The Best Year - 21. Chapter 21 - Begins Part 2

“You gotta tell them, dude,” Toby said as he tossed me the football. I turned and quickly threw it to Derek. I hated that a football felt a little bit foreign in my hands, but I had never been into the sport. I could manage a little better with basketball though.

“No I don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “Shut up about it, people are going to start showing up soon.”

“Jack, tell them already!” Toby hissed barely catching the ball that Derek threw. Derek seemed completely amused by the situation and that made me want to punch him in the face.

“I’m not going to tell them, Luke doesn’t want people knowing,” I answered rolling my eyes. We’d been having this circular argument all week whenever we found ourselves alone or out of earshot of the girls.

“I’m going to fuck up and tell them myself,” Toby warned throwing the football long for Derek. Being on defense, Derek nearly fell over himself trying to reach the deep ball. Smiling, I walked up to Toby knowing that I should be in the weight room getting stretched out for my weight training and not out here wasting time with them as they waited for coaches and the other players to show up.

“Sorry man,” I offered, punching him in the shoulder. “I’m not going to tell Ally so that you can tell Heather.”

“I wish Lily didn’t know, so Derek wouldn’t hold that shit over my head,” he huffed kicking the flowery top off a dandelion that survived the last mowing of the football field.

“I’m glad she did, now,” I countered as I looked around. Other players were just now making their way over from dropping off their books in their cars behind the school building, but Rick or none of the coaches were here yet. That usually meant they were in a meeting and the football team was about to get a tongue lashing for something. Today was a weight day, so the team would be joining me in the weight room to work out. It was something I liked, working out in an empty building was boring as hell - especially if the only person there to talk to was Rick and all he was good for was yelling about laziness and lacking effort.

And I was glad that Lily did figure me out. Looking back, I wondered how many more people gave Luke and I any thought and put things together. It was still new, having the guys know. New enough that the gay jokes and the questions were only just starting to annoy me, but I couldn’t help feeling good about Derek and Toby still being my friends. I also didn’t think Luke would have come around if they hadn’t ambushed him at the bonfire last weekend. So in a way, I owed Lily a lot for my current happiness, but I also knew it very well could have been a trainwreck, that is what kept me from telling Heather and Ally. As much as I wanted to finally be free from hiding, at least around my best friends, Luke wasn’t ready and I had to respect that.

Lunch was the most awkward part of my day now. Cindy grounded Luke as soon as he got home from helping pick up trash. Now most of our conversations happened with Heather and Olivia and Connor at our table. Monday being the strangest as Luke couldn’t keep from blushing and I couldn’t help smiling whenever I looked his way and caught his eye. Connor also acted weird at our table, but I no longer felt like I had to scare the fuck out of him when it came to Olivia. Cindy did that Sunday morning and I didn’t think his balls would come out of hiding any time soon. He was just as bashful and careful around Olivia as Luke and I were with one another, but Olivia was growing more annoyed with him by the day.

Ally was the only person at school that worried me. Bailey Ashton was still following her around and as much as I told myself that it didn’t bother me, it had. Not that he was an asshole or anything. I was relieved when she dumped me out on the lawn beside my house that night, even if she had to do it again at lunch the next day. I wanted her to get tired of me. Now that Luke and I were sort of a thing, I didn’t want to think that I still had feelings for her. That I worried if she was happy or if I had hurt her and this Bailey Ashton thing was just somehow her way of trying to make me jealous or want her back.

I didn’t know what all those jumbled feelings meant about me. I never really wanted to sit down and figure all of them out. I wasn’t scared when Luke kissed me in the pool that night. It just seemed to validate something in me that I always knew was there. Something that I hadn’t given much thought to when I was with girls and they had been such a big part of my life that overshadowed most of those feelings anyhow. After that kiss, I only hated that Ally didn’t know how I felt about it. That I couldn’t help looking forward to seeing Luke at the park, even if I chickened out and didn’t go back. It was the first real time I realized that I could mess everything up, but for the most part I still felt like myself.

“Jackson,” Derek said, slapping me on the arm. “What the fuck are you thinking about?”

“Telling Ally and Heather,” Toby countered, “before I kick his ass.”

“Try it, bitch,” I joked as Derek tossed the football into the air and caught it.

