Chapter 5
Summer of the promise
Ispent two months’ worth of allowance on a new swimsuit for my first practice with Leo. It was a floral two-piece, similar to one I’d seen Claire wearing when she hung out at the pool with my brother. The fabric didn’t fit my skin like it fit hers. I wasted an hour going back and forth between deciding if my boobs were too small to successfully pull off something that wasn’t a one-piece.
When the alarm on my phone went off, warning me I had less than an hour to get on my bike and ride to the community pool, I tugged on an oversized tee and shorts.
No more worrying. The two-piece would be fine. At least, that’s what I tried to convince myself when I pedaled across town.
I could barely keep the smile off my face as I rode down the sidewalk. Fran tried to call me over when I passed by her house but I just waved and told her I didn’t have the time.
“Why?” she yelled after me. “I have the house to myself. We can catch up on our shows!”
“Got plans!” I shouted back with one last wave.
Got a date was what I wanted to say but I had to keep this under wraps for now. Because Leo didn’t offer to teach me to swim and mean for it to feel like a date. Despite the butterflies in my stomach, this meet-up was nothing but my brother’s best friend doing me a favor…for now. I had a few plans of flirting up my sleeve.
No part of me had ever been a skipper but once I locked up my bike, I skipped over to the entrance of the pool. Isabella sat at the front booth reading a thin paperback with a vampire biting a woman’s neck on the cover. She looked unimpressed with my peppy greeting. Her dark make-up and thin ponytail add to her overall I-don’t-want-to-be-here vibe.
“Here.” I flashed my family’s membership card to her even though she knew who I was. Not playing by the rules — even if others didn’t care about them — made my skin itch.
“Go in, kid,” she said around the gum in her mouth, not even looking at my card.
“Thanks.” I grinned. She rolled her eyes at my expression but I refused to be affected by her moody angst today. Leo was possibly already here to spend time with me. No more trying to come up with interesting things to say to reel him into a conversation. For the next hour or so, I’d have his undivided attention.
My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for him. After a quick sweep, I realized he was nowhere to be found. I sighed and willed myself to not get too discouraged. He ran late like Nate. His lateness would give me enough time to use the restroom and make sure I tied my swim top tight enough.
After freshening up in the restroom, I went back outside to do my second sweep. The clock on the community pool’s main building indicated Leo would be approaching fifteen minutes late.
No biggie.
I gathered my twists in a ponytail and started towards the sitting area. My smile felt less energetic but I still wore it nonetheless. It took my phone vibrating with a text for me to finally feel the excitement in my stomach slowly drain away with each word I read.
I asked Caleb to teach you instead. He has a better technique than me. Hope that’s okay.
My jaw tightened.Hope that’s okay?
The text sounded so flippant. Like he typed it while getting ready to do something more important. I’d been prepping for this moment all day and he…hoped it was okay?
My fingers tapped the back of my phone as I tried to come up with a response. Someone nudged my shoulder in an aggressive pat before I could type something back.
“You Kira, right? Nate’s kid sister?” A thin guy with thick, blond eyebrows and an uneven haircut asked. I’d seen him around school, mostly following Nate and Leo around like a shadow.
No one really liked Caleb because he often smelled like he needed an extra shower and told too many crude jokes he stole from late-night comedy skits.
“Yeah,” I said flatly and clung to my phone enough more. My nails dug into the case, marking the back of the flimsy plastic.
“I’m supposed to teach you or something,” he said with a loud sniff like he had something in his nose. “Come on. I got to leave in twenty minutes. My brother’s picking me up.”
“Actually…” I started but Caleb was already headed towards the pool, not even waiting to hear my response.
Leo could have just canceled. I would have preferred that to getting a lesson from Caleb, a guy who creeped me out with how much he tried to look down girls’ shirts in the school hallways.
My mind played back Leo and I hooking our pinkies together earlier this week. He’d looked so sure and I’d been too.
Did I do something that made him change his mind? He hadn’t even seen me in the swimsuit so it couldn’t be how I looked.
Maybe it was because I didn’t come downstairs a few days ago when he’d come over to hang out with Nate? I’d been too nervous, though. I blushed too much when he was around. Nate would see and know I had a crush and tease me relentlessly.
