The Elijah Walker Fanclub

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Rosa couldn't make it to the school's swimming semi-finals, because it was her little brother's birthday and they were having a big family celebration. Cody, however, had freed up the date in his calendar months ago. He pulled his convertible up outside my house with the top down and beeped the horn repeatedly, continuing even as he saw me come out of the front door.

"Hurry up or we'll miss the best part," he yelled, tipping his sunglasses to look at me as I rushed across my drive.

"What's the best part?" I asked as I hurriedly threw my bag into the footwell and hopped into the passenger seat. I wasn't sure why he was in such a rush; this leg of the competition was being held at the next town over and it wasn't supposed to start for another hour or so.

"The part where they walk out dressed to impress," he said with a sly grin. He had shades of burgundy eyeshadow perfect blended on his eyelid, and his lashes fluttered at me enthusiastically.

I stared at his eyes for a long moment before letting out a loud sigh. "I should have done my makeup in school colours too," I said, wrinkling my nose.

"I brought some makeup in my purse sweetie," said Cody, waving his hand over his shoulder, showing off the sparkling ring on his finger. It was hard to tell if it was a genuine diamond or not, Cody was a fan of fashion jewellery, but he also had access to the fancy stuff if he was so inclined. Generally, that just depended on the mood for the day. "I'll fix your face when we get there," he promised, flashing his teeth before speeding away from my house.

I smiled at him gratefully. Trust Cody to plan for my lack of attention to detail.

As soon as we pulled up in the parking area of the opposing school, Cody whipped out his makeup and went about fixing the atrocity that was my team spirit deficiency. He gave me the same perfect blend of burgundy shades on my eyelid and added a nude colour to my lips to finish the look, before we went in search of the school's pool.

It wasn't difficult to find. The opposing school had set up huge signs and excessive amounts of multi-coloured flags along the path leading to their pool area. Around the swimming pool it was packed. Based on the colour schemes alone it was clear there was about six school teams there, with their supporters filling the stands and any space with a clear view of the water.

"I'm loving the rainbow flags," said Cody, gazing around at the brightly coloured décor.

I was looking around too, but not at the decorations, though they were indeed quite splendid. "Can you see anyone from our school?" I asked uncertainly. I couldn't even work out whether our swim team was out by the pool, there was so many people about.

Cody, who was a foot taller than me, glanced over at the stands, squinting his eyes a little. "There are some people I recognise on the third row, the ones holding the signs in our school colours."

I followed his gaze, spotting the signs and the people holding them. Danicka was amongst them, as well as several other girls from our school, all with signs that said Go Elijah! or Elijah Walker for the Win or Elijah! You've got this!

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I followed Cody elbowing his way through the crowd to find a better place to stand.

"Should we have brought a sign?" I asked him as he found a spot just to the side of the base of the stands. There was a huge nettle bush just behind us, growing out from under the stands in a haphazard sort of way, that suggested the groundsman at some point attempted to clear it but gave up. We could see all the swimmers from there, and I spotted Elijah in a school tracksuit standing by himself looking into the pool. "Does it look like we aren't really supporting our school without a sign?" I said hesitantly. I didn't want to look like we didn't care.

Cody arched a brow at me. "Do you really think those girls are supporting the school? I'm pretty sure they are just here for Elijah."

"Aren't we here for Elijah?" I said meekly. I really wasn't much better than Danicka, even without me swinging around a sign declaring how great Elijah is.

Cody shook his head profusely, his ponytail swinging back and forth as he did. "There is a difference between you and the other girls here my red-headed angel," he said, placing a hand around my shoulder as he gestured up to the stands with his other hand. "They are obsessed with the idea of him. You are here to bond with him, to learn more about who he is and actually get to know the person that is Elijah. They don't know him; they just have an image they have created of him that they think is real. I am of the utmost opinion that no man is that perfect."

"That's not true," I said, giving him a half-smile. I meant to say that Cody was, but a part of me wondered how much of what I knew about Elijah was really him. I'd seen small hints that maybe there was more, a hidden layer beneath the Student Council President mask he wore.

"You're right," said Cody, his attention suddenly somewhere else. "That boy with the curly mop of hair is."

He was looking at one of the swimmers wearing the colours of this school we were standing in. His hair was black waves and he was pocket-sized in comparison to his teammates. As he bounced around the edge of the pool warming up, it was clear that he had all the energy of someone twice his size.

"Cute," I agreed, my eyes sliding back to where Elijah was now stripping out of his tracksuit. This sport should have been illegal for high schoolers. With all these boys ripping off their clothes it was like we were watching a live-action Magic Mike. Not that I was complaining, this was the real thing and not an unrealistic male body type that would only intensify my own body insecurities. These boys had lithe athletic bodies but clearly didn't skip burgers and fries.

A voice sang out over a megaphone and the teams began to line up beside the pool. The semi-finals were finally about to begin.

**Author's Note**

And so it begins... Sorry this one wasn't too long, I had a couple of days break and had to really force myself to sit down and write this Chapter. I am so sleepy! I may in fact go back to bed even though it is 11am haha! Anyway, enjoy :D