“Derek, make him tell them,” Toby ordered and I glanced over at Derek and smirked.

“Can’t do that,” Derek argued, squeezing the football with both hands. “I like Lily being the only girl knowing.”

“Fucking hell,” Toby groaned. “I don’t want to fuck up and tell them, you know I can’t keep secrets.”

“Luke doesn’t want them knowing and I haven’t been able to talk to him,” I countered sighing. “I’ve told you this.”

“Church will be alright,” Toby countered, elbowing me in the side. “It’s me who is gonna have a fucking fit.”

“Do it,” Derek said laughing. “I want to see you stomp your foot like a little girl.”

“Fuck you,” Toby hissed and I jumped out of the way as Toby launched himself and bounced off Derek’s larger frame. Then I couldn’t help laughing when he ran around and jumped on Derek’s back wrapping his arms around his neck.

“You’re choking me you asshole,” Derek growled trying to hit Toby in the head with the ball.

“Boys!” Rick yelled and I jumped to see him standing a few yards behind us with most of the team smirking and laughing just behind him. “Marks get off him before you choke him out.”

“Sorry coach,” Toby said, “had to teach him a lesson.”

“I’ll kick your ass for that later,” Derek coughed his cheeks flushed.

“Go on in and get to work, Jackson,” Rick said and I could see him trying not to smile as he shook his head. “Everyone else take a damn knee.”

Leaving them I walked inside and straight to the elliptical knowing that most of the guys would want the weight benches to show off to one another and make side bets on who can lift the most or do the most reps.

Saturday morning I woke up smiling as I slid out of bed a couple of minutes before Mom was due to come knocking on my door to wake me for practice. I was only slightly nervous knowing that my season would be kicking off with the first couple of meets soon. Coach Garrison still hadn’t worked with me much, although that hadn’t worried me until lately. Now that Emily was running out of things for me to work on I expected to be added to the main pool with the rest any day now. Matt and Aiden Townson still hated me, but mostly ignored me completely when we were all at the pool. Other than the lunch breaks, I didn’t get to talk to the rest of the guys much. I couldn’t help feeling like I was still the odd man out, Charlie being the most talkative whenever we got a chance.

Stepping into the shower, I could smell what Mom was cooking for breakfast. This new schedule we were both on was finally feeling normal. At first I wasn’t used to her being here on Saturdays. Usually she would be rushing off before I was ever awake and I would eat cereal and then go do my own thing before Rick had time to practice with me. Now she woke up, skipped out on work to fix me a healthy breakfast and a lunch for me to warm up later. Then she would leave me to finish breakfast and go into work to check on things.

Sighing I leaned my head back and let the hot water pour over my chest as my stomach growled anticipating the breakfast waiting for me downstairs. I hated that Luke and I hadn’t talked about last weekend. It had been a week of hello’s and careful conversations and sneaking glances. It was like we were back at the beginning at the park, even though this time the only thing that annoyed me was his careful silence instead of his friendly smile. I wanted to get him alone, but I knew I didn’t want to mess with Cindy. Him being grounded, I couldn’t help thinking, had more to do with Luke being my friend than it did going to the bonfire party. Olivia barely got into any trouble with her parents, even after Cindy told them what she saw and how Olivia talked to her back at Toby’s farm.

After washing I quickly dried off and dressed. Then I gathered up all of my practice equipment Emily sent with me to practice during my final week with Rick. She worked with me on a timer headband, she had studied my film more and saw that my strokes weren’t even and that led me to being inconsistent with my kicking, which chopped the water more and slowed me down. The timer beeped whenever one hand is supposed to be in the water pushing me forward and the other mid-way through to the next stroke. So that I would always hit the water in an even interval with my hands. At first I looked like a drowning idiot so much so that Emily, as stern as she could be at times, couldn’t even keep a straight face.

When I finally got the hang of it though, my swimming no longer felt awkward, but I realized just how much the difference was. It exhausted me doing it a different way than what I was taught. I felt the burn of my muscles and my lungs and it confirmed to me that I was farther behind the other guys than what I thought. Rick also hated it when he realized just how green of a coach he really was when it came to swimming. So much so that he presented a swimming budget for the school board to get the equipment for his other students. Not being a school board sanctioned sport though, they hadn’t got back to him about the budget proposal. If they did, our county would have its very first swim team. I didn’t hold out a lot of hope though, our county was small and football was the only sport that mattered to most people, even if we didn’t win many games every season.

