Chapter Song: Bloodshot- Dove Cameron
I was grounded for 3 weeks. The only thing I was allowed to do besides going to school was helping Tish our at the studio after school. Hayden could still come over since he was my English partner and our term essay was due in a week. Riley was also able to come over since it was Riley. But no parties. No boys.
I went home the next morning after staying at Cal's house and told my dad everything. He came home from an emergency surgery that night and saw us walk into his house. He was more mad that I didn't tell him I was coming home more than anything. Specifically that I didn't call him like I should have.
Riley told me that the boys slept in their room on the floor that night. Ty slept in front of the locked door even. Sometimes he could be a nice guy. They left the following morning so I was able to give Cal his present which he was incredibly grateful for. He wouldn't stop saying thank you and he didn't deserve it.
I tried to push away the scenes that kept replaying in my head. I didn't need any more distractions. What I needed was caffeine ASAP.
Hellllp I neeeed coffee :(
I sent out the quick text to Hayden slamming my face in the desk afterward. As soon as my forehead hit the keyboard a bell went off in the lobby. I picked my head back up immediately responding with my guest service hi-welcome-in voice.
I helped her sign in and grabbed a pair of rental shoes to use directing her towards the locker rooms. I sat back down with a thud. This was boring. I guess I could start looking at more college applications.
The thought made me want to hurl. I still didn't know what I wanted to go to college for or even where. It was a migraine-inducing process. At least Cal and Liam knew.
So far I had gotten accepted into UCLA and the University of Virginia acceptance came this weekend. I still needed to finish my application to Columbia, the University of Arizona, and the University of Colorado. Dream big, huh.
I started to use the front desks computer to finish my Colombia application when the bell chimed again. In walked Natalie with a devil glare pointed at me. I swore she was drilling knives into my head. At least her nose healed nicely.
I tried to avoid her like the plague since Cal's birthday. It's not that I wanted to get between them. I couldn't help myself from getting close to Cal. I already decided what happened that weekend was due to our heightened emotions. It was natural. Besides I still didn't know what was going on with them. It was a mess and I already had enough messes to deal with.
"Stay away from him!" She screeched throwing her palms flat on the counter.
"Hi welcome in how can I help you?" I smiled sweetly at her.
Bitch.
"He's mine in case you haven't forgotten. You didn't choose him you don't get to take him back now," she was fuming. Her nostrils kept flaring and it took everything I had to not pinch them together.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you here for a class?"
"Stay away from him Kennedy Parker, or else," and then she stormed out of the store.
Just as she was leaving Hayden walked in. He gave me a weird look questioning me with the crazy girl running out. In his hands were two cups of coffee.
"You're the best," I groan taking a cup from his hands.
I took a long sip. He got me a hot black coffee and it was perfect. Sometimes you just needed to be plain.
"What was that all about?" He took a seat next to me.
I went into full detail about everything that happened over the weekend up until now. How I still think she got hit with the ball on purpose for attention up until staying the night with Cal. I tried not to go into detail about the conversation. Part of it felt like it needed to be kept secret. Like magic somehow.
"I am so sorry," his face slumped. "I wish I was there for you".
"No, no, no really its okay Hayden. It all worked out in the end," I assured him.
Which was true. As shitty as it was to experience something so terrible I was still here. It had to mean something. Besides, it showed how they actually did care about me, how they all cared for me.
We sat in silence for a while working on homework for me to occasionally pause and take phone calls, or help check people in. It wasn't until the ring of the bell from the door and familiar voices that caught me off guard.
"Hey sis," Liam smiled at me. "Sup Hayden." He did some sort of fist bump thing towards Hayden.
"What are you doing here?"
"The coach worked something out with Tish to have us take a class there once a week during the off-season for cardio endurance," he rolled his eyes way to dramatically for his own good. If Riley were here she would be so proud. "Said Tish gave him a good deal."
"Liam your season ended last week, and you guys are seniors you know that right?" I gestured towards Mason and Cal who were standing uncomfortably in the lobby looking at us. They had walked in right after Liam.
"Yeah but if we want to have some nice scholarships we still have to look good," he joked.
He did have a fair point. At least the coach was going to let them still condition with them. Probably because all three of his seniors were offered scholarships. It was a pretty big deal for everyone.
"Hey Liam hey boys," Tish strutted into the room with a white towel around her neck.
Even after teaching a spin class, she looked pristine. I still didn't understand how there were people out there that could do stuff like that. It should be illegal.
"Kenny, you should be good to go home for the rest of the night. Your dad is picking up Liv and is making dinner tonight," she smiled at me leaning up against the counter.
"Actually if you didn't mind I was going to use the yoga room to stretch and just clear my head," I gave her a little pout hoping she would let me. "Unless you have an extra class going on I'll just stretch at home."
"No problem hun. I'll grab you after we do the boys class and we can all lock up together." She gave the counter a little tap before turning to go back down into the hallway.
"She's hot," Hayden said breathlessly.
"Stop," I grumbled shoving him.
"He's not wrong," Mason chimed in.
"Mace remember when I told you you're dad is a Dilf?"
"Oh god why would you bring that up?" He looked at me mortified.
"I can't help it," I sighed starting to fan myself. "He's just so handsome."
"STOP!"
"You Stop! She's my mom," I groaned some more throwing a pen at him.
"Okay both of you stop. Or Mace you're going to have to show me a picture of your dad." Hayden butted in.
"Which one?" I smirked at him.
