When my phone read 8:35am, I got worried.
Every Wednesday, Harvey picks me up from my house because it's my rest day from swim practice. He is never late. I let out a sigh as I stretch, the warm sun rays hitting my face. I hate the fact that we have to wear these heavy jackets and ties each day.
When the time hit 8:40am, I send him a text, asking where he is. It soon came to 8:50, when I let out a groan, getting to my feet. I began my trek to school, my school bag feeling unusually heavy on my shoulders. Maybe it is because I have become too reliant on Harvey's transportation services. It is the one day I don't have to walk.
I arrive as the bell rang. I hastily grab my books and make my way to History, hoping that Harvey is there. My stomach clenched when I saw that his seat is empty. I collapse onto my own chair and check my phone one last time, before shoving it into my bag.
Harvey is literally my only friend. I have never thought about the fact that I would be by myself, if he ever didn't show. Casting a surly look towards the vacant chair beside me, I flip my writing book open. I angrily write the date and the title of the chapter we are working on.
Mia snickered in my direction and nudged Mike, pointing at me. I chose to ignore her and focus on the boring lesson that I was forced to endure. I already feel like a loser; Mia didn't need to rub it in.
The next two periods dragged by slowly. When the lunch bell rang, I almost cried with joy. I dug my phone from my bag to find a text from Harvey.
Harvey: So sorry! I had a fever last night and crashed early. Forgot to set my alarms. Hope you weren't late today. Should be back tomorrow!
I quickly sent one back, saying it is fine and that I hope he is feeling better. I make my way down to the cafeteria, before stopping. Harvey and I usually ate lunch outside. I glance through the large windows and see that Mia and Mike are sitting at our table. She is obviously waiting for me to come out. She probably has some evil plan of embarrassing me in front of everyone and pointing out the fact that I have no friends.
I can already hear Mike's deep, annoying voice stating something like, "Aw, look, there's only the one dork today."
Narrowing my eyes, I turned on my heel and stormed towards to gym, feeling frustrated. Being alone sucks. I have that enough at home, I don't need it at school, too.
Pushing through the door, I make my way towards the Coach's office. I amthere and knocking on his door, before I had even really thought about what I was doing.
"Come in," his voice called.
Letting out a deep breath, I slip through the door and shut it behind me.
"Grace," he said, a look of complete surprise falling over his face. He brushed back some of his golden locks and reeled back in his chair. "What are you doing here?"
"I have no friends," I confessed, my eyes threatening to release hot, burning tears, but I refused. I wouldn't let them get to me. I couldn't.
Noticing that I was upset immediately, he gestured towards the empty seat, opposite to him.
"You're welcome to have lunch in here."
"Thank you," I replied earnestly, taking a seat. I clear my throat and attempt to maintain a light and casual tone. "Whatcha' up to?"
"Just organising the next practice swim off," he answered, leaning forward onto the desk. "I'm trying to make it for next Friday."
"Is that where other schools come here and we do a practice comp?"
"Exactly that."
"Sounds cool."
"I might do an actual comp, just depends."
I undid the foil and took a bite of my salad wrap, having taken Harvey's advice on making myself food for lunch. I notice his eyes on me and I look up.
"Where's your friend that you're never seen without?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Sick," I muttered. "Who even gets sick?"
"Everyone," he laughed.
"Not me. I never get sick."
"Why does that not surprise me?" he asked, giving me an amused smile.
I gave him a tight-lipped one in return, as I had food in my mouth.
"Kids being mean to you?"
"Mia's a bitch," I stated, my voice a little rough sounding. "She goes out of her way to be rude, but everyone else acts like I don't even exist. This whole outsider/transfer thing is so fucking stupid."
I paused, realising I just swore. He shrugged and completely ignored that fact.
"It is, but you have to understand, these kids have been together since they were about five years old. They know each other well. They're not used to new people coming into their cliques and in this town, people thrive to be in cliques. It's just the way it is. They're afraid the new people will be better or more interesting than they are, so they reject them." He shrugged again. "You just gotta' get in their face and beat them at their own game. It's the only way to survive, really."
"I'm trying. It's a lot easier when I have someone at lunch to sit with though."
"You're doing good," he complimented.
"Thanks."
I finish my wrap and move onto my apple, after taking a swig of water.
"Good to see you have a healthy lunch."
"I make myself lunch when I'm feeling organised. I had time today, with no practice."
"You need to eat well if you're going to train as hard as you have been."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes sir."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Whatever," he replied, mimicking my tone.
"Be careful or I'll throw this at you," I threatened, waving my half-eaten apple in the air.
He scrunched up his face. "You can keep it."
Grinning, I took another bite.
"What's your next class?" he asked.
"I have a free and then English."
"What are you doing on your free?" he asked, his eyes lighting up slightly.
"Probably hide in the library and pretend I don't exist." I admitted.
"Get up," he said, suddenly standing and turning his computer screen off. "We're going out for ice cream."
"Huh?" I asked, the apple pressed against my lips, muffling my voice.
"Come on," he urged, pulling my arm up.
"We can't leave campus," I frowned.
"Why not?"
"Er- because? It's like, against the rules?"