Packed away I looped the bag over my shoulder and ran down the stairs. Tossing my bag onto the couch I walked into the kitchen offering Mom a smile as she turned from just finishing off both of our plates with the last bit of food from the pan.

“Good morning, Jackson,” she greeted as she sat down at her plate. Ever since Cindy’s outburst I could tell Mom was still upset. Even though it had nothing to do with me, she had lost a friend since grade school. I couldn’t imagine having that kind of fight with Derek or Toby. I hated that I would catch her looking at her phone. They talked a lot and Cindy and Henry staying here in town was a big part of Mom and Dad coming back to live in this shithole after college.

“Hey,” I greeted grabbing a fork and diving into my egg white omelette. She still cheated and put cheese and some other off the list ingredients, but in the two weeks of my new training I already lost some weight.
“I’m running out of ideas for your lunches,” Mom said as she looked down at her own egg white omelette. Being take out eating kind of people, we never really had much diversity in our diet. As I forked through my food testing mushrooms and turkey, I smiled.

“Maybe when the season gets started we can cheat more,” I said and she laughed, shaking her head. “I mean I’ll hopefully be pretty busy.”

“Have they talked to you about meets yet?” Mom asked and I shook my head.

“Tony hasn’t said anything, but we have to be cutting it close to early entries,” I answered, taking another bite of food.

“By this time last year Rick already had you signed up for some,” Mom said glancing down at her watch. “I wouldn’t worry about it though, how are you doing with the rest of the guys?”

“The same,” I said, “Charlie talks a lot, but the Townson guys still hate me.”

“They’ll come around,” she said as she reached over and patted me on the shoulder. She liked that I had been open about my swimming. In reality though, she was full of questions now that Cindy and her weren’t talking, swimming and the Garrisons were the only safe things I could talk about. I didn’t want to bring up Cindy and I definitely didn’t want to slip and tell her anything about Luke. I didn’t know how she would react. If Cindy was any indication it wouldn’t be good, but I also thought Mom wasn’t really like her. I mean, she let me go to that party knowing what I would be getting up to, Cindy was the one that Godzilla-ed the place.

After we finished, Mom took our plates and rinsed them as I stood and walked out of the living room. Glancing at my phone I saw that I would be cutting it closer than usual so I said a quick bye to Mom as I grabbed my bag and went out the door. I was just at my car when she ran outside holding my lunch bag. Smiling, I opened the back door and shoved my swim bag inside, then jogged to meet her on the sidewalk.

“Thanks,” I said smiling as she handed it to me and kissed me on the cheek.

“Don’t thank me, it’s just a sandwich, wheat bread at that,” she countered laughing when I grimaced. “I love you, see you when you get home.”

“You too,” I muttered. Being outside, even in the middle of nowhere, I couldn’t keep from blushing when Mom got mushy with me.

When I got to the Aquatic Center, my car was the last one in the lot. Rushing I gathered everything and jogged from my car to the door. After rearranging everything in my arms I opened the door and walked inside. Ignoring the still empty front foyer, I entered the pool area. Jackie was there and I looked around at everyone standing around her. She was holding a clipboard and she had a box beside her. Seeing me she waved me over and put the clipboard under her arm as she bent down and grabbed a clear plastic wrapped package. When I joined them she smiled and noticed that everyone else was holding new uniforms.

“Here you are, Jackson,” she said as she handed mine to me. “You’re the only new guy, so I hope everything fits.”

“Thanks,” I said as I examined the package. Our colors were red, grey, and white. My shorts were grey with red and white stripes down the legs, or at least the picture on the package of the model had them. We didn’t match though, as I noticed more red in some suits that people carried than on others and Aiden Townson had black shorts.

“Your warm up suits are in too,” she announced happily. “Tony will give you those when he gets the meet roster finalized and talks to you all after practice today.”

“Meets?” I asked and forced myself to keep eye contact with her as everyone turned to look at me.

“Don’t worry, Jackson,” Jackie answered smiling as she glanced at her watch. “Tony likes to review tapes and his notes on you guys before he discusses meets. Don’t worry.”

