Unsettled Hearts

Three: Claire McCain

I force my eyes open as beams of sunlight stream in through the dormitory window. I rub my tired eyes and wish I could sleep for another 10 hours. I look around the room, and realise I'm the last one awake. Aubrey is looking at me from her bed. "We're heading to breakfast in a few minutes. You might want to get dressed before that." she says. Jack, who is sitting on the floor, drawing in his sketchbook, looks up and nods. "But I need to have a shower first." I reply, getting up. "We don't have time for that." Aubrey tells me, "Just go put some clothes on, deodorise, and brush your hair. It's just breakfast.". "But it's gross! I sweat in my sleep!" I protest. "Fine then, be late to breakfast. We'll just go on without you." Aubrey jokes. "No! Fine, but I'm changing my clothes after breakfast." I reply, before heading to the bathroom to change. 

I cough, accidentally inhaling a bit of the massive, pungent mist of deodorant. It isn't great, but it's the only thing that even remotely relieves the unclean feeling of not showering. I put on my dress from yesterday (not before spraying deodorant all over the dress as well), give my hair a quick brush and tie it into a ponytail, and then I'm ready. I exit the bathroom. Aubrey looks at me, a strange expression on her face. I can't tell what she's trying to convey. "Did you just spray half a can of deodorant on yourself?" she asks, a slight laugh in her voice. I nod. "It's the only way I'll feel clean." I tell her. She sighs. "You're not dirty!" she says, and then she blushes slightly and turns away, before muttering something that I can't quite hear, apart from the word "pretty". Was she calling me pretty? I can't quite tell, but the thought of her calling me pretty makes my heart skip a beat. But why? It's not like she's some really special person, I've only known her for a day. I'm sure this is normal. Unless it's not? I don't know.

I snap out of my thoughts when I feel a sudden tug on my arm, which scares the living shit out of me. It's Aubrey, grabbing my hand to walk with me into the dining hall. I sit in between her and Jack. He's talking to some blond guy who I assume is in our year about the possibilities of this year's school drama production. They seem to be friends. I'm glad Jack has people who support him, he deserves it, in my opinion. I think I catch Aubrey staring at me at some point, but she turns away when she realises I know she's looking at me. Aubrey has long finished her breakfast by the time I've even gotten 3 quarters of the way through mine. "You're a slow eater." she says. "Is that a bad thing?" I ask, confused as to whether or not I should be offended. "No. Just an observation." she replies, "I'm sorry if I came across as judgemental.". "No, no, you didn't. I was just kind of confused. I'm terrible at reading tone of voice." I say, slightly embarrassed. "Girl, me too! It's so fucking hard!" Aubrey exclaims, as if she's almost excited that I have the same problem as her. "I'm glad you understand." I say, "Lots of people don't.". "It's ok. We should stick together more often now. I hope we're in some classes together. Are you doing Biology this year?" Aubrey asks. I nod, which makes her smile intensely. "I'm doing Bio too! We might be in the same class." she replies, the excitement very evident in her voice. "I assume you're not doing Drama, you don't seem like a theatrical type to me." she continues, "But... I could see you doing Literature, which would mean you'd be in the same class as Jack.". Jack turns towards us the minute he hears his name. "What?" he asks. "I'm doing Literature this year, and Aubrey says you're also doing that." I explain. Jack nods. "Yeah, I like old writing. Shakespeare is my favourite." he says. Aubrey rolls her eyes as soon as Shakespeare is mentioned. "Ugh, I am so glad I don't have to read any of that shit anymore. 'Shalt we hath thine dance' who the fuck understands that nowadays?" she exclaims. "Aubrey hates old literature. Especially Shakespeare." Jack says. "I guessed." I reply.

A bit later, Aubrey decides she wants to go for a swim. "Jack, Claire, you in?" she asks as she takes her bathers out of her suitcase. "I'm in. I like swimming." I say. "I'm not." Jack adds. "Mitch Golding might be there." Aubrey tells him, trying to convince him. A small blush appears on his cheeks, and he sighs. "Fine, but I'm not going in. I hate wearing bathers." he says. "I mean, that does make sense. Going swimming must be super hard for you." I reply. Jack nods forlornly. "God, why do I hate my body so much!?!?!?" he exclaims, hitting himself in the face with his sketchbook. "Jack, don't do that. You don't want to hurt yourself." I say, concerned as I look at him. He seems kind of upset. "Are you ok?" I ask him. "Um... yeah, yeah I'm fine. So, are you two going to get ready to go to the pool?" he says, changing the subject. He definitely does not seem fine.

When we get to the pool, there are a few other people there, but not too many. Apparently not many people like a morning swim. The blond boy Jack was talking to at breakfast is here. He's sitting on one of the deck chairs, scrolling through something on his phone. Jack heads over to him, and I follow suit. As we get closer, I notice his toenails are painted purple. Unconventional for guys to wear nail polish, but that doesn't mean it's wrong or anything. Jack waves at him. "Hey, Mitch." he says. Just before this Mitch guy can respond, I hear a giant splash sound. I turn around, and Aubrey has just dived into the pool. I slowly head over and get in. I wade over to where Aubrey is. "Hey." I say. "Hi!" she replies, slightly out of breath. "Did you just dive in?" I ask. She nods, water from her hair splashing onto my face. "Did you see it?" she asks. "No, but I heard it." I reply. "Aww, what a shame. You missed my awesome dive!" Aubrey replies, in mock sadness. I laugh. "I guess I'm just gonna have to do another one." she says, getting out of the pool. Before I know it, she performs another 'awesome dive', but then we hear the very obnoxious voice of Khloe Bridges. "Aubrey, did you not know that there's a no diving in the pool rule?" she drawls. "Fuck off, Khloe. Nobody follows that bullshit rule." Aubrey replies indignantly. "You could get your swimming pool privileges revoked for that. You're putting other people at risk of ruining our nice time at the pool." Khloe snaps. Aubrey rolls her eyes. "Says you, who hasn't even gotten in yet." she snaps back. "I'm going to tell a teacher about this! You're not following the school rules." Khloe replies. "Since when did you start caring about the rules?!" Aubrey exclaims. "Since now." Khloe replies smugly. "You little bitch." Aubrey snaps, before someone comes up behind Khloe and pushes her into the pool. Khloe screams. "Who did that?!? I swear to fucking God I'm gonna get whoever did this and get their pool privileges revoked!" she yells. "Like you can even do that." says someone, presumably the person that pushed Khloe in. It's Mitch Golding. He has a smug smile on his face as he looks down at Khloe. "I hate you!" Khloe yells. "Awww, love ya too, bitch." Mitch replies, before giving her the middle finger and walking off.

That was one eventful pool trip.