Page 81 of Every Hidden Truth

I tucked a stubborn strand of purple hair behind her ear. “You look nice.”

She dropped her eyes with a shy smile, her pale cheeks pinking. “Thanks. You, too.”

With a snort, I glanced down at the plain white T-shirt I’d decorated for Ben. It read,Go, Ben, Go!on the front and on the back I’d written,World’s #1 Boyfriend/Diver.I hoped wearing another homemade shirt would inspire him.

“I don’t look half as good as Ben does in that Speedo, that’s for damn sure,” I said.

Esther snorted, her blush darkening. “If my mother heard you talk, she’d put pepper on your tongue.”

“That sounds like child endangerment.”

“It’s called discipline.” She rolled her eyes, bringing a bottle of water to her lips. “Spare the rod, spoil the child.”

“Spare the rod? If that ain’t a gay anecdote, I don’t know what is.”

She choked on her sip of water, and I patted her back as she hacked up half a lung. When she caught her breath, she punched me in the shoulder, and I cowered away, cackling like a witch.

As she glared, I huddled close and plopped a wet kiss on her cheek. She shoved me away with an exasperated growl, but her lips twitched. Ignoring her annoyance, I rested my head on her shoulder, and she relaxed.

When the lap pool emptied and the judges took their seats near the diving pool, we both straightened in our seats. Ben stood beside Julian, talking with Coach Kane, and when he searched the bleachers, I stood and flailed my arms like a wild man until he found me.

His face brightened, and he waved, his teeth gleaming. Julian smacked him on the back of the head and pointed to the pool.

“Get your head in the game, Ben,” I mocked Julian’s likely reprimand under my breath as I sat back down.

Central’s team had three divers pitted against our two, and it was clear from the first dive, Ben held the advantage. He and Julian were going to sweep the pool floor with them.

And that was exactly what they did.

Finishing first and second, Ben and Julian earned enough points to cement our lead. The only way we’d lose was if the swimmers did an atrocious job in the last few races.

They didn’t, and we won with flying colors.

Esther and I stamped our feet on the bleachers, cheering loudly as our team celebrated the win.

“In your face, Central!” I said to Esther.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I was rooting for you.”

“Do you ever root for your own school?”

As she considered the question, we traversed the dangerous bleachers to escape the humid room. “Well, when I play for competition, I do.”

“What sport do you play?” I asked before I thought better of it, and a jeering chuckle scraped her throat.

“I don’t play sports, Silas. What team would let me?” The bitter bite in her tone sounded wrong coming from her mouth, and she cringed in apology. “I play in the orchestra.”

“Oh? What instrument?”

“Cello.”

We lounged against the wall, waiting for Ben and Ronnie to come out of the locker rooms. Our shoulders touched, her hands tucked into the pocket of the red zip-up hoodie she wore. I tugged on the string of her hood.

“The cello? That’s cool. You any good?”

“I’m not bad.”

“Well, my mom tried to teach me piano, but it never took. You playing any instrument is impressive to me.”

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