"Count to ten."
"Not helping."
"Breathe in and out."
"I'm going to kill her."
"Calming thoughts... Just relax..." Harvey urged, his hands gripping my shoulders tightly, in attempt to keep me still.
"I am going to wrap my hands around her neck and strangle her," I hissed, my eyes narrowing into slits.
"No you're not," Harvey said, his tone gentle. "You're going to take a deep breath, turn that frown upside down and continue to help organise."
"I hate you sometimes."
"No you don't," he grinned.
I let out a deep exhale, rubbing my hands over my face.
This carnival is a nightmare. The fact that I have to work with the Devil-spawn, Mia, made it that much worse.
"More to the left. More to the left. More to the left," she continued to repeat, her whiny, nasally voice making my skin crawl.
I sent daggers in her direction and Harvey chuckled.
"Just relax," he said, rubbing my back.
She must have forgotten the part where we're meant to do this "together". She has completely taken charge and looks ridiculous doing it. She arrived wearing horrifyingly short shorts, a skimpy, strapless top, a cap that said "Daddy's Girl" and a whistle. Literally, a whistle.
"Those lights aren't hung up how I like it," she sneered as she walked past me. "Rearrange them. Now."
She strode away from me, her hips swaying. I lung after her and Harvey wrapped his fingers around my arm and pulled me back.
"Let's take a break?" he suggested.
"Let's," I agreed, gritting my teeth.
"Go sit down, I'll get us some food."
"Food sounds good," I mumbled, walking over to one of the tables.
I sat heavily with a sigh and rubbed my face again. I had started out energetic and an attempted positive attitude. My resolve faded pretty quickly.
"Looks like you're having just as much fun as me," a voice commented.
I drag my eyes up from the table. Hayden stood there, sweat glistening his forehead as he set down a large box.
"I'm going to rip her hair out."
A ghost of a smile danced on his lips and I blinked at him. Wait, am I having a civilised conversation with Hayden Cameron? Someone pinch me, because surely, this isn't real.
"She does take her leadership responsibilities a little too seriously."
"You don't say?"
Hayden glanced up and the tiny, flicker of a smile that he had, dropped. He bent down, picked up the box he had previously been carrying and strode away, without another word. I quirked an eyebrow at him, just as Harvey collapsed beside me.
"The cafeteria sucks, but the vending machine provided the goods," he declared, chucking a packet of salt and vinegar chips at me.
"Oh, my favourite," I smirked, ripping open the packet with a little more force than I really should have, pushing Hayden's odd behaviour to the back of my mind.
I was my fifth chip in, when I saw him. His golden locks literally shone underneath the harsh sun rays. He immediately drew my eye. He is wearing a fitted, Ralph Lauren polo shirt, cream shorts and from what I can tell, is wearing matching shoes to his shirt. He looked clean-shaven and proper.
My mind instantly reeled back to his lips on mine, his hands on my body and his voice whispering in my ear.
My stomach clenched as I also thought back to when he refused to look at me and stormed from the change rooms. I had sent him a message, via our trusty system of our school email, to see how he was doing, but he hadn't replied. He called in sick to our last swim practice, so we all did a gym session. Clearly, he is avoiding me.
Dropping my eyes to my chip packet, I sighed. I hope we could move past this. If he realised what was going on here, is a mistake, then fine, but I don't want it to affect my swimming. It meant too much to me.
I hadn't had a chance to tell anyone what happened with Ashton. There is no one to tell, really. My mother is go into cardiac arrest, no pun intended, and Harvey is way too judgmental. I could already see his disapproving stare and prepared lecture on how falling for the Coach is dangerous, blah blah blah.
I love Harvey to death and he is my best friend. The best friend I've ever had, but he isn't a girl. He won't understand my mixed feelings of desire, attraction and plain confusion. He will just get mad at me.
"I am trying to figure out what you're thinking, but I'm clueless," Harvey confessed and I look up at him. He is studying me carefully, a frown creasing his forehead.
"Oh, nothing," I said breezily. "Just trying to figure out what to get for dinner tonight."
"I'm free tonight, want to do something?"
"Sure," I agreed. I hate eating alone - I will never pass up the chance of company. "I'm sick of ordering take away. Let's cook."
"Okay, cook what? I'm pretty good with the barbecue," he said before frowning. "Actually, I did catch the sausages on fire last time. Maybe I should practice more."
I let out a snort as I can vividly imagine Harvey doing that.
"Let's do tacos."
"Sounds good."
I finish off my packet of chips and took it to the bin. As I threw the packet in, I glance up, meeting the captivating eyes of Ashton. His face is unreadable as he stared at me. Turning my back on him, I walk back to Harvey.
I need to forget about him because my swimming always comes first.
***
"This coming Friday," I heard his voice boom as I hurried towards the locker room. Mr Preston had kept me back, to tell me that I was doing really well in English and that he wanted to give me extra activities to keep working on my skills. I couldn't think of anything worse, but I nodded and for some stupid reason, agreed to it. I then endured a lecture of how to take my essay writing to the 'next level' and he handed me an academic scholar reading that would help me achieve that. Soon into the lecture, I realised I was going to be late for our afternoon swim practice, which was held on the Tuesday and Thursday of each week. "I have organised our next competition. Richmond High will be joining us this week."
