Chapter 7

NATASHA'S POV

I was walking through the school hallway when I was stopped by Oliver

" What is it now?" I asked him

" It's been two days already, and you are absent from the practice. Is this how you want to make your grade increase?"he said, and I heaved a sigh

" Ohh, it is because you are the top in your class? Do you know that the top of the class also decrease academically if their extracurricular activities don't put up?"he asked rhetorically

" What do you want?" I asked him

" The swimming water has been replaced,you clean freak," he said

" Okay?" I asked him,still not getting what he was saying

" You can start your training today," he said, and I nodded affirmatively

" Okay. See you then," I said, and I started walking away

The unknown heat pooling in between my legs is making me uncomfortable, and it all begins when I see Oliver

I tried as much as possible to be cool when talking to him,but his words and cologne are doing the opposite to me

I remembered the kiss made to the girl while I was in the swimming pool,and that made my blood boil in anger

But for what reason? There is nothing between us. Why should I feel angry about this?

Somehow, I make my way to the class and to my seat,lost in thoughts. Thinking about the other day incident

" Do you perhaps know who the girl that kissed Oliver was? I asked Sarah when I came back from my thinking dilemma

" No, why?"she asked me

" Nats, it has been two days since you last saw her. Why are you still making a fuss about this? It is not that you have any close relationship with him," she said the same thing my inner mind has been telling me,but it just that this time around, it hits differently

" We are going to the swimming practice today," I said, and she was baffled

" Why? Has the water been replaced?"she asked

" Yes. And we are going to start the practice today," I repeated what I said

" Okay," she said and directed her attention to what she was doing earlier

The class seemed endless,but it finally came to an end, and it was time for extracurricular activities

Sarah and I went to the swimming arena together and being the least interested extracurricular course, just a few people were seen. I guess a lot of people are hydrophobic

By the time we got there, Oliver wasn't among the people in the room

" Hey, clean freak," the guy who jumped into the water with his clothes on, shouted my name, and once again, the students' attention was on me

" What are you doing here?"he asked the most stupid and gullible question ever

" I came here to check ur dirty ass out," I said back at him, and he scoffed angrily

When he has nothing to say, I walked out on him and ventured towards the bathroom to clean myself up before swimming

" I heard they call you the fake Royce. Tell me, is your father the owner of Royce Fashion Limited?"The girl who I saw making out with Oliver asked me when I was changing into my swimming trunk

" And who is asking?" I said while looking into her eyeball, and something in me really prayed and hoped that she answered my question

" Sorry, bad manners. I'm Lois," she said

" Okay. Believe what you want to believe, " I said and walked out on her

By the time I got back to the swimming pool, Oliver was already there, and the other six guys that make up his ground

" Don't they have something to do?" I asked Sarah when I got to where she was sitting down, quietly, watching and observing her environment keenly as if she was on an undercover mission

" Actually, they don't. Tom, Nick, and Ray are in our class. Oliver, Chase, Miles, and Pete are in their sophomore year. The four are into basketball and swimming while the other three are just little upcoming fishes who happen to be Chase, Miles, and Pete younger brother," she said slowly but accurately

" As you know, Oliver is the top on the food chain, and he has power than we think. They went to the basketball training before coming to the swimming practice. So far, so good,no one has ever beaten Oliver and Lois,"she said

" Lest I forget, the guy who jumped into the pool the other day was Pete," she said

When she was done with her analysis, I clapped for her slowly but not loudly

" Wow. You knew all that just by sitting down her for what? Twenty minutes?" I asked her, and she nodded

" I'm good at analysising people or a situation or occurrence. That was why I want to become a profiler," she said elegantly

" That's brilliant girl," I said as I raised my right hand up for her to clap

" Back to your analysis, you said Oliver and Lois have never been beaten, hence their little romantic drama," I said, and she shrugged her shoulder

" Maybe, maybe not," she said, and I smiled slyly

" Maybe I can break those records," I said, and just then, we heard the whistle blow,indicating that we should all converge and we all did

" As we know, we have two new faces here, which I know pretty well that you have all recognised either one way or the other," Oliver started

" Don't they have a teacher supervising this while damn thing?" I asked Sarah silently

" They do have actually, but as I said, Oliver has more power in the school that we can imagine," she replied to me

" We have Natasha Royce, well, not the Royce we all knew though, and Sarah Ressler amidst us," he said and the people laughed about his stupid joke,whivh was not funny at all, and for once, in a week, I started developing a sudden hatred for him

What does he mean by that? For once, I thought he was different from others, well, except his bossy characteristics

I was expecting the hatred to dissipated but it all kept hiking

" You need to calm down, Nats. Remember, you are about to enter the water. All emotions must be put aside," Sarah said, holding my hands in hers and giving it a very tight but soft squeeze

" Let's see what our newly joined members got," Oliver said again with a smirk on his face that I really feel like punching at the moment

After some seconds, Sarah pacification works, and I was able to put all emotions aside

We stared off by swimming with each and every person in the room, and I always came first and Sarah second

" Wow, I did not know you are this good," I said to Sarah

" A lot of practice, dear," she said as she got out of the water

Unknown to us, Lois was pissed off and frustrated. She never expected us to be this good. Even though we have not swimmed with the G-7 and her, she feels suddenly jealous, and her jealousness got the better hold of her

" Let's have a swim," she said as she started to exercise before making her way to the water

" Come on, you beat all these people. You can also beat me in swimming," she said as she gave a dirty and cunny smile

Whatever she is ready to give, I'm ready. Without even thinking twice, I ventured into the water, and I could see the little fear in Sarah's eyes . Oliver was surprised to my courage or what was it something else I was seeing in him

" Wow, I really like your braveness," Lois said as she also slipped into the water

" Well, since the newbie is up for the task. Oliver, can you please start the track," Lois said in pride

She has all the confidence in this world, and that really baffles me. Is she really that good in swimming?

My years of swimming will actually pay off well today.

Immediately, the whistle blow off, Lois and I started swimming, and all I could hear as I dive into the water was shout and wows

"Oh yes," I heard Sarah yell happily, and I knew that it was either I'm winning or Lois and I were at the same pace and line.

Sarah would never be excited if I'm losing to Lois

" Oh yes," I said when I reached the finished line, and I looked at my side to see Lois killing eyes

" It's a tie," Oliver said, and I was happy

At least, I'm not beaten in the ass. But Lois is obviously not happy with the result

" No,it can never be a tie. I was way ahead of her," Lois said in disagreement

"I'm sorry to break it to you,Lois. It was a tie," Oliver said to her

Lois was more than angry, and she left the swimming pool in a haste

" Well done, girl, " Sarah said to me as she gave me a high five

" You did good, Tasha," I heard Oliver say to me as he gave me a smile

I became lily livened under his smile. Damn his smile

" Let's get going, Nats," Sarah said to me when she saw that I was salivating

" I really thought we could use some practice here," I said to her, and she giggled