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Chapter 20

Immense pressure on my chest. Something trickling down my lips and my chin. Faint murmurs of concern. The pressure again. Voices calling my name. Coughing. Was that water trickling down my chin? Someone pressed down on my chest again, and I coughed up more water. I tried opening my eyes, but my nerves wouldn't respond.

"Ellie, Ellie, open your eyes!"

I coughed up more water from my lungs. The voices became a little bit more clear.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She should be..."

I felt the pressure on my chest again, and this time, I jerked into a sitting position, my eyes suddenly fluttering open, water literally streaming down my mouth. Clutching my throat, I coughed out water, finally getting air inside my lungs.

Someone patted my back, making me cough violently, spitting all the water out from my lungs. My throat burned as if it had been on fire. I took deep breaths, realizing that I needed air, still coughing once in a while and spitting drops of water from my mouth.

I blinked multiple times, trying to adjust to my surroundings. It was pretty dark right now...and I was sitting on the ground, a few feet away from the pool. That's when I actually started noticing everything around me.

Ace was the first person I spotted, my vision still foggy. He was crouched in front of me, completely soaked from head to toe, murmuring soothing words, along with the others, but I was still a little disoriented to make out what they were saying.

Zach was right beside me, patting my back soothingly, and Jayden was beside Zach, watching me with concern. Angelino was nowhere to be seen.

"Wha..." My voice cracked, and my throat burned, making me cough again. The coughing made my stomach hurt too much, and I knew it wasn't only because of that. I probably had a bruise on my stomach right now, from the edge of the pool.

Before I could try and speak again, Ace wrapped his arms around me and engulfed me into a tight hug. He snuggled his head into my hair. "Do you have any idea how much you scared m--us?" his voice sounded strained, as if he wanted to cry. My heart melted right there.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his chest, and just as suddenly, I pulled away from him. Turning my head to the side and away from them, I puked. Nothing but water came out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Angelino burst out of the back door, a phone pressed against his ear. He quickly hung up as soon as he saw me.

"Oh thank God, you're okay!" He quickly jogged up to me, avoiding the slimy dish wash -unlike I had- and crouched down next to me, handing me the towel that was in his hand. I accepted it gratefully, wiping my mouth with it and coughing a little into it.

"That was for drying yourself..." he muttered quietly.

I caught his worried stare, and suddenly felt uncomfortable at all the attention trained on me. "I'm...f-fine," I rasped, and suddenly wished I hadn't. My throat burned yet again, and I slowly murmured "I want water" to whoever was listening. I'd thought that after almost drowning and swallowing too much water, I wouldn't be thirsty.

Angelino got up to leave, but Ace stopped him. "We can get her inside the guest room and give her dry clothes to wear, along with the water," he quickly explained. Angelino nodded in agreement.

As Ace mentioned dry clothes, I started feeling the wetness, and shivered. Zach and Jayden got up as well, and I followed.

Well, I tried. As soon as I got on my feet, they shook underneath me and gave away, and I almost crumpled to the floor. Ace slid his large hands around my waist, holding me up against him. "Eaasy there," he whispered.

As soon as he said that, he slung me up in his arms bridal-style, and proceeded into the house, following the others in.

"I'm wet Ace, you'll get wet too, you should let me walk," I mumbled, my face in his chest. I was too drained of energy to hold onto his neck with my arms, and instead they were lying limp on my lap.

"I already am wet," he pointed out.

I heard Zack, Angelino and Jayden let out small and faint chuckles at that, and I frowned, not understanding.

"You know how wrong that sounded, right?" Jayden said, a slight smirk on his face. Oh. Oh! I realized the perverted meaning behind Ace's sentence that someone as perverted as him would make out.

I'm pretty sure I would've blushed, but I was too tired and cold to even do that. I simply hid my face completely into Ace's chest without replying.

"Leave her alone guys. She's not into it," Ace snapped at Jayden, and I heard Jayden mutter a 'sorry!' to him. He carried me to a room and gently dropped me on the couch. Angelino brought a glass of water for me and I took it gratefully, chugging it down.