I walked in and he paused, flickering his eyes to me. Everyone is dressed and ready to go, whereas I am still in uniform.
"You're late," he snapped, glaring at me.
"Sorry," I apologised. "Mr Preston-"
"I don't care about your excuse," he snarled, his upper lip curling and I blinked at him in surprise. "Stop interrupting my talk. You can get dressed after, I'm not waiting for you any longer."
A few people glanced between us and I glower at him, not impressed. I am ten minutes late. What is the big deal?
Shaking my head, I step in line with everyone and ignore the smirk that lit up Mia's face.
"As I was saying," he continued, "Last year we went very well in the competitions. I plan to do this again. Everyone must attend every practice and never be late," he glared at me again and it took all my self-control to keep my mouth shut. "You must all put in your own physical training outside our practices and maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet."
I should probably ease back off the chocolate and take-out food, then.
"With that being said, let's get started," he said, clapping his hands. "I want a twenty-lap warm up, before we work on strokes. Go."
Everyone bustled forward and I turned, heading into the change rooms. I made a point of not entering the one where Ashton and I made out in. My hands are shaking with anger as I slip into my swimsuit.
I strode out to the pool, where everyone is already doing laps.
"Ashton-" I start and he turned his back to me.
I felt like I had been slapped in the face.
"Prick," I muttered, loud enough for him to hear, before edging into the pool.
I push off the wall, acting as if it is the Coach's face.
***
"Excellent," the Coach announced as we all toweled off, breathless from the exertion of our practice. "Great work today."
I made a face at his words. He had been harping on me the entire lesson, basically saying that I was useless. When in fact, if I were to rank us, I wouldn't be far from Hayden, who was clearly the best.
I have no idea why he is acting this way, but I'm fed up with it.
"Hayden, fantastic form. I know I can always rely on a consistent performance from you," he stated and Hayden nodded. "Mia, that's some of the best swimming I've seen you do. Keep it up." She beamed at his praise. "Mike, you could shave a few seconds off your freestyle time, but you’re swimming excellent." Mike smirked and fist-bumped Mia. I tuned out what he said to the subs. Until he turned his attention to me. "Grace." I froze, dreading what he is doing to say. "Your strokes could use some work. They're not quite Elite level."
There is an intake of breath around us.
"Oh really?" I asked, my voice heavily laced with sarcasm, unable to hold back anymore. "You know what else could use some work? Your Coaching skills."
The change rooms become silent. Ashton's lips parted as I spoke back to him.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," I sneered, my hands balling into fists. "You have been a complete jerk this entire practice. You have not given me any encouragements. You have bullied me relentlessly and honestly, it's a fucking joke. How do you even consider yourself a Coach when you don't even mentor? You're nothing but a bully."
"That's it," he snarled, throwing his clipboard to the ground, which was a bit dramatic, if I am being honest. "You're suspended from the comp."
"Good!" I shouted back, ignoring the fact that everyone is staring at us, with their mouths flailing open and the sting of missing the first comp, which I had been waiting so long for.
"Get to the gym!" he shouted back. "Two hours."
"No."
"If you do not go into the gym," he said, stepping towards me, his face twisting into a menacing smirk. "I will kick you off this time. Don't think I'm joking."
"Fuck you," I snap, turning my back to him.
I stride from the room, my body trembling with rage. I stomp into the gym, muttering to myself.
How could I ever have liked that guy? He is a monster.
After doing some bench presses and discovering my arms were too weak from my swimming, I decided to go to the treadmill. I had been jogging for about twenty minutes, when the door swung open.
Hayden entered, holding a chocolate sundae from the canteen. He obviously ignored the 'diet' comment.
He leaned on the door frame and watch me as I run. It is a few minutes of silence, before he pushed from the wall and walked over to where I am. He slowed the belt down, until I was at a comfortable walking pace.
I could feel the sweat dripping down my face. My neck felt hot and clammy. My breathing is elevated and my heart racing.
"He suspended you from your first comp."
"Yes," I breathed, my sides aching. My lungs burned as I continued to walk. I had pushed myself too far, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to give that bastard the satisfaction of kicking me off the team. "Lucky it's only practice."
"Would have been good for you," he stated.
"Doesn't matter now," I said through my teeth, trying not to collapse from exhaustion.
"He's an ass, everyone knows that. You're his pick of the month. He always has one."
"What do you mean?"
"He has someone he picks at. Hassles them about everything. Sure, he went a little overboard with you today, but don't beat yourself up too much. He's done it to all of us."
"He's an idiot," I breathed, shaking my head. "Acts like a child."
"He does, but he's a damn good swimmer. That's the main thing."
"Why are you even here? Don't you hate me?" I asked with a slight laugh.
"Whether I like you or not, doesn't matter. You're on my team and as the captain, it's my job to make sure you are alright."
I blinked at him. Hayden Cameron said what now?
"I'm perfect," I growled.
"Don't overwork yourself. You've already done two practices today, you don't need to push yourself at the gym, too. You don't want to pull any muscles."
I nodded. It was kind of... sweet that he is acting like he cared.
"I'll try not to."
He nodded, before turning his back to me.
"Thanks Hayden," I said to him.
He stopped for a second, before walking out of the room.
Who would have thought that today, Hayden showed more kindness and compassion than the Coach did?
Only proves that there's two sides to everyone and this side of Ashton, I did not like.