CHAPTER 2



Apparently when your a swimmer like me, sleep is hard to get. My stereo went off at 4:30 am. I groaned and stretched in bed, not wanting to go to swimming. I got up and turned off the loud music of Lady Gaga. I strolled into the bathroom and put on my swimsuit.


After brushing my teeth, grabbing my swim bag, and putting on my sandals I marched into the kitchen. My mom was sitting down drinking coffee. She grabs the car keys and throws them at me. I catch them. She always let's me drive to practice, well I do have my learners permit. I should have gotten my license by now though since I'm 17.


I walk outside and get into her blue mini van. She sits down in the passenger seat. “Seat belt,” she says, I quickly put on my seat belt. I put my foot on the brake before putting the car on drive. I put it on drive and ease my foot off the pedal. I leave the driveway in one piece and head to swimming.

I arrive five minutes late for driving thirty miles per hour. I sprint inside the pool and drop my bag on the deck. I see my coach stare at me wondering why I'm late. I just shrug at his stare. I grab my cap and goggles. I jump in the lane with the least amount of kids. The first one it is. Only Jacob, Alejandro, Yesenia, and Sydney are in this lane. SYDNEY!? She smiles at me. She's been surprising me these past few days. When she joined swimming she told me she was not going to wake up in the morning to swim.

I put my cap on, my eyes still on Sydney. I think she really is sick. Love sick, maybe. I jump into the cold water and start swimming right away. I warmup by doing a 400 free. Then we do some set my coach gives us that isn't that hard but it's not a piece of cake either. The entire time I couldn't even say one word to Sydney.

After practice all the girls run to the bathroom to take a shower and change for school, I do the same. Sydney walks into the bathroom and smiles at me. I quickly put on my school pants. “Are you sure you're not sick? Don't worry it won't be a bother to take you to the doctor,” I say when she stands in front of me.

She slaps my arm. “Shut up! I only came because I can't make it this afternoon. I have a book club meeting.”

I laugh. “Nerd. You and your book club meetings, so what book are you reading?” I ask because I like reading too. Not as much as Sydney, though.

“The host, by Stephanie Meyer,” she says and marches into the bathroom to take a shower. My mom left already to take my sister to school. I look around for Angela who always drive's me to school when we have morning practices. I don't recall seeing her this morning.

Sydney comes out of the bathroom steaming. “Hey who's taking you to school?” I ask.

She starts changing. “Andre, I think he's already outside with Dylan,” she says.

I grit my teeth, “Do you think he could give me a ride?”

She grins, “Yeah, he has to drop me off.” Dylan and Andre go to a private school somewhere near here. Me and Sydney go to the nearest public high school. We are in the middle of our senior year. Dylan and Andre are in their senior year too but they're older, I think me and Sydney should be older than those two.

I grab my book bag and swim bag. I text my mom telling her that Sydney is taking me to school. We leave the girls bathroom, two minutes late. When we arrive at Andre's car, a red mustang by the way he opens the window and yells, “Hey Crystal, I ain't driving you anywhere, so don't think about setting one foot on my car.” I laugh at him.

Sydney walks by the window smacks her brother on the head and whispers, “You better give my bestie a ride or I'll show everyone in your school the picture of you in a princess costume.” I can't help but laugh at her threat. Andre's face gets whiter than ice.

He composes himself quickly. “Whatever, you know I was kidding, you fool. Now get on chicks I don't want to be late for school,” Me and Sydney run to the back of the mustang and open the trunk we throw our swim bags and book bags in them and shut it close.

We sit in the back while the boys sit in the front chattering about some football team they're up against next week. I decide to join into their conversation. I move to the middle of the backseat and rest my chin on the back of Andre's seat. I used to do that a lot when we used to go out, guess it became a habit.

“So what team are you up against?” I ask, curious.


Dylan smirks. “Your school.” Sydney laughs from the back seat.


