2025-09-25, 12:13 PM
Chapter One
Emma walked across the parking lot to her silver Honda like she did every Thursday afternoon after cheerleading practice. This Thursday however, seemed much different than most of the others. For starters, cheer practice had let out a lot later than normal and it was dark outside.
Emma sniffled a little and wiped her eyes.
"You are Emma Stubblefield and you are a strong independent woman that any guy would be happy to have." She coached aloud to herself.
Her blond hair was very messed up, her makeup was running down her face from having spent time crying.
"No boy is going to get to me." She told herself.
She stopped walking, darted her eyes back and forth and carefully listened to her surroundings. She could hear someone's footsteps from behind her.
She turned around.
"Is someone there?" She asked looking back and forth across the gymnasium parking lot. "I have pepper spray!"
Emma could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer. She turned back around and began to speedwalk towards her car.
She could feel someone getting closer and closer to her. She kept up her pace until she felt someone grab her arm and place a really tight grip on it.
She spun around and was face to face with a guy about her age. He was wearing a CT Rice High School football letterman jacket. He had a very muscular build that was from all of the time he spent at the gym working out.
He reached up and brushed a hand through his dark brown hair. His blue eyes looking at Emma the whole time.
"I have been trying to find you babe." He told her.
She violently jerked his arm away from him.
"Don't call me babe anymore." She snapped at him. "I can't believe you Brandon."
"I came to apologize to you Emma." He tried to reason with her. "Please try to hear me out."
"There is nothing that you have to say that I want to hear."
She started walking again, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Please just forgive me Emma. I can't live without you." He pleaded. "She didn't mean nothing to me."
Emma gave Brandon a cold hard stare.
"You are a piece of crap Brandon. You slept with my bestfriend. Don't tell me it was an accident either." Emma cried. "I loved you and I would give you anything except for the one thing you wanted."
Brandon got down on his knees and grabbed Emma's right hand and started kissing it. He knew he had screwed up and now that he realized it, it was probably too late. He was about to loose the best thing that had ever happened to him.
"Please forgive me." He begged.
She jerked her hand away from him.
"You are pathetic Brandon!" Emma was growing furious with him. "Why don't you go find Ashley. You and her seem to be very fond of each other now days."
He grabbed her hand once more. She jerked away from him and pushed him backwards onto the concrete.
She ran to her car, got in and slammed the door shut. She slammed the palms of her hands against the steering wheel and began to sob.
She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her right to see a strange girl about her age sitting in the passenger seat of her car.
"Who are you?" Emma asked.
"I'm a friend." The girl smiled a reassuring smile at Emma. "My name is Leigh by the way."
"Do I know you?" Emma asked in between sobs.
"No, but you will." Leigh reached for her seat belt. "Buckle up sweetie and we will go back to my place and get everything all squared away."
Kyle stood above the swimming pool, wearing nothing but his yellow and black speedos issued to all of the swim team members by their coach at the beginning of the year. In his right hand he was holding up a stop watch, watching the time intently while also watching the figure swimming at the bottom of the swimming pool.
He had been standing in the same spot for sometime and was shifting his weight from one side of his body to the other.
He watched as the figure swam closer and closer to the top of the water.
Kyle pressed the stop button on the stop watch just as Sebastain surfaced. He shook his head, shaking water from his mop of light brown hair.
"Dude, what was my time?" Sebastain asked Kyle.
Kyle looked down at he stop watch, looked at Sebastian and then looked at the clock hanging at the end of the pool.
"This can't be right."
Sebastain got of of the water and walked over to where Kyle was standing.
"What can't be right Kyle?" He asked.
"Your time." He replied. "It shows that you were under there for fifteen minutes and fourty-five seconds. That's humaningly impossibly."
Sebastain looked at Kyle. "Is humanigly even a word?"
"What time was it when you went under the water?" Kyle asked.
"A quarter til seven." Sebastain replied. "Why?"
Kyle motioned with his head towards the clock. "Look at the time."
Sebastain looked at the time and saw that it was now a couple minutes after seven.
"I don't know how you did that, but you are going to haveto show me all of your little secrets and we will be unstoppable this year at the meets." Kyle stated.
"I don't even know how I did it Kyle." Sebastain told him. "I've always enjoyed swimming and being in the water and all, but here lately things have just been freaky."
Kyle looked Sebastain up and down. He startled Sebastain when he reached out and ran his had across Sebastain's bare chest.
He gave Kyle a puzzled look. "Sorry buddy, but I don't swing that way. I think you got me confused with my cousin."
Kyle took his hand off Sebastain's chest and ran it through his hair. "You aren't even wet anymore."
Sebastain just shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno man. Lets just get to the showers and get this chlorine washed off."
"I think I will sit this one out. I'm dry already and just want to get home." Kyle told Sebastain.
"But you still have the clorine on you from being in the water earlier." Sebastain argued.
"So."
Sebastain motioned at the pool with his right hand. "Why don't you just take a shower with the big tub of clorine then?" He laughed and put his hand to his side.