“Alright,” I offered and Charlie patted me on the shoulder.

“Now go try those on to see if they fit,” she announced blowing her whistle. “Divers time to stop talking and start stretching!”

Leaving the swimmers she clapped her hands and herded the girls and lone male diver to the diving area. They were already wearing what looked to be their new diving suits. Grabbing my bags I followed everyone else to the locker rooms and when I got there, I smiled. Aiden Townson was just inside the room and Charlie and Drae were snickering as they walked over to their lockers.

“Did you do this?” Aiden asked as he whirled to glare at me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I answered shouldering past him. When I got inside I noticed that his stuff was scattered around the floor of the locker room. When I glanced up I saw that my name had been added to the last locker beside his.

“There’s a note,” Matt said and he ripped a piece of notebook paper taped on Aiden’s locker. “Show some respect to earn respect Aiden, signed Tony.”

“Son of a bitch,” Aiden hissed as he snatched the paper from Matt and read it himself. Hearing the note Charlie’s laugh echoed through the locker room. It earned some glares from Matt as both of the Townson brothers walked around the room gathering up Aiden’s scattered things. “I’m not going to put up with this shit all year.”

“Get over it,” Draeden countered as he stripped down to his boxer briefs. I looked away feeling my face flush as I made my way to my locker. His muscular body was by far the best looking. The guy looked like he never missed a day at the gym and ate everything on Tony’s diet right down to the letter. Charlie in comparison wasn’t as broad, but still just as toned. After Draeden talked, Matt turned his back on them and started getting ready for practice. Aiden was the one who glared as he started putting his things inside his locker.

“I have a division one scholarship, I don’t need this shit,” Aiden added, his voice lower as he glanced at me. “What the fuck do you have?”

“A better backstroke,” I answered as I unzipped my bag and started organizing my own locker, still happy to see my name in permanent looking letters on top. I didn’t really know if I had a better anything compared to Aiden, but I smirked when his nostrils flared and he almost ripped his shirt off his back as he undressed.

“Let’s get going guys,” Tony yelled from the doorway of the locker room. Jumping I ignored Aiden and the guys and quickly stripped down naked. Then I opened the package and hoped everything fit, Jackie had only done one measurement and that was the first night we met during my tryout. Looking back, I didn’t think it was much of a tryout. They needed a spot filled and I hoped my film and Rick sold me where they were concerned. I didn’t want to think that I really was still trying out, that Aiden and Matt were right, that I could be replaced just as easily. I hadn’t let them get into my head, working with Emily kept me focused on what we were doing and wasn’t able to compare myself to the rest of the guys.

Satisfied that my shorts fit I grabbed my goggles, nose plug, and cap. Then I followed the guys out to the pool where Tony and Emily stood waiting with the girls filing out of their locker rooms as well. Jackie already had her divers stretched and doing some platform diving off the five meter platform.

“Take a seat,” Tony ordered and I noticed that two rows of bleachers were pulled out from the front row. When we were all seated Emily handed Tony the clipboard and pulled the already loosened tape off the box beside him. He glared at her as she pulled what looked like our warm up suits neatly wrapped in plastic. I could just make out that they looked red, but with them folded I couldn’t really tell much about them. I heard a few of the girls gasp as she grinned and dropped it back into the box. “You all know the first meets are in two weeks, like every year. I’ve thought over the roster and my notes and have decided your entries.”

My heart was racing in my chest as Tony took his time looking at the clipboard in his hand. When he flipped the paper over to look at a second page I glanced over at Charlie who sat beside me. Like me he was watching Tony, but he seemed calm. I doubted there would be a lot of changes made to their meet schedules from last year. Maybe some more events added, but I knew that Pete had been the anchor for the relays. That was probably what the guys were most interested in.

“Sorry Tony,” Emily said, turning to me. “Jackson did you bring back the equipment I sent with you at the beginning of the week?”

“Yes,” I answered when Tony shot Emily a look I couldn’t read. She ignored him and smiled as she nodded.

“I’ll need that when we’re finished here,” she said glancing down at her watch.