"Slow down! You're going to choke on it!" Zach said to me, and I obeyed. I took another sip and handed it back to Angelino. Just then, Jayden entered the room with clothes in his hands. My eyes shot up in surprise. They were girls' clothes.

"My sister's," he explained. I nodded, taking it from him gratefully, along with another towel. "Umm...I guess we should leave now....we'll be in the living room," he nodded at me and left, Zach and Angelino following him out.

"Are you okay now? How're you feeling?" Ace sat down beside me, taking the towel from my hands and placing it on top of my hair, rubbing it back and forth.

I smiled. He was drying my hair for me. "I'm...*cough*....fine. Just my throat's sore, I guess," I shrugged, my voice still a bit hoarse.

"I was so scared, do you know that?" He said quietly, not looking at me, still drying my hair gently. I felt my throat close up, and I knew I was getting emotional.

"I'm...sorry," I whispered, moving closer to him.

A small amused smile lit his face. "You're sorry? God Ellie, you're the one who almost drowned, and you're apologizing for that? Only you would do that," he shook his head at me. But then his expression became serious.

"Why in the world did you not tell us you didn't know how to swim? I would've stayed with you if I had known. Hell, I wouldn't even have let you near the pool!" he glared at me, but I could see it was half-hearted, along with regret in his voice.

"Hey...I'm okay now. I thought, um, it just slipped my mind," I lied in a small voice. "Sorry," I added in a whisper, making his lips tug upward a little.

"But don't ever do that to me again, okay? I thought you...you..." he trailed off, dropping the towel and drawing me close to him by my waist. I put my head on his chest.

"Who knew the bad boy was a softy from the inside?" I smiled softly at him, trying to lighten the mood.

"Only for you," he smiled back, making my heart beat erratically in my chest. "Enough of the mushy stuff now, you need to change and dry yourself, or you'll catch a cold," he pulled away from me, and I instantly felt cold from his absence.

He was still sitting on the couch as I grabbed the towel and got up, so I raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not changing in front of you," I frowned at him, folding my arms across my stomach tightly as I shivered, and instantly wishing I hadn't.

A little gasp of pain left my mouth and I instantly removed my arms from my stomach.

"Ellie! What is it?!" Ace shot up from the couch with alarm on his face. He stepped up to me, frowning at me in worry.

"I don't..know. I think it was because of the edge of the pool," I gestured towards my stomach with my hands.

"Let me see."

My eyes shot up in surprise and my cheeks started to warm up. "W-what?" I asked dumbly.

"Let me see your stomach Ellie," he repeated, stepping closer to me. I backed away in embarrassment.

"No! I mean..I'm okay, it doesn't hurt anymore!"It was true. It only hurt if I put a lot of pressure on it.

"Liar. What, you afraid of me touching you?" he grinned, backing me up to the bed so my knees buckled and I plopped down on it.

I blushed a deep red, according to the mirror across from us. "No! I just don't...gah! Fine!" It's not going to hurt if he just sees the bruise that I'm sure to have, right?

Ace plopped down on the bed next to me, and said, "Lie down." My face burning, I did as was told, butterflies in my stomach.

I let out a small involuntary gasp as his hand found my bare skin. I almost pushed his hand away due to the shocks that were going through me. He moved his warm hand over my stomach tenderly, and then lightly pressed down on a spot. I flinched.

"It's a cut. Not deep, it's like a bruise," he explained as I pulled the wet shirt back over my stomach and pulled myself up into a sitting position, my stomach still flipping.

I smiled at him. Then shuddered. "Can I go take a hot shower now? I'm cold," I whined.

"Sure. Just don't drown in the shower as well," he said jokingly, but there was a hint of seriousness in his voice and eyes.

I let loose a small smile at his concern. "I'll be fine. You go shower too," I said, and before he could say anything, I grabbed the clothes and the towel, turned back around, pecked him on the lips, and vanished into the bathroom, laughing quietly at his stunned expression.

***********

"So he was naked and you were on top of him?"

"No Beth, only his chest was bare, he wasn't naked!" I said exasperatedly. We were currently walking into the locker room.

