Beneath the Surface

Chapter 7.

"You little bitch!" Arianna said as I approached our lockers after school let out. She was already there and leaning against them with her arms crossedI had taken my good sweet time getting there from my last class I new she'd probably be waiting there for me with a few choice words. At first I think she is angry but then a smile starts to fan out over her lips.  "You dawg!" she said as she punched my arm playfully and laughed. 

I blush a little as I open my locker with fumbling hands and quickly  try grab my stuff. I had already known and expected Arianna would make a big deal out of this, but I didn't think she would do it in public. Who knew who would be listening in. What if Arnesto walked by and over heard her? That would be totally embarrassing.  For the first time in forever, I can't wait to get to swimming.  I guess this week is just full of firsts for me.

 I shut my locker and notice her bouncing in excitement, I slump my shoulders."You didn't tell the others yet did you?" I asked.

"I might have mentioned it to them." she looks away from me and then starts to count on her fingers. "And the coach. And the morning announcer people. And the lunch ladi-"

"Arianna!!" I grow very worried. I know she has a big mouth and can't keep secrets for long, but I love her anyways. This time though my heart quicken and my eyes widen.  I begin to panic  a little because I really don't want rumors to start flying about me and Arnesto yet. With us still being in the beginning phases, it won't take much for us to just fade out of existence. 

Arianna lets out a small chuckle and places a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry I haven't told anyone...yet," she says with a smirk.

"Well good." I begin to relax a little. " I don't really want anyone to know we're seeing each other yet. I don't want people to sart thinking we're a thing when we're not. I'm not quite  sure yet how well this is going to go over. I don't need more enemies than I already have."

"Ok. That's totally understandable, but you do plan on telling Erin and Andy  in the near future right?" Arianna says with a raised eyebrow. We begin to move away from our lockers. 

"I will...eventually. It will probably be after practice though. I don't need those gossip queens over hearing this. Once they know about our current position, all ships for sanity will have left the dock. Now come on. Or we're going to be late for practice. And I am not in the mood to swim 200 fly." 

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Once again the girls were up on deck first, not a single boy in sight. We had to set up the pool all by ourselves, as usual. Today, I didn't mind it as much. The quiet was reassuring to my insecure little brain that was traveling around at about a thousand miles per minute. These few minutes are my only thinking time before I see Arnesto again. Considering what he does to me and how thinking about him makes me feel, I really need some time to get my act together before my mind becomes one big blur again. I don't want to blow our cover yet. I want to keep Saturday on the down low for now, although I expect Arianna will probably give some sort of 'know all' look to us.

Even though I was just about as ready as I could be to face Arnesto, I wasn't expecting this when the boys came upstairs.  It was far beyond anything I would have ever expected to see. The entire boys swim team  was carrying Arnesto on their shoulders as they came up the stairs and they were chanting his name. Every one on the deck couldn't help but to look in there direction and try to figure out what the hell was going on. The guys marched Arnesto around the pool, pumping their fists until Coach Brent finally told them to put him down.

And they, being  such "good" little boys, did exactly as they were told. The put Arnesto down alright...right into the pool. 

 I watch with horror as the guys flipped Arnesto off there shoulders as he made a huge splash in the deep end. I am immediately worried and begin to hear over to the guys. "What the hell was that for?" I screamed as by face turned red with anger. Yup. I realize after I say those words, I sound way too overprotective. I suddenly regret my words as soon as I say them because I know any chance I had at keeping our cover has definitly been blown.

"Why don't you go save him, lover girl?" said Jason , probably the most annoying jerk of all the seniors. I seriously hate him. I feel sorry for all those girls that fall for him. They don't learn what a player he is until it's too late. He's too full of himself to care about much more than himself, sex, and weed. I really don't understand what's so appealing about him anyways. Its not like he's attractive or anything. He's got a belly that hangs over his speedo a bit and no sense of manners. He blames his red eyes on the chlorine, but lets be realistic here. 

"What's going on?" asked the Coach as I was reaching over the edge to help Arnesto  get out. The look on Brent's face said that he was already tired of this practice and just wanted to get it over with.  Arnesto  looked like he was very sorry because apparently he must have accidentally  told someone about our date over the weekend.

 The guys had just calmed down from laughing from Jason's earlier 'joke'. Jason tried to put on the most serious face he could muster, being high and all.  "They're dating now, Coach, so we're just following tradition. You wouldn't want to mess with tradition, " Jason said as he nonchalantly stuck his leg out and then  used it to push me in to the pool as well.

 As the cold water consumed me, I fought to rise to the surface as quickly as my anger had." UGH! YOU ARE SUCH A DICKFACE!!!" I screamed at him as I tread water. "THIS IS WHY YOU CAN'T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP. YOU COULDN'T ACT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU TRIED!!! I'VE MET TODDLERS MORE MATURE THAN YOU!!!! NO PERSON WITH A BRAIN  WOULD GO NEAR YOU WITH A 10 FOOT POLE!"

All he did was laugh along with the other guys as I hurled insults at him. Those stupid bastards thought I had said the funniest thing since sliced bread. One of them even went so far as to pull a pole of the wall and started poking Jason with it. To them this was all a joke. Obviously none of them had brains so no wonder they wanted to poke him with a pole...

I let out a very annoyed grunt as I  go to pull myself out of the pool.  I flip the guys off while I storm out of the pool area and run down to the locker room. I am so pissed I can't even stand the idea of looking at him, or any of the guys for that matter, anymore. If I had my own car, I probably would have just left then and there. I try and take a deep breath to calm down, but I'm just too upset. Deep down,  I know it was just meant a joke, and I probably would have taken it better and maybe even laughed a littleif it had been anyone but Jason. This afternoon has just been one big nightmare for me and unfortunately, the nightmare just keeps going.