The past week was good to say the least. Ace returned to his normal self and stopped bothering me, blending in with the shadows. In the classes we shared together he wouldn't even look my way, ignoring my presence and I couldn't be happier.
I was slowly picking up on Calculus but it wasn't the best. My teacher had called me aside at the end of class one day and told me that I needed to get my grades back up.
That day I swear I wanted to ask for Ace's help but I changed my mind, determined to do this by myself.
Cal and I still remained the same, though we had been hanging out more often and he stayed over at my house twice already.
I think one of the reasons why we stayed closer to each other was because we were alike in so many ways. Our parents were never home and we lived life as it threw itself at us. It was nice to know that I was not the only miserable person out there.
I had no races throughout the week and it didn't look like I'd be having one anytime soon. This week had been the definition of boring and I was so glad it was Friday.
My coach had called me to her office just before practice so I sat there in my sport gear, shorts with tights that hugged my skin underneath and grey sports bra, my sneakers tied perfectly on my feet, ready once again for the tracks.
"You've been behind a lot lately Olivia, coming for practice late and not to mention your teacher tells me that you're behind in Calculus. This is unlike you Olivia, what is going on?"
I sighed. This was one of the reasons I had to stay at the top in all my classes, if not I'd be kicked out of the team and with the looks of it I really needed that calculus lesson from Ace.
"I've just been distracted, I'll sit up ma'am." One of the things I loved more than anything was running, it made me feel alive and it was my escape from reality so I'd do my best to keep at it.
"I'm expecting more from you Olivia," Coach said with a head nod and I took that as my cue to leave. "Run some laps around the field, I'll join you guys soon." She instructed and I nodded, walking out of her office.
When I got to the tracks, the girls were hurdled up in groups talking, they all gathered around when they saw me coming, I guess that was a perk of being captain.
"Laps," I clapped my hands and everyone got to action, our feet's moving at a moderate speed as we jogged around the track.
We were getting to the third lap before our coach came and the real training started.

Jane, Chloe and I had known each other since we were in nappies and though we had slightly different views on a lot of things -me mostly- we were still best friends. They were really amazing friends and I wouldn't trade our friendship for anything.
That was why though their cheer leading practice ended thirty minutes before my practice on Friday evenings they waited for me. Well most of the times they just ogled the football team as they practiced on the field.
As we walked out of school together, all three of us now freshly showered and changed to extra clothes we always kept in our lockers, Jane brought up the idea of a Halloween party and since I threw the best parties in town, I decided to throw one. I hadn't thrown one in over a month now so I was sure the number of people in attendance would be a lot.
"What about your parents?" Matt asked as we got to our cars that were parked together, the guys just finished practice too.
"They're still going to be out of town and even if they're not, they don't mind, as long as I don't break anything. They'd spend the night at a hotel." I answered, getting on my bike.
"I wish my mother was as cool as your parents. Having anyone that she doesn't know at our house makes her flip talk less of the entire school," Mark complained.
"It's really annoying," Matt agreed with an eye roll.
"Few more months and we'd be out of here," I patted Matt's hand to which he nodded.
The girls and I decided to meet at a cafe tomorrow to talk more about the party and of course to catch up. Before I got home, the news of my party had already spread like wild fire and I was starting to get excited for it. Throwing a party never really excited me but this one seemed to be different, I might actually have some fun.
I watched a few episodes of Merlin and when I got tired I decided to go for a walk. I don't usually do it, opting for jogs or running but I just needed the fresh air.
Tucking my hands into the pocket of my jeans, I put one foot in front of the other, heading to nowhere in particular. The air was getting colder with every second and soon enough the sun was setting, giving the sky a nice view.
Spotting the park ahead I walked there and sat on the swing. It was almost empty at this time of the day and for that I was thankful, at least I wouldn't be hearing the cries of little children, I loved the peace and quiet as it was.
Sitting on the swing, I pushed myself as I looked up at the sky. At times like this, I appreciated nature. Wanting to capture this scenery forever I held out my phone and began to take pictures.