The center of the pool started whirling around. The lights in the gym blinked on and off, followed by a huge wave of water coming up out of the center of the pool. The wave knocked both the guys over and flooded the pool deck and bleachers.
Kyle looked at Sebastain. "What was that?"
Ashley sat crossed legged on her bed. Her right hand was resting on a pillow. Her best friend Jessica had a manicure set laid out of Ashley's bed doing her nails.
"What is wrong with you?" Jessica and Ashley had been friends for several years now and Jessica could always tell when something was wrong with her friend.
Ashley took a deep breath and looked at Jessica.
"Have you ever done anything that you know that you should feel bad about, but don't actually feel bad about?"
"I can't say I have." Jessica picked up the nail file and filed the tips of Ashley's fingernails. "If I do something that I should feel bad about then more than likely I will feel bad about it. Kinda like the time I took my mom's car without her permission and wrecked it. Kyle told her that he did it. I felt horrible and eventually confessed that it was me that did it."
Ashley closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She took a deep breath.
"I cheated on Jason." Ashley told Jessica.
Jessica dropped the nail file. She was shocked from what she was hearing. Just a few days ago Ashley was talking about how much she was in love with Jason and could see herself spending the rest of her life with him.
"Did I hear you right?"
Ashley nodded her head.
"The other day after cheer practice, Sebastain had the car and forgot to come pick me up. Emma volunteered Brandon to give me a ride home. He dropped Emma off first since he lives so close to here. We were talking on the way back and he was complaining about how he and Emma had been together for two years and they had never done it before. He said that she didn't believe in premariatal sex. Needless to say, he came back to my house and one thing led to another." Ashley confessed.
"What are you going to do?" Jessica asked not really wanting to get involved in the situation.
She and Ashley were bestfriends, but were total opposites. Sometimes she felt as if Ashley had no conscience and didn't care who she hurt to get whatever she wanted.
The chorus of Someone like you began to play:
Never mind, I'll find someone like you I wish nothing but the best for you too Don't forget me, I begged I remember you said, "Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead, Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead, " Yeah
Ashley got up from her bed and made her way over to her computer desk where her I-Phone was charging. She looked at the screen to see who was calling her. She hesitated for a moment after seeing that it was Brandon calling her.
"What do you want?" She answered angrily.
"Can we talk about what happened?" He asked.
Ashley wanted to talk to Brandon, but she didn't want to talk to him. She took unplugged her phone from the charger, walked back over to the bed and sat down next to Jessica.
"Its Brandon." She whispered. "I'm putting him on speaker."
Emma walked across the parking lot to her silver Honda like she did every Thursday afternoon after cheerleading practice. This Thursday however, seemed much different than most of the others. For starters, cheer practice had let out a lot later than normal and it was dark outside.
Emma sniffled a little and wiped her eyes.
"You are Emma Stubblefield and you are a strong independent woman that any guy would be happy to have." She coached aloud to herself.
Her blond hair was very messed up, her makeup was running down her face from having spent time crying.
"No boy is going to get to me." She told herself.
She stopped walking, darted her eyes back and forth and carefully listened to her surroundings. She could hear someone's footsteps from behind her.
She turned around.
"Is someone there?" She asked looking back and forth across the gymnasium parking lot. "I have pepper spray!"
Emma could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer. She turned back around and began to speedwalk towards her car.
She could feel someone getting closer and closer to her. She kept up her pace until she felt someone grab her arm and place a really tight grip on it.
She spun around and was face to face with a guy about her age. He was wearing a CT Rice High School football letterman jacket. He had a very muscular build that was from all of the time he spent at the gym working out.
He reached up and brushed a hand through his dark brown hair. His blue eyes looking at Emma the whole time.
"I have been trying to find you babe." He told her.
She violently jerked his arm away from him.
"Don't call me babe anymore." She snapped at him. "I can't believe you Brandon."
"I came to apologize to you Emma." He tried to reason with her. "Please try to hear me out."
"There is nothing that you have to say that I want to hear."
She started walking again, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Please just forgive me Emma. I can't live without you." He pleaded. "She didn't mean nothing to me."
Emma gave Brandon a cold hard stare.
"You are a piece of crap Brandon. You slept with my bestfriend. Don't tell me it was an accident either." Emma cried. "I loved you and I would give you anything except for the one thing you wanted."
Brandon got down on his knees and grabbed Emma's right hand and started kissing it. He knew he had screwed up and now that he realized it, it was probably too late. He was about to loose the best thing that had ever happened to him.
"Please forgive me." He begged.
She jerked her hand away from him.
"You are pathetic Brandon!" Emma was growing furious with him. "Why don't you go find Ashley. You and her seem to be very fond of each other now days."
He grabbed her hand once more. She jerked away from him and pushed him backwards onto the concrete.
She ran to her car, got in and slammed the door shut. She slammed the palms of her hands against the steering wheel and began to sob.
She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her right to see a strange girl about her age sitting in the passenger seat of her car.
"Who are you?" Emma asked.
