Alice Academy (Rewritten.)

Chapter 23

     I tilted my head to the left and right as I made my way to school in a white pocket tee and beige shorts, whistling at the same time. My white earbuds were plugged into my ears, blocking out nearly every sound from the outside.

     Suddenly, I jumped as someone wrapped their arms securely around my waist and pulled me towards him. You probably guessed it—Naoki. He leaned down, pecking my cheek.

"Hi," he greeted, grinning widely when I turned to look at him, his arms still wrapped around me.

I took an earbud out. "Hey," I replied, trying to pry his hands off of me.

"What's wrong?" he whispered into my ear, purposely dragging me into a tight hug with him.

"M-May you get your arms off of me?" I struggled, attempting to remove his arms from my waist.

Naoki laughed at how weak I was. "Why?"

"It's hot."

"Like you."

"No, Naoki," I mumbled, a slight blush appearing on my already hot cheeks.

"Yes."

     I gave up on trying to get him off of me, so I awkwardly walked to school with his arms snaked around my waist. Eventually, although Naoki hated it, he removed his arms from my abdomen due to the heat.

    Once we got to class, Hitoshi-sensei gave us another announcement.

"It's way too hot to do anything," Hitoshi-sensi started, "so no work today! We'll be going to the pool!" He grinned from ear to ear.

     A lot of kids cheered, appreciative of the fact that Hitoshi-sensei realized the struggles of sweating and feeling hot in general. Other students stayed silent and followed along with everyone as they returned to their rooms to pack.

     As I trailed behind the pack of people, a thought suddenly rushed and hit me. We're going to the pool, right? And guys this age don't tend to wear shirts when they swim.. Ahh! Shirtless guys..?! Oh God, oh God.

     I found a big tote bag and packed my necessities, that thought running fresh in my mind. Although I felt awfully scared, I packed a towel, a pair of goggles, a bottle of sunscreen, and my swimsuit. I slung the bag over my shoulder and put on my sunglasses, walking out of the dorm finding Hitoshi-sensei and a group of kids waiting around with their own things.

     Sooner or later, everyone arrived and so did the bus. The bus ride was absolutely dreadful, however, due to the fact that there were so many sweaty bodies along with the heat and along with the heat emitted from the bus. I swear, once the bus stopped, I sped out the door and jumped for joy.

     Sensei led us to the pool, and once we got there, he deemed himself as the lifeguard. For some reason, I didn't trust him as a lifeguard. I felt like he wouldn't do his "job" and flirt with the real lifeguards while some kid drowned without anyone to help them.

     I pushed that thought away and traipsed into the changing room. There were so many girls in the changing room, as obvious as that seems, and I felt a little bit uncomfortable changing in front of them. Most of them had nicer bodies than me, you see.. Feeling extremely self-conscious, I sighed to myself and quietly stepped into a restroom stall. After finishing, I came out in my swimsuit and began to apply my water resistant sunscreen, rubbing it over my face, neck, legs, arms, chest, stomach, back, etc. I fixed my hair into a higher, more polished ponytail and stuffed my tote bag into a locker, getting out of the body-infested locker room.

          It seemed that I had just earned the spotlight.

—Naoki's P.O.V.—