Bluehour (A Watermagic Novel) (6 page)

After a short welcome and first day of
practice speech, Coach Sanchez started calling off pairs. Dana with
Matt, Jennifer with Jayden, Ashley with Tyler… She continued on and
on until she said, “Grace with Laurent.”

Oh, now, I wanted to quit the team right then
and there. Forget Berkley and excelling in an extracurricular
activity. Maybe I could join the soccer team even though I was
terrible at the sport. I’d never make the tryouts.

Then I saw Laurent moving closer to me. My
heart was beating so fast. His blue eyes locked with mine.

I wanted to die.

1. Gourmet
   

I sat frozen on the bench as Laurent walked
toward me. My throat tightened. How could I concentrate on swimming
with Laurent as my partner?

To my surprise, he hesitated, stopping short
in his step. He looked at me. We were several feet apart still, but
I could feel the energy between us.

Shivers ran through my body.

There was an edge to his expression, to his
gaze that was fixated on me. I wanted to turn away, but I couldn’t
help but return his stare; something about the way he looked at me
drew me in. I was curious.

Mandy Bowers ran over to him. “Hi, Laurent,”
she said, flipping her blond hair with her hand.

He stood there for a second, ignoring
her.

I continued watching him as she chatted on
about nothing. His eyes looked a brighter blue, lit, like when a
fiery sun blazes on the sea. His shirtless body was gorgeous. He
was tall and slim with a well formed chest and shoulders.

“So, the party is Friday night,” Mandy
blathered on as she followed him in his step toward me.

Once he approached me, he stopped suddenly.
His nostrils flared and his teeth clenched. Something about him
reminded me of a wild animal.

My breath caught in my throat. He was
beautiful, yet frightening.

Looking at Laurent was like when you go to an
aquarium and watch the sharks swim behind the glass. Sometimes they
stare at you with their cold eyes like they want to eat you alive.
You know if the glass broke you would be dead in a violent
instant.

Then he glanced away. “I’m sorry, Grace,” he
said not even looking at me now. It seemed as if he was struggling
with his thoughts. His body tensed and his fists balled up. He
brushed past Mandy and turned to the boys’ coach who was directing
people into the pool.

“I have to leave, coach,” he said adamantly
as he grabbed him by the shoulder.

Startled, the coach turned around. “What’s
going on, Laurent.” I could tell the coach was taken aback by his
forceful grasp, but he was being extra nice to him because he was
an exchange student. Normally he would have yelled at a guy for
grabbing him unexpectedly like that.

“I’m sick. I have to go.” There was an edge
to Laurent’s musical voice, an urgency. I sensed that he was
pained. It seemed as if he was being tortured by his own thoughts,
as if something was overwhelming him.

I couldn’t understand it. I simply could
not.

“Why don’t you do some laps? Maybe you’ll
feel better.” The coach was staring out at the pool with his
whistle held up almost to his mouth like he was deciding whether to
blow it or not as he watched some rambunctious boys.

Laurent didn’t even respond, nor did he look
at me. He just rushed out the pool gate in agile step—off and
away.

For a moment, I just sat there. My mind
raced.

I didn’t know how to feel about what had just
happened. Even though it made no sense at all, a part of me was sad
that he left. It was almost as if I missed him. My feelings made me
uncomfortable. What was I some kind of masochist?

I too felt sick now. I wanted to go home,
but, now that I didn’t have a partner, the coach made me do laps by
myself. Considering I didn’t want to be paired up in the first
place, I tried to convince myself that I was relieved to swim in
the refreshing pool by myself. The water had a way of washing away
all my problems. I hoped it would.

About forty-five minutes later, I was more
than relieved when the coaches dismissed us early. Ashton Benson
offered to drive me home. Now, that really surprised me. I was glad
I didn’t have to pester anyone into dropping me off, or worse, I
was glad I didn’t have to take a public bus home, so I accepted
graciously.

Ashton opened the passenger door to his red
Dodge Charger and motioned me in politely. I was glad to be back in
my clothes and out of that goofy bathing suit I borrowed from
school. I didn’t care that much that everybody saw me looking like
a buffoon this afternoon, but for some reason I was embarrassed
that Laurent had seen me.