"I didn't peg you to be a goody-two-shoes," he snickered, flicking my nose, his eyes lingering on me for a heartbeat longer than necessary.
"Hey! I'm not!"
"Then what are you waiting for?" he asked, standing at the door, giving me a lazy smile that made my stomach do a flip-flop.
Grinning at him, I shook my head. "Coach, you're a bad influence on me."
"Maybe it's you who is the bad influence on me," he suggested, offering me a mischievous glance, before slipping out the door.
Without a moment of hesitation, I followed him.
***
Ashton ordered us ice cream and drove me to the look out. We had to leave the school at opposites ends and meet up around the back, in case anyone saw us. I felt so bad ass.
The lookout is gorgeous. It overlooked the entire town. The turquoise-coloured water shimmered underneath the sun. I gaze out across the sea in awe.
"This is pretty," I commented, peering over the railing. "I used to always go to the look out at my old town."
I let out a sigh at the thought of my old town. Only one or two of my friends have bothered to keep in touch with me. I guess it is hard, living so far away from them now, but it wouldn't hurt for them to message me every once in a while, or reply when I send them one. I had a good group of friends at my last school, or so I thought. It becomes clear who is actually your friends, when you leave.
"I like to come here to think," he said, giving me a soft smile, before looking back out to the water. "It's so calm and quiet."
"Except when it's windy," I pointed out.
"Valid point."
After finishing my ice cream, I chucked it into the bin. As Ashton leaned on the railing, I smiled to myself.
He is so handsome.
I can't believe I left school to go have ice cream with the Coach. He could probably get us both kicked out of school for this, but in this moment, I honestly didn't care. It was nice knowing that there was someone at the school that I could turn to and trust.
"Hey Ashton," I said as I walked over and joined him. "Thanks for the flowers."
"Did you like them?" he asked. "I thought lilies were nice."
Roses are my favourite but I still like lilies.
"They were beautiful. Thank you."
"I wanted to give you a little something for your hard work. I know your mother isn't around a lot to support you."
"That's very thoughtful of you."
He shrugged. "I try."
"You succeed," I grinned, giving him a slight nudge.
Pushing off the rail abruptly, he tugged at my arm until I followed him. He jogged down the stairs effortlessly and I ran after him.
"Slow down," I laughed, a little breathless due to the sudden exertion. "Where are we going?"
"Over there," he said, pointing to a tree.
"Okay?"
"It's my place," he said. "The place I always come to."
We wandered over to the tree. There was a bench next to it. When you sit on it, your entire view is purely of the water. It looked gorgeous. It is perched under the shade of the tree, blocking out the harsh rays of sun.
"It's really nice here."
"It is," he agreed. "You could come here, too, if you like. For whatever reason."
"Why thank you," I said sarcastically. "I'm glad you're allowing me to sit on this public bench."
He rolled his eyes. "Not what I was going for."
"I know. Thanks."
He glanced down at his watch and let out a sigh. "We better get back soon."
I pouted slightly, not wanting our hang out to end. Hang out, date? I don't even know what to label this as, but whatever it is, it made my day ten times better.
"Alright."
I glanced up at him. The wind was blowing into his hair. His bronze skin shone underneath the sun. His structured and strong jawline made me want to reach out and trail my fingers across it.
"Thanks for taking care of me today," I said softly, completely mesmerised by him.
He gave me a gorgeous lope-sided smile in return. A dimple appeared in his left cheek, making my stomach clench.
For what started out a pretty crap day, it was really starting to take a turn.
***
Harvey failed to show up to school the next day, claiming he is still sick.
My reaction is quite different to yesterday. Instead of wanting to bang my head against my locker until I went into a coma, I felt a grin light up my face. This meant, I could go spend lunch with Ashton again.
Wringing my hair dry, and failing miserably to wipe the smile from my face, I hung up my towel and brushed my hair back into a high pony tail.
"Where have you been hiding?" a voice asked.
Grimacing, I turn.
"Hi Mia, how are you today?" I asked with a large amount of false enthusiasm.
"Cut the shit," she snapped, her cheeks staining a dark red. She planted her hands on her hips, as if to appear menacing, as she glared up at me. I made it a point to purposely look down at her. "Where have you been eating lunch?"
"Stalker alert."
"Trust me, I'd rather stalk a cockroach, than you."
"Charming," I commented with a snort. "Why do you want to know, then?"
"Just want to make sure a fellow team member isn't getting herself into any dangerous extracurricular activities." she sneered, her evil, bird-like eyes glowering up at mine.
"Fellow team member?" I echoed, smirking. "Huh. You're finally admitting it. I'm one of you guys now."
"You're not one of us." she barked, completely contradicting what she said a few moments ago.
"You actually bore me," I sighed, leaning back onto my locker theatrically. "Your threats are empty and you can't even deny the fact that you're kind of obsessed with me. I know that I'm hotter and more talented than you, but that should make you work harder. Try not to be so jealous, it's not a flattering look."
Her mouth fell open and I leaned forward, hitting it with my finger. She wrenched away from me, throwing daggers in my direction.
"Don't underestimate me," she whispered.
"Again, empty threats," I said, leaning close to her. "You've got nothing."
With that, I turned and stalked out of the locker room.
If she thinks she can get to me, she can think again.