HIATUS! Awakened by Love

𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧

Waking up with a groan, I open my eyes. It's quiet until I hear the t.v. turn on and the sound of a beer opening. 'It's 11:37 and he's already drinking beer.' I quickly get up and make my bed. I don't want to be around when my stepdad is drinking. I walk to my suitcase and grab some clothes and set some of them in the closet while looking for a good outfit to wear. 'I don't want anything extravagant because I'm only going to look around places, maybe the swimming pool.' I grab a drawstring bag and stuff a swimsuit inside with some towels. I head downstairs and heat up some toast. As soon as my toast is finished, I head out the backdoor, not wanting to take my chances and run into my stepdad. I made sure to leave a note so Mom wouldn't worry about where I was. I honestly don't even know why my mom is with him. 'At least they aren't married so that's something, I guess.'

♡♡♡

There are so many people at the pool. I see a group of older ladies sitting on white lounging chairs. I look around trying to find a good spot to swim without being bothered. I notice a free spot near the lifeguard seat and since the lifeguard is a girl it won't be weird or anything. I had already rinsed so I quickly made my way over before someone else took the spot. I slowly drop into the water, the frigidness of the water gives me chills. I quickly settle down in the pool and look around watching everyone interact. There are a lot of beach balls flying around. The group of ladies I passed look over in my direction but I can tell they aren't looking at me. I look behind me to figure out what exactly they are looking at and notice the girl getting down from her post. I look back to find all four of the women on the lounging chairs prepping themselves as if they're waiting for a specific someone to walk out the door I passed through to get here. And that's exactly what happens. 'You have got to be kidding me' A guy, possibly Eddie's age, walks out the door wearing red shorts. He has on sunglasses and his hair is a dirty blond, his hair is definitely darker than Eddie's hair but he seems to have a mullet as well. He greeted the four women but his gaze seemed to linger on the one with a pink and blue swimsuit. 'I'm most definitely imagining things, there's no way that they're hooking up, right? I hope not because that would make me a witness to whatever the hell is happening with them and I don't need that.' He starts walking over to his lifeguard seat and I look around for a new place to stay because I don't want to be anywhere near this man who is possibly in a relationship with a possibly not single woman. 'There are literally no other free spots alone. I have to be near this man.' I pray to any God out there that this lifeguard will not try to talk to me but the universe seriously hates me. As soon as he gets comfortable in his new chair, his eyes seem to find a way to me, almost immediately. 

"Hey!" I can tell he's calling me but I pretend like I don't notice hoping this convinces him to leave me alone but of course not because why would he?

"Hey" He calls again and this time I look up and of course his eyes are on me. I immediately glance back down focusing on my legs floating in the water. 

"Aren't you going to answer" I can hear the smirk in his voice and it makes me like him even less but he seems like he goes to the same school as me so might as well make a good impression.

"Yes?" I smile even though internally I'm disgusted.

"Are you new here?"

"I am as a matter of fact" 'Why couldn't he just be one of those lifeguards who doesn't pay attention to anyone unless they're drowning or something' I find myself thinking and kind of feel bad. 'Who the hell am I to judge considering I- nope we're not going to think about that' because if we do we'll be in a bad mood so we're gonna stop judging a book by its cover or in this case judging a person by his looks.'

"Hello? Are you still here?"

"Oh yeah sorry, spaced out. What did you say?"

"Where did you come from? You're obviously new"

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or insult but I moved from Atlanta, Georgia."

"It was a compliment. But now that I think about it, it did sound like an insult didn't it?" 

"What's your name?"

"Billy Hargrove, what about you?"

"Nevaeh Davis"

"Nice to meet you Nevaeh Davis"

I got out of the water to sunbathe and also because it's easier to talk to Billy on the ground rather than in water. We ended up talking longer than I expected and I found I actually kind of liked Billy, he seemed like a decent person. I actually feel really bad for judging him before I even talked to him. After spending 3 hours at the pool, I decided to head back home to clean up my room. I still have some places to see tomorrow and I can't do that if my room isn't cleaned up. I say my farewell to Billy before getting up and walking through the blue door next to the 'Please shower before getting into the pool' sign. I smile the entire time I'm changing because I actually had fun.

♡♡♡

By the time, I arrive home the sun has started setting and my mom is just pulling into the driveway. I wait for her to park before walking up to her car.

"Hey sweetie, how was the pool?" She grabs the groceries from the back and tries to close it while balancing 4 full grocery bags on each hand. 

"It was fine. I met a nice guy, his name is Billy Hargrove. We go to the same school." I hold open the door for her then close it.

"That's nice. Why don't you go clean up and come downstairs to eat."

"I'm not hungry." I say as I Head up the stairs. "I'm gonna head to bed. Love you."

I quickly changed into my pjs before laying down. I looked at my bookshelf, trying to figure out which book I wanted to read today. My eyes wander to my Colleen Hoover book section. I decided on November 9 because the book blurb seemed interesting. (a short promotional description. Blurbs typically appear on the back cover of printed books and are intended to encourage readers to buy into the book.) I was able to get to the Fourth November 9th before falling asleep.