Of All The Things I Didn't Say

CHAPTER 9

Let's go out for dinner tomorrow, to celebrate our victories!
Mason texted me that a few hours after I got home from the swim meet.
My heart nearly jumped out from my chest, but also dread filled me. I'm trying to get over him and now he's suddenly interested in me?! Plus he has a girlfriend. Why is he asking me to go out to dinner with him so much? I guess it is just to celebrate and we are still close friends but still...this guy has awful timing.

Sounds perfect! I say the third winner should pay for the first person winner;)
I chuckled to myself as I pressed the send button.

His reply came swifter than I thought it would.
You make a hard bargain but I guess I should have expected that haha.

Oh good lol

I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow evening, dress fancy;)

Fancy? Wow you must be treating me to some place nice. Where are we going?

It's a surprise, so stop asking questions lol see you tomorrow

I went to protest but I knew Mason wouldn't answer, so I didn't bother to text him back.
My "legendary" dress didn't work on him the night we all went out to celebrate our first week as being seniors. Would it work this time? No, he's seen me in that dress, if I wore it again he'd think I either only own one dress or just didn't care.
I've been meaning to go dress shopping for a new dress, maybe I'll go out and buy a new dress for tomorrow evening. I texted Zara, Alice and Rose saying that we needed to have a shopping emergency. None of them said no.

My parents wanted to go out for supper tonight to celebrate my victory, but that wasn't for a few more hours. With my swim meet done, my Facebook posts about my victory done and all my homework done, I put on some classical music; literally fell onto my bed and fell asleep instantly.

¥¥¥

I awoke around 4pm, I now only had two hours to shower and dress. I groaned as I got out of my bed. Why is it that every time I take a nap, my bed seems like the most beautiful thing in the entire world?!
I showered, dressed; smiled at my reflection in the mirrior and headed down stairs where my family awaited.

"There she is!" My brother bellowed from down the stairs. "There's the winner, the best swimmer in town!" He started clapping and continued to over exaggerate as I stepped down the stairs. I decided to go along with him.
I smiled and dramatically stepped down the stairs, waving as a queen would.
My mother took photos, my father clapped and my brother laughed at the way I held myself.

My brother held out his arm for me to grab.
"Come, let's eat".

¥¥¥

Dinner was nice, simple yet elegant. We celebrated my great victory, and I told them how I felt about it all. I told them about Natasha and how I controlled my anger and found a way to use it against her.
Then of course, my mother pulled out her phone and we all looked at the photos of my swimming career and how much I've grown. I took swimming lessons back when I was practically a fetus, and continued on from there. By the time I finished my tenth level, I quickly moved into life guarding lessons, safety course and first aid. Mason was in those classes with me, that's how we became better friends other than just from school.
I convinced Mason to try out for the speed swimming team for our city. We both joined and quickly became the best in our group.

Swimming has been so important and such a big part of my life that I actually forget sometimes how far I've gotten. And, just how many photos I've taken with Mason and Ashely. Medals and hands in hands. Mason has endured just as much as I have, I can't believe we've actually managed to remain friends this long. And of course, as all these stories go, we had developed feelings for each other. The only plot twist is that; only my feelings remained.

Wouldn't it be such like, goals to be that athletic couple? I've actually always wanted that. I'm so into sports and I know nearly every male athlete in our school and really any of them would be perfect. Well, maybe except the football players. I don't know squat about football. But basket-ball and swimming; hey man, I'm your gal.

I washed off my make-up once dinner ended. Even after my nap, I was utterly exhausted.
I climbed under the covers and rested my head on the pillows. I smiled at the memories my mom dug up again. But mostly because of the newest gold medal hanging up on my wall of victory.
Sleep came easier to me than I thought it would.