“What happened with your swim partner today?”
Ashton asked curiously as we headed up the boulevard.

I was disappointed that the conversation was
on Laurent. I was hoping for an escape from my thoughts about him.
“He said he was sick and left.”

“He looked fine to me.” Ashton shrugged his
shoulders. “I wonder if he’s a good swimmer. Did you know exchange
students don’t even have to try out for the team?”

That surprised me. I shook my head as my eyes
trailed after a woman jogging with her dog on the sidewalk beside
the road. “I was wondering about that because the French exchange
students were still in France during our tryouts last year.”

“Yeah. The principal likes to get the
exchange students involved in school activities. Lucky for
them—wouldn’t you say.”

“Sure is.” I rolled my eyes. “I hate trying
out. I’d do anything to get out of it.”

He talked on and on about the swim team. I
just wasn’t as into the competitions as much as he was and the
conversation bored me. As he pulled into my apartment complex, I
couldn’t help, but wonder why he was giving me so much attention.
He could date much prettier and more popular girls than me, so it
just didn’t make since that he could possibly be interested.

As I was getting out of the car, he leaned
over and grabbed my hand. That really startled me.

“Hey, would you like to catch a movie with me
Friday night?”

“Really?” My reaction was surprised.

“Yeah, really.” He smiled. “You like movies
don’t you?” I detected the slightest bit of humor in his voice like
he found me endearing.

What should I say? I thought to myself. I had
never thought of Ashton romantically. “That’s so nice of you,
but…”

“But?” He responded in playful sarcasm. He
released my hand.

Now that my hand was free, I felt slightly
more comfortable. “I’m actually on restriction this week.”

He seemed unaffected. “How about the
following Friday?”

“Well, I already have plans with my friend
Agatha.” Agatha and I usually spent our weekends together.

“Bring her along.” His voice was still
confident. “I’ll get Danny Williams to go too. I can tell she likes
him.”

“You know Danny?” He kept surprising me.

“Of course I know him. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, he’s just not the kind of guy I would
picture you hanging out with.”

“I’ve known Danny my whole life, but you’re
right. We don’t usually hang out. But I bet I could get him to
go.”

“That would be great.” I was smiling now at
the thought of telling Agatha the news. She would be ecstatic.
“We’re actually going night surfing.” I told him. “But, you and
Danny can come if you like. I know you’re a good surfer.”

His face lit up with the compliment. “You’re
crazy, Grace—surfing at night…”

“What?” I didn’t know what he was talking
about. Night surfing was a regular hobby of ours.

His lips pressed together before he spoke.
“That’s what I like about you. You live on the edge.”

“Other people at school surf at night.”

“Like who?” His voice lifted a little like he
was teasing me.

“You know—Tyler Hannigan and his friends and
uh, the exchange students.” I couldn’t believe I was talking about
them again.

“Well, we all know Tyler is a suicidal
maniac,” he huffed. “The French chics surf?”

I nodded, noticing a streak of excitement in
his eyes.

“Are they any good?”

“They’re amazing, all of them. I mean the
guys too.”

For a moment, I got the feeling he was losing
himself in a fantasy about Brigitte and Marine. It made me a little
uncomfortable, but, really, who could blame him. They were
unbelievably beautiful and alluring.

“Okay, so you wanna come?” Anxious to get in
my apartment, I saw that he wasn’t coming out of his fantasy, so I
wanted to push him along.

“Hell, yeah,” He finally said. His voice was
enthusiastic.

He tried to walk me up to my door, but I
adamantly told him not to as I rushed away. It could turn into a
nightmare if he mentioned to my dad we were going surfing. Looking
back, I realized I should have warned him about my father’s rules
of keeping me out of the ocean. Next time I see him I would have to
do that.

Now that I walked in the door, I had a moment
to breath. My father and sister were fixated on the television and
hadn’t noticed me yet. I couldn’t believe Ashton Benson wanted to
go out with
me
. How crazy. Agatha was right—he was
interested in me. That was just way too unbelievable for me to
comprehend.