A week had passed since the day the boys and I hung out together, and since my "near-death" experience. I hadn't immediately told Beth about everything that had happened on that day because we were both engrossed in our studies since our semi-finals for the first semester were near and we didn't get enough time to actually talk.

But let me tell you, now that I was replaying my experience to her, it was pretty frustrating how she kept repeating the sentences again and again with her eyes wide open. I left out the part about me drowning in the pool, because I knew she'd freak out.

"He was still naked from the top though," she argued back. I sighed. There was no point in arguing with her.

"Whatever Beth, just shut up and change," I mumbled, changing into my gym clothes. When I was done changing, I looked over at Beth, and she still wasn't done. I ditched her in the locker room so I could avoid further questions from her.

I wrapped my arms around myself against the chilly wind as I walked outside to the field, lost in my own thoughts. This whole week, I noticed that Luke hadn't shown up to the two classes I had with him. It was a relief, honestly, because there were no more incidents involving him.

But it still irked me to not know why he hadn't come. Not because I was concerned, but because he may be planning something.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around my waist, and my heart jumped to my throat. Had he come back? I whirled around, throwing their hands off of me, and came face to face with the person. Ace. I sighed in relief and moved in closer to him, relaxing as his arms came around me once again.

"Someone's jittery today," he murmured into my ear, his head resting on my shoulder, as I watched Angelino, Jayden, and Zach exit out of the school and walk towards the center, each gesturing a form of hello as they passed, knowing smiles on their faces as they watched us.

"Doesn't hugging me, like, ruin your bad boy reputation?" I asked teasingly, messing up his soft hair on purpose and moving back a bit.

He moved back as well, removing his arms from around me, and putting a few feet of distance. I can admit that I missed his warmth already. "Sure, it does. That's why I've decided no more hugs for you," he smirked as mock-surprise crossed my face.

"Oh, I see how it is!" I grumbled playfully, turning my back to him and starting my way towards the center of the field, but I didn't get far when Ace grabbed me again and pressed his chest against my back. I struggled against him half-heartedly.

"You--"

"No PDA in class!" Ms. Kim's lovely voice barked at us. Note the sarcasm. We weren't even doing anything that intimate, compared to what I see in the hallways everyday. Nonetheless, I moved away from Ace, following Ms. Kim to the center of the field.

She didn't really need to say anything much for us to know what we were going to be doing today. There were two volleyballs in her hands as she faced us, so we knew that that was pretty much what we were going to do the whole period. Unlike other sports, I actually liked volleyball.

"Listen up everyone!--"

"Today you will be playing volleyball. Toss the balls, walk away," I muttered under my breath, imitating the teacher's voice. Beth's shrill laughter filled the air, and I flinched in surprise as I realized she was right next to me and had heard me.

So had Ace. He was a little bit more discreet than Beth, though, who quickly slapped her hand on her mouth to muffle her sudden laughter. Ace turned his face in the other direction, hiding his face as his body silently shook with laughter.

"Would you like to share something with the class Miss Autumn?" Ms. Kim's annoyed voice asked Beth, who had completely muffled her laughter, and was now trying to calm down. She took a deep breath, and stood straighter, facing Ms. Kim without laughing. Everyone held their breath.

Then she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "Toss....the....balls....and," she wheezed out between her laughing fit, unable to complete the sentence as she laughed harder. I blushed as I realized she was repeating my sentence.

The other students burst into laughter as well, because, let's face it, a student laughing in a teacher's face is not something you get to see very often. And Beth's laugh was pretty funny; it sounded like a cross between a hyena and a horse.

I struggled to hold in my laugh, and managed as Ms. Kim's face grew red, and she ground out a "Detention after school, Miss Autumn," and turned to face the students once again, who were all quiet now.

"And as I was saying, today you will be playing volleyball," as expected, she tossed the two volleyballs on the ground, and walked away. I held in the huge urge to laugh, until she walked away, but Beth had a different thought in mind, as she burst into laughter again, making Ms. Kim glare at her before walking away.

Beth continued laughing, and it started to annoy me, so I held up my hand to her. "Let's play, okay?" I grumbled in annoyance, watching for the two balls that had vanished.

