The Lust That Hides The Love

Thirty-Eight-Sweethearts

Lapis's Pov

I breached the surface of the water, inhaling sharply. As soon as I could hear the sound of Red's clapping over my own breath and the splashing of water, I slid my goggles off.

"Great job, babe," Red said with a smiled.

"Time?" I asked, still catching my breath.

"Oh, shit!" He fumbled around with his phone. "I forgot to hit lap!" I sighed.

"Well, what's the total time?"

"Like five minutes?"

"Shit." I shook my head and pulled myself out of the pool. "What do you say I get dressed and we get out of here?" I asked. Red looked at me in my swim uniform.

"Do you have to?" I snorted.

"It's February. Besides, I need a break." I kissed him on the cheek then headed towards the locker room.

The truth was, I'd been missing a lot of practices ever since Red and I had started dating. Coach was upset, but my mom being best friends with the headmistress meant that unless my grades dropped or I stopped showing up altogether, I couldn't be kicked from the team. And I did love swimming. So Coach and I made a deal that if I improved my times by the next meet, I wouldn't get in trouble. And so far, I'd had no luck.

"Ready to go, Milady?" Red asked when I came back out.

"Yeah, let's leave." I held his hand and we walked through the halls together.

"So you doing anything this weekend?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. I had to babysit last weekend so I better not have to again." Red nodded.

"Oh yeah. How's that go?" I shrugged.

"My cousin came over and tried to get me to talk to her about how shitty of a person my sister is." Red looked at me.

"The baby?" I laughed.

"Jasper, you idiot!" Red started laughing too.

"So?" He asked when we finally calmed down.

"So what?"

"What did  you tell her?" I smirked.

"I told her to fuck off." Red gasped.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was Saturday night, Jasper wasn't home, and I wasn't in the mood to talk about her."

"Are you ever?" I snorted.

"No." The halls were relatively empty. It was Friday at around five, so I understood. The basketball season was over, so the only people there really were drama club kids in the auditorium and the kids who can't get picked up until late.

I dragged Red to my locker and he leaned up against it as I swapped some books out. Neither of us said anything, and it was nice and calm to be in the empty hallways with the fading daylight. I closed my locker and leaned up against it, watching the sunset through the windows across the hall.

"It's nice," Red said, smiling.

"Yeah."

"Hess never really stops to notice stuff like this." I turned and looked at him. He kept looking outside. "She keeps her focus on the next thing always. She doesn't let stuff distract her." I suddenly got a little upset.

"What about smoking pot with a big group of people while her dad's not home?" I asked with a frown. Red turned to me, looking equally as offended.