"Kenny please, this is torture," Mason groaned in agony sinking into one of the lobby chairs.
Cal and Liam just laughed at both of the boys chiming in a few random things before the coach came into the room with the rest of the team. The boys didn't say anything else to me. Cal gave me a small smile and waved before he walked into the room.
A couple of guys from the team smiled and said hello to me before they all pouted walking towards the spin room. I couldn't help but laugh at all of them being such babies.
Thankfully Hayden was able to help with all my applications so I didn't have anything else to do for the rest of the evening. I had asked if he wanted to join me to stretch but he said he had a date tonight.
He told me how he was going to take him mini-golfing and then out for some diner food. Milkshakes were always a good choice. I told him to text me after to let me know how it went and all the juicy details. Especially if he needed an emergency call. I knew Riley or I would be his girls.
I locked the front doors before making my way to our yoga room. Luckily it was set up to be a hot yoga room. So I cranked up the heat before unrolling my personal mat I kept hidden under the front desk.
When I had my mat and towel set up I took off my shirt and shoes so I was only in my leggings and sports bra. I went over to set up my phone with the Bluetooth speaker and scrolled through to find the perfect playlist. I pressed play, dimmed the lights, and headed back to my mat.
I stretched out all of my limbs letting my body warms up to the motions before eventually going through a flow. I held the positions longer than I was used to, and even tried to go deeper in some of the holds.
To be honest, I kind of hated yoga. I found it incredibly boring even when I was in class. I always hated stretching too. Swim had forced me to do it throughout the years.
Now, that I hadn't been in the water in months I forced myself to stretch some more. When I wasn't at the gym weightlifting I was either at one of the spin classes or taking a yoga class.
Nights like tonight though was good to have to myself. Before going back to the chaotic home that I loved so much. I had been making an effort to spend more time at home lately. Trying to get as much family time as I could in before who knows what is next.
After about an hour to myself, I heard a knock at the door. I yelled back that I was coming before turning back on the lights. I cleaned and rolled up my mat before unplugging my phone. I slipped my sneakers back on and folded up my shirt to put in my bag. I grabbed my jacket and tossed it around my shoulders.
I always left it open until I got in my car. It was weird, but I liked the feeling of the cold air hitting my sweat-soaked body. It always gave me chills. It was refreshing after being in a heat box for an hour. My fault I know.
"Oh my fuck how do people do this for fun," Liam yelled in the parking lot. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips.
"Get over it wimp," I yelled back at him. He flipped me off and I stuck my tongue out at him. I almost ran into Cal if he didn't put his arms out to stop me.
"Oh I'm so sorry," I shook my head to get me out of my daze. I watched as his eyes grazed over my toned and sweaty body. I smirked as she shook his head slightly.
"Eat your heart out," I told him.
"Glady," he smirked.
"Uh what's up," I tried to change the subject quickly. It wasn't going to end well if we just say and checked each other out.
Because I had to admit it was hard not to admire his rock hard abs. Especially since the sweat glistening his body was enhancing them.
That night when we came back from the cabin early all we did was sleep. We were both so tired. The next morning we sat and talked about everything and poured everything on the table.
How he had a lot of pent up anger from how stupid he was last year to his dad leaving. It made sense on why he kept getting into fights lately. We talked about how my dad made me go to therapy over summer to sort stuff out about my mom.
How the gym was really helping me focus my thoughts into something positive. We even talked about all of our feelings.
It helped things kind of go back to normal. Back to how we used to be but better. We weren't back together. We decided we would take things slow and rebuild our friendship first before we even thought about dating or anything.
We both agreed we weren't interested in dating other people either. Neither of us brought up Natalie. I felt it was a too sensitive topic and so far the conversation was going well. I didn't want to ruin it. I'd bring it up later.
It was weird but it worked. It definitely eased the tension. We sat and joked with each other like old times. It was nice having my Cal back.
"Just wanted to see how your day was," he gave me a goofy shrug.
"It was good," I sighed happily. "Yours?"
"Better now."
Ugh. He was smooth. I couldn't hide the blush I knew that erupted from my cheeks. They were probably red not even pink at this point.
"So charming McCormick," I smirked. "Are you and your mom still coming to our Christmas party next week?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied. "Did we need to bring anything?"
"I'm sure you don't have to bring anything except yourselves," I purse my lips. "Oh and Nolan and his wife if they're visiting too."
"My mom will bring something and you know it," he rolled his eyes. It was true. She was also an amazing baker so it helped.
"If she wants to bring something she can but she doesn't have to."
He opened his mouth to say more but Liam and Mason began to catcall him from the car. Mason kept honking the horn repeatedly.
"Okay! I'm coming!" He yelled at them but laughed afterward. I couldn't help but hide behind my hands.
"They are so dramatic," I groaned.
"He gets it from you," Cal smirked.
"He does not," my jaw dropped as I playfully smacked his chest.
He grabbed my hand and interlocked his fingers with mine. He pulled me closer so that we were inches apart. I could feel my breath catch in the back of my throat.
"Yes he does," he whispered in my ear. His breath as hot sending shivers down my spine. He gave me a quick smirk before running to the car.
"Tease!" I called out to him. He responded with a wink before jumping into the boys' car and driving away.
———-
Hello!
If you haven't read the first book The Deep End yet you probably should ☺️
Anyways, I hope you're liking it so far! I edited the chapters already posted to tweak a few things up until now! I'll try to post some more chapters this week!
Let me know what you think or any ideas! I'd love to hear from you! ❤️