"I'm a friend." The girl smiled a reassuring smile at Emma. "My name is Leigh by the way."
"Do I know you?" Emma asked in between sobs.
"No, but you will." Leigh reached for her seat belt. "Buckle up sweetie and we will go back to my place and get everything all squared away."
Kyle stood above the swimming pool, wearing nothing but his yellow and black speedos issued to all of the swim team members by their coach at the beginning of the year. In his right hand he was holding up a stop watch, watching the time intently while also watching the figure swimming at the bottom of the swimming pool.
He had been standing in the same spot for sometime and was shifting his weight from one side of his body to the other.
He watched as the figure swam closer and closer to the top of the water.
Kyle pressed the stop button on the stop watch just as Sebastain surfaced. He shook his head, shaking water from his mop of light brown hair.
"Dude, what was my time?" Sebastain asked Kyle.
Kyle looked down at he stop watch, looked at Sebastian and then looked at the clock hanging at the end of the pool.
"This can't be right."
Sebastain got of of the water and walked over to where Kyle was standing.
"What can't be right Kyle?" He asked.
"Your time." He replied. "It shows that you were under there for fifteen minutes and fourty-five seconds. That's humaningly impossibly."
Sebastain looked at Kyle. "Is humanigly even a word?"
"What time was it when you went under the water?" Kyle asked.
"A quarter til seven." Sebastain replied. "Why?"
Kyle motioned with his head towards the clock. "Look at the time."
Sebastain looked at the time and saw that it was now a couple minutes after seven.
"I don't know how you did that, but you are going to haveto show me all of your little secrets and we will be unstoppable this year at the meets." Kyle stated.
"I don't even know how I did it Kyle." Sebastain told him. "I've always enjoyed swimming and being in the water and all, but here lately things have just been freaky."
Kyle looked Sebastain up and down. He startled Sebastain when he reached out and ran his had across Sebastain's bare chest.
He gave Kyle a puzzled look. "Sorry buddy, but I don't swing that way. I think you got me confused with my cousin."
Kyle took his hand off Sebastain's chest and ran it through his hair. "You aren't even wet anymore."
Sebastain just shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno man. Lets just get to the showers and get this chlorine washed off."
"I think I will sit this one out. I'm dry already and just want to get home." Kyle told Sebastain.
"But you still have the clorine on you from being in the water earlier." Sebastain argued.
"So."
Sebastain motioned at the pool with his right hand. "Why don't you just take a shower with the big tub of clorine then?" He laughed and put his hand to his side.
The center of the pool started whirling around. The lights in the gym blinked on and off, followed by a huge wave of water coming up out of the center of the pool. The wave knocked both the guys over and flooded the pool deck and bleachers.
Kyle looked at Sebastain. "What was that?"
Ashley sat crossed legged on her bed. Her right hand was resting on a pillow. Her best friend Jessica had a manicure set laid out of Ashley's bed doing her nails.
"What is wrong with you?" Jessica and Ashley had been friends for several years now and Jessica could always tell when something was wrong with her friend.
Ashley took a deep breath and looked at Jessica.
"Have you ever done anything that you know that you should feel bad about, but don't actually feel bad about?"
"I can't say I have." Jessica picked up the nail file and filed the tips of Ashley's fingernails. "If I do something that I should feel bad about then more than likely I will feel bad about it. Kinda like the time I took my mom's car without her permission and wrecked it. Kyle told her that he did it. I felt horrible and eventually confessed that it was me that did it."
Ashley closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She took a deep breath.
"I cheated on Jason." Ashley told Jessica.
Jessica dropped the nail file. She was shocked from what she was hearing. Just a few days ago Ashley was talking about how much she was in love with Jason and could see herself spending the rest of her life with him.
"Did I hear you right?"
Ashley nodded her head.
"The other day after cheer practice, Sebastain had the car and forgot to come pick me up. Emma volunteered Brandon to give me a ride home. He dropped Emma off first since he lives so close to here. We were talking on the way back and he was complaining about how he and Emma had been together for two years and they had never done it before. He said that she didn't believe in premariatal sex. Needless to say, he came back to my house and one thing led to another." Ashley confessed.
"What are you going to do?" Jessica asked not really wanting to get involved in the situation.
She and Ashley were bestfriends, but were total opposites. Sometimes she felt as if Ashley had no conscience and didn't care who she hurt to get whatever she wanted.
The chorus of Someone like you began to play:
Never mind, I'll find someone like you I wish nothing but the best for you too Don't forget me, I begged I remember you said, "Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead, Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead, " Yeah
Ashley got up from her bed and made her way over to her computer desk where her I-Phone was charging. She looked at the screen to see who was calling her. She hesitated for a moment after seeing that it was Brandon calling her.
"What do you want?" She answered angrily.
"Can we talk about what happened?" He asked.
Ashley wanted to talk to Brandon, but she didn't want to talk to him. She took unplugged her phone from the charger, walked back over to the bed and sat down next to Jessica.
"Its Brandon." She whispered. "I'm putting him on speaker."