“Are you finished?” Tony asked, glancing at Emily. She didn’t answer, rolling her eyes. Some of the girls giggled, but Tony flipped the first page back and took one lingering glance at it before clearing his throat. “Charlie you said you wanted to add the 200 meter medley, you are entered in the next meet for that. Otherwise everyone has the same schedules as last year. Jackson you’re entered in the one hundred meter freestyle, and we’re kicking off the season with just one relay, the order is Matt, Jackson, Drae, and Aiden.”

“Coach,” I said after he fell silent. “Why am I only entered into two events?”

“I want to see that you can handle a more competitive environment,” Tony answered, shrugging. “Let’s get warmed up guys.”

“But wait a second,” I countered as Charlie and the rest of the guys stood up. He handed the clipboard to Emily. “I think I can handle more than just those events.”

“Emily go over the schedule with the girls,” Tony ordered, shooting me a glare. “Jackson, that’s my final word on the schedule.”

“But Coach,” I said my face flushing as I stood. Looking past him I saw Draeden and Charlie shaking their heads and Matt and Aiden snickering. I knew, just from the few interactions I had with Tony that he didn’t like being argued with.

“That’s enough, Jackson,” Tony countered holding up his hand. “You need to show improvement before I sign you up for a fuller schedule.”

“Come on,” I argued balling my hands into fists. I knew I shouldn’t let my temper get the better of me and the glare Tony leveled on me should have shut me up.

“Office, now,” he growled and I slumped my shoulders as he turned around. “The rest of you better be stretched and warmed up when I get back.”

“Come on guys,” Aiden said smirking when I stepped around them to follow Tony to his office. I didn’t glance over my shoulder, but I knew none of them had moved to start stretching or warming up as I opened his office door and closed it behind me.

Tony was already seated at his desk taking a drink of water from a small paper cup. There was a water cooler in the corner. His office was smaller than I would have guessed and dimly lit. Behind him were framed medals, they were old and when I looked at the dates I figured they were from his swimming days. When I looked at him he motioned for me to sit down and he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.

“Now,” he said, “I am very close to telling you to not show up for the meet at all if you don’t like my schedule.”

“It’s just that I’ve done more in the past,” I said trying to rein in the rest of my temper. “Freestyle isn’t even my best event, the butterfly is.”

“I realize that,” he said as I sat straight up in my chair. Unlike sitting in Welker’s office I knew I wouldn’t get away with anything in here. “I’m not going to waste your parent’s money or mine until I know you can handle this new environment.”

“I can,” I countered and then chewed on my bottom lip when he squinted and sighed.

“We’ll see in two weeks,” he said uncrossing his arms. “I won’t have you challenging my decisions though, I am your coach and you are in my program. I call the shots, if you don’t trust me you know where the doors are. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” I answered clenching my jaws to keep myself from saying anything else.

“If you do well we’ll discuss your schedule, it is a long season Jackson, I am well aware that you are a senior,” Tony added as he stood he offered me a small smile. “I will get you that college scholarship, you have a lot of upside.”

“Thanks,” I offered and he motioned for me to stand.

“Go get warmed up,” he ordered and I nodded and opened the door squinting against the brighter lights as I let the door close behind me. I knew Tony would be out soon after me and when I looked at the guys they were all in the middle of different stretches. Draeden was already in the water doing slow laps and Emily had finished with the girls and they had started stretching as well.

Seeing me Emily waved me over and I walked past the guys. She was standing close enough to them that Matt and Aiden only managed smirks. I tried to ignore them, but I smirked when Charlie reached over and gently pushed Aiden off balance as he stretched his right leg behind him and he had to stumble to keep his footing. When I reached Emily she took me a few yards away from everyone else offering me a smile.

“Don’t worry, Jackson,” she said, “I know you’re upset about the easy schedule, but I was the one that made it.”

“You don’t think I can do more?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Of course I do,” she answered patting me on the shoulder despite the glare I gave her. “We only compete against quality clubs, these aren’t your typical high school events. We’re independently based, a bad first meet can set up an entire season, so I wanted to make sure you shined.”

“I don’t need to win everything, I’ll live,” I said shaking my head.

“I know you aren’t lacking in confidence,” she added laughing. “But try not to be discouraged, if you do well Tony and I won’t take it easy on you.”

“Good,” I said smiling when she shook her head.

“You might live to regret that,” she countered laughing. “Now go get your timing equipment. I want to see how much that has helped you.”

