Linger

E I G H T Y - T H R E E

"Someone please tell me why Tom is wearing one of our dance bracelets."

I looked up from my gym bag.

It was now the following week and us girls were changing out for P.E.

Although we weren't give much time to change into our gym clothes, there always seemed to be plenty of time to catch up on the latest gossip.

"Who was wearing one?" Sophia asked.

"Tom Williams," Kelsey answered.

"It's not that big of a deal," I said, taking my sneakers out of my gym bag.

"Uh, yeah it is." Kelsey turned to me, tightening her ponytail. "Coach Vicki gave them to us only."

"Yeah, and we could do whatever we want with them." I shrugged, lifting my foot onto the bench to tug on my shoes.

"Like, give them to Tom?" Sophia furrowed her eyebrows at me.

I simply shrugged in reply before turning back to my gym bag.

"Maddie!" Kelsey cried. "What? Why?"

"It's just a bracelet."

"Are you two back together now or something?" a new voice snapped.

I looked up to see Sasha standing at the end of the row of lockers. Her arms were crossed in front of her grey gym t shirt as she was already fully dressed out. 

I gave her a confused look. "No, I just--"

"You just what?" she pressed.

"Forget it." I shook my head, turning away before pulling my shirt over my head.

Kelsey suddenly gasped.

I glanced up at her with a sigh. "It's just a bracelet. It's not--"

"Was that Tom?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "What?"

She nodded to my chest.

I looked down to see red marks littered along my skin from my collarbones to my hips. My heart began to race. How did I not see this earlier? I tugged on my gym t shirt as all eyes watched my every move. "I--"

"Tom?" Sasha spoke up before letting out a dry laugh. "Please. You're giving him way too much credit. Even a mosquito knows what it's doing way more than he does."

The locker room burst into laughter before everyone resumed to getting dressed.

I let out a sigh in relief before glancing over at Sasha, but she was already gone.

Fortunately, the topic quickly turned to graduation and I finished getting dressed as fast as I could before heading out onto the field.

"Hey!!" Chelsea jogged, catching up to me, her grey t shirt and navy blue shorts matching mine.

"Hi." I gave her a small smile.

"That wasn't really a mosquito, was it?"

I pressed my lips together, shaking my head. 

Chelsea furrowed her eyebrows, appearing deep in thought. 

I let out a sigh. "It wasn't Tom." 

She made a face. "I don't know if that makes me feel any better!" 

I sighed again. "Just--Please don't tell."

"I won't but like . . . he's our teach--"

"I know."