Page 13 of Forbidden

Then he turns and walks away to where Coach McMann is watching with a scowl on his face.

“Was that weird, or is it just me?” Theia asks, snapping her goggles up onto her cap.

I do the same, wrinkling my nose a few times. “What do you mean?”

“Like, does he just not know our names?” She narrows her eyes in his direction before looking back at me. “He addresses the guys individually, but with us, it’s always ‘ladies’.”

I huff a laugh and heave myself out of the pool. “Maybe he’s just an asshole.”

Theia laughs and pulls herself out, too. “Maybe.”

Of course, I’m pretty sure I know the reason why he’s not addressing the ‘ladies’ individually. If he did, he’d finally have to acknowledge me. Say my name. Fuck him. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

“Hey, Joy?”

I relax a little at the sound of Aldo’s voice. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Coach Masters has asked me to take a look at the race allocations for the next meet, taking into consideration the most recent times.” He smiles at me, the outline of his goggles still visible against his golden skin. “Want to grab a coffee and do it together?”

“Sure.” I smile back. “That sounds great.”

Lane is still talking to Coach, who looks to be enjoying his presence as much as I am. My stomach twinges uncomfortably. Is this how it’s going to be for the rest of the season? Swimming might not be what I want to do with my life, but I still love it. I was looking forward to this final season and wanted to go out with a bang, with my best yet. That’s definitely not going to happen with him here.

“What’s wrong?” Theia asks at my side.

I blink at her. “Why would anything be wrong?”

“You literally just groaned.”

“Did I?” I give her a small smile. “Just remembered an assignment I have due.”

Theia just stares at me. “We don’t have an assignment due.”

Fuck.Theia and Wes are both in all my Media and Communications classes. “I’m doing another course remotely,” I admit. It’s true, but I don’t like to shout about it. My parents have no idea and I feel like keeping it secret from everyone might make it easier to keep it secret from them.

“Oh?” Theia pulls off her cap and towels her pink hair. “What course?”

“Music production,” I say, grabbing my stuff from the bench. “I’m going to go shower.”

Hoping that my warm smile is enough to balance cutting our conversation short, I head to the locker room the long way around the pool, so I don’t have to walk past the coaches. My heart doesn’t leave my throat until I’m safely inside.

No. This is not sustainable.

* * *

Grinds is busy as usual and I squint at the mismatched chairs and tables, looking for a space.

“What do you want?” Aldo asks at my side. “I’ll order and you go grab a table.”

“Vanilla soy latte, please.”

He nods and I leave the counter to find a space, wishing I’d dropped my kit bag back at the Hive before heading here.

Hugging it to my body, I maneuver between the tables, almost fist pumping the air when I find a small two-seater couch right at the back. I sink down onto the worn blood-red velvet and kick my bag under the table out of the way.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I check through my messages and socials, but there’s nothing new since I checked last night. Most of the campus is either in class or still asleep. Or here in Grinds, apparently.

It’s a miserable Monday morning, the sky gray, the air freezing cold, and the fine drizzle of rain shows no sign of going away any time soon. I stare down at my screen, my thumb hovering. With a quick glance over my shoulder to find Aldo waiting for our orders, also staring at his phone, I take a breath and pull up The Howl. I know Wes, the editor, won’t have wasted any time jumping on the story of our surprise assistant coach, and I’m right.

---