She was fearless, and reckless confronting a man four times her size. I pushed off the pool wall, did another lap, laughed as I remembered her driving over those garden gnomes, and choked on pool water. When I got my breath back, I continued my lap. Was it really a surprise that I was drawn to her? Most of the people in my life bottled everything up, until their resentments and disappointments started to spill over, poisoning everything around them. Most of my life I lived in it, until it was all I knew. Until a part of me turned out to be exactly like it. And I despised it. And myself. I reached the wall, pushed off and did another lap. And another. And another. * After a quick shower, I quickly pulled on my black shirt and pants, hiked up my boots. Swinging my backpack behind me, I grabbed my phone and headed out to the gym parking lot. "Hey, cutie," I heard a girl holler behind me. I kept walking. "Damn," I muttered under my breath as a quick Google search of car repair shops in the city of Esther Falls produced more than a hundred. How was I supposed to find her? I filtered my search to just the businesses around my area and narrowed it down considerably. Thinned it out some more by searching family owned. I figured since she personally came to collect the bill from Dingledick, her family probably owned the business. Maybe, maybe not. Was I really going to search every damned shop to find her? What the hell was I doing? I needed to get my bike fixed anyway so it was killing two birds with one stone. I was being practical. No BFD. The thought of my broken bike was starting to piss me off. I still had yet to find out who did it. There would be hell to pay, I thought as I hopped in my car and drove to campus. The temperature had dropped a little, so I cracked my window open to let the cool breeze inside my car. I turned the radio on and cranked up the volume. I wondered what it would be like to have her in the car with me. I had a picture of her standing up through the sunroof. The grin on my face felt stupid, but I really didn't care. I parked my car, considered staying in it for a few minutes until lunch break was over. I didn't like crowds and avoided them like the plague, but I was feeling thirsty after my workout and needed to hydrate. I took the stairs two at a time then turned the corner toward the cafeteria to get a drink. When I spotted the crowd in the hallway, I slowed down and didn't bother hiding my annoyance. I'd rather be somewhere else right now. I dug my earphones in my backpack, and when that took too long to find, gave up and kept walking. I wondered if Caleb was on campus now. I might not have given him a ride to school, but that guy could easily get anyone of his girls to pick him up. He was usually in the hallway with the team or in one of the lounge areas with girls. I scanned the place, looking for him. And froze. It was her—spitfire! I was about to do a double take when I felt someone pull my pants down from behind me. I caught the top of my pants just in time and whirled around. "You fucking asshole," I barked, watching as Caleb dissolved in laughter. I punched him on the arm and turned back around. But she was gone. I swear I saw her. "Cheapo," Caleb said. "Thanks for not picking me up. 'Appreciate it, bro." Was that really her or was my mind playing tricks on me? Man, did I have it bad. I blew out a breath, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of it all. "Who're you looking for?" Caleb asked. He placed his hands in his pockets, leaning against the locker as he tilted his head and studied me. He usually did that when he was trying to figure out something. I shrugged. "Hm. That's an 8," he said appreciatively as a blonde passed by and smiled at him. Caleb had a thing for blondes. We usually did this to pass the time, but I wasn't in the mood for it today. Not when she was still in my head. What the hell was happening to me? "Need some Gatorade. Be right—" I paused when my phone rang. It was my dad. Again. I let out a long breath. Caleb gave me a knowing look. "Your dad?" I nodded grimly, staring at my phone. "You going to answer it?" I balled my hand into a fist and bit my knuckle. Fuck it. "Yeah," I answered. There was a pause before my dad spoke. "You might want to answer your phone more politely than that, less people think your mother didn't raise you properly." There was disappointment in his voice. As usual. "She didn't," I said. He scoffed. "How's your friend Rick doing these days?" His tone was condescending. "Is he still begging people for money?" We both knew he was trying to get a rise out of me. How badly it affected me when he talked about Rick that way. Rick had been there for me when everyone had left. "Nothing to say?" I gritted my teeth and said as calmly as I could, "Why don't you tell me why you called?" So we can both move on with our lives. "Just checking up on you, see how you're doing with your studies." "Don't act like a parent now. It doesn't suit you." He chuckled, but not with humor. It was patronizing. A parent talking to an errant child. "Your mother called. I need you to see her again and calm her down so she can stop harassing me." "No." I hung up, closed my eyes, and pressed my fingers to them. I couldn't remember when the last time I'd seen my mother, just that it didn't go well. My father didn't want to deal with her and would always pass her off to me. I could feel my mind shutting down, feel the anger taking over me. I needed to walk it off, do something before I exploded. "Hey, Cameron." A flirty voice. I opened my eyes and found Lydia standing in front of me. "You free tonight, Cam?" she asked, batting her lashes at me suggestively. "My parents won't be home and—" I reached for her wrist. "I'm free now," I answered. "Let's go."