Almost Lovers

Chapter 4

Liam and Kassielle were now swimming together with Piper and Lili. They were playing tag when Liam and Kassielle joined them. Kyle and Killian were out of sight, probably hitting on pretty girls.

There were five pools in total in the resort, so there weren't a lot of people in their area. Kassielle was wearing a black one-piece rash guard that made Lili go on for hours when they were packing, telling her that she'd look like an eel if she wears it.

"Piper's the tag! Piper's the tag!" Lili shouted, struggling to swim away from Piper who was chasing her. Then Piper turned to Kassielle instead.

"Aaaaah!" Kassielle shrieked. She dived and swam. She didn't turn to look behind her to check how far behind Piper was. Then she bumped her head on the edge of the pool and gasped for air.

"Gotcha!" Piper was beside her, laughing, then turned and swam away from her. Kassielle was the new tag. She began swimming towards Lili who was closest to her. Lili was fast, so she targeted Lili instead who became the new tag. Lili caught Piper, who caught Kassielle again. She tried to chase Liam but he was such a good swimmer. Kassielle caught Piper and finally, Piper caught Liam.

When Liam became the tag, Kassielle swam away excitedly but then she realized with a sharp stab of annoyance that Liam was leaving her out of the game. He never tried to chase her and didn't even turn to look at her, so she was left standing at the four-feet end, looking stupid. She watched him chase Lili and Piper, but he never even considered her. Kassielle felt a tight knot in her chest. Why was Liam not even looking at her? She felt so stupid standing there and watching them have all the fun. Liam made her feel like she's not even part of the group. She climbed out of the pool hastily, and she instantly felt a wave of chilly breeze. She clutched her own body, shivering a little as she left, water trailing her steps.

Kassielle started walking back to the cottage, telling herself that she would like to check on her things and get some chips, but really, all she wanted was to be out of there. She can't help thinking about why Liam acted that way, why he would disregard her like that, like she wasn't part of the group. She always hated being left out. She'd always hated it when other kids don't include her in their games because she was quiet or "always has a book stuck on her face".  She frowned at the thought. As if they knew her. Other kids had told her she was a loner, made fun of her because she was smarter than them, and even when she moved to Whitecrest, her classmates singled her out because she was a newcomer, because she didn't know anyone, when really it should be them who should—

Kassielle nearly tumbled as she bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she said, her head down, not even looking at the guy she bumped into. She could only see the guy's shirt, now wet from where she bumped him. She was still mad about how Liam made her feel like she didn't belong, and she felt the backs of her eyes sting.

"No, no, I'm sorr—," the tall guy stopped and bent towards her to stare at her face, resting his hands on his knees. "Oh, no, please don't cry!" he sounded panicked. His face was in front of her now. A white cap sat on top of his brown hair, and his round eyes looked concerned.

Kassielle looked away. "No, I'm not." As soon as she said it, a tear fell from her eye. Kassielle cursed herself silently.

"Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you. Don't cry now please," the guy sounded alarmed.

"It's—it's not you."

"No, it's all me, I was looking back at my friends and I didn't even check if someone's in front of me," he said quickly.

Kassielle was already crying so hard.

She wished people wouldn't comfort her, as it only made her cry more. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. She suddenly felt immature, but she couldn't help but get mad. Liam had done this to her a lot of times before. He would make her feel like she's not included, like that time when he asked some of the girls in their class to sing along with him as he played the guitar and they sang a romantic song, and then he also called Piper and Lili to join them but not her, and she was the only girl left sitting on her chair reading a book pretending not to be affected. There was also that one time when he gave each one of their friends a box of chocolates for Valentine's, but he didn't give her any. And that time when he taught Harriette, Stella, and Amber how to play a simple song on the the guitar but when she asked him if he could teach her, he let Stella say harsh words to her. He didn't even defend her. He even said, "Yeah, go away for a minute Kass, I'm trying to teach them." That hurt. A lot. And then she learned how to play the guitar by herself.