“We need that touch from the one we love, almost as much as we need air to breathe.”

- Five Feet Apart

I squeeze the door knob. That thing doesn’t budge. I lift my foot up, prop it against the door, and then squeeze the door knob harder.

“Goddamnit,”I huff. “Why doesn’t this thing open?”

I slide down to the floor and wipe my sweat.

“The door didn’t open because it is locked.” I look up, and Oliver is standing there looking at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

Oliver is wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and a pair of black sweatpants. His feet are bare, and his hair is falling all over his forehead.

Oliver narrows his eyes at me. “And for some reason, you look like you are planning something terrible.”

You bet, Oliver.

“Get up, now.” Oliver lends his hand towards me. I take it. He pulls me up with one swift movement.

“As far as I know, you went to the toilet, and it has been 10 minutes since you left,” Oliver replies, narrowing his eyes at me. “There is a toilet downstairs.”

Did I, by any chance, tell you that I planned to spy on Oliver? That was the plan, but Oliver rained on my parade.

“Yeah, but I used your toilet once. So I wanted to use it again, since I’m familiar with it. Just wanted to say hi,” I say, smiling.

Oliver looks like he wants to lock me up in an asylum.“Obviously.”

“Yeah, but I found out the room is locked. Why?” I ask him as we go downstairs.

“Because I knew you would be here,” Oliver mumbles.

I smack his arm. “Hey.”

“And you did exactly what I thought you would do.” Oliver turns to me.

“There’s always more to know, Oliver. You can never guess what I will do next.”

“That’s for sure,” Oliver agrees. I smile bigger.

I realize we are heading for the pool.

“Jason is already in the water,” Oliver says, “and I figured you would like to be there too. Brought your swimsuit?”

I am wearing it underneath my shirt and shorts. It is a bright Saturday, and Jason told me there was no way he wouldn’t take advantage of Oliver’s pool, so I am prepared as well.

“Just say you wanna see me in a bikini,” I say, smirking.

Oliver rolls his eyes, “If you wanna jump in the pool with your clothes on, be my guest.”

Oliver didn’t deny it, though. That he wants to see me in a bikini.

I smirk. “Of course. You’re in your swimming trunks?”

Oliver turns around as we reach the pool. “You don’t need to know about that.”

I narrow my eyes and try to picture Oliver in swimming trunks. I have never seen Oliver shirtless before. I don’t know how he will look, but I am betting he will look hot.

Mhmm, nice images are flashing in my mind.

Oliver gently smacks my head. “Get out of that gutter, Bradbury.”

I laugh. “I was always in the gutter, Carlson. Wait ‘till I drag you down there, too.”

I walk forward. Oliver stays behind by the pool bed, but I hear him say, “Who says I’m not already there?”

I snap my head towards him. Oliver is sitting down, reading his book. Maybe I imagined hearing that.

I shrug, and Jason waves at me. “Yo, Gwen, come down here!”

Jason is hanging out at the other side of the pool, with his sunglasses on and with a drink in his hand. Leave it to him to look cooler than ice all the time.

“Do you have an extra pair of sunglasses? You didn’t tell me to bring mine!” I yell back.

Jason pouts. “No, dude. These are the only ones I have!”

“Not fair!” I say.

I stretch a little to get warmed up. Then I strip my shirt and shorts and throw them by the side.

I look over at Oliver who is still reading his book, sitting there on the bed. I smirk.

I take a few steps backwards. Then I sprint and jump in the pool, splashing water everywhere.

“What the-!” Oliver screams, and then he glares at me.

I laugh, popping up from the water. Jason joins me. “Gimme a high five!”

I swim backwards and reach towards Jason and give him a high five. From the other end, Oliver glares at us like he wants to burn us with his eyes. Too bad, he can’t spray fire with them.

We laugh in unison. “Poor Oliver.”

I turn to Jason and take his sunglasses and drink. I put on the glass and take a sip of the drink. Jason shakes his head in amusement.

After a while, Jason suddenly asks, “Hey, you never told me how you met Oliver.”

“He didn’t tell you?” I ask.

“Oliver doesn’t tell me much. He is a private person. I don’t press him either. If he wants to tell me something, he will,” Jason says, briefly looking over at Oliver.

“Yeah, I figured that much. He isn’t much of a talker,” I say following Jason’s gaze. “We met during the last party here. He caught me puking in his washroom.”

Jason looks like he can’t decide whether he will laugh or cry. He decides to laugh. “That’s normal, coming from you.”

I grin. “And I realized he hates me. So ever since then, I’ve been following him.”

