IT'S GYM CLASS and of all days to not be indoors, it had to be today. Today that the early December cold is nipping on our skins like its on a mission. The entire gym class is outside and we're supposed to be running track but our beloved teacher got a call and has been gone for the past twenty minutes, needless to say, everybody relaxed without the commanding voice and whistles. Only a few diligent students were still running slash walking around the tarred track.

We were all adorned in the school's black hoodie except for the few who could bounce the cold, people like Finn Sullivan who despite his lean frame was laughing his face off in just a yellow tee. But Finn was the least of my problems right now, in spite of the fact that my exposed legs clad in just short shorts were freezing off, my eyes were glued to the duo relaxing the bleacher, looking too close for my liking.

"What are you glaring at?" Christine said collapsing beside in gasping breaths and stretching her legs out on the green grass.

I tear my eyes away from the position its been fixed in the last twenty minutes and turn to her, my lips tugging up at the sight of her. "Done being a nerd?"

She nods fanning herself with her hand. "For today, yes."

I chuckle and return back to watching Jamie and Ian. Christine nudges me and I turn to her with a raised brow.

"Stop staring."

I huff, "how can I not? Can't you see how she's standing close to my boyfriend."

Christine rolls her eyes, "Jamie's your friend Anna."

"Is she?" I ask, looking over at her. Her pearly white teeth is out on display and if we were still talking I would have told her how her oversized hoodie – that'll wrap me up – looks extra cute on her. "She's not been talking to me. What kind of friend avoid another?"

"Well, you've not exactly approached her either." Christine reason.

I snap my eyes to her. "Who's side are you on?"

"No sides." Christine says raising her hands up. "I'm not taking sides Anna."

I eye her and turn away, crossing my hands on my drawn up knees and resting my chin on it. "You were my friend first and much longer, don't you dare leave me." I hear Christine chuckle and lean on me. I smile. "And what true friend crushes on another's boyfriend?"

"To be fair, J was crushing on Ian before he became your boyfriend."

My eyes snap to her again with a glare and this time she looks down on the grass, playing with it. I sigh, "whatever."

"Jamie won't steal Ian, Anna. She still loves you."

"Yeah right." I turned back to them. I wasn't walking up to them to hog Ian to myself because even though they were talking, he was keeping a reasonable distance between them.

"Do you really like him that much?" Christine carefully asks watching me with careful eyes.

I look at Ian. His long dark hair falling against his face, his almost red lips, his hard perfectly sculptured face, even if I cannot see his eyes, I can always imagine his pale blue eyes, glinting as he smiled. I start nodding with a small smile as warmth spreads through my body. "Mmhm, very very much."

"Even after everything?" She asks and I turn to her questioning. "He's brought out many things in you, Anna. He's made you a wreck. He's affected your judgements and actions too. Old you would never give up on Jamie so soon."

"I'm pretty sure Old me wasn't in love like this." I say and she blinks. "And I haven't given up on Jamie. She clearly wants distance and that's what I'm giving her. Ian's different Christy. I can't explain it. He makes me question every bloody thing. Yes, he's brought out the worst in me some days. But he's always brought out the best. I've never been this happy Christy. I've never felt something like this. It totally..." I trail off and I watch Ian slant his head backwards until he's looking at me. He winks and I smile. "Consumes me."

"Anna..."

"Christy," I start my eyes still glued to Ian. "I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him."

"Oh, Anna." I hear her say as she hugs me.

"And I can't give that up. I won't."

****

"You know how you told me you once played basketball?" I ask Ian, eyes trained on his fingers playing with mine.

"Mmhm." He hums in reply, eyes concentrated on my fingers. I don't even think he's fully consious of what he's doing and it's so cute, I'm struggling not to melt into goo.

"Why don't you want to anymore?"

It's then he looks up, eyes going over to where the boys of the class we're laughing over the basketball game they were playing out of boredom and to rid away the cold. Ian and I were sitting out of it, coach never came back and now we're all just waiting for the bell to go off so we can officially be done with gym class. I didn't feel like playing with them, especially since the alternative is talking with Ian.