“Good luck with that, we have the best football players in this whole world playing at our school. Even though some are complete jerks they are pretty good,” says Sydney who is texting some one on her phone.

“Way better than you two by a million,” I add. Sydney laughs, the boys just scowl at me. Dylan is pretty cool to hang out with and hot too. Andre is way way better looking than Dylan, but why do I care? Stop it Crystal you're not dating anymore.


What I was saying is true my school has the best football team in the state. Josh and Dylan are too stubborn to admit it. They might be the stars of their school but in my school they're the bench warmers.


We arrive at my school in five minutes. Me and Sydney get off and grab our bags. We go straight to the locker room to put the swim bags away. I look at the clock in the girls' locker room. Five minutes till the bell. My first class is in the other side of the school. S***, I have to sprint it.


I say goodbye to Sydney and sprint off towards the north side of the school. Swimming requires for us to run, so I'm pretty good. I sprint through the hallways dodging students as I go. I heard some one call my name and I turned around to wave at Jessica who is in my biology class. But when I turn around again I bump right into Lauren, the queen b**** of the school. I see that I spilled her coffee all over her. Oops.


I murmur a 'I'm sorry' and run off to class. I can feel her glare on my back as I keep running towards first period. If I get one more tardy I have to repeat senior year. I decide to take a quick glance back and see that Lauren and her followers are gone.


This is not good.





I arrived at homeroom just in time before the bell rang. Nobody in school knows that I'm a swimmer except Sydney and two friends from swimming that go here. Well we kept it our own little secret because swimming isn't very popular at our school, football and cheer-leading are what get the most attention in this god forsaken school of ours.


The jocks and cheer-leaders rule the school of course. Lauren, the one I bumped into well more like crashed into is the head cheer-leader. It doesn't take rocket science to figure that out.


Me and Sydney have been really good at hiding from that b****. She could socially kill you in one day. Rule is stay clear of the cheer-leaders way. Which I just broke.

Last year she spread a rumor about one of her ex-best friends, Samantha. She told everyone that she was pregnant. Samantha had to leave the school because of all the rumors and people making fun of her. I really felt sorry for her I don't think she deserved the torture.

Why are they ex- best friends you ask? Lauren caught Samantha talking with her current boyfriend and she immediately thought they were going out. Which is so not true, Sam was telling the boy that Lauren was cheating on him. Well he did break up with her and then Lauren did what she did best, ruin Samantha's life.


I hope that queen b**** doesn't mess with me. After first period I take the long walk to second period. Okay I admit it I'm hiding from Lauren. I see my second period class, in front of me, I'm hiding behind a tree.


Someone taps my shoulder. I scream and turn around. “What are you doing?” she asks. So I tell Sydney everything as we walk into second period.


“I'm hoping to hide from her so she won't recognize my face. I hope she forgets about it,” I say as we sit down in our desk. I take out my notebook and a pen, ready to take notes. Sydney does the same.


“I wish you were right but remember what happened to Sam last year?” she whispers because the bell has rung.


I shudder at the memory of Samantha. We stop talking because Mrs. Mesa has started class. I take notes like I always do in her class and listen because I'm terrible in math. After the bell rings me and Sydney walk to lunch.


We wait in line to get our lunch. “So how are you girls doing today?” says a familiar voice behind me. I turn around to face Jacob. I stare at his gray eyes.


“Good, you?” I say. Jacob is in my swim team, he's friends with some of the football players in this school. Angela and him are the only members of my swim team that go to this school, well also Sydney. She doesn't count because she doesn't go to swimming practice that much. She only swims like three times a week.


“Awesome, I heard you hit Lauren,” he says, changing the subject. Damn, that's what I didn't want to hear. Knowing Lauren I knew she would say something like that.


“No she didn't,” says Sydney defending me already.


He shrugs, “That's what she's telling everyone.”


I grab an apple an start munching on it. “I didn't hit her, I only bumped into her while running to class. Why would I hit her?”