“Alright,” I said and I jogged into the locker room and grabbed my bag. When I got back outside Tony had just come out of his office and ordered everyone else into the pool to do their warm up laps. When his whistle blew the main pool erupted with life as water splashed the concrete around the sides. Walking over to the side pool where Emily waited I put on my cap, then she adjusted the timing headband and put it on me. Then I slid on my goggles and climbed up onto the blocks and waited for her whistle.

“When you complete twenty warm up laps, signal me and start your timer,” she instructed and I nodded as she blew her whistle. As I hit the water I tried to forget the lingering fears of this still being my trial period. That Emily was only here to help determine whether or not I was worth the time and money. My easy schedule was a cupcake compared to what Rick and I signed up for last year. I was an independent swimmer then too, but Emily was also right in saying that the competition was going to be tougher. I doubted Tony would schedule meets with just anyone with open lanes.

After finishing my warm up laps, I turned on my headband and the consistent beeping in my ears started. Looking up, I waved at Emily and she nodded and I started swimming again. It took me a couple of strokes to get lined out with where the beeps told me my arms should be within the stroke. It wasn’t something I thought I would ever get used to. When Emily first tried it, I heard beeping in my head long after the practice ended, even in my sleep. The annoying timer did help me realize that I wasn’t consistent, that sometimes I did slow down my strokes, or shorten and cheat them. Both of which chopped the water and kept my timing off. It frustrated me to the point of wanting to rip the headband off my head and destroying it. When I would fall out of rhythm with the beeps, it took me completely stopping and restarting to just fall back in line. Now I just cheat a few strokes until my arms are in line again. Rick and I hadn’t realized what all swimming entailed. I hated to wonder what else Emily had in her bag of tricks to whip out and use against me. The drag suits were nice, it beat wearing loose and oversized t-shirts to add weight and drag. At least with the mesh shorts I no longer had to dodge fabric as it floated around me when I took a turn in the pool to head back in the other direction. Rick did what he could with the money he had though and I tried not to feel like I wasted time. He made me love swimming and for that I owed him a lot. I couldn’t imagine myself tossing around a ball or swinging a bat, but without Rick that would probably be what I did to help pass the time during the boring school year.

At lunch Matt and Aiden were still smirking at me for my outburst with Tony. Ignoring them I grabbed my sandwich and sat beside Charlie and across the table from Draeden. He had a girl on either side of him, being more than a foot taller than both he rolled his eyes when the two girls started chatting loudly to one another as he chewed his food.

“What did Tony say earlier?” Charlie asked as he took a bite of what looked like a cheesy, unhealthy, pasta dinner. Cocking an eyebrow at my wheat sandwich I sighed.

“To calm my ass down,” I answered, shrugging. I didn’t want to go into detail, not with Matt and Aiden in earshot. I also didn’t know how close Charlie and the guys were, the less they knew about me, the better I would get along with those two.

“Yeah,” Charlie snickered, taking another bite. When he caught me watching, my stomach growled and he busted out laughing.

“How the fuck do you get to eat that?” I asked still not tasting the food that I shoved into my mouth.

“I burn a lot of calories,” he answered winking. When I glanced across the table Draeden grimaced.

“Don’t ask,” Draeden hissed. “When Charlie winks it means he’s being a nasty assed pervert in his head.”

“You won’t be on Tony’s diet very long, you have a nice body,” Charlie added and the girls at the table giggled when my face flushed.

“Thanks,” I mumbled while taking another bite of my sandwich.

“And don’t let Aiden and Matt get to you, they still have a boner for Pete,” Charlie said, raising his voice as he glanced over his shoulder.

“Pete got clean, Tony needs to let him come back,” Aiden said, “ and shut the fuck up Charlie.”

“See,” Charlie added smirking at Drae.

“How long have you all been swimming together?” I asked wrapping the crust from my sandwich back up into the plastic wrap Mom put it in then shoved it back into my bag. Charlie offered me a second plastic fork to help him finish off his food, but I shook my head and he shrugged and went back to shoveling it into his mouth.

“Three years,” Drae answered, “Aiden, Pete, and I would have been four.”

“Matt and I are juniors in high school,” Charlie added, “but Pete, Matt, and Aiden have been in the same circle since the second grade.”

“Is that why they hate me?” I asked and the girls at the table rolled their eyes.

