Chapter 23
Ashby
I wasn’t pleased with my performance. Practice itself had gone well, and Jasper and I had raced each other three times just to push ourselves.
Normally, and without trying to sound arrogant, I would have won all three races.
This time, I only won one, and even that was by a millisecond.
It didn’t actually mean anything. I was still swimming well, and Jasper was a strong swimmer too.
We had joined DST at the same time when we were kids, and we had never treated each other like rivals.
If anything, we had always done the opposite.
We pushed each other. We cheered for each other, even when we raced in lanes right next to one another.
There was no reason to be frustrated with someone else for being faster.
Swimming was individual. You swam for yourself, and that should have been the only focus.
Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about how unfocused I had felt in the water.
Blaming it on school felt lazy, especially since Jasper was a senior too and had the same academic pressure I had.
He didn’t seem as weighed down by it. That probably made it easier for him to clear his head once he hit the pool.
Jasper held out his hand, looking down at me from the edge. I was still gripping the block, not quite ready to climb out after our last laps.
“You alright, dude?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, taking his hand and letting him pull me out. “I’ve just got some things on my mind.”
“I’m here if you ever want to talk,” he said, running a hand through his damp hair.
I appreciated that. I knew I would take him up on it one day, but not right now. “Thanks, Jasper.”
“Anytime.”
“Boys.”
Ruben stood up from the bleachers after finishing his notes and walked over to us, scratching the side of his buzzed head.
“I’m happy with today’s performance. If there’s one thing I want you both to work on, it’s not neglecting your kicks.
Your arms are strong, your strokes look good, but it seems like you forget about your feet sometimes.
Did you notice that too, or am I just nitpicking? ”
Jasper shrugged. “I didn’t notice, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Same,” I said.
“Good.” He glanced back down at his clipboard, then continued, “There’s a swim meet here in two weeks with teams from all over the province. I haven’t signed you up yet, but I can if you want in.” He looked up at us again. “It’s friendly. Nothing high pressure.”
“Sounds good,” I said, nodding. “I’m in.”
“Yeah, me too,” Jasper added.
“Great.” Ruben smiled and pulled us both into quick hugs. “Enjoy your weekend. Take it easy. The door locks automatically when you leave,” he said, then headed out.
I looked up to where Milow was sitting and saw her completely focused on the book in her hands.
She had only started reading it a short while ago, yet I could already tell how many pages she had gotten through.
She was a fast reader. I’d always known that.
Still, it never failed to amaze me how quickly she moved through a story.
I felt a small rush of excitement at the thought of asking her about it later, of hearing her explain what it was about once she finished.
“How is she doing in school?” Jasper asked. He was looking up at her, too.
Part of me wanted to say she was doing more than fine, that she was thriving, but we both knew how people could be to her. “She’s doing well,” I said instead, rubbing my towel over my hair. “Very focused.”
“I saw her on the first day back,” he said, a grin pulling at his mouth. “She came into Mr. Kallio’s class right after the lunch bell and handed him a note asking him for extra worksheets to work on. I like math, but the kind of stuff she does is seriously hard.”
I chuckled. “She’s a genius with numbers.” And with a lot of other things too.
As if she felt us talking about her, she glanced down. I smiled up at her, and my heart kicked harder than it had during practice.
“She’s a genius with a kind heart,” Jasper said, still looking at her. “People like her usually end up doing great things.”
“Yeah…” My smile softened as I pictured Milow in the future, doing something meaningful and big. “She will too.”
I lifted my hands before Milow looked away.
[I’m going to take a shower and then I’ll come up,] I signed.
She nodded and signed a quick okay before returning her attention to her book. I glanced at Jasper as I started toward the showers. “You want to come up there and eat with us after?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said easily.
After showering and getting dressed, Jasper and I headed upstairs together. We dropped our duffel bags by the door and walked over to the table where Milow was sitting.
“Hey, Milow. What are you reading?” Jasper asked as he took the seat across from her.
She lifted the book and showed him the cover, then set it aside on the table.
“A psychological thriller. Is it any good?” he asked.
She nodded and gave him a thumbs-up before turning to me with a smile. [You guys looked good down there.]
“Thanks,” I said, keeping my voice light even though I felt anything but calm inside. “It felt good.” I hesitated for only a second before asking, “What sandwich do you want?”
She pressed her lips together as she looked toward the vending machines lined up against the wall, then signed, [Cheese, please.]
I nodded and turned to Jasper. “You?”
“I’ll come see what they’ve got,” he said, getting up again.
We walked over together, picked out our sandwiches, paid, and grabbed drinks before heading back to the table. I set Milow’s sandwich in front of her.
[Thank you.]
“Of course.” I slid a bottle of iced tea toward her as well. “I grabbed this for you, too.”