I'm not a photographer like Ace but I tried and got the beauty of it as much as I could.
"Make sure your hand is stable, then snap." A familiar voice said from behind me.
I found myself doing as I was instructed, no matter how bad I wanted to drop my phone and glare at Ace. Why does he keep showing up everywhere?
When I had gotten a good shot, I pocketed my phone and turned to look at Ace. "What are you doing here?"
He held up his camera, waving it in front of him before sitting down on the swing beside me but instead of facing where I was facing he faced the other way.
"Nature is too beautiful to ignore." He said. "What are you doing here?" He spoke to me as if we'd been friends for a while.
I didn't understand him in many ways. One minute he was cold to me and the other he was acting all warm and fuzzy as if we were best friends.
"Are you bipolar?" I asked him his own question.
He laughed, not just a small one, it was the one where he tilted his head back and his dimples showed. Wow, I didn't know he had dimples, he looked so good right now. And he sounded divine when he laughed.
"You make me like this," his words shook me out of my trance.
What the hell was wrong with me? And what exactly did he mean just now?
"Huh?" I stared at him in confusion.
He just shook his head and his camera suddenly became interesting to him. This guy was the definition of weird.
He didn't speak after that and neither did I. I stared ahead of me while he studied his camera. We sat in silence as the sun came down and darkness threatened to take over.
My phone beeped in my pocket and I fished it out. It was a text from Callum.
Cal- u home? Ur house looks empty.
I sent a reply immediately.
Me- b there in five.
I stood up from the swing and for a second I wanted to tell Ace that I was leaving but I snapped out of it and walked away.
This was the most civil we'd been around each other since we met, or rather since that day in Chemistry. The air wasn't tense, just calm and collected and for that I was grateful, I didn't want my day to go sour just because I met with Ace Matteo.
On getting home, Cal was at my driveway, I walked to his car and knocked on his window.
He was startled but when he saw it was just me he relaxed and opened the door, stepping out and locking the car behind him.
"Hey babe," he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. "Where were you?"
I started walking towards the house and he followed, "just on a walk, needed the fresh air." I answered.
Immediately we stepped into the house and he locked the door behind him, his mouth was on mine.

"I'll get it," I called to Cal as I walked towards the front door, cash in hand.
After Cal came over, he was hungry, I was too so we decided to order pizza which I believed was at the door.
Unlocking the door, Ace was standing there. Dressed in the same fashion as the first night he delivered my pizaa but this time with a face cap which covered half of his face under the lighting from my porch.
"Ace," I said when I was sure it was him.
He tilted his head slightly, giving me a better view of his face. His eyes scanned me from head to toe and he didn't have to tell me before I knew it, he was either disappointed or judging me.
I was currently wearing Callum's shirt which stopped somewhere mid-thigh and to worsen it I only had on my panties under, meaning my thighs were in view. Normally I wouldn't give a fuck if someone saw me like this or if they started judging me but this time around, I just wanted to cover myself for some unknown reason.
I tugged at the helm of the shirt and his eyes followed my movement before they slowly trailed up to my chest, lingering there for a second or two, I understood why, I wasn't wearing a bra and my nipples were probably advertising themselves right now, before meeting my eyes.
Unlike what I was used to, his sharp blue eyes held no emotions as he stared into my full plain brown ones.
"Olivia," he spoke.
The way my name rolled off his tongue sent shivers through my body and Lord have mercy down to my core. I squeezed my legs tighter and bit my bottom lip.
I saw him go tense so I quickly stretched out the cash to him and when our fingers touched, I felt the electricity again like that first time we touched but this time around it was more. I all but snatched the box from his hand.
"Keep the change," I said before closing the door behind me.
I rested my forehead on the door. Why was I feeling this way around Ace? Did I just get turned on by him calling my name?
"Liv? Are you okay?" I heard Callum ask from behind me, causing me to jerk away from the door, startled.
"Yeah I'm fine," I answered walking upstairs to my room.
From the corner of my eye I saw Callum shrug before following meupstairs.