Forest Through the Trees

Chapter 8 (Kaleb)

Today has been the worst.

Worse than yesterday? It’s a toss-up.

I had coffee dumped all over me before I was technically even a student. Got screamed at, humiliated, and then had to sit through the entire first period with the offender shooting daggers at me the whole time like it was my fault.

Next, I was late for the second period and my sister ditched me to walk to class with Jamie. To be fair he did show me on the map where my next class was supposed to be, however, I am beginning to think the map is wrong.

To top it all off I’m exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I kept going over what happened yesterday when I fell off the dock. I ended up researching water breathing phenomena and temporal displacement until I passed out in the early hours of the morning.

My conclusion?

I am nuts.

It would help if I had someone to confide in. Willow has always been that person for me. But this is not something that I can talk to her about.

What would I say?

Hey, Will. Turns out you aren't the only crazy one. I turned into Aquaman when I fell into the lake yesterday. Can I have the number for your therapist?

I am sure that would go over well.

It must have simply been a mix of adrenaline-fueled endurance and my perception of time being severely off.

And shooting out of the water like a rocket?

I pinch the bridge of my nose and pick up my fork, playing with the poutine in front of me that I have barely touched. I am vaguely aware that Willow is saying something to me, but I have not been paying attention to her at all.

She waves a hand in front of my face to get my attention.

"Hmm?” I look over at her.

"I asked if you were going to finish that.” She says, already sticking her fork into the cheesy, gravy-filled mess that is my lunch. I slide it over to her without protest. I’m not hungry anyway.

“Are you alright?” She asks, real concern in her voice. She reaches up and feels my forehead. “You look like crap. I hope you didn’t catch something from falling in that water yesterday”.

“I’m fine,” I tell her, pushing her hand away “just tired”.

She shrugs and goes back to eating my lunch.

“Hey, you two! how’s it going?”

Great.

Jamie is standing in front of us with his goofy grin on his face and a tray of food in his hands. On one side of him is the tall kid, in a pink shirt, from our English class, and on the other is a gorgeous redhead.

“It’s going.” Willow smiles up at them. “We made it through the first half of the day unscathed. How about you guys?”

Jamie opens his mouth to speak when the redhead cuts him off.

“You are in our spots”. Her smile is sickeningly sweet, but the venom in her words cuts like a knife. She steps closer to Jamie and snakes a hand around his arm possessively. “We’ve sat at this table every day since freshman year. It’s kind of like a tradition.”

Willow’s smile never weavers and she doesn’t miss a beat. “Well, by all means, we wouldn't want to stand in the way of tradition.” She gestures at the empty seats across from us. “You are more than welcome to join us.”

The redhead's smile falters as Jamie wastes no time taking the seat in front of Willow. “Thanks,” he says and begins to shovel food into his mouth.

The pink shirt guy sits down next. He has a smirk on his face as he looks over at the redhead who is clearly scathing.

“Mmm. I’m sorry,” Jamie says around bites of food. “This is Alex, and...”.

“Scarlet, Jamie’s girlfriend,” she says sitting down, but not before pulling her chair even closer to Jamie.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Willow and this is my brother Kaleb”.

I mumble a small hi and give a half-wave.

Could this be any more awkward?

Between Scarlet looking like she wants to end my sister, Jamie either pretending not to notice or being genuinely unaware, and Alex smirking like he thrives off of everyone's discomfort, the electric tension in the air is almost visible.

“Thanks again for showing me to second period,” Willow says to Jamie.

“Mo Mroblem.” He replies with his mouth full. When he swallows you can actually see the lump go down his throat.

It's disgusting. What the heck is wrong with this guy?

“What class do you have next?” He asks her, his mouth finally empty.

“Umm...” She reaches for her bag trying to find her timetable.

“Math,” I answer for her. “We have the same class.”

“With Thwaits?” Alex asks.

I nod at him.

He grins maliciously, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head and glancing over at the other two “Guess we're all stuck together again for third period.”

I don’t get a good vibe from this guy. I don’t know exactly what it is but something is off with him.

Scarlet openly grimaces.

“Nice.” Jamie smiles while going back to his food.

He opens his burger and starts putting his fries on top of the patty before closing it again and taking a bite. I can only assume this is to get as much food down his gullet as fast as possible.

I think I might be sick from watching him.

“Are you practicing for some kind of eating contest?” I can’t help but ask.

“Mmmnmm” He shakes his head. Mercifully not trying to speak before swallowing this time. “I’ve got to bulk up. Rugby starts next week and I lost a lot of mass playing soccer this summer.”

I nod. It makes sense now. He's a jock.

“Do you play?” He asks before continuing.

“Rugby? No. But I used to play basketball at my old school.”

Alex gives a humorless laugh. “Well, you should know that the basketball team here sucks. Unless you play Rugby, Soccer, or you're on the swim team you basically don’t exist here" He looks pointedly around Jamie "Right Scar?”.