“Hi Lucy…” I called out several times to my
seven-year-old sister who was sitting on the couch with a big bowl
of popcorn in her lap watching TV beside my dad. “Earth to
Lucy.”

After not hearing me the first few times,
finally, she came out of her television trance and turned to me.
“Grace!” Her voice was excited as she put the popcorn in our
father’s lap and ran over to me. Once she reached me near the
doorway, she threw her arms around my torso. I loved her for that.
She was the best.

“How was your first day of school?” I asked
her.

“It was great.” Her smile was beaming. “I got
candy for not talking when the teacher was calling roll. You want
one?” She pulled out a Tootsie Roll from her pocket. It got a
little squished, but it’s still good.”

“Thanks.” I took the piece of candy from her
and we walked together over to the couch.

“Hi Grace.” My dad glanced over at me as Lucy
took the bowl of popcorn back and snuggled up beside him.

I sat down on the sofa next to Lucy. They
were watching a documentary on the Civil War.

“How was school?” my dad asked when a
commercial came on the TV.

I shrugged. “It was okay.”

“Just okay?” He was flipping through the
channels now as we talked.

“I’m just worried about cooking class.”

He chuckled. “I guess you should be.”

“Hey, that’s not nice,” I responded playfully
though I knew he was right.

“What about swim team?” He looked at me. “How
did that go?”

“Terrible.” I looked at the toothpaste
commercial on the screen. “Coach Sanchez paired us up with the
boys’ team and my partner got sick and had to leave.”

“What did you do?” He went back to flipping
the channels.

“Coach made me do laps by myself.”

My mom rushed in the living room dressed for
work. “Your dinner’s on the table,” she said. “I’m taking the
nightshift.” She kissed all of us on the cheeks and grabbed her
purse from the love seat.

She worked as a cocktail waitress at the
Hilton Hotel. “Bye guys,” she called as she checked her teeth for
lipstick on the wall mirror before hurrying out the door.

“Don’t you have chores to do for your
restriction?” my dad asked me, lifting an eyebrow.

Annoyed, I looked up at the ceiling. “Yes.”
My voice conveyed irritation. I noticed Lucy wasn’t listening to a
thing we said. She was engrossed in the documentary.

He put his feet up on the coffee table in a
relaxed manner. “Go eat your dinner and get to work.” With that
comment, he repositioned himself on the couch and reengaged in the
show. “Oh,” he said without looking at me. “Somebody named Laurent
Moreau called. I left the number by the phone. He wants you to call
him back. He said it is school related so I’ll let you make the
call even though you’re on phone restriction.”

My body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Oooo Laurent,” Lucy said giggling. I guess
she wasn’t as engulfed in the Civil War as I thought.

1. Let Go
   

I sat at the table eating the pasta and
French bread my mother left for me. I couldn’t believe Laurent
called me. How did he get my number? Maybe somebody from the swim
team gave it to him. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted.

My pulse was racing at the thought of calling
him back, but at the same time I was very curious. I guzzled down
my milk and took the cordless phone in my room along with his
number that my dad had written down for me.

I sat on my bed contemplating whether to call
him or not. Really, I didn’t even know him, so why should I care?
If he wanted to talk to me, he could keep trying.

But, then I started thinking about him. All
of his behaviors toward me were confusing. I couldn’t figure out
what his problem was with me. His actions were both hot and cold.
His moods during our limited interactions seemed erratic.

I wasn’t going to call him. That’s all there
was too it. Whatever he needed to ask or say to me would probably
just twist my mind up further. He didn’t seem capable of acting
normal around me.

With that decision in mind, I went to work on
my chores. I started with the laundry and while the clothes were in
the machine I went to cleaning the hall bathroom between Lucy’s
room and my parent’s room. But while I was scrubbing the bathtub, I
just kept thinking about Laurent and his friends.

I was just so curious why he called. The more
I thought about it the more I just had to call him back. A few
times I found myself giving in and rushing back to my room to enter
his number into my phone, but before I did I thought about how many
times I had gotten myself into trouble due to my inquisitiveness.
“Curiosity killed the cat,” I kept warning myself.