She smiled again, and we settled into eating. Jasper talked about the upcoming swim meet, going over possible teams that could show up, and I chimed in when I felt like it. When his phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to read a message, my attention drifted back to Milow.
She smiled at me, her sandwich nearly finished.
Without thinking, I shifted my leg until my knee brushed against hers.
I just needed the contact. She didn’t pull away.
Instead, she pressed her leg gently against mine, holding it there.
It was a small gesture, a moment no one else would notice.
It told me that what had happened between us last night hadn’t been a mistake, and that it could happen again. I hoped it would.
“You guys want to hang out at the diner tonight?” Jasper asked, breaking the moment as he looked up from his phone.
I turned to him. “Who’s going to be there?”
“Lacey and some of her friends. Bennett, too,” he said. “You can bring Stan and Scottie if you want.”
“Yeah, I’m in.”
He looked at Milow with a friendly smile. “You coming too?”
She nodded.
“Awesome. It’ll be fun.”
__
“Milow!” Stan came straight toward us the second we stepped into the diner, his arms already wide open. “My sweetest girl. I missed your face.”
Milow tried to hide her grin, but she didn’t succeed when Stan pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight against his chest. If this had been any other guy, I would’ve stepped in without hesitation.
But Stan was just Stan. He’d always treated her like a sister, and I knew there was nothing behind it.
Though when the hug dragged on longer than necessary, I reached out and patted his shoulder. “Let her breathe, buddy.”
“Three more seconds,” he muttered, squeezing her once more before finally letting go. “I had the worst day. This just made everything better.”
Milow had that effect on people, though Stan also tended to exaggerate. I chuckled. “What happened?”
“I had to help my mom clean out the garage,” he said, shaking his head. “I knew she liked garden gnomes, but there were literally over a thousand of those little fuckers down there.”
“Literally?” I asked, smirking.
“Li-ter-al-ly.”
“Right.” I gave his shoulder another squeeze. “But you survived.”
“Barely.”
Milow smiled up at him and lifted her hands. [I like your hair like this, Stan.]
I hadn’t paid close enough attention to notice it before. “Did you cut it?”
Stan grinned and wiggled his brows. “Sure did. Well, Ava’s mom did.”
I stared at him for a moment, unsure if he fully understood whose mom he had let cut his hair. I knew Scottie hadn’t enjoyed sitting in the backseat of Stan’s car while Ava rode in the front. “Where? Does she have a salon?”
“Yeah,” he said proudly. “In her basement.”
Milow looked up at me, her lips pressed together. She was thinking the same thing I was.
“That’s… nice, man,” I said carefully.
“Yup.” He turned back to Milow, grinning again. “You like it?”
She nodded. [You look like a young James Dean.]
“Well, shit,” he said, clearly pleased. “At least you think it looks good. Scottie just frowned at me.” He jerked his head toward the back of the diner. “Come on. Everyone’s been waiting.”
He walked ahead of us toward the booths.
Two were already filled with people we knew from school.
Jasper sat next to Lacey and lifted a hand when he saw us.
Two girls whose names I didn’t bother remembering sat across from them.
In the booth behind theirs, Scottie sat by the window, looking bored.
Bennett sat next to her, talking, though she looked like she wasn’t listening at all.
He might as well have been talking to a wall.
As we reached the table, I let Milow slide in first before taking the seat beside her.
Stan pulled over a chair and dropped into it at the end of the table, his attention immediately drawn to Scottie.
“Hey,” I said, exhaling as I let my body relax.
“Hey, man,” Bennett replied. He turned away when Scottie started signing to Milow, and I took that as a sign to give them some space. I glanced at Stan and noticed he was watching the girls closely.
“Stan,” I said quietly, giving him a telling look.
He sighed and looked away as he leaned back in his chair.
I was still unable to make sense of the two of them.
When we were younger, I had honestly believed their constant fighting would stop the moment they admitted they liked each other.
I thought naming it would fix everything.
Apparently, that was much harder for them than anyone could’ve expected.
All I wanted was for them to get along. To stop clashing over every little thing and maybe sit down for an honest conversation without it turning into another argument.
Even though they had already done that just a few days ago and agreed to try being friends, it clearly wasn’t working the way they had hoped.
It didn’t help that Stan seemed mostly oblivious to the fact that he sometimes got a little too close to people Scottie didn’t like seeing him with.
Of course, he was allowed to hang out with whoever he wanted, and I knew he never crossed any lines.
Still, there were moments when he should’ve paid more attention to what Scottie needed instead of shutting her out whenever things became overwhelming for him.
I knew he liked her just as much as she liked him, but if they kept going like this, the tension between them would only turn more toxic.