He sighs. "I guess I just want nothing to do with my former life. That Ian died in the fire, this is the new me and I don't want to link myself back to the past. If it possible to erase it all and forget, trust me I would."

I kept my eyes focused on his face as he talked. "There's got to be moments in your past that you don't want gone. Moments you'd cherish forever?"

He frowned like he was thinking about it. "Maybe but if I'll have to pass on remembering all that cherishable moments just so I forget the bad ones, then I'm all for it."

I sigh wondering just what it was apart from what I already knew that was so bad and eating him up. I wish I could help, I wish I knew everything but I don't and there's no telling that I can help even if I did. Ian's like unraveling a knot, there's no telling what you'll find inside. I'm scared of finding out everything but at the same time I'm not, I don't think there's anything about his past that could make me not love him.

"Enough about me, we always talk about me." He groans like a child, turning his head around and making me chuckle. "Let's talk about something else."

"There's nothing as interesting as you, Ian Maurice."

"Lies. I beg to differ."

"Okay, tell me one thing more interesting than you?"

He looks as me, our fingers tightening up. "You."

I did not expect that. I scoff, "not true." 

He turns so his body is completely facing me. "You can't seriously believe that."

I turn to face him too. "I do. I know, I'm interesting, definitely the most interesting girl in town but you, you're another kind of interesting."

He chuckles, "and later, I'll be called the narcissist." I give him a sheepish smile. "What kind of interesting?"

I purse my lips to think. "The kind of interesting that lures you in. You're not sure what you're going to find but you can't keep away - interesting. A kind that consumes you."

"Wow, Anna." He smiles, "sure you shouldn't be working for the Galaxy?"

I laugh. "Nah, my talents are more for the big time Daily Planet kind of thing."

He quirks a brow. "You're not for real right?"

Now I burst out laughing. "of course not, I can't write a story to save a life."

"What can you do then? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I roll my eyes. "I'm great at football. I don't suck at the sciences. I also don't suck at all arts. I think I can be pretty good at running a farm," all the while Ian's been nodding slowly but at that he raises a brow. I chortle. "Okay, not really. You know, I was gonna be whatever Rachelle was going to be."

"Rachelle?"

I nod, "my big sister. But now, I don't know."

"Do you plan on making football a career?"

I shake my head, lips folding. "No. I just love playing it and scoring. I have a feeling if I have no choice but to play and get paid, I'm going to lose my joy for it."

"True."

I sigh. "Well, since I'm obviously such a confused mess. What about you? What would you love to do for the long run?"

"Photography." He says easily, his hand going to touch the small camera bag sitting beside him. "I'm going to study that in college along with an minors that look nice. I might be a one man gallary thing or I'd work for the papers. Capture all those hidden things no one wants out."

I smile, pride in my eyes. "That's so great." I can't help but sigh as I lean into him, resting my head on his thighs and stretching my legs forward. "Must be great, having your life planned and figured out by yourself."

"No one has their life figured out. It all just happens, especially when you have time almost snatched from you." He says, looking ahead while I stare at his face from down here, getting a new look from this angle. God, he's gorgeous.

"Let me take pictures of you." I hear him but at the same time I don't. I'm too busy staring at him. "Anna?"

"Huh?" I snap out of it, blushing all the way to my neck.

He smirks. "I said, let me take pictures of you."

I blink, not believing that I heard right. "What?" I sit up. "For real?"

He unzips his small camera. "Would I joke about this?"

I'm a bit dazed. "I'm not sure..."

He laughs. "Come on, no kidding. I'd love to photoshoot you."

"Oh my god." I have a wide smile on my face. "Wait, why?"

He's already dragging my hand up. "You're really asking me that?" I nod, following him as we go down the bleachers. "Because, you're beautiful. The most beautiful girl I've come across in my life. Who wouldn't want to take pictures of you?"

I have nothing to say and I just follow him mutely, my stomach doing flips. "Ian..."

He laughs. "Other artists would be so jealous when they see you. Like why didn't they scout you out on time." He turned to me. "You can't model for any other person okay?"

I nod, before what he's saying actually clicks. "Wait, other people are going to see this?"

"Of course. I have an Instagram account. I don't plan on hiding you."

I have a painful smile on my face. "Ian Maurice, Instagram? Wow."

He winks. "I'm not as antisocial as you think, especially over the screen. There's so much you don't know about your boyfriend, Anna."

I bet.

I love seeing Ian like this. So carefree, smiling, laughing and winking at me. He looks so normal and at the same time unique. The way he talked and looked, I knew I was not going away anytime soon.

He took us to a secluded part of the school. The baseball court that's been cut off from life and human contact. We didn't have any baseball club anymore so they just let grasses grow around it, wasting the useful space or just waiting for a baseball team to miraculously sprout out of nowhere. I can count the number of times I've been here on one hand.

"How the hell did you, a newcomer, find this place?" I ask Ian as I bent, going in through the space he let up by moving the grasses.

His answer was a shrug and a smile. I put my hands over my waist, arching a hip out. "So where do you want me?"

"Everywhere."

I did a number of poses I knew and the ones he requested for. At times it was really hard to take my eyes off him as he squatted, bent and moved around taking pictures. Who knew photographers would be so hot. If I didn't love him before, I surely did now. After the poses, he told me to freestyle, do as I want. I talk to him as he takes the pictures, laughing, blushing and falling deeper.

**

"Zoe?" I call, kicking my shoes off as I enter into the empty house. Mum's surely still at school, Ellie's not here so my only company is Zoe. I came home early today without football practice or anything to do.

"I let her out the backyard, she was bored." My dad voice says coming from the kitchen and startling me shitless. I thought no one was home.

Even though I was sure it's my dad, I still cautiously walked into the kitchen. "Dad?"

He looked up from the counter to me with a smile. "Hi princess."

I smiled going over to wrap my hands around him. "Afternoon pa, how come you're home so early?" He smelled like his cologne and a drug cabinet. I missed this scent.

He sighed holding unto my arm. "Got off early. Today's been hectic."

I pulled a stool to sit beside him, my eyes now noticing the picture albums spread out in front of him. "Bad day?"

He sighs nodding. I guess sighing is a thing in this family. His hand flips a page on the nearest album to him and I see pictures of Rachelle. "I almost lost a girl today. A baby girl. She was born so still and without a sound, I and her poor mother were so freaked out. I'm a doctor and I just stood there, looking at her. I couldn't do anything, Anna. She-- she looked so much like your sister. For a minute there I was back in the hospital room nineteen years ago." He chuckled dryly. "Rachelle too didn't cry. It's like she knew what awaited her in the world and she couldn't wait. The doctor then had to give her little pats on the butt to make her cry."

I chuckle. "That's so Rachelle."

He smiled flipping another page and I remember the moment this picture was taken. Rachelle and won her first horse racing medal and she was carrying it around like a world cup. She wouldn't even let me touch it. "She was so brave." His voice cracked. "I miss her so much."

I already had tears in my eyes. "Me too."

"Do you think--" he trailed off. "Your mum and I have refused to believe she's dead. So what if they can't find her, she's so intelligent, she could literally be doing well anywhere."

"Why won't she come home then?" The question tumbled out my mouth before I could help it.

Dad shook his head closing the album. "I have no idea."

I inhaled to get the tears off my chest. "You saved the baby girl, right?"

"Yeah, she had a weak heart that stopped for a minute. She'll be fine."

I hugged him. "You're the best doctor and the best dad. I love you."

"I love you too," he chuckled, pulling me away to look at my face. "and seems like I'm not the only one."

"What?"

"What's your friend's name again?"

I raise a brow. "Ian?"

"Right." He literally smirked at me, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Ian."

------------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued...

Vote and comment. Thoughts and theories on Rachelle?