She rips her gaze away from my sister long enough to glare at Alex. Clearly, there is something going on between these three.

“So, you're on the basketball team then?” Willow asks Alex casually while taking another bite of poutine and smiling.

His stare whips back to my sister. A fire in his eyes that only increases when Jamie started choking on his food fighting back a laugh. Alex stands up abruptly and I brace myself, having no clue what this guy is capable of or even if he is going to try something. My muscles tense to step in if he does.

Instead, he looks over at Jamie, grabs the apple off of his tray, and takes a bite of it as he stalks away.

I watch him go. People are quick to avert their eyes as he passes. I can’t blame them, he is menacing, to say the least. Even with his current look.

The one kid that doesn’t manage to get out of his way fast enough, is nearly knocked to the ground as Alex shoulder-checks him out of his way before disappearing through the doors to the main hallway.

I look over at my sister who was also watching him leave. She has a smug smirk on her face, that sends worry through me. She needs to be careful around that guy. He isn’t someone she should be spending time alone with. I have always anticipated that her mouth is going to get her into more trouble than she can handle one day. And that just might be the guy that tips the scale.

An awkward silence follows, taken up only by Jamie’s obnoxious chewing.

“So, the school actually has a swim team?” Willow finally breaks the silence.

Jamie nods while gulping down water.

“You should try out,” Will says looking at me.

I laugh because I assume she is joking. She knows I can’t swim. But then again, apparently, I can somehow.

Jamie nods enthusiastically. “With how long you can hold your breath you would be a natural. It’s not really my thing but I know almost everyone on the team, I could introduce you. In fact...” He looks around.

“I don’t think so,” I tell them. “Yesterday was a first, and it was probably a fluke”.

To be honest I have been dying to get back into the water. Even if it is just to prove myself wrong, I need to know for sure if I am crazy or if there is something else really going on. Maybe just trying out wouldn’t be such a bad idea, it would at least give me a chance to get back in the water one more time. I have no delusions about actually making the team, so what could it hurt?

Jamie spots who he is looking for and waves them down, yelling over to them. “Jess, over here!”.

Jessie jogs over smiling. “Hey, what’s up?”.

You’ve got to be kidding me. I shrink in my seat.

“Have you started recruiting for swim tryouts yet?” He asks her.

“Of course!” She pulls out a clipboard from her bag. “Are you finally going to cave this year and sign up? We could really use you, our team lost a lot of great competitors with last year's graduating class. That's why I got bumped up to captain.”

“Hey, that’s great! Good for you.”

She beams at him with pride and admiration.

Of course, she has a thing for him. I get the feeling that he gets this a lot and I can’t help but feel a little jealous, even though I know I stand less than a 0% chance with her after the last few days.

“So, what do you say? Can I put you down for a slot on the tryout list?”

Jamie laughs. “No way, not for me, I sink like a rock. But Kaleb over here would make a great addition to the team!”

Her smile dies on her face when she looks over and sees it’s me.

Kill me.

“You.” She glares at me. “You, want to try out for the swim team?” She crosses her arms over her chest like she doesn't believe I could actually want to innocently try out without some ulterior motive.

“This guy is a fish!” Jamie pipes in. “He fell off the dock yesterday and didn’t come up for air for like 5 minutes! We thought he was dead!”

Jessie raises an eyebrow at me and all I can do is grimace and shrug.

“I’m not kidding.” Jamie continues to try and talk me up as I shrink lower into my chair wishing I could be anywhere but here at this moment. “He even swam all the way around to the other side of the dock and managed to climb the ladder. Didn’t he Willow?”.

Scarlet is the one to scoff now. She stands up pulling her purse over her shoulder. “You’ve got to be kidding me”.

Everyone looks around confused.

“No, he really did... “Jamie says.

If looks could kill he would be dead right now. “So, this is the real reason you “forgot” to pick me up yesterday? You were too busy screwing around with her”.

“No, Scar this happened after and it’s not like that...” Jamie tries to defend himself but she is already walking away. “I was with both of them... Shit.” He looks at us apologetically. “I better go, I’ll see you guys in class.” He grabs his trey and leaves to follow after her but not before turning around one last time. “For real though Jess, give him a try”.

“Well, that was awkward,” Jessie says.

Willow smiles at her attempt to lighten the mood.

Jessie lets out a long breath, looking at me up and down before rolling her eyes. “Fine, I’ll give you a try. But only because I owe Jamie one. But so help me, if I find out that you are only doing this to ogle the girls in their suits, I will castrate you myself”. She scribbles something on her clipboard. “Your spot is tomorrow after school in slot 3. Be at the pool, changed, and ready for drills by 4:00.”

She doesn’t even look at me or give me a chance to respond before walking off.

I turn to look at Willow a little stunned and unsure of what just happened. I give her my best, "Are these people all nuts?" look and she gives me a little half-smile and shrugs her shoulders.

"Guess you're trying out for the swim team".