A/N: Hi folks! I know its been a while and I'm sorry. Enjoy the chapter first then read the A/N at the end. The Dedication is to @CherryBangel for the awesome new cover!
Chapter Seventeen
I clutched my seat to steady myself, as Alexa’s jalopy jerked to a screeching, sputtering halt. She drummed her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, muttering “Come on” as she craned her neck up to see the traffic lights.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Are you kidding me Alexa?!” I exclaimed,” You could have made it before those lights changed!” In fact, if she didn’t drive like a half dead hag with Parkinsons, we could’ve made it to school already. I pursed my lips to keep from voicing my thoughts since she was, after all, doing me a favor.
“Listen, my baby likes to take it easy on the road. She’s fragile,” Alexa responded, patting the dash affectionately, and I rolled my eyes. “Plus doesn’t it feel good to just enjoy the early morning unpolluted air?” She shoved her hand out as she drove off, at snail speed.
I forced a smile as I turned away and rested my hand on the window, inwardly cursing my father and the day he got tangled up in Bethany Mason’s spell, and sentencing me to cross paths with the bane of my existence. It’s not that the thought of making Shane my personal chauffeur didn’t thrill me. Because trust me when I say that nothing would satisfy me more than to wake him up at at 3:00 to drive me to 4:30 AM practices. But there was only so much idiocy I could handle in my life. And after Shane’s latest stunt, I didn’t think I could trust myself to ignore the part of me calling for his blood.
Half an antagonizing hour later, Alexa had managed to get the jalopy to crawl into the parking lot, and I found myself surrounded by pitying teenagers in speedos and one piece bathing suits. Like always, there were stupid questions, pitying pouts and did I mention stupid questions?
“Alright, break it up guys!” Coach bellowed, twirling the whistle in her hands. “Warm ups, now!” With that, she blew hard on the whistle, sending the swimmers diving into the water faster than you could say, “Go team!” She turned to me matter-of-factly, “You know the rules Pierce. No spectators unless we’re competing!”
I shifted my weight on my crutches, trying to keep my face straight. Spectator? Could she really not see how devout of a team leader I was being by showing up at this god forsaken hour?! And I couldn’t even get near the water! I scowled inwardly. The covers on my bed had fought with me to remain under them. It had been a hell of a struggle, but eventually my mom had won when she pulled them away, threatening to hurt my already damaged leg.
“Well, I suppose just for today, I’ll let this slide,” she said as if she was doing me some huge favor. I rolled my eyes and without bothering to thank her for her ‘generosity,’ I hobbled towards the bleachers and pulled out my phone.
2 new messages.
MontyMason: Yay school!
MontyMason: … said no one ever -_-
With a chuckle, I reached for the gatorade bottle next to me and took a small sip as my fingers quickly typed in my reply.
Girlyoudontknow: Good morning to you too, sunshine! -_-
MontyMason: Sorry, I’m still sleepy.
Girlyoudontknow: Unless you have a parent threatening to beat it out of you, don’t give up the sleep! It’s a losing battle dude.
MontyMason: Then I guess I’m a dead man walking then. I gotta go. Behave now.
I took another swig of the gatorade, but before I could even put down the bottle, another hand had snatched it from mine. I looked up to see the idiot with the death warrant above his head, chugging down my gatorade. I watched with gritted teeth as he wiped his mouth and smiled at me. “Thanks, I was thirsty.”
“Shane, you son of a-”’
Thwack!
“Hey!” Shane yelled, his hand to the back of his head as he glared at the guy who had appeared behind of him. “That hurt man!”
“It was supposed to.” I stared at this newcomer, as he flashed his dimples, wondering where I had seen him before. There was something about him which almost seemed... foreign.
Shane wasn’t amused and turned to face him fully. “Listen. Just because I drive your ass every morn-”
Whheeeeeetttttt!
“Break it up boys!” Coach barked, as she approached, wagging a finger at Shane. “Shane, I warned you not to cause any trouble! And you!” she turned sharply to the new guy, “...get in the pool.”
I stared after this new guy as he walked towards the pool and registered two things:
1. The fact that Coach had allowed him into the team this far into the semester meant that either his last name was Gates and he had ‘donated’ Coach the lamborghini she’d always wanted or he was Michael Phelps’ reincarnation.
2. He had walked away unscathed after being half an hour late which brings me back to my previous statement.
The horrendous whistle blew again, bringing me out of my thoughts as Coach summoned the attention of the swimmers. “Okay guys, your captain is here,” she gestured to the new guy as he strapped on his goggles, “Let’s make this practice count!”
My eyes as I froze in shock. How long had it freaking been?!
“Alexa!” I was yelling almost three hours later as I impressively manoevered my crutches through the hallway. Ahead of me, she looked back, her facial expression fearful, and then continued to run. “Get back here!”
As I rounded the corner on my crutches, I saw her scurrying to and fro like a rat that knows it had been caught. She turned around, muttering, “Shit.”
“That’s exactly what I think about this whole situation!” I exclaimed, pulling myself forward. It had barely been a week, yet it was like I didn’t even exist. “What? He’s our “ticket to the championships”?!” I distastefully repeated Coach’s words. “So what if he had a better time for backstrokes? How could they replace me as the captain just like that?”
“I’m sorry for not telling you Aisha.” Alexa couldn’t meet my eyes. “It’s just that things were already going bad for you and I didn’t want to make them worse.”
I gulped hard. I wouldn’t cry over this. “Whatever.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again as she left.
I turned away, pulling out my phone as I heard it vibrate from my pocket.
1 new message.
MontyMason: You know what would make me the happiest man alive right now?
I took a seat on the wall and placed my crutches against it before answering.
Girlyoudontknow: no.
MontyMason: You’re supposed to ask “what?”
Girlyoudontknow: what?
MontyMason: Le gasp! No snarky comment inserted after the “what”? Or is it still loading?
MontyMason: Aww…. where’s the fun in this? Are you alright?
Girlyoudontknow: fine.
MontyMason: Wow. You must be pretty dense if you can’t even lie on the internet.
I sat up straighter, ignoring the fallen crutch as I glared at the phone then furiously typed.
Girlyoudontknow: Who the hell are you calling dense you idiot!
MontyMason: Success! There’s the feminist old hag I know! It’s easy to tell when something is wrong, you know. You use one word answers that aren’t in the least bit insultive of feisty and this guy is missing (-_- )
Setting the phone down next to me on the wall, I bent down to pick up the fallen crutch, only to hear an “Oof!” on my way up and see something drop.
“ Sorry!”
I bent down to pick up the phone, but the orange glare from the screen was the least of my concerns because doubled over holding his midsection in pain was the swim team’s new captain.
Make that not sorry.
A/N: #SorryNotSorry. What did you think of the chapter? Who is this new character and how is he connected in all this?
I'm in college guys so time is disappearing. I'm very sorry for the slow updates but I just want to reassure you that I have no intention of abandoning this story.
Finally, I'd like to say a big thank you to all my readers/commentors/voters/followers! You guys rock!
Have a good night/day!
-Summer ^_^