Childhood Sweethearts

Chapter One

I wrote this story when I was fifteen. It's a rough, first draft that I wrote very quickly. I understand that this story is frustrating at times, but I don't want to waste my time re-editing and changing everything when this story will only remain as free entertainment on Wattpad.

Please understand this is a story about flawed characters and personal growth. If you want to read a story about perfect characters, this isn't the story for you. Happy reading!

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******** This text is covered by the international copyright laws. This content may not be copied to another computer, published, stored, reproduced or altered in any way. Any violations of this is punishable by law. ********

© 2012 by LaurenJ22.

All rights reserved.

Dedication: Emily_Danielle for the awesome cover - thank you. :)

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**********************Three Years Ago **********************

My arms pumped beside me and my legs were kicking wildly, surging me forward. I propelled through the water to the extent my sides were burning.

Water was burning my nose. My limbs felt like lead, resulting in my body wanting to sink faster than the Titanic. I urged myself through it, needing to beat my opponent.

Shouldn't have had that second piece of chocolate cake...

I could see his figure in my peripheral vision and it fuelled me into focus. I let the world around me fade. All I could see, was me and the bank. All I could think about was winning. Finally, after what felt like an eon, I reached the part of the bank where I could touch. I sprang to my feet and began to bound over the waves, literally neck and neck with Carter, fighting my way through them viciously.

I had to win.

He is an athlete and in comparison to me, is pretty fit. I speed walk most afternoons or jog, but I wasn't exactly bulk like him. Okay, so he kind of had puny arms and a six pack due to his skinniness, but still. He was a lot more toned than most of the guys his age and trust me, he wore the look well. I had to prove that I could beat him. At least once. It was always so close, but he always got me in the end.

This time, it was going to be different. My breathing was shallow and heavy, my heart was galloping wildly, threatening to leap out of my chest any moment.

"You can't beat me, Lace," his voice taunted as we both furiously leapt over the waves. All I could see was the white foam left over from the crashing waves and a tangle of our legs. The sun was beating down on my skin and although I was still drenched with water from the swim, I could tell sweat was beginning to form on my forehead. My long, blonde hair was trailing down my back, sticking unattractively to my skin. "I can't help it, I'm a professional."

"You - wish!" I panted heavily, my lungs swelling with the air I was consuming. He made this kind of activity look easy. Me on the other hand...

Only a little further, I told myself encouragingly.

My feet pummelled on the hard sand as we both drew closer to our destination. I dived forward like superman and dove head first into the sand, sliding across my belly. The sand felt raw and rough against my skin, but at the moment, it hardly even registered in my mind.

Gradually, I came to a halt, my head hitting the trunk of a tree. I gasped out, flinging my hands up in some sort of attempt to protect myself. It wasn't a bad hit, but it still hurt. I blinked a couple of times, trying to get my vision to clear, before I coughed, slapping my chest. I rolled onto my back, completely winded. I closed my eyes, my body aching and throbbing from the exertion.