Chapter 6 - Luke

My first day of school wasn't that bad. It was really good, actually.

Except for Mr. Rush, all the professors were either kind, funny, or both. Plus, I got to hang out with Alexia.

After P.E. I had one last period. Swimming.

I went to the pool and changed into my blue swimming suit. I then walked to the bench on the side of the pool. Other two guys were sitting there, and greeted me with a 'sup.

"You're new, right?" one of them asked.

"Yup. Moved here in June," I said.

"Cool. I'm Jake, by the way," he said.

"And I'm Dave," the other guy said.

"Luke," I told them.

"Cool. You swim?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, since I was a kid," I explained.

Five more guys and one girl walked in.

"Hello, class!" Mr. Crum said. "Oh, what a shame. Only eight students," he pointed out.

"So," he continued "Do you all swim?"

"Yes," we all said in unison.

"Really? Wonderful, then. We can do the hard stuff this year," he smirked.

"Actually," the girl interrupted. "I like swimming, but I'm not really good at it."

I looked over. She had ginger curly hair tied in a bun. She had green eyes and a light skin complexion.

"No problem," Mr. Crum said. "What's your name?"

"Jane Alberts," she said. Mr. Crum tapped something on his iPad.

"But all the others are fine?" he asked.

I nodded, and so did the others.

"Okay then. For the guys, ten laps. Go."

I jumped in head-first, then started swimming. I love being in the water. It calms me down. It's refreshing. It's fun. And it's healthy.

While we did our laps, Jane had a private lesson in the row next to ours. She actually swam pretty well. Not that I was looking.

At the end of the lesson, I said goodbye to Mr. Crum, changed, and went home.

BIP-BIP BIP-BIP BIP-BIP

Ugh. Mornings.

I blindly searched the alarm with my hand, then hit the snooze button.

"Honey! Wake up! You got school!" my mother yelled.

Ugh. Mothers.

I reluctantly got out of bed. I showered, put on some new clothes, had breakfast, and washed my teeth. I was as good as new. I got my bag, kissed my mom goodbye, and went to school. This time, I didn't need Google Maps.

I walked up to Nick, who was looking down at his phone.

"So this is a daily thing?" I asked, pointing at the mob of girls surrounding Will.

"Yeah, pretty much," Nick admitted, looking up from his phone. He seemed kind of tired.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him.

He looked over, shocked. "Of course everything is alright. Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"Hey, guys," Will said.

I looked at him, wide-eyed. "How did you get away?"

"I just said to get lost," he admitted, "They listen to me."

"Not that well though," Nick pointed behind Will. All three of us looked over and saw a group of girls pointing and whispering. A couple even took pictures.

"I think it's time to go," Nick announced.

"Yup," I agreed.

We walked over to English class. I walked in and my eyes involuntarily went straight to Alexia. Today she was wearing a blue tank top, short-cut jeans, and white Adidas. She was wearing some blue earrings, which really brought out her eyes.

But I don't really pay attention to that stuff.

She was taking her stuff out of her bag, and I went to say hi. "Hey, Alexia."

She looked up and her face lit up, smiling.

"Luke!" Vanessa called, suddenly. "Hi! How are you?"

I didn't bother answering. "I thought I told you not to call me Luke."

"Oh, come on!" Vanessa complained, "Alexia calls you Luke! Why can't I?"

"I don't –" Alexia began to say.

"Because Alexia is my friend," I stated. "Only my friends call me Luke."

"Wha-" Vanessa stuttered.

"Hello, class!" said Mrs. Depree. "Please sit down, so that we can start."

I went to sit down, but not before giving Alexia a smile. She just looked at me with a blank face. Worry surged inside me.

What have I done wrong? Is she mad at me? Why? I asked myself.

I was distracted for the whole hour. Questions filled my mind. Finally, the bell rang. I decided to go speak to Alexia. She was walking quickly to Math. I ran after her.

"Why are you going so fast?" I asked when I reached her.

"Because…" she began, then seemed to have second thoughts. "Never mind. I shouldn't be angry with you."

"You're angry with me?" I asked again.

"No, no. It's just…Vanessa is mad at me now. She won't even talk to me. I know she treats me badly, but… she's the only person who can help me right now," she explained.

"Who can help you with what?" I demanded.

She stiffened. I didn't know what was going on, but it looked like she was hiding something. And when she'd said that she needed help, she realized that she'd said too much.

"Forget it. Let's go or we'll be late," she said.

I didn't ask her any more questions. I didn't want to press her too much. I thought that when she would be ready to tell me, she would.

After a whole day of questions, erotic drawings, weird French words, boring slow lessons and sweating, I could finally go home. Alexia and me didn't talk much after English class, but I had a feeling that we would become really good friends.