“I am glad you are,” Jason chuckles. “I mean, if it was me puking in his washroom, he would’ve picked me up and threw me out.”

“Such a jerk. What does he hide in his room?” I say glancing at Oliver.

“I don’t know. Like I said, he doesn’t tell me much,” Jason says.

“Okay, then I guess it was you forcing Oliver to be your friend. I am surprised he even has a friend,” I say, looking at Jason.

Jason shakes his head. “No, it was Oliver.”

My eyes widen. “Tell me you’re joking.”

Jason says, “It was a long time ago. We were in elementary school. I wasn’t like this then.”

Jason gestures to his body, to his six packs and muscles. I roll my eyes.

“I was like this,” He moves his finger in front him. “I used to fly with the wind. And in addition to my skin color, some shitty kids bullied me, always picking me as their target. One day, I was walking with my little lunchbox. My mom had made my favorite sandwiches that day. One of the assholes put their feet in front of me and made me trip. I fell, and so did my lunch.”

“I wasn’t strong enough to fight them, and they laughed at me, called me names. I sat on the floor and cried. The assholes left anyway. Then, after some time, came this little boy, skinny and small like me.”

Jason chuckles, reminiscing the memory. “He sat by me and offered me his lunch.”

“Wow.” I look at Oliver, who still has his back towards us. I don’t know what to say.

“You like him, don’t you?” Jason asks suddenly, looking smug.

I laugh. “It’s not like that. It’s fun to see Oliver riled up.”

“Is that so?” Jason asks. “No feelings involved?”

“We actually met two weeks ago. It takes me time to grow feelings, you know,” I tell him. “And I wonder if he will ever reciprocate.”

“He might be closed off a little bit, but he will open up when he sees fit. If he doesn’t reciprocate, it’s his loss,” Jason says.

“Yeah, whatever.” I shrug.

We swim around for quite a while. I look over at Oliver a few times. He is still reading his book. I point out that to Jason. We bad mouth him silently. But after a few seconds, Oliver turns to look at us and narrows his eyes. We act like we are enjoying the sun. The weather is peaceful. The water temperature is perfect. I am having a nice time. I am not going to deny it.

But, as you know, good things don’t last long.

“Isn’t that little Oliver and his friends?”

I snap my head towards the poolside. Owen Carlson is standing there, smirking down at Oliver. Oliver doesn’t even look up from his book.

“You know,” Owen says loud enough, “ignoring me won’t heal your wounds and bring back your pride.”

What wounds?

Oliver ignores him. I briefly look at Jason, who is shaking his head, sighing.

Owen turns to the pool and greets, “Swindlers!”

Jason nods. Owen nods back. Then he turns to me and blinks, quite a few times. He says something too low for me to hear from the pool. Whatever it was, Oliver snaps his head away from the book and scowls at Owen. Owen notices that and smirks at Oliver.

Oliver says something. I wish they would talk louder.

Owen laughs and replies. Then again, he turns to me.

“Hey, there!” Owen says smiling.

I don’t know what to say, but after a while, I say, “Hi.”

It comes out so low, I don’t think he hears, but Owen strays his eyes from my face and checks me out, visibly, from head to toe. Suddenly, I want to gag.

Owen smirks. “Let me join you.”

Oh no. I recognize that look on Owen’s face. He flashes me his famous charming smile before putting off his shirt revealing his eight-pack abs. Then he grins again and prepares to jump in the water.

I swim backwards. I am getting out of here. As he jumps in, I swim like a champion, reach the other side and get out of the pool.

When Owen comes over, at my side, he pouts. “Hey, you!”

I smile nervously and say, “Gotta go to the toilet.”

There. Owen will never look at me like that ever again.

Hearing me, Owen laughs and takes a deep breath before diving in again.

I sigh in relief and run around to the other side where Oliver is sitting. I collect my clothes and start to head back inside. For one last second, I turn around and glance at Oliver.

I find him staring at my face. Our eyes meet, and he doesn’t blink or look away.

Something drops in my stomach, and I gulp before vanishing inside the doors.

*****

That was Owen Carlson, our famous golden boy, with his charming smile, toned eight-pack abs, and sea-green eyes.

He checked me out, wanted to swim with me, and what did I do?

I told him I needed to go to the toilet and ran like a chicken.

I sigh.

Shouldn’t I feel lucky? I bet any girl from school would have loved to see him like that, loved to see that smile pointing at them, killed to be in my place.

Then there’s me. All I felt was uncomfortable. I don’t know why. Something about Owen doesn’t sit well with me.

I take a quick shower in the washroom and put my clothes back on. I look in the mirror. My hair is wet and chapped. I look reddish because of the sunlight. I don’t look like anything fancy. Shaking my head at myself, I head towards the pool.

