Lani rolled her eyes as she walked past, this was the third time today she had seen him and his disgusting mop of bleached blonde hair.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me, I've seen him so many times today." The revulsion in her tone could not be mistaken as she walked past Apollo for the fourth time since she arrived at school. She continued, past the bathrooms to the outside of G5, waiting for her PASS teacher, Mrs Franklin, to mark the role so her class could move to the gym for a practical lesson. To Lani's dismay, the figure of a familiar middle-aged man in sports attire turned the corner, walking confidently towards her class.
"Mrs Franklin's year 10 PASS class?" he looked Lani directly in the eyes for confirmation.
"Yes," she managed to squeak before turning away to hide among the group of friends she was standing next to. The unsettling reality began to set in, Mr Vouvali was the substitute teacher for her double period of prac.
He wasted no time when marking the role before summoning them toward the gym. Lani tried to keep her distance from Mr Vouvali by walking as close to the back of the group as she could with Jenny, discussing the new additions to her "people I would cheat on you with" slideshow. Not soon after, the gym doors lay before them and the class hurried in, anticipating the next instruction, eager to finally start playing sport. Before Lani could see what was inside the gym she heard a loud chatter from within, indicating another class already being in there. After a few seconds of mental preparation for the next hour and forty minutes, she too followed her classmates but almost immediately wished she hadn't. A mixture of emotion rose inside her, ranging from distraught to misery when a soft glow of long, platinum blonde hair could be seen from her peripheral vision. She refused to turn her head to get a better look, allowing a state of denial to set in as she convinced herself that the person she saw was anyone else. Mr Vouvali proceeded to explain that they were being subjected to a game of T-ball but zoned out after that statement as she was sick of the bad news piling up, that was until she heard him exclaim "we will be playing with the year nines, I expect you to make two teams consisting of both year groups.". This was all becoming a sick joke but she was in no place to argue so she followed her friends to create a group with them and whatever year nines they could con into joining the team. Her stomach lurched as she noticed a tall, blonde figure moving towards them with a few companions following close behind. It was too late for her to move her head away when she realised that his intoxicatingly ocean blue eyes met hers within an instant just like they had when she had seen him walking to the bus bay, triggering this entire fixation in the first place. For a split second, she thought a smirk appeared across his soft lips but Lani told herself it must have been a hallucination caused by the unidentifiable pills she took too many of that morning. The groups combined to create a team then were herded outside, onto the field by the teachers.
Lani's team was allocated to bat first so she found herself a spot in the middle of the line to prevent her going either first or last. A number of the year nines were closer to the front of the line, including Apollo, meaning he returned before Lani even got the chance to bat. The majority of the year nines seemed overly competitive but she couldn't complain, it gave them a better chance of winning and the way Apollo's hair flew behind him as ran, before landing in a perfect mess around his sculptured face when he came to a stop fascinated her. Lani was quickly swept back into reality when she realised it was her turn to bat, she stumbled towards the tee, still half encapsulated in the mesmerised state she had been in, interlaced with loathing herself for forgetting to completely hate him for a few minutes. She felt dizzy but tried to pull herself together, picking up the bat and positioning herself to swing. Her arms raced forward with enough power to ensure she hits the ball far enough without missing it but the state she was in held her back, causing her to miss the ball entirely. Embarrassment flooded her as she pretended to laugh it off.
"Your form is terrible" a mocking voice can from behind her, making her turn to find its owner. Apollo stood directly behind her with his eyebrows raised at her incompetence. Lani proceeded to fumble with her words as her face became a fiery red and she looked down then back at the tee in an attempt to ignore him and try again.
"Dismissing it won't help you hit the ball this time," he spoke again with the same mockery present in his voice.
"I'm perfectly capable of hitting the ball, I rarely miss so I highly doubt I will do it again" Lani spurted out in anger.
"That doesn't mean your form will be any better than last time". Without giving her the chance to protest he had stepped closer to her, grabbing her arm then raising it slightly
"here" the venom in his voice had decreased, it was almost as if he cared. His other hand trailed to her waist which then guided her to the right angle. He instructed her on how to position her feet but hadn't let go of either her arm or her waist. The hand that had previously been on her arm travelled smoothly up to cover her hand which was tightly grasping the bat. She could feel the warmth of his body on her back and his large hands clasped firmly on hers, their heat only changing in certain places where the chill of his rings pressed against her bare skin. He continued to guide her, preparing to hit the ball, Lani's mind racing with a million thoughts as the bat travelled downwards in what seemed like slow motion. Her racing mind was only stopped when his hot breath brushed against her ear as his silky voice whispered: "you're blushing". Time returned to its normal pace once again and the bat made contact with the ball, not giving her the chance to comprehend his words. She dropped the bat and ran to the first base with her main motive being escaping from his grasp although, she couldn't help but enjoy the last moment she had with him as his hands slid off of her body fluidly.
Lani soon made it back but asked the teacher if she could get water promptly in an attempt to get away before anyone could comment on what just happened or Apollo spoke to her again. Although, she had not taken into account that his own father had witnessed everything that just occurred, the same man she just asked permission to get water from.
"So, is there something going on between you and Apollo that I should know about? You two seem particularly close." Mr Vouvali had bent down slightly, his voice lowered so no one else could hear.
"Absolutely not, I wouldn't have gone anywhere near him if it was up to me" a feeling of nausea overwhelmed her at just the thought of having any relationship with Apollo, romantic or platonic. Her evident disgust quickly transformed into guilt as she realised she just belittled his son directly to his face.
"I mean- I couldn't- He just- I think he just wanted to help so our team wouldn't lose". Mr Vouvali snickered at her unease before nodding to signify that she was permitted to go get water as she had asked. Lani strutted across the field, back to her bag. When she reached it she squatted down, digging her head into the bag as she tried to forget everything that just happened whilst simultaneously pushing down the newfound craving for his touch. After a few seconds, she lifted her head to unzip her bag so she could take out her water bottle, although she paused as she was about to drink due to the sound of approaching footsteps, it was Apollo.
"For someone who had shit form when trying to bat, you aren't half bad at running" he stated in a cocky manner.
"What are you, my coach?" she put on a cold exterior hoping with every ounce of her being that he couldn't see through her facade which masked her internal dread.
"I could be if you wanted, I wouldn't mind helping you out like that again" she could tell he was joking but something about the way he said this made her heart skip a beat. Unsure how to retaliate, she finally took a sip of her water, placed it back into her bag then stood up.
"That wasn't a 'no', does that mean you enjoyed it too?" he looked at her menacingly as he inched closer, a smile curving across this face, accentuating the apples of his cheeks. His hand was steadily brought back up to her waist to pull her slightly closer to him, putting him in the position of power subsequently, causing her heart to plunge out of her chest. Her eyes interlocked with his as they were just inches away from each other, close enough to feel the heat from his breath on her cheek once again. His grip tightened on her waist, almost as if he was proving his strength whilst still being gentle enough for his grasp to be painless. Lani could hear her heartbeat becoming more rapid, travelling up to her ears making her mind void of any sense.
"Get off of me" her hand pushed his away allowing her to step past him and storm away without looking back. She picked up her pace with only a singular sensical thought forming in her mind: 'So much for hating him'.
