Sadie Ch. 01

Sorry, there is no sex yet... I will get there, but I need to build up the story first! As always, comments are appreciated and constructive criticism is even more so appreciated! Thanks for reading! :D

-WonnderWoman

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2:20 p.m. within the last 10 minutes this was the third time I had looked up at the clock, hopeful for English to be over. I usually enjoyed the lectures, but that was until the seating chart had been re-arranged. I was now sitting next to the captain of the wrestling team, and his ex-girlfriend was burning a hole through my back with her eyes.

"Okay class," Said Mr. Limber. "Turn to the person next to you and tell them an event in your life that stands out in your memory." I hadn't been paying attention at all and didn't understand the point of this exercise.

"Sadie?" Gale caught the confused look in my eyes.

"It's for a short auto-bio, another essay," His voice sent tingles all over my skin. "Ladies first?" I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to avoid looking at Gale. Okay, what memory stood out to me?

"I remember when I was eight, my tooth was loose but I didn't believe in the tooth fairy. I thought up a plan to reveal the tooth fairy as my parents, so I put my tooth underneath my pillow but I set a trap around my door preventing anyone from getting in, thinking if the tooth fairy was real then she would be able to get the money under my pillow and take the tooth away. Right before I was about to put the finishing touches on my trap, my mom asked me if I could disassemble it in order for her to give me a goodnight hug. Unknowingly, I allowed her in, gave her a quick hug and reassembled my trap. In the morning, I was disappointed to find that my tooth was gone and a dollar was left underneath my pillow, I was stumped further to find that the elaborate trap I had set up was just as I had left it." Gale's eyes held amusement.

"What happened?" His tone was curious and I was still trying to figure out if his attention towards me was sincere or false. He could always be trying to get his ex-girlfriend behind me jealous.

"My parents won't admit it, but I think when my mom came to give me that goodnight hug, she slipped the dollar under my pillow and took away my tooth. I had worked so hard on that trap." Gale laughed, it was a light and amused laugh.

"What a devious child you were! You must have been a handful." His blue eyes twinkled and voice was smooth and deep.

"What about your story?" I asked, avoiding his comment. His gaze turned thoughtful as he went through his memories.

"When I was twelve my mother would go on a lot of dates with different men; Bad boys, nice guys, sweethearts, assholes, and the occasional player, you name it, she had it. One week in the summer, my mother was going to France with her foreign boyfriend, she said that Grandma was going to watch me, but when my mother and her boyfriend left, Grandma didn't come. I waited for the entire day and decided I would call her in the morning, I was self sufficient enough and knew how to keep myself alive." Gale's tone turned bitter and made my body feel colder.

"I called my Grandma in the morning and she didn't answer, I tried calling my aunt but she wasn't home so I left them both a message asking whether or not I would be staying home alone all week or not. The third day I was home alone my aunt called me back, telling me she was going to pick me up because Grandma was in the hospital. It was a long silent car ride to the hospital, and I was on worried because I loved my Grandma. When I saw Grandma she was so pale that the bed sheets she was lying on looked darker than her. She had been in the hospital for almost a week now from a heart attack she had had, and all the worry I felt for her turned into anger that my mother had neglected Grandma in her time of need. The knowledge that she had run away from her responsibilities as a daughter shocked me, and since that moment on, I didn't depend on my mother."

A long silence was placed between us. Why would he share such an emotional scene with me?

"What happened to your Grandma?" I asked lamely. Gale was thoughtful again for a moment.

"She recovered from the heart attack, but she died a few years ago from heart disease." I genuinely felt sorry for him, but didn't feel as though it was right to tell him a simple 'I'm sorry.' Instead I looked into his eyes, trying to figure out the guarded expression he wore. Was he still angry? Still hurting?

"What did your mom do when she came back?" I asked as Gale studied the lines in the desk before us. It was a ridiculously irresponsible thing to do for a mom to leave her child all alone with nobody to look after them.

"She acted as if nothing had happened." His finger traced the line in the wood until it reached the circular knot.

"Why do you think she left in the first place?" I felt like I was coming dangerously close to a boundary where he might stop talking or say too much.

"I guess she just doesn't accept the pains in the reality of living, ever since—" He cut off quickly. I had hit the boundary. Silence erupted between us again, voices around us sounded enthused or energetic, we were the only ones sitting quietly. I decided not to prod, so I changed the subject.

"So, when is the assignment due?" Gale nodded at the board and I saw the date written in red Expo, January 3rd. I mentally tabbed the date, but was confused. Why didn't Gale want to talk about the reason his mom left his Grandma?

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I didn't know what happened to the more sensitive Gale as the days passed. I had him both in English and Anatomy, but he seemed to ignore me and made crude jokes with his buddies. I could fathom the idea of the more sensitive Gale getting into advanced English like me, but the crueler one made me feel as if there was a mistake in his placement in the class. I already knew his ex-girlfriend was disastrous in the class, only getting by with the help of the genius, dog-like guys who begged for her attention.

In class she was like an abandoned kid trying to get the attention of Gale. I took a deep breath. Gale. I did think that Gale was cute with his tousled blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes, but he was just as much of a lothario as the rest of the jocks, and he tended to take as much advantage of his looks and charm as he possibly could.

By the end of the week, Gale started turning more attention towards me in both of the classes we shared. I felt no more friendliness towards him and started to ignore his perverted comments and his alluring charm. It was Friday when he brought up a subject I would actually respond to him.

"You have a swim meet today, right?" It was Friday, and I felt a nervous sensation pool in my stomach. I nodded and glanced at the clock. 3:00 was when school got out. I had 30 more minutes. Gale didn't say anything more, but the curiosity was nibbling at the edge of my mind as to why he would care about my swim meet.

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I was nervous as I walked the short distance between the school and the pool. There was a swim meet today, and I might not finish 1st in the 100 Breaststroke. I walked coolly into the swim center with the opposing team's empty bus waiting outside the entrance; I had to get the right mind set if I wanted to win the race. I really wanted to win it.

My swim team waited inside, they were joking around about what would happen if you threw a band aid in the opponent's lane and they started choking on it. I couldn't help but smile at the image, it was ridiculous, yet funny. But the smile was wiped right off my face when I saw Gale with the rest of the wrestling team helping to set up for the swim meet.

"What are they doing here?" I asked my best friend Brianna. She already knew what I was talking about.

"They're here to help out with the swim meet. Our coach said it had to do something with needing more help with the meets and that the wrestling team's coach decided to lend a hand. I have no idea why they would want to though." I looked around at our team. It was small, but it had enough people so we could have our really good swimmers and the almost-hopeless swimmers. I sighed, how could I concentrate on getting pumped up when I knew Gale would be watching me? Something about him watching me sent a shiver down my spine.

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I walked out of the girl's locker room with my tight, athletic swimming suit on. I knew I had a good body, it was lean and strong. A swimmers body. My breasts were small compared to most girls, but they were big enough to be considered desirable. I ran my fingers through my dark brown upper back-length hair with a rubber band in my mouth, getting ready to tie it up.

"Well, well, well. Look what we've got here." The velvety voice of Gale made my heart thud painfully loud in my ears. I turned around to look at him, his eyes were looking me up and down as his mouth turned into a slow, hungry grin. He stood a head taller than me, even though I was at a height of 5'8".

"And what have we got?" I asked haughtily as I took the rubber band out of my mouth. He smiled sexily, almost making my heart leap out of my chest. He leaned close enough for me to smell his intoxicating cologne.

"After I invite you out for some dinner, it looks as though I've got some dessert." I finished wrapping the black rubber band around my hair and stared into his twinkling blue eyes with my golden brown ones.

"Come on, you could have used a better pick-up line than that." I started walking away, but he grabbed my wrist and I turned around, surprised.

"What?" I asked, sounding somewhat bored and annoyed.

"Go out to dinner with me." It was a statement, but his eyes were pleading. I remembered the more vulnerable side of him and wanted to say yes all of a sudden.

"I'll think about it." I didn't understand why he wanted to go out with me of all people. Why he had a sudden change of heart when he had given me the cold-shoulder and then abruptly wanted to start a relationship with me. I pulled my wrist away from his slackened grip and walked to my teammates. Gale had brought some attention towards us, and I tried to act normal by chatting with Brianna.

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After each team cheer and the National Anthem, I started out with the 200 IM Medley with my teammates Brianna, Josie, and Lizzie. It was a race where we would each swim a 50(two lengths of the pool). Lizzie would be doing backstroke; Brianna, butterfly; me, breaststroke; and Josie, freestyle. The 50 Breaststroke was a breeze for me, and our girl's team won a close 2nd.

I stretched occasionally, swimming a medium pace when the 10-minute break was called and then did more stretches as the 500Freestyle passed and the Girl's 100 breaststroke came dangerously closer and closer, feeling Gales eyes on me the entire time.

With my swim cap on and my goggles on top of my head, I took another swig of my water bottle and breathed deeply, trying to calm my nerves. I handed my Girl's Varsity card to the timer and stretched behind my block.

"Calling for Girl's varsity 100 breaststroke." The bored monotone voice sounded over the loud speakers. I smelled the intoxicating smell of Gale's outdoorsy spice and turned around. He stood there, looking me up and down again, his face breaking into a grin when he found I had caught him perusing me.

"Break a leg." He said, his twinkling eyes made me feel more adrenaline than I had before causing my heart to thunder inside my chest. I breathed in deeply again, and put the goggles in place on my eyes.

"Ladies, mount your block." The loud unenthusiastic voice echoed across the pool and I stepped onto the block numbered 6. I placed my left foot at the edge of the grainy texture and placed my right foot so it balanced the weight of my body. I wound up my arms.

"Take your mark." My butt was up in the air and my arms were placed on both sides of my left foot. I heard Gale whistle low and appreciatively his smell violating my nostrils as my body tightened, waiting for the buzzer that would signal my release.

I silenced the world around me, my ears hearing only my thudding heart as I listened for the buzzer. The electronic beep sounded and I was gone in a flash. My arms were over my head as I launched myself off of the block and into the cool water. Quickly, I did my underwater recovery in order to gain the length I needed for my victory.

The four lengths of the pool felt longer than the one minute and seven seconds it took for me to finish, but by the time I was finishing, each stroke felt like a punishment and I was no longer breathing, driving my body with will power to the finish. I gripped the edge of the pool with both hands as I looked up at the time board to see that I had placed 1st. I grinned, coughing and pulling breaths into my body. Looking up to see glorious Gabe. I grinned up at him and pulled myself out of the water, my body screaming in agony. I knew I would be feeling sore tomorrow.

Gabe hugged me despite my wet state and he whispered in my ear, "Good job." I never knew those two words could be used in a congratulatory and sensual at the same time, but Gabe accomplished it. I pushed him slightly away. "Thank you."

My team then surrounded me and slapped me on the back declaring the more congratulatory types of "Good job". I felt the eyes of Gabe Hanson follow me the entire time.