Oliver is sitting at the same spot, reading his book. I walk over towards him and sit down. He moves a little so I can sit properly.

Owen and Jason are having a conversation while drinking soda.

Owen does look hot. I am not going to say otherwise. Any girl in my place would have drooled. Any girl in my place would have been in the pool next to him.

I shake my head and look at Oliver, in his full clothes, reading a book on a poolside, concentrated, lost in what he is reading.

Looking at him feels like coming back home.

Oliver glances up at me and catches me staring. So I look away.

“There you are,” Owen says from the pool, spotting me. I give him a forced smile.

Owen swims to our side. He smirks at me and says, “What’s your name?”

Right. He doesn’t know me.

“I am Gwen,” I say. “Gwen Bradbury.”

Owen cocks his head. “Bradbury? I think I have heard that name.”

I shrug. “Maybe you have.”

I don’t feel interested to say that he may have heard of my parents. It might not be important to him.

“Hmm,”Owen says. “I might not have known you before, but I’d like to know you better.” He winks at me.

I won’t like to know him. I smile a little and look away, making it clear I don’t want to talk to him anymore.

Owen emerges from the water in all his self-conceited glory. He is satisfied with the show he is giving of his ‘worship worthy’ body, and all I am looking for is a bucket to puke in.

Something is wrong with me. Or maybe I am just immune to self-conceited, good-looking guys.

“Pass me the towel, Gwen,” Owen says, and I look up.

Owen brushes back his wet hair, and one strand falls on his face. He flashes me another one of his all toothy smiles.

Again I force a smile, and I take the towel from the other bed and throw it to him. Then I cross my arms over my chest and sigh slightly.

Oliver, who is being more silent than a dead person, glances at me for a brief second before going back to his book.

Owen wipes himself off then says, “I guess I will see you again, Gwen Bradbury.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “Absolutely.”

Owen gives another self-satisfied smile and adds, “You’re welcome at our house anytime. Drop by my room sometimes when you’re here.”

I choose not to reply to that and smile forcefully.

Owen finally turns around and leaves. After he is out of hearing range and my vision, I release the sigh I have been holding for so long.

Oliver again gives me a glance.

“I wish I was invisible,” I blurt out.

Oliver narrows his eyes.“Really?"

“Then Owen wouldn’t have invited me in his room, now would he?” I say.

Oliver looks away. “I have heard many girls reacting to my brother. None of them wished to become invisible after he noticed them.”

I shrug. “I don’t know. They like him, I guess. He is not half bad. He will do better, if he forgets he is Owen Carlson for a second.”

If I’m not wrong, I see Oliver’s lips twitching.

“So, are you gonna keep reading that book, or have you ever thought of swimming?” I ask.

“Actually, I have an idea.” Oliver closes the book with a snap.

“And that is?” I ask.

Oliver glances at me. His eyes are full of ideas—ideas of mischief. I can just tell.

Oliver puts the book down and stands up, never leaving my eyes. He throws his head back and stretches his shoulders. Then he gives me a brief stare before pulling his shirt over his head.

I think I made a sound of utter surprise.

First thing I notice is Oliver Carlson has milk-smooth skin that has never seen the sun. And I don’t think he ever went to the gym. He doesn’t have toned abs and muscles like his brother.

Oh no, but he is fit and he glows and my hands are itching by my side to have a touch.

“You are going to pay back for what you did,” Oliver says darkly.

He is in his swimming trunks. My wish did come true. For once, Oliver is giving me what I want.

I think someone raised the temperature. The weather got hotter. Or I am heating up? Either way, I need to take another swim.

“Really?” I say and swallow.

Oliver stares at me and stalks forwards to where I am sitting. He leans down close, and our faces are inches apart. “Yes. You’ll regret ruining my book.”

“If this is what I get for ruining your book,” I do an eye over him, “I will do it over and over again.”

Oliver smirks. “Oh, really?”

Then in a flash of a second, I am up from the bed and in Oliver’s arm. He is heading for the pool.

“Oliver!” I scream and see him smirking before he drops me in the pool with all my clothes.

“I hate you!” I say as I surface back. Oliver is right there next to me.

“Oh yeah?” He splashes me. “Take that.”

Oliver keeps splashing right at my face, and I have to dive down. I come back up and aim to punch at him. He doges me and grabs me by my waist. “Will you ever ruin my book again?”

I realise we are floating together, and that makes me smile. “A thousand freaking times!”

“Then you are dead,” Oliver replies, gazing at my eyes.

“Sure I am,” I whisper.

*****