Calicem lotus tribus ~ bath cup part three

Atticus

"Boys 400m medley make your way to your lanes!"

I try to drown out all the noise around me and focus, this is harder than it sounds. The Olympic pool is a massive venue, the hum of background chatter is deafening. However when the announcer tells us to get into positions on the starting block the place falls silent.

I stretch my arms upwards and tilt my body forward. My vision tunnels as I wait for the starting whistle. My whole body relaxes and all the nerves I felt before roll off my back into the water.

"Get set!"

The whistle blows and I'm off. I cut into the water with a perfect dive. Everything slows down and becomes so still. My body pushes through the water, seeing just how far I can get before coming up for my first gasp of air.

The roaring of the crowd is deafening, I go back under and slip into the silence. My body is on autopilot, my arms and legs glade through the water faster than they're ever done before, and before I know it, I'm on the 100m stretch.

Come on! Keep going! Keep pushing!

I finally grasp hold of the side of the pool, and propel my body forward as I gasp for breath.

I take a look around and realise that I'm the first one back...
I've won! I've fucking done it!
I sigh out a breath of relief I didn't know I was holding when I realise I didn't make myself look like a massive eejit in front of those scouts.

As I step out of the pool, I can see the rest of my team cheering me on from the sidelines. I stumble forward suddenly as I feel a harsh blow to my shoulder followed by a sharp glare from another boy in my race. A Benedict boy no less; figures.

"We have a problem here." Finn sees what's happened and gets up in this lads face.

"Nothing that concerns you." The boy glares at Finn as they square up to each other.

"Finn let it go it's not worth it." I breathe out trying not to cause a scene in front of the scouts.

The guys continue their face off before Finn steps back and lets him pass.

The boy smirks, "That's what I thought; you working class scum." He spits at us in disgust; you know to really drive home the point that he thinks he's beneath us.

Finn saw red. His face hard as stone, his hands now balled into fists and before I knew it, all hell broke loose. The boy is on the ground with Finn on top punching his face in.
The rest of the team scrambles over to back their fighter and soon, a full on brawl is going down between the poshos and the working class scum. I watch in shock as the chaos erupts around me.

"Hey! Hey!"

"What you guys think you're playing at!"

"Break it up! Break it up!"

"Get your hands off him!"

A steady stream of adults, lifeguards, coaches and the like force us apart and try to control the situation.

"Take these two to the infirmary, the rest of you lot, back to your seats!"

***

"Hey, it's not your fault ya know..."

"Then why do I feel so bad." I breathe out as I sit poolside with Hugh.
It's been some time since Finn was sent to the infirmary for the fight but I can't help but think it's all my fault. I slump, feeling defeated, and run my hands through my unruly hair.

Hugh puts his hand on my shoulder as an act of support which I found quite comforting.

"Dude, your next race ain't for ages, just go sneak out and see him." Ivo pipes up as he takes a seat next to me.

"Sneak out?! What if coach notices?"

"He's way too busy, ya be fine."

The idea of doing something that'll get me in trouble was enough to make my legs shake, but the guilt I felt about Finn outweighed that.

"Cover for me?"

"Sure thing." Hugh replies with a lazy grin and Ivo a brief nod of the head.

With that I decide to start my undercover mission. Sneaking out of the pool was quite easy, getting to the infirmary without getting caught was even easier. I'm starting to think this is less than an undercover mission and more of a leisurely walk...

"Aye look who finally shows up." Finn looks up from icing his hand, he looks up at me and starts to laugh.

I didn't say anything.

"I'm only kidding Atti lighten up will ya."

"How ya feeling?" I ask staring at my hands.

"It's all good mate, nothing a good pack of ice can't heal." He laughs again, but I can't help but stare at his bloody hands.  His knuckles have gone purple, spurts of blood periodically oozing out of them. It didn't do anything to help my guilty conscious.

"Ya know why I fought that cunt today?" Finn asks soberly. "Because I knew ya couldn't..."
I open my mouth to say something but no words come out, how do you respond to something like that?

"I knew ya couldn't because ya had scouts coming to see ya, Edinburgh scouts, an' that's a big deal. Ya can't go around causing fights and messing up ya life, but I can... I may not have fancy scouts coming to see me and I may live in Derry ma whole life but that doesn't mean I can't stop protecting ya before ya leave."

I didn't know what to say. What do you say when someone spills out something so raw and personal like that with no prior warning whatsoever? I don't know how to feel.

So we just sit there; for what feels like forever. Stewing in our uncomfortable silence, letting it fester and consume us. Because what else could you do? What else could I possibly say to make this situation better? What could I do to make myself feel a little less guilty for eventually having to leave people behind.

What do you say to that? Honestly, I have no idea.

"Go get me some more ice would ya, ma hand is killing me."

"Sure"

***

Woah quite a depressing ending to that chapter sorry guys :/
I wanted to let you guys get to know Atticus' friends a bit more and their relationship with each other.

Don't forget to comment what you think will happen next! And vote, it'd really mean a lot :))

Till Monday,

Sparklenightmare xo