easy serve."
I scowled at him, not even bothering to respond. Anna was serving now. I watched as she hit the ball easily over the net. It was returned with a dig from Casey, and then returned again with a set from Sadie. Mr. Heywood stepped forwards, grinning at me. I braced myself, ready to return his hit.
He set up for a set, so I relaxed myself slightly. At the last moment however, he spiked it. Unprepared for the sudden volleyball whizzing at my face, I let it smack into me. I stumbled backwards and fell over from shock, my face stinging painfully.
"Holly!"
"Ow," I moaned, bringing a hand up to my face.
Casey's face appeared over mine, looking half worried, half amused. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting it."
Mr. Heywood appeared over me now, frowning. He held out a hand and I hesitated for a fraction of a second before taking it. Without any effort, he pulled me to my feet.
"Sorry," he apologized, running a hand through his hair. "I wasn't aiming for your face..."
"I'm fine-"
"Holly! Your nose is bleeding!" Casey cried, her hand covering her mouth.
I raised a hand up to my nose in surprise, and pulled it away, finding it covered with blood. A lot of blood. For a moment I swayed, the sight of so much blood making me queasy.
"Come on," Mr. Heywood started, grabbing my shoulder. "I have the first-aid kit on the bench."
Mr. Heywood pushed me towards the benches. I plugged my nose, tilting my head back. The feeling of the blood trickling down my throat almost made me gag.
"Don't lean your head back," Mr. Heywood scolded me. "Forwards."
I did as he said, and leaned forwards. Mr. Heywood continued to guide me until we made it to the bench. He sat me down, and pulled out a large black box from under where I sat.
"Here."
I looked up and saw Mr. Heywood holding out a package of tissues to me. I grabbed them, trying to open them with one hand. It wasn't working out to well. Mr. Heywood chuckled, taking the tissue pack back and opening the plastic for me. This time he gave it to me and I could pull out a few. I took my hand away and crumpled the tissues up and put them to my nose.
"Sorry about that," Mr. Heywood apologized again. "But the face you made was hilarious- before and after the ball hit."
I blushed and frowned. "I didn't know you were going to spike."
"Your pinching the wrong part of your nose," he told me, grabbing my hand and lowering it until I pinched the soft portion of my nose.
It was a good thing I had been blushing from the earlier comment, otherwise the blush I had know might have made him curious. He removed his hand and I nodded my thanks.
"Why are you here?" I asked, my voice sounding funny due to my nose being pinched.
"I got called in as a replacement chaperone," he told me, sitting down on the bench. "Mr. Cole got sick last night, so I was asked to drive up here today."
"Oh," I responded.
"Lucky me."
"Was that sarcasm?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Mr. Heywood sighed, shaking his hair out of his face. "Trust me. Being around half naked high school girls isn't as fun as it seems. Especially when they try to flirt with you or rub against you every five minutes."
Jealously was bubbling inside me again, but I forced it away. There was nothing to be jealous about!
"You know, must guys would like that," I tried to say in a teasing voice, but it ended up sounding relieved.
"Yeah, well if you haven't noticed, I'm not most guys."
I looked up at Mr. Heywood who had a smirk on his face. I chuckled slightly, returning my gaze back to the ground.
"Right. You're a handsome teacher who is an ex-gangster, and your old gang is out to kill you for some reason, and you won't let me know the reason even though I was dragged into your problems. Not to mention you like blackmailing people, and have a split-personality. Oh and did I mention the fact that you lied and said you couldn't cook and then went I had to stay at your house, you suddenly were a great chef? And then you made dinner for my mom and myself which was equally as delicious."
I paused, taking in a deep breath. Warmth was spreading across my face from my sudden outburst.
"You think I'm handsome?" Mr. Heywood asked, a smirk on his face, and an eyebrow cocked.
I scowled. "Was that all you got out of that entire rant?"
"I also caught the part where you said I was a great chef, and that what I made was delicious."
"Narcissistic," I muttered, shaking my head.
Mr. Heywood laughed. "I'm just kidding, Holly."
I pursed my lips at him. "Why do you call me Ms. Evers in front of others? You call everyone else by their first name in."
"Are you going back to the hotel?" he asked, ignoring me completely.
I scowled. "No, are you?"
Mr. Heywood shook his head. "No, I have to stay on the beach to watch everyone. What are you planning to do?"
"Not play volleyball again."
He chuckled. "Good plan."
"Mr. Heywood!"
I looked up to see Vanessa waving frantically at Mr. Heywood. I rolled my eyes at her bikini top. Was that bathing suit even considered a bikini top? There was barely anything there!
"Come back, we want to play again and we need you!" she shouted, gesticulating with her hand.
Mr. Heywood sighed, pushing himself off the bench. He stood in front of me for a moment, and I got a view of his chest, and six-pack. Slightly surprised, I gazed at his stomach. How had I not noticed he had abs? But then again, it shouldn't have been too surprising seeing how he was in a gang for about five years...
"See something you like, Holly?"
I blushed, glaring at him. "Yeah, I would if you took two steps to the right. It's the brown haired guy, right behind you."
Mr. Heywood whipped around, and I chuckled. Frowning, he turned back to me.
"Maybe it's because you're special."
With that, he started jogging back to the volleyball area. I stared after him for a moment, completely confused. What did he mean by that? It didn't make any sense!
Then it hit me. He was answering my early question.
Why do you call me Ms. Evers in front of people?
Instantly my face flushed.
Special as in what though? That I knew of his other personality? That I knew he was an ex-gangster? That I knew he was a good cook? That I knew how he was like outside of school?
Or was it special as in...
I shook my head. Don't even go there, Holly, I told myself. It was impossible...
That I was special to him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Well, as promised, I updated this story a day earlier. But this chapter didn't turn out as planned because it was too long :L So I had to split the beach thing into two different chapters. This one is fun and light hearted~! The next one will have you heart racing >:D I just need to write it now, hahahahaha.
I thought the music video accompanied with this chapter is quite amusing, and relating to my story, in a way, so watch it haha. Plus, it's All Time Low. It's impossible not to like them!
Vote, comment, join my facebook page in external link, enjoy new banner!