Drowning With You

CH. 13 ❄️

WINTER'S POV

Louie went to practice this morning, not talking to anyone but not avoiding them. They stared and giggled, but my hard glares would motivate them to stop.

At this point, their behavior is annoying. Sure, we can all hate on her swimming, but this is out of hand. It's not just about Louie here, it's about why they are treating her this way.

She doesn't make it known of how angry she is, leaving only after she had gotten changed and packed her things.

The rest of the girls seemed relieved when she left, but I felt... disgusted. Not because of Louie, but of how they see her now. They see her differently now that they know such a tiny thing about her, something that she never felt like sharing with them.

Someone outed her. That is shitty.

Now here at lessons, she's late. Or she's not coming. I hope that's not the case. I miss being around her, even if it's fighting or yelling. I miss watching her swim, which is still not great but I'm seeing improvements.

I'm about to get up and leave, not even try to knock down her door and give her a beat down. I took her to ice cream and was nice, genuinely. Her company was nice. I wanted more time with her.

She hates me, I hate her too, it's all just conflicting. I guess. Obviously, she doesn't want to see me.

Just as I go to grab my stuff, in walks the girl who hasn't left my mind in days. I hate that. I hate her. Why am I having to remind myself of this?

After noticing my angry expression I put on, she puts up her hands as if to gesture a 'whoops' moment, but I don't think she cares. Actually, I know she doesn't, "Cool your tits." She grins, plopping her duffel on the bleachers. "I made it on time."

"Nuh uh. You made it twenty minutes late." I counter, already having the minutes in mind since I've been watching the clock pass by.

She checks her watch and nods. "Huh. Okay."

I stand there, watching her take her time as she slips out of her sweatshirt to reveal the swimsuit she has already put on. Well, at least she won't waste time getting changed.

She pulls down her pants and I try to push out the thoughts of her having nothing on underneath. The idea of her stripping bare in front of me.

It's wrong and awful of me, that's not who I am, that's not what I... like...

But holy fuck she's hot.

My mind is going terrible places and instead of continuing, I jump in the cold water and tell her I'm doing a warm up. Maybe it's a mental cool down.

Once I see she's joined me in my warm up, I end at the wall and wait for her to finish. Even with her cap and goggles, which lets be real; are undeniably ugly, she's beautiful.

"200 kick." Is all I say, part of our routine. She's gotten much better at continuing her flutter kick without many breaststroke kicks, but they are still there. I let them go now, since she catches herself and fixes them without comment.

The kick goes much faster, as does she, and I give her ten seconds before giving another command. I was going to have us do more drills, but she pissed me off by being late, so ten minutes of sprints seems more intriguing.

Watching the clock, she kicked a second off of her time. I don't tell her though, I instead tell her she's got to get faster if she wants any of this to work.

Once we switch to the breaststroke half of our lesson, she looks at me and gives me a shit-eating grin. I pissed her off too and she's making it known that she doesn't take shit from anyone, that includes me.