"Wait, did I hear you right? You asking us to play?" Jayden came up behind us, watching me in bewilderment.

"That's what I was thinking. Wouldn't the ball hit you straight in the face agai--"

"Ball!" I cut Angelino off as a volleyball came flying towards his face at that moment, quite ironically, I thought. Without thinking, I stepped up front, and slapped the ball hard with my palm towards the people who had hit it here. It went sailing to the other side of the field, quite a distance from where they stood.

There was an eerie silence in the whole field as everyone stared at me in a little bit of shock. I turned my face away from them, facing my friends with a blush on my face. "Wooh Ellie! Great hit!" I heard behind me, and when I turned, I saw an unfamiliar face. I'd never seen that kid before.

"Wow. That. Was. Awesome," Zach's voice made me face them again, and I grinned at him. I turned to see Angelino with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. I coudn't resist; I smirked.

"Looks like it would've hit you straight in the face, had I not hit it away from you," I smirked up at him. His neck started reddening and I took pleasure in that satisfying moment.

"You're definitely rubbing off on her, Ace," Angelino frowned at me, recovering from his embarrassment.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever. Can we play now? I'm pretty decent at volleyball," I pleaded with them all.

"I'm out," both Zach and Jayden muttered at the same time, then high-fived each other. I frowned at them.

"I think it's boring," Angelino rolled his eyes at me, clearly mocking me. I scowled at him, and turned to Ace.

He raised his eyebrows. "She's not paying attention, so we don't really have to do anything, you know?" He jerked his head towards Ms. Kim, who, sure enough, was facing the wall, probably on her phone.

"Fine! Beth, what's your excuse?" I turned to face her, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I wanna play," she responded simply. A grin spread on my face.

"Did I tell you how much I love you?" I grinned at her.

"No, you never did"

"Uh...I love you enough," I replied cheekily. Before we reached the other teams playing the game, I turned around to see what the boys were doing. I frowned in confusion when I saw Jayden holding a small tennis ball, and they were clearly planning something mischievous, but they were facing the teacher, so I couldn't really tell what.

"Hey Ellie, wanna join our team?"

I turned back around, and came face to face with the unfamiliar kid who had yelled out "great hit" to me earlier. I stepped back a few inches, and took a good look at him. He had short blonde hair, and wide, doe-like green colored eyes that gave him a cute, boyish look. He also had a square, chiseled jaw, which kind of eliminated the boyish look, but not completely.

"Um, sure," I responded, still kind of trying to figure out if I'd seen him before. "Uh...are you new to this school?" I blurted out suddenly.

He looked at me in surprise. "Oh, no. I've been here since freshmen year. I'm a junior now," he replied.

"Really? I've never seen you around..." I looked at him skeptically.

"Umm, that's probably because, uh, I'm kind of in lower classes, not high classes like you," he gave a sheepish laugh. "Oh, by the way, I'm Nick," he held out his hand for me to shake. I did.

"Nice to meet you. How did you know my name? Not to be mean or anything," I hastily added.

He chuckled, and then, "You're pretty famous, after that incident with Luke in the lunchroom."

I looked at him sharply. "How do you know Luke?"

He blinked. "...I have all classes with him, except second period, which he has it with you. He's my partner in most of them, and he's a new kid, so I talk to him," he said quickly.

I frowned, but before I could say anything, the shrill sound of bell cut off our conversation. I turned around just in time to see Ace and the boys running inside, Ms. Kim yelling after them, holding the tennis ball and rubbing het head. I smiled widely as I realized what they'd done.

Nick bid good-bye and started for inside as well. Beth came up to me.

"Where were you?" She asked as we walked inside.

"Just talking to some kid. The one with the blonde hair, right there," I pointed at Nick, not making it obvious that I was doing so. "His name's Nick. Ever talked to him?" After all, Beth knew pretty much everyone in this school.

"Nick...never seen him before," she shrugged. I looked at her in surprise. Beth not knowing someone in the school was rare.

"How.....wait a minute. He said I had second period with Luke. How did he know that?" I thought out loud, becoming doubtful again.