Living with the bad boy

Second time around

The second swim meet was coming up. Nobody was ready. We needed to get state cuts and to still win. I was swimming in the 200 free relay, the 200 medley relay, the 200 IM, and the 100 Breast.
This weeks dry land had made my muscles sore to move. My shoulder hurt the most. And getting dress was a challenge. I have no clue what I am going to do when I have to swim.
Today we had to dress up. Dress for-success they called it. I personally have no problem with dressing nice. My problem comes when I wear heels. I can walk in heels just fine. I hard part is staying in them until I get to the swim meet.
So to solve my problem I have decided to wear flats. I wore a red dress that clung to my body. It didn't stick like a second skin but I wasn't exactly breathing easy either. The dress was strapless and I paired it with appropriate makeup and black flats. No I didn't plan on participating in Gym. That was a given.
When I got to school all eyes were on Aiden and I. The news of us rooming together for a week long trip had the whole school buzzing. There were rumors and gossip about me. Some was good. Others were bad. One of the worst I had heard was that I was pregnant with Aiden's sixth child. Yes, sixth. Where are the other five? I have no clue.
I walked next to Aiden all the way up to Drew and Caleb as they stood next to my locker. Since they had heard some of the rumors they had made it their jobs to walk me too and from classes. It was nice not having to walk alone. I actually appreciated it. Aiden walked me to and from my last two classes. Caleb took the middle two classes and lunch. While Drew had the first two classes. They even had those classes with me so it was nice to not have to deal with the people in class as well. I grabbed my first hour things and closed my locker. I hair had to make it through the first five hours. Swim leaves early today. And I was so grateful.
"Alright. You ready to go?" Aiden asked. I rolled my eyes. He sounded like a dad giving away his kid on the first day of kindergarten.
"Yes. I'll be fine. Drew will be there to punch people for their rumors." I said sarcastically. Aiden smirked before nodding to Drew. He and Caleb then turned and walked the other way. I turned to Drew and he smiled at me.
"So how are you feeling?" Drew asked.
"Sore. I have no clue how I'm supposed to help make state cuts if I can't even move my arms." I said to him. He smirked at me.
"Well. You will probably need to stretch and then loosen up a bit before the races." He said. We turned down the next hall and then into the classroom.
"Yeah I know. It just sucks that's all." I said.
"I know how you feel."
"Alright class. I need you all to clear off your desks and turn to page 433." The teacher said as soon as class started
By the end of fourth hour I was so completely done with this place. I was glad that we got to leave 10 minutes into fifth hour. I can not take another two hours of girls asking if I was pregnant and guys asking if I would carry their baby. I almost threw up when the first guy asked me that. Then Caleb almost decked them. Yeah it's been fun.
"You ok?" Aiden asked as we walked to our last hour.
"No. A few months ago I was normal. But now suddenly I'm pregnant and also apparently able to carry babies for free." I said. People looked at me weird but I just ignored them.
"Look. You joined a team with three of the most popular guys on it. People are going to talk. Soon there will be another big event and people will back off." He said. We walked into class two minutes late. All eyes were on us. People smirked and gave us knowing looks. I just rolled my eyes and sat in the back next to Aiden. For the next 8 minutes I stared blankly at the wall. Then I heard Aiden get up and I followed. We talked to the teacher and he let us leave without that much of a fuss.
"Gonna go get laid Aiden?" Some guy asked. People laughed and I saw Aiden tense next to me.
"She's already pregnant. What are you trying to do?" Another yelled. Aiden turned around so quickly I thought he was going to break his hip.
"What?" Aiden said it with a calm anger. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back.
"It's not worth it. Let's just go." I said.
"Yeah. Listen to your whore Aiden." I closed my eyes at that statement. So close. I push harder at Aiden's chest to get him to go. But he was not moving. I did not want to deal with a fight right now.
"Aiden we have to go. If you get in a fight you can't swim. Just let it go. Please. Aiden. Please." I said. He looked at me and then nodded. I followed him out the door. Their words hit home. I didn't want to admit that they hurt. But they did. I kept my tears at bay until we got onto the bus. We were the last two that got on and I sat down next to Caleb. He took one look at me and then he pulled me into a hug. I sobbed into his shirt the whole ride. Nobody questioned me. Nobody asked any questions. These guys may be annoying and jerks. But they knew the rumors. They knew the gossip and the stories. So they didn't question anything.
We got to the pool and I had calmed. My body was still and rigid. I was quiet and angry. And still I just changed into my suit and removed my makeup. I then walked out into the decks and set my stuff down in front of the guys.
After a few minutes Drew came out of the changing room and sat next to me.
"Hey." I muttered. My voice came out cracked and small.
"Hey. Aiden told us what happened. I'm surprised you didn't hurt someone. You know that none of the people here think those things right?" He asked. I nodded and then laid my head on his shoulder. We stayed in that comfortable silence for a while. Then the meet was starting and I needed to get pumped up. The first event was the medley relay. I needed to get my head together. I was angry and I was hurt. And I wanted to use those things. I stood next to Aiden and waited. He was still the flyer and I was still the breaststroker. And we waited. Caleb got in the water to start backstroke.
"Swimmers place your feet.... Swimmers Mark..." Then the beep sounded and Caleb shot off. We were going for a state cut. Our fastest time was 3 seconds off. That's a lot of time.
I stepped up to the block and got ready. Caleb was at the turn. I pulled my goggles down and then I got ready. Everyone was yelling and Caleb. Then suddenly everyone was chanting my name. I smiled and took a breath before diving in after Caleb. I hit the water and let it wash over me. Doing breaststroke was like second nature. My body just knew what to do. I don't focus on the burn of my lungs, or the soreness in my muscles. I didn't focus on the hurt, pain, or betrayal of my problem. I didn't let myself think. Thinking makes you slow. I had to trust I knew what I was doing.
Soon enough my hand was on the wall. Aiden jumped over me and into the water for butterfly. I pulled myself out and turned around. He was nearly at the turn.
"You got this Drew." I patted his calf as he was already up on the block. He nodded and got ready to start. As soon as Aiden hit the wall Drew was gone. I've never seen someone move so fast in the water doing free. Drew made racing look easy.
For this cut we needed to drop at least 3 seconds. So far we had kept up with that. We just needed to stay at this pace. Drew was at the flags. He did two more strokes before hitting the pad. I looked up with everyone else. Drew had gotten out of the water as soon as the time flashed.
Everyone screamed. We had got the cut. I yelled and cheered. I hugged each of the others before we were engulfed in the rest of the team. Soon we were told to calm down. So we did.
"Ok next we need to get more cuts. The record for the school in swim is 6. We have 1. Let's do this." Coach yelled. We each smiled and got ready. We would have a cut.
"Ok. This is how this is going to work." I said gathering Drew, Caleb, and Aiden. "We can get a state cut in almost everything. I get the cuts in IM and Breast. Aiden, in the Fly and 50. Drew, in the 200 and 500. And Caleb in the back and 100 free. Then we all work together to get the 200 free relay. Ok?" I asked. They all nodded. And then it was time for Drew to swim for the 200. All he needs is a 2:00.50. He is about a second off. I line the rest of the team up on the side of the pool to cheer for him. We are all silent as the beep is heard. And then we erupt in a loud shout.