“She's says because you like her boyfriend, Andre,” he says calmly as if nothing.


I spit out the apple I was chewing on Sydney. Oops. “Sorry Sydney,” I tell her then I turn to Jacob, “She's dating Andre! She thinks I still like him. Please tell her I don't anymore. We went out two years ago, geez. How does she even know him? He doesn't go to this school!”


“Um........ well I was going to tell you during lunch. Andre and Dylan transferred to this school so they could be in the football team,” says a sheepish Sydney.


I lower my voice so Jacob couldn't hear us. “Then why did they say that they were against our school?” I am in the verge of going hysteric.


“They were messing with you, they actually transferred last week,” she says.

“Why didn't you tell me and how come I haven't seen them?,” I say through greeted teeth. She grabs my arm and takes me outside were the sun is shinning. She takes me under a tree.

“I know this is wrong but Andre gave me twenty bucks so I didn't tell you and so you wouldn't bump into them by accident,” I could tell she was sorry. She was using all her power on me. Her big hazel eyes begging for forgiveness.

“I'm not mad but I'm not going to forgive you,” I say and march off. I don't know where I'm going, I just know I have to walk away from Sydney for at least one hour so I won't get bitchy with her later and then regret it.

I stop walking when I get to the football field. I decide to hide behind the bleachers until I calm down. Just when I sit down on the cold wet ground my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I take it out.

Sydney: where r u?


Me: y do u care?


Sydney: come on tell me, I feel bad :(


Me: Sydney, please just leave me alone for the rest of lunch, let me think in peace.



Sydney: okay c ya in fourth.



I put my phone away and sigh. I decide to read a book. That always helps. I take out a copy of 'A passion called hate.' it's a really good book but I hate the ending. I start reading from the part where Jake and Coralie are tied to a tree.

“Well, well, well. Looks who's hiding,” says the voice I dread the most at this moment. He sits down in front of me, I look into his warm hazel eyes. He has the prettier ones. I put the bookmark in my book and glare at Andre.

“What do you want?” I say, not in a friendly tone.

“Come on, don't blame Sydney. I told her not to tell you because I wanted to surprise you, surprise,” he says.

I glare at him. “What you were going to surprise me with having your charming presence everyday now?”


“Well of course. Who wouldn't want me?” he says laughing.


“Me,” I say and get up. I start walking away but he grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him. He looks down at me.


“Really?” his voice sounds very serious.


I look away from his hazel eyes and sigh. “No.”


He smiles like a kid on Christmas day. “So your not mad anymore?”


I stretch up on my toes and kiss him on the cheek. “No, but I have to go.” I left him staring at me as I ran to third period. I make to third right before the bell rings.

I sit down next to Lilian. She's a freshman that loves music. She a really good piano player, but her talent is singing. I sit next to her because she's my stand partner in our orchestra class. We're both beginners.

“Do we get our violins?” I ask her.

“Nope, today we're doing theory work,” she doesn't look at me as she talks. I bet she heard the rumors.

“I didn't punch Lauren and I don't like Andre that way,” I tell her before she can accuse me.

Her blue eyes grow wide. “You punched Lauren! Do you want to die! And your in love with the new guy Andre, Crystal your losing it.”

I find it funny that I just told her the opposite of all that and she thinks I was being sarcastic or something. “Didn't you hear me?” I ask.

“I believe you about the not punching Lauren thing but about not liking Andre!? You have to be out of your mind not to like him, I mean he's gorgeous! And tall!” she whispers so loud I'm afraid our teacher might hear us. I glare at her ending the discussion. When the bell rings I decide to ditch fourth period.

But I need a ride, where can I get a ride? Who has study hour for fourth that can take me home? No one I know. I decide to hide out in the garden we have in the very back of the school. First I go to my locker and pick up my swim bag. I run to the garden before the bell rings and the hallways empty. I stopped running when I made it to my favorite tree. The oak tree.