“No they’re just dicks,” one of them answered. Not being around the girls much since I got here I didn’t know any of their names.

“Shay!” The girl who didn’t comment hissed trying not to laugh.

“Well they are,” Shay repeated. “They walk around here like they own the place, they have for years.”

“Tony coached them since middle school,” Draeden offered as he wiggled out from between the two girls at the table and walked over to the trashcan to discard his plastic fork and paper plate. Like Charlie he also didn’t seem to be on Tony’s diet anymore, which gave me hope to finally eat real food again.

“Break’s over kids,” Emily said after briefly opening the break room door, poking her head inside. “Let’s get warmed back up.”

“Alright,” Charlie said and he shoved a few more large bites of his pasta into his mouth and I shook my head as I stood and followed him to the trash can. He put the lid back on his food and like Draeden tossed away his fork and napkins before shoving everything back into his bag. Just having a sandwich to clean up after I was the first one out. Walking back to Emily I saw that she was holding two large plastic paddles with straps.

“Hi there, take some easy warm up laps,” she said, “then we’ll get these on you.”

“What are they for?” I asked as I walked to the water’s edge and bent down to splash the cold water over my chest and stomach so the shock of the water wouldn’t be as bad when I dove in.

“They force you to take smooth strokes,” she answered smiling. “They’re a pain to use, so don’t get too cranky.”

“I’ll try not to,” I said as some of the girls laughed as they passed by my pool on the way to the main pool. Emily shook her head as she sat down on the edge and stuck her feet into the water. It was something I never saw Tony or Jackie do, which made me like Emily. Even though she was strict when it came to practice she could still relax and smile.

When practice ended, my wrists hurt from all the extra drag and weight that the paddles caused. Emily instructed me to soak them in cold water if they got stiff. That it wouldn’t take too many more laps with them before I elongated and smoothed out my strokes. She did warn me that next week I’d be working with them and the timer. The heads up made me dread the next time I saw her face, usually she surprised me with new things. This warning already told me that I’d have to bite my tongue and make an attempt at staying patient.

I also forced myself to keep driving past every fast food stop I passed on my way out of town. My shit-hole town only had one McDonalds and nothing else. This town though had everything from hamburgers, to tacos, and ice cream. Things I haven’t had in my system for over a solid two weeks. Cursing under my breath as I got out of my car hoping Mom had cheated a lot on dinner, I nearly missed the rustle of the branches and the loud whisper coming from the treeline.

“Luke?” I asked turning to look towards the front door. Mom would have seen my headlights as I pulled into the drive and parked my car.

“Mom and Dad are gone so I snuck out,” Luke said as he stepped out of the treeline.

“I need to go tell Mom I’m home,” I said smiling when I saw him standing there. Not seeing him outside of school since the party I quickly bounded up the stairs to the front door. Opening it I smelled the food cooking and my stomach growled as I turned the sharp left and found Mom in the kitchen hovering over the stove.

“Hey, how was practice?” Mom asked glancing over her shoulder.

“Rough,” I answered wondering how I was going to tell Mom that I would be just outside. I almost asked her if Luke could come inside, but he wasn’t supposed to be out and even though Mom wasn’t talking to Cindy, Mom could still let it slip.

“Anything wrong, you look wired?” Mom asked as she quickly grabbed a bowl of salad and put it on the table. A salad has been part of every meal since Tony gave me my new diet. I doubted that every meal he listed had a salad as a side dish, they were just easy to throw together and everyone knew they were healthy.

“No,” I answered, trying to relax. I leaned against the back of the closest kitchen chair.

“Jackson,” Luke said from the doorway. I nearly fell over when my hand slipped from the back of the chair and had to catch myself. I grimaced when the lingering pain and stiffness from my wrists ran up my arms and turned to see him walking to stand at the back of the couch.

“Luke,” Mom said as she shut off the stove and moved all the pans off the hot burners. “What a surprise!”

“Sorry, Grace,” Luke said, his cheeks flushing. “I sort of snuck out of the house when Dad took Mom out.”

“Well I would tell you that you need to go back home, but since I’m angry with Cindy, who cares, right?” Mom said, offering him a smile. “Do you want some food?”

“I already ate,” he answered as I recovered from the shock of him showing his ