Just Keep Swimming

Chapter 2

DING DING DING!!!

     I walk out of class while Katie seems to always want to rush. She is gabbing on about how fun our last period's teacher, Mr. Calvin, is. I open my locker and grab my stuff for the next half of the day, while she continues to text and talk. She is either a really good multitasker, has ADHD, or both! I turn around, instantly bashing my head into a opened locker. I black out for a moment, waking up on the floor. I never thought a locker could injure someone that severely.

     I sit there for a moment, stunned, waiting for my eyesight to fully resurface. Once it does, I notice all eyes in the hallway are on me. I must look like the biggest idiot right now, especially since it's the first day. It takes a good while, but Katie soon realizes I fell a couple feet away. She throws her phone into her pocket and rushes over to help me up.

"OMG!," she says," what the hell just happened in a matter of minutes?"

"I ran into a locker," I reply and then I adding some sarcastic spice,  "and I found out today you can't walk through them."

She giggles, rolling her eyes at my joke, "Come on, now it's my turn to give you a hand."

     I bend back down to grab my bag, after she helps me back up, but automatically feel dizzy. Did I really knock my head that hard? I wobble a little and put my hand to my head, as if it will help me stay stable. Katie squeezes my arm tightly to give me some balance, helping me get used to standing for a second before trying to walk again.

     I start to feel confident enough again, so I remove her hand from my arm, nod to show her I'm okay and she walks around the open locker with ease. I take a breath and turn to move around it as well. In this moment, a careless guy walks over to the locker and closes it.

"Why leave the door open if you're not going to stand there or grab anything from it," I groan to myself.

     As he goes to walk past me, I slip, causing me to fall over in the exact same moment. I never hit the ground, instead he catches me in mid-air. Neither one of us moves for like twenty seconds. We just stand still awkwardly without any eye contact. I'm still dizzy, trying to stop m myself from vomiting all over him or the hallway floors. He turns me around in his direction, firmly holding onto my waist for better stability. 

     I stare at the ground turning red from embarrassment, but I muster up enough courage to say thank you. He replies like any other person would with a basic you're welcome, but this voice seemed so familiar. I slowly look up to see his face soon freezing in fright once our eyes lock. I can't believe it, it was one of the juniors from my bus.

     Katie looks back and sees me holding the guy's arms for support. She speed-walks over and gives me a "what the hell is going on" look. I wobble as I let go of the Junior's arms, making her instantly realize the situation. She grabs one of my hands and replaces his hand from my waist with hers. While we continue our way down the hallway the guy follows a couple spaces behind. Katie doesn't notice but I can sense him. I ask her to fill my water bottle at the nearby fountain and she politely agrees. I rest my hands on my head to stop the overpowering headache, but nothing seems to work. I begin to faint and as I fall to the ground the junior is instantly there to help pick me up. He grabs my hand, rubbing it for a second to sooth me before supporting my back to lift me up.

     He walks me to the group of boys since Katie is nowhere to be seen. The fountain must of been broken and she must be determined to find another one. They guys end up talking for a while, while I stand there silently having nothing to add, until I hear one certain comment.

"Hey Cameron! Did you finally get a girlfriend?"

The junior laughs and says," Yes Matthew this is my girlfriend. Isn't she adorable," he winks at me, nudging me to go along with it.

     I agree, since it was amusing to watch their facial expressions change, once their joke seems to backfire. Also I never noticed until now,  but the way he was positioned with holding me already made it believable. I just smile and hug him back. One for more support, two he was actually a really good hugger, and three it was fun to watch his eyes flutter with excitement once I did.

"Well then, what her name Cam?," Matthew question.

I know Cameron doesn't know my name so I save him by finally speaking forcing a bigger smile, "I'm Avery! Nice to meet you Matthew and of course the rest of you too!"