Burn My Paranoia One Last Time

16. Weight of Consciousness

"There you are." Amber uncrossed her arms when she saw her friends walk out of the classroom.

"Everyone's treating that new teacher like royalty," Carmen sighed. "I mean, even the principal is kissing up to him bringing him coffee and everything. What's up with that?"

"Hello!" Shelby waved her hand in front of Carmen dramatically. "Have you seen him?! He is the definition of perfection."

"Oh please, I'm with Carmen on this one," Amber scoffed. "Just because he's attractive doesn't mean he deserves special treatment. We hardly know him."

"We are slowly getting to know him, it's only his first day! Anyway did you hear how he praised me when I talked about the poem? He said I was 'insightful'!" Shelby gushed, her cheeks turning pink.

"I just wish I was able to ask him about Mr. Dacus," Carmen muttered.

Amber's interest piqued. "Right, to ask if he knew about Rai-"

"I really need that letter of recommendation soon," Carmen groaned.

"Should I keep wearing glasses from now on? Amber whaddaya think, are they cute? Will Mr. Perfect think I'm cute?"

Amber closed her eyes and ahemed to resist rolling her eyes. Well, she still did, but at least the others wouldn't see her doing it.

"It's cliche, but sure," she reluctantly admitted. "Listen, I'm going to finish snack early. I want to take the chance to swim some laps now since nobody's using the indoor pool."

"See ya, you desperate goldfish," Carmen stuck out her tongue and laughed.

Well that was new, Amber thought to herself. She'd never seen her do that expression before.

As she turned and made her way down the swarming hallway, her eyes met with someone staring at her.

The beanie kid blinked and turned away, resuming a conversation with some guys near the lockers.

She took that as unspoken confirmation that their relationship wouldn't go anywhere. Amber sighed softly, opening the door that led to the indoor pool.

Her sigh echoed off the walls. It was quiet and empty, only her sharp footsteps reverberated through the stretched room. The ripples in the clear blue pool reflected onto the walls around it, providing only slight illumination in an otherwise dim room.

Amber's heels clicked across the shiny grid floor. Looking out across the water, she wondered why no one else took advantage of extra practice this early. Not that she was complaining, of course.

She took a left, pushing open the door to the women's locker room. The men's was all the way on the opposite side of the room.

Passing by the sinks and stalls, she made her way to a narrow set of small corridors with lockers and benches between them. She set down her purse and textbooks and unlocked her own, pulling out a sports bag with her swimsuit and swim cap.

Amber felt a chill run up her spine as she undressed. Suddenly, she remembered some of the rumors her teammates warned about. They always cautioned against going to the locker room alone, because a few had sworn to have heard the showers turn on without warning or the lights flicker off for too long before turning back on. In all those stories, they'd never found another soul in the room with them. At least.. not one they could physically see.