“Sorry,” I mumble.
He mutters in a decidedly hostile way.Then he glances up again and watches me, like he wants to check how it landed.And his eyes are so brown that I can’t even come up with a put-down.
Colin grins, like he knows all that.And I hate him.But I’m starting to worry that I’m well on the way to falling in love with him.
22
Olive
“Is there anything else you want to say before we wrap up?”I ask, holding my pencil ready.
Imogen, from the swimming team, thinks.“Only that it’s an honor to swim for Dunbridge.”She smiles.“And to be interviewed by you.”
“Thanks for taking the time for me,” I reply.
“I hope you can make some sense of my answers.”
“Definitely.You were way chattier than the hockey lads—talking to them was like getting blood out of a stone.”
Imogen laughs.“Only the cool kids on our team.”
“You said it.”It takes a few seconds for it to sink in that I’m joking around with our team like I’m still part of it.Imogen glances over to the pool entrance, where the first people are arriving for training.We agreed to meet up half an hour early so that I could take a few photos of her and do the interview.Now it’s time for Imogen to get into the water, and for me to put the camera away in my locker to keep it dry while I help Ms.Cox run the session.The first few times, I kept right in the background, butI’ve noticed myself gradually getting more confident.The others are way happier to accept my tips and advice than I thought they’d be.At first, I was scared they’d think I was an impostor, but the genuine way everyone thanked me soon changed my mind.
Today, too, I can forget my anger and bitterness as I praise the juniors, whose flip turns are getting better all the time.Seeing their progress makes me proud.It’s a different pride from when I was swimming and getting personal bests, but—and this genuinely surprises me—not in a bad way.It feels a bit like making peace with things when I leave training early to get to Mr.Carpenter on time.Colin’s already there, listlessly pushing a broom around.This is our last cleaning duty but one as punishment for being out of bounds nearly a fortnight ago, and I’m almost sad about that, because cleaning with Colin is part of my routine now.The only new thing is that we sneak in as much winching as we can, until my stomach tingles and my cheeks are flushed.
I ignore the pain as Colin pushes me up against the thin strip of wall between two lattice windows.Today we’re in the biology storeroom, where we’re meant to be dusting off the animal and anatomy models.We dropped our dusters ages ago, though.Colin takes my hands and pins them to the wall at my side.Not being able to touch him while we kiss is making me lose my mind.
My knees go soft as he presses his hips against me.God, is he trying to kill me?
He bites gently on my bottom lip, and I never had a clue that, apparently, I’m into that kind of thing.But now I know, and I can’t stop a quiet moan escaping me.
A moment later, there’s a loud crash and we jump apart.
“Olive, Colin, for heaven’s sake!”Mr.Ringling is standing in the doorway, staring at us.In one hand he’s holding a frame of mounted butterflies and there’s another on the floor at his feet.“It looks as though we’ve been discussing animal mating behavior in a little too much detail in class lately.”
“Nothing we didn’t know already, sir,” says Colin, wiping his flushed lips with his hand.The thought of what he was just doing with them makes me burn up.
“Lord, children,” Mr.Ringling mumbles, bending down to check on the dropped frame.“Well, luckily nothing’s broken.But don’t let me catch you in here again, or I’ll have to report you to the head.How did you even get in?”
“Mr.Carpenter let us in,” I explain.
“Mr.Carpenter?No way.He knows how valuable these models are.It’s strictly out of bounds to pupils.”
“We’re supposed to be cleaning them,” I add.
“With your tongues?Well, good luck with that.”Mr.Ringling puts the butterflies up on a shelf.Then he spots our dusters and eyes us sternly.“Get back to work quickly now, or I’ll have to come up with a more suitable punishment for the two of you.”
“No need, sir,” says Colin cheerfully, picking up the duster.
I don’t let myself grin until Colin has chased me through the narrow spaces between the shelves with it and Mr.Ringling has vanished again.Behind the taxidermied birds, we continue where we were interrupted.
Colin
The moment Olive Garden looks at me, I’m thirteen again and full of embarrassing hormones that make my belly tingle.And she looks at me a lot.In class, in the dining room, on our afternoon work duty—although that’s over now, and I’m actually missing it.She’s really smitten, but the feeling’s mutual, so who am I to talk?
Not that either of us would admit it.I’m sure that Olive Garden would rather die than confess it.And that’s exactly why I like her so much.She’s a woman of few words, at least when she’s angry.And I can relate to that.
And I don’t need many words from her to feel like I’m floating through the hallways of Dunbridge Academy on a silly little cloud.All it takes is to remember the night she got so drunk.
