In The Next Life

Chapter 3

The next day, Jew got ready for the swim tryouts. Swim meets had already been scheduled for the year, so they had to build up their new team as soon as possible. Jew had gotten there first, leaving Lian to monitor the locker rooms.

Lian was only a year older than her, a senior in the Finance facility. He had bleached blonde hair, only given away by his black roots, that was surprisingly healthy. It fell in layers just at the base of his neck, but he pulled it up into a half ponytail for practice. It reminded her so much of her papa that she teased him often enough. He was like an older brother to Jew, so then being co-captains actually worked a lot better than Coach Wai had expected.

New sat up in the bleachers among other students of their school from different facilities. He was the only member of their friend group present as In and Dew were both pulled away for family activities for the night. New promised to send their love before sending them off. He waited, scrolling through his phone before the swimmers started filing out of the locker room after this year's Vice President, P'Lian. He didn't really talk much and no one was really close to him except for Jew.

Speaking of, he smiled as Jew walked out following the group, her eyes glued to her clipboard. Her body was outlined in her full black one piece suit and blue trimmed jammers, covered by her captain's jacket. Among all the big, buff men she looked small and out of place. But the stone set look on her face she gets from her papa? There was no doubt she was in charge.

Jew gained the captain's position of the swim team after a high school incident had left her unable to join any form of team. She had done volunteer stats work with after hours light training alone before the coach determined that there was no one else he'd rather have as his captain. A lot of the guys were a little upset at first, but after a few weeks of training they'd never want anyone else to be their captain either.

Each year they have the same issues with the freshies. They don't believe in her. They think the older guys are throwing themselves away listening to someone like her. But then they see her drop seconds off the fastest swimmer after only a week. They watch her swim. They meet her dads, the school's gods. They never doubt her again. She turns them into stars.

This year was surely not going to be any different. But Jew couldn't care less. She immediately started her speech to the youngest of the group. The oldest swimmers, having heard it multiple times before, zoned out for a majority of the speech. She talked about the task and what exactly she expected from her team. She let her current members show their practice round, what they had been trained to achieve, before splitting off the groups that would be trying out.

Throughout the whole process, News eyes never left Jew. Even sneaking a couple of pictures of her and sending them off to In for proof she was okay.

~

"Results will be posted first thing in the morning on Coach Wai's office door. If you have any questions please feel free to come find me or P'Lian in our office, before the end of the day. You're all free to go." Jew can feel the presence behind her, the eyes trained in her direction. But she pays him no mind, heading to the office with Lian to finish off today's paperwork. She sits opposite of Lian at her desk, both falling silent as they focus on their own stack of sheets. New slips into the chair in the corner scrolling through his phone, which he does multiple times a week so they're both used to it.

They sit in the office for hours, the only sound the murmurs between Jew and Lian, and the occasional videos playing from New's phone. It's an hour after Lian leaves that Jew finally starts to pack her things. It's on the way to her car that New grabs her arm,leading her past her car and to his own.

"Hey what are you doing?" She asks, confused , quickly locking her car.

"Taking you to dinner." Is all he says, ignoring her multiple questions that follow as he puts her in the passenger seat and drives off. Jew huffs holding her bag to her chest, staying in that position until they get to the restaurant.

She lights up a little seeing the noodle stall that they frequented during highschool. It's one of her favorite places, and she's guessing New could tell if that's where they ended up seeing as how they hadn't been there since their junior year of high school.

They went and sat at their old regular seat in the back corner, staying silent the whole time. They didn't even talk as New ordered their food or as their food was delivered. It took only five minutes into the meal for Jew to break.

"Why are we here? You literally never hang out with me if it's not with In. So what's going o-"

"What's wrong, Jew." New interrupts her, causing her to stop mid sentence. She just laughs a little looking at her plate.

"I have no idea what you're talking about I'm...I'm fine..." she pushes the bits of green onion that float to the top of her bowl down into the soup.

"I may not have known you as long as the others, but I can tell when you're lying to me. So talk. What happened with N'Em? What's wrong?" He puts down his silverware giving her his full attention with the hope she'll give in. She takes another bite of her food, chewing slowly on the rice trying to figure out what to say. By the time she swallows she breaks, and tells him everything.

"Well...Em...She Uh...She...cheated on me..." Jew goes back to focusing on her food, hoping he'll drop it there. Of course, he doesn't, wanting the full story after hearing how someone so sweet and innocent could possibly play the bad guy.

"Full story, Jew. I'm not going to judge, but you need to let it out. Talk to me." He says softly, going back to eating to give her a minute to think. Jew stays silent long enough for them to both finish their meals.

"Not here?" She asks quietly, not wanting to have this conversation where Em could easily show up. New nods and grabs the bill off the table, heading up to the counter to pay before she can protest. Jew grabs her jacket off the back of her chair and waits just outside the stall for him.

When he joined her, he nudged her with his elbow, his hands in his jacket pockets. They start walking in the opposite direction of their car, heading to the nearby park. New leads her to a secluded bench at the far end of the park, under a large tree. They both sit down and get settled, New turning to face her to give Jew all of his attention.

"Okay." Jew groans, knowing she can't put it off any longer. "It started our junior year, when P'Shi first transferred. I don't know how they met, but it was some time during the second half of the year? Em started to push me away. I tried to convince myself I was crazy, that's why I allowed her to tell our parents about us." Jew stops, taking a minute to breathe. New lets her have the moment, looking away as she wipes a tear from her face. After a minute longer she continues.

"Then near the end of our final year I saw them kiss. I tried to give her the chance then to back out, but she told me I was imagining things. So I pushed it away, believed her, and let her continue lying to me."she sighs, letting her head fall back so she can look up at the sky. "I went to visit her for her dad's birthday over the summer. Shi was there...it ended in a huge fight. She tried to convince me it was my fault. I left. Blocked her number. Never looked back. But I didn't tell anyone else about what happened. I didn't...I didn't have the energy to deal with it anymore." Jew falls silent once more. She can feel New staring at her, she slowly turns her head over to face him, tears streaking down her face.

"You don't really believe her do you? Her saying this is your fault?" He asks, talking carefully as if scared to spook her. Jew lets out a small sound between a laugh and a sob.

"No..her excuse was...idiotic. She said I fell out of love with her first...which of course, never fucking happened. But I'll let her believe it if it makes her happy." Jew's voice goes quiet.

"Don't." New says, wiping a tear off of her face. "She hurt you. In ways no one can imagine. Don't let her have the final laugh. Don't do what would make her happy." He gives her a small smile when he sees the amusement flash in her eyes. Jew just shakes her head and looks back up at the sky.

"She already won. It's too late for that." She sighs. "She's already taken too much." It's silent for a minute before New stands up and holds his hands out to her. She looks up at him in confusion.

"She didn't take me, In, or Dew. Family movie night, In should be home within the next half an hour, I'll tell him to bring Dew." He helps her up before pulling out his phone and texting In. She just smiles up at him.

"You're the best, really." She says.

"Just taking care of my family." He says as he puts his phone away, throwing his arm around her shoulders and leading her back to the car.