"Is he gone?" Naomi asked and Travis nodded so she got up and dust her skirt.
"You are a drama queen!"
"I hate math." She flipped her hair and looked at their shocked expression. "What? Were you really going to have that pop quiz? Today's the girls contest." She said. "I'm heading out."
"But what should we tell the teacher when he comes back?" Travis asked and Naomi chuckled.
"Just make up anything." She said before shocking them by jumping through the window.
The teacher came in with the doctor but there was no sign of Naomi. He asked of her whereabouts.
"Um, teacher, we revived Naomi and she said she needed some fresh air. She felt suffocated that was why she fainted." Derek said and Travis gave him a thumbs up.
"Fine then."
Naomi happened to walk by the tennis field and caught sight of Pete. He just stood there looking at the tennis ball in his hand. He looked like he wanted to play but he had no partner.
"Hey!" She called gaining his attention. He turned to look at her. "Need a hand?"
"Can you play?" He asked.
"Of course, I'm a pro." She said picking up a racket.
Pete watched her as she walked over to the other side, took off her blazer and threw it to the ground. She had a grin plastered on her cheeks and was looking fairly confident.
"I'll start!" He said and raked the ball a few times before serving.
Just as Naomi said, she was indeed a pro. She played with so much ease and didn't even show a hint of tiredness whereas he was already sweating. It was as if she could predict exactly where the ball was going to land and walk towards that direction before he hit the ball.
"You're good." She suddenly complimented and he hit the ball.
"Less talking!" He mentioned and she pouted before hitting the ball.
"Let me tell you something. The only way to win at tennis is to play the ball when your opponent least expects it." She said still playing with ease. Pete was having a hard time focusing. He couldn't concentrate while she talked.
'How is she so good at this?' He thought and in the process, missed the ball. "Again!" He said and they played again.
It was very obvious that he was trying his best but Naomi wasn't trying at all. His moves were very predictable to her, maybe not for a normal person but, she wasn't normal so...
"Let's stop here." Naomi said catching the ball with her right hand. "You seemed stressed. If you keep going like this, you might end up losing the game."
"I won't lose!" Pete suddenly snapped. "I can't lose!"
Naomi looked at him strangely. There seemed to be something behind him playing this game but she couldn't just pry and ask what it was. She walked towards him and gave his shoulder a little shove. He looked at her. She was smiling haphazardly.
"Since that's the case, then you have to man up and focus on the game. I'm sure you won't lose." She smiled even wider exposing her white glistening teeth. Pete's eyes widened in surprise.
Just then, Logan entered the field with someone accompanying him. His aim was to talk to Pete but on seeing this female student, he stopped.
He heard there was a female student but didn't think he'd run into her like this. More importantly, her back looked familiar. He tried to think. Where had he seen that back?
Pete looked up from Naomi to see Logan standing just a few meters away. He immediately frowned. Naomi wondered what he was frowning at and quickly turned her head. Her eyes widened and she let out a horrifying gasp. She quickly hid behind Pete.
"Anna!" Logan called, surprised to see that it was her.
Naomi pressed her eyelids shut. Why… Why did she have to rub into him?
"You've got… you've got the wrong person. I...I'm not Anna!" Naomi denied. She clutched onto Pete's shirt tightly and seemed to be shaking.
Logan looked at the girl that had been walking alongside him, she had a grin. He was sure he wasn't seeing wrongly.
"Annabell, you might be able to deny it to Logan but can you deny it to me?" The girl spoke. Her name was Abigail.
Pete felt Naomi shaking. She seemed terrified. What was it about her being Annabell? Wasn't she Naomi?
"So what? Please just... get away from me. Both of you! I don't want to see you!" Naomi finally spoke out. Her voice was a bit shaky but she was also irritated.
"Humph! We didn't come to meet you. Don't be so dramatic. In the end you're just a wasted piece." Abigail snapped at her.
"That's enough, Abi!" Logan said and turned to Naomi. "Would it kill you to just show your face? It's been so long, are you still dwelling on the past?"
"Of course not." Naomi said. 'How can I dwell in the past? I don't dare to but...seeing you now seems to have reopened the hole in my heart. You left me deeply hurt, how can you still talk so coolly? Did I really mean nothing to you?' She thought and bit down on her lower lip hard just to fight the tears that were whelming up in her eyes.
Pete didn't want to keep quiet anymore, so he decided to speak up.
"Logan, Naomi doesn't want to see or talk to you. If you have anything to discuss with me...it can wait." Pete said, which took Logan aback. He was surprised, not at the tone he was talking in but what he said.
He had never seen Pete talk to girls before let alone defend them. How was Anna different? And she went by the name Naomi now? A lot seemed to have changed for her.
"Okay!" He gave in. "Abi, let's go." He said and Abigail held his hand as they both walked away.
Once they were gone, Naomi gave into her feeble legs and wanted to just fall down but Pete held onto her. He looked at her face, that was when he noticed the glistening tears rolling down her cheeks.