Liona was giddy and having fun. It was always more fun to play when you had a large group of people. She thrived in social situations, and this was no different. With her little cousin and her two best friends, she was having a blast playing soccer with a boy she had just met and his siblings. She was more than happy to play with them, especially since there was something about him she couldn't put her finger on that was interesting. He looked about her age, but he was really scrawny. She was used to seeing boys all bulky like her dad and granddad. Plus, all the boys she had dated had been on sports teams so they too had all been muscular. Even her little brothers were putting on muscle recently since they were on the school swim team.
So, when this scrawny boy that looked like a deer in headlights kept apologizing for things that weren't his fault, she had automatically tried to soothe him. It was ingrained in her to make people feel at ease, especially since she was sort of reminded of her little brothers when she was interacting with this boy who said his name was Erik. Although her little brothers weren't as nervous and scared sounding as this boy was, when they had still been little she had soothed them when they had gotten scared just like she was doing to Erik with her pheromones. Pretty soon he seemed to relax, but that didn't last long when she asked him if his siblings wanted to play with her and her friends too.
She soon realized that the boy had a lot of sisters and a baby brother, so maybe he was just overprotective of them like her mom was of her and her siblings. In any case, once they joined the game, it was all-out, fun and chaotic. They had a good number of people and the variety of skill levels as they played, made it all that more fun to kick the soccer ball around. Although she was really impressed by Erik's moves as he played with them. He was talented with the ball and good at juggling it before he would make it past her or her friends to make a goal.
It was one of these moves that sent the ball flying over their heads and straight into the lake. It touched down with a ker-splash! Not thinking anything of it, Liona headed right for the water to go and fetch the ball. It wasn't out very deep and had only landed in the designated swimming area. It was still a little too chilly to be going swimming, but she didn't care, she was going to fetch her cousin's ball. Taking the time to remove her shoes and socks, she waded into the swimming area to fetch the ball. All the while, her friends were laughing and teasing her about going for a swim. She took it in stride and just as she was about to get her hands on the ball, she noticed Erik had waded out too. She laughed as he looked so shocked to see her in the water.
"I got it, there's no need for you to get wet too!"
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kick the ball in the water!"
"Hey, it's no big deal! No harm, no foul!" She grabbed the ball and made her way back to shore. The water was ice cold and she quickly wanted to get out now that she had her cousin's ball.
When she made it to shore and climbed out, she noticed that Erik was still in the water. "Come on! You'll freeze if you stay in the water any longer!" She called out.
"Oh, okay…" He looked curiously reluctant to get out of the water for some reason, even though the water was really cold still this time of year.
Speaking of cold, now that she was on land she was freezing. She had a change of clothes in her gym bag in her car, so after collecting her shoes and socks, she dropped the soccer ball off with her cousin while her friends were acting funny.
"What's with you two?!" She asked with a laugh as a breeze picked up and sent more cold air over her already chilled body.
"Liona, your uniform shirt is see through!" Alli giggled.
"Quite daring, showing off in front of a boy!" Chloe also giggled.
"What?!" Liona looked down at herself and realized that her white shirt had absorbed enough water to travel up far enough to show off her leopard print neon pink and yellow bra. She had only waded waist deep, so she hadn't thought about the consequences of the effects of water on her white polo.
"Crap! Cover for me, while I run to my car and get my clothes from my gym bag!" Liona begged with a laugh.
"Here, wear this!" Alli took off her sweater and handed it to her.
"Thanks Alli! You're the best!" She then took off for her car to fetch dry clothes, putting on the sweater as she went, to cover her exposed torso and bra.
After grabbing her gym bag from the car, she hurried to the restrooms and found an empty stall. She peeled off her wet school uniform and undergarments and toweled her body dry before she changed into clean and dry athletic undergarments with her favorite leggings and yoga t-shirt. Alli's sweater was now wet, so she grabbed her own sweatshirt from her bag and put it on over everything. She then stuffed the wet items unceremoniously into her gym bag to wash later.
Exiting the bathroom, she nearly bumped into Chloe. "Hey what's up?"
"That boy is kinda strange don't you think? I mean he keeps apologizing to Ethan about kicking his ball into the lake and for getting it wet. He's acting like he committed a crime and it's weirding Allison and I, out. Alli is watching over Ethan at the moment, but I think it's a good idea that we head home now. It's getting late and I, for one, don't want to be grounded from attending your birthday this year." Chloe explained.
"Yeah, you're right, it is getting late. I should get Ethan home to my aunt and uncle now. Come on, let's go. At least we had a bit of fun before the ball landed in the lake." Liona said as they walked back over to Alli and Ethan. Ethan seemed to have made friends with two of the little girls that were Erik's siblings, which was cute to see.
"Come on Ethan, it's starting to get dark, and I still need to get you home. Tell your new friends goodbye." Liona said before turning to Erik.
"Hey, it was fun hanging out. Sorry about making you get wet and all, I should have told you I was going in the water to get the ball back for my cousin. So, I gotta jet right now, but maybe I'll see you around? What school do you go to and what grade are you in? I don't think I recognize you from my school."
"Oh, I'm technically a senior, but I haven't got a school yet. We just moved here…" Erik mumbled. Technically he was a senior, but he honestly didn't know since he moved around a lot. His school records were all over the place, so they often placed him in whatever grade they saw fit when he entered a new school. Sometimes he would be placed in a senior class, others he would be a junior. He had yet to complete an entire year of schooling at any one school. However, Liona wouldn't find this out until later.
"Well then, I hope to see you at The Bartley Montessori Private Academy. I'm a senior there, along with my friends, Allison Valentine, and Chloe Baker. My cousin even goes to the school. He attends the elementary portion, while my younger siblings attend the high school portion as freshman, and sophomores. It's a great school for your sisters too since it's three schools in one. Your sister Nicole might end up as good friends with them and that would be cool." Liona said excitedly.
"Uh, sure. I guess…" Erik said.
Liona didn't pay too much attention to the uncertainty in his voice. She was already on her way to her car with her friends and Ethan.
"Liona? I like Erik and his sisters! They were a lot of fun to play with today. I hope they go to our school!"
"I do too, Ethan, I had a lot of fun today with you all too." She replied as she let the car drive to her aunt's house to drop Ethan off.
Once Ethan was safely back with her aunt and uncle, Liona headed home. When she got home, she was welcomed back by her dad who popped out from the kitchen.
"Welcome back sweetheart, how was your day at school?" Her dad asked.
"It was boring like always. Oh, and I broke up with Jeffery, he's so not invited to my birthday party, Dad."