Bringing the Chic out the Geek

Chapter 4

Training tonight should be a good distraction. I mean I have a week before I can confess that I failed and my work really is failing now. It's such a worrying feeling. I know that the following conversation will be "maybe we need to start thinking about your swimming and how it is affecting your grades". But that conversation is the main one I wish to avoid at all times. It is the one that makes me most uncomfortable.

Walking in to the gym for training I met all the others expecting another normal session but this was different. There was a new boy. Apparently his name is Sam. We had to work in groups of five so he got put with us. It was ultimately one of my favourite sessions. We had a team competition that normally means we come as one of the last because we are an all girl's group and don't have the strength to compete with the all boy's groups. Sam was amazing. He got the whole group working better than we did before and motivated and helped us through all the tough bits. He even stepped up and did extra if we couldn't or traded us out early to help catch up to other's times if we fell too far behind. All together I call it a good session overall.

He is cute I realised as the session moved on. He's tall. Taller than me and I'm not short. His slightly tanned skin almost making everyone else look like a ghost. His hair was jet black and fell so naturally, not long and swishy but not so short that it looked like it was cut weekly. And it was all fluffy. Also he had the athletic swimming build but didn't appear cocky about it, just down-to-Earth. He was the latest hot guy and everyone was competing to be with him; so naturally I took a step back and allowed everyone else to talk. He is not in the same league as the Queen of the Nerd's, he's like the coolest boy in the year, we're total opposites.

Even though I was keeping my distance it felt weird. Like he offered to join us, he could have gone with any other group but he came with us. There must have been some reason behind it. Most people leave us to it and just rotate who comes with us, not that we mind. We have each other. To be honest we were so in awe of the fact that he came and worked with us that we didn't really talk to him. I feel bad, like no wonder he was talking to everyone else, they are nicer than the rest of us and well everyone here is cooler than me. However, despite all this I feel like I still have to listen in. All I can hear is everyone quizzing him and it's nice. I have no idea what would happen if I said anything, I have no questions but the lame boring ones that have already gone as well as probably looking at him like he was nuts for talking to me.

He said he's had to move schools. But he doesn't start for a few days as he needs to settle in so the school gave him time to settle in to a new house first. He came from up north and has the best northern accent ever. It's easy to understand and so nice to listen to. But I am so interested in where he is transferring to. Maybe I'll know people that go there. It would be so cool. Damn. I only know people from clubs and he'll know all the top people anyway and by the time he goes to one competition down here then he'll be known in seconds, and everyone else here will know the same people. Ok maybe I need another route. My school is totally out of the option considering no one has even heard of it. They are still convinced my normal state school that's almost underachieving is posh and I just won't admit to it.

Clearly I need to re-focus my thoughts. I'm in a training session and I've spent most of it daydreaming. I'm not even listening to my own friends. I mean you can't confess you like the same guy as your friends and with four of us and me being the only one yet to have a boyfriend then stand the slimmest chance with him. I can't flirt, I don't know how to act, I am definitely not romantic and I have no idea what to say to any new person (let alone a guy) except stuff about school work which he would obviously be against.

Maybe things will turn out, but it won't so I'm not going to raise my thoughts. But I have to buckle down and get through this set. Except there's relays. That is the part I'm dreading, if we are on the same team we will have to talk. Relays are the biggest deal. They make so much of a big deal over it and they become the most competitive thing we do as a squad.

And of course we were on the same team. The team huddle was fine but he came in next to me so we had to touch. I'm pretty sure every other girl around poolside hates me right now. All through the relays he was talking to me and he is so easy to talk to. I can have a normal conversation with him and he has brown eyes that I literally fall into. When we won he even hugged me (and Layla, cos we hadn't stopped pulling faces at each other and the other two) but still, he hugged me! I feel like the most hated person ever right now, if I'm honest. Like the new, hot guy talks to me and that's the person everyone hates first until the novelty wears off and I'm too quiet for that. It's gossip and name calling central.