Wet

32. Sea of Lust

  Xavier faced towards me with his signature blank stare, then back at the pool as he quickly got ready on the starting block.

"Swimmers get ready!" The man declared, causing me to flinch back and get ready myself.

I can see the water grinning and laughing at me now; I am standing on the block with my knees almost to the point of shaking. The water can tell how nervous I am. Right now, it is so calm and smooth, beckoning me to dive in. But in just a few seconds, the glassy blueness will be turned into a churning white mass as me and Xavier churn through it.

What if I lose?

What if my team loses because of me?

What if?

PRUHHHH

My mind completely stopped racing as the coarse coldness of the water latched onto me, again sending shivers down my body, helping me produce large amounts of adrenaline to help me paddle faster.

The water had completely consumed me now, blocking my hearing and my ability to see, leaving just me and my thoughts alone.

My legs started to feel tired as this race felt like 50 years to complete. My eyes took a quick glimpse at Xavier. It seemed like a tie between us was about to happen. I then focused my eyes back at my lane, seeing the blur of the finish line turn to a clear view of the white tiles. My head couldn't stop throwing Xavier looks, curious if I was losing to him or not.

Our bodies were still terrifyingly remaining at the same pace, until finally it seemed like he was stopped my an imaginary wall, causing me to reach the end before he does.

"Ah!" I gasped out of the cold water, noticing the obvious, which bothered me in many ways. "Why the hell would you do that?" I exclaimed at him, ignoring the loud cheers emitting around the gymnasium.

"Do what?" He coughed back, playing dumb.

"Stop playing dumb! I know you let me win and that's no-" my rant was quickly stopped by the crowd running towards me as the announcer loudly exclaimed me as the winner.

I got up out of the pool, only to be bombarded by my teammates and a lot of people I didn't even know. My eyes were trying to spot Xavier but the crowd had already blocked my sight of him.

"You did it kiddo!" Coach Alex laughed in joy, patting my shoulders a couple of times and then welcoming me into a warm and cozy hug. By the second Coach Alex had let me go, some of my team members greeted me and politely congratulated me in my fake win.

"Arielle YAS!" Trevor exclaimed loudly as he clapped his hands.

"Damn!" Logan laughed, handing me my towel.

"Congrats." Braxton simpered at me.

"Where's my victory kiss babe?" Max teased, awkwardly wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Shut up." I laughed, nudging him on the shoulder.

"Alright guys, that's it. That's a win for today!" Coach Alex exclaimed, causing more loud cheers and congratulations which literally meant everything to me. But I didn't know what to feel knowing that Xavier gave me that win on purpose.