I will carry you home

Chapter 6: Compromise

Chapter 6

Ana

I'm currently in the gym, fixing some things while waiting for James. We have a class in half an hour. After about five minutes the door opens and James walks in. He has a pair of training shorts and a simple white t-shirt. The whistle is hanging around his neck and he has a big smile on his face.

"Hey", he says.

"Hi", I say, turning away and feel how it suddenly became very hot inside the gym. And it's usually the coolest room in the entire school.

We decided that the class are going to get through an obstacle course today. Not too hard but not too easy. James helps me to build. We bend down and reach for the same jump rope and our hands brush against each other. I quickly pull back my hand and James grabs the jump rope. I feel how my whole hand is tingling and sending electricity through my arm and down my body. Damn. What is that?

James flicks his hair as he stands up and I can't help but think how damn hot this man is. I mean damn. His arms are big but not too big, in that t-shirt though his arms show so much and oh god they're making my knees weak.

"Here", James says and gives me the second end of the jump rope.

We tie the rope on two sides, making a tightrope. Only like a few millimeters off the ground, so no one gets hurt.

My hand is still tingling and it feels weird. It's like the electricity flows through the rope and into me, just because I know that James is at the other end with his hands on it.

I think with my engagement in trying to help Owen, I've forgotten how I feel about James. I have to focus on myself as well.

But being alone like this with James scares me. What if I say something to scare him off? Or what if I accidentally speak my thoughts about him loudly? I know I have a history of that.

James smiles at me from the other side and winks before he walks to fix the other things.

Suddenly I feel my legs start to shake and before I know it I'm lying on the floor without even realize what happened.

Damn. When girls say that a boy makes her knees weak, she means it. I was not prepared for this, that's for sure.

"God Ana are you alright?" James asks, hurrying over to me.

I still don't realize what the hell happened. First I'm standing up and the next thing I know my knees buckle and I'm on the floor.

"I... Yeah, I guess", I say and let James help me up.

He puts his hands under both of my arms and practically carries me up on my feet again. My legs are shaky but I manage to stand up so that's good I guess.

"What happened?" James asks.

"I... Don't know", I say confused.

James looks confused when he hears my answer, but I guess he hears that I'm speaking the truth because he doesn't accuse me of lying or anything like that. I turn around to face him. And it's only then I realize how close we're standing. Our faces only a few millimeters apart. I feel how my nervousness is starting to spread throughout my body.

I jump away when I hear a door open. It's the door to the boy's locker room.

Owen walks through. He hasn't changed into his gym clothes.

"Coach Walker, Coach Turner?" He says in a pretty small voice as he approaches us.

"Yeah?" I say.

"I don't think I can participate in today's lesson", he says, holding up his hand, it's cover with a plaster. "I broke my hand".

"What happened?" I ask.

"I... I tripped", he says not looking at me or James while speaking. "In the stairs at home".

I feel James’ body tense.

"Are you sure you just ... Tripped?" He asks Owen.

Owen seems too hesitant for a second, looking James straight into his eyes. Then he nods and looks away.

"I'm sure", he says.

I watch James’ face. He doesn't believe Owen. I'm not sure I do either.

"Well you can help with the music", I say. "Is that okay?"

Owen nods. I walk with him to the stereo and show him the cd's that we have here. He sits down on the floor, looking through the cd's and I walk back to James.

James is checking the tightrope. Not that it's needed. “He's lying", James mumbles when I stop right beside him.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"The way he wouldn't make eye contact when speaking", he says in a low voice.

"So what do you think happened to his arm?" I mumble, glancing at Owen, who's concentrated at looking through the CDs. He puts a cd down and picks up another with a small smile across his lips when he looks at the cd.

James sighs. “I don't know", he says truthfully.

I look back at James. His eyes are full of concern. I feel like he's not telling me everything. Like he's hiding something. I remember the first time I saw him, when we were teenagers, and on that plane from Gran Canaria.

I sit down. I see how James walks down the aisle to his seat. His t-shirt licked against his muscular body. I can see his abs through the t-shirt. His shorts showing off perfect shaped legs with the perfect amount of blonde hair.

Oh my god, he's hot!

He winks at me before sitting down on his seat right in front of me.

I can feel my face hear up again. Oh god.

Oh well, it's not like I'm gonna see this boy ever again. I mean what would be the odds of that? He's just a hot guy on an airplane and in just a girl. This happens every day.

Oh well. There's still a few hours left of the flight. Maybe I can make some fun of it, I think before I tap James on his shoulder and he turns around to me smiling.

He hasn't changed all that much. Now he's only got a more adult kind of appearance. But when I think of the boy on the plane, I notice I didn't notice back then. His eyes were full of watchfulness, nervousness in a way that has nothing with feelings to do, more like a sacred nervousness.

"Earth to Liana", James says waving his hand in front of me.

I snap back into reality and realize that students have started to pour in from both of the locker rooms. I watch Lily were she stands and talks to her friends. Her hair has grown a lot. She's not wearing two braids at the moment. Instead, she's put her long hair into a high ponytail. She has the school gym clothes on and flicks her hair one time. I have to talk to her after class.

I walk up to Owen. But on my way, I see that his eyes and mind are elsewhere. I follow his eyes and to what he's looking at. It turns out to be Lily. He watches how she flicks her hair again, and how she laughs talking to her friends. I walk up to him. “You can just put on some music after coach Turner and I've told the instructions and then you can choose however you want with the music", I tell him and he nods.

I walk up to James again. Okay, guys today we're going to do... Well I guess you can see what we're going to do", James says and the class laughs. They love and adore James, all of them. They think he's funny. I even think that some girls have a crush on him. That's not all that good though.

After we've explained more we're done and Owen turns on the music. During the lesson, the students seem to have fun. Owen handles the music well and changes songs once in a while.

When the class is over everyone starts to walk back to the locker rooms, I stop Lily.

"Lily, can you come here for a second?" I say.

She looks at me with some hesitation at first but then walks over to me. James has started to pack away all the things that are spread over the entire gym.

"What is it?" Lily asks.

"I was going to ask if you could be a friend to Owen", I say. "I don't think he has a lot of friends".

"And that's hard to understand why? He's a complete jerk Ana", Lily says. "I do not want to be his friend".

"Lilian, don't be a b***h like every other girl your age, I don't know why you're behaving like this, you've always been the sweetest girl", I say and Lily looks down at her feet. "Please just try to be kind to him, you might even like him if you give him a chance".

"I'll try on one condition", she says, looking up at me again.

"And what's that?"

"That you come home this Saturday to eat dinner with us", she says. "It's an important dinner for our father and he wants all his children there".

"Lily..." I start but she crosses her arms over her chest, determined. "I... Ugh fine! You win, I'll come to that stupid dinner".

"Good", she says and stomps off to the locker room after her friends.

I sigh in frustration and stomp my foot hard onto the floor. Like the big child, I am.

James walks up to me. “Hard being your sister's teacher?" He asks.

"It's not that", I say. "Sometimes Lily can be so... Impossible and complicated".

"I accidentally overheard the last part", he says, an apologetic look in his eyes. "Bad blood between you and your family?"

"You could say that", I sigh and push back some hair out of my face and slide my hand up towards my head. "My mother she can be so... Yeh I'm not on the best terms with her right now".

"I'm sure it will turn out alright in the end", James says encouragingly.

I'm not so sure James. I’m not so sure. If he knew my mother I don’t think he would have said that. Nothing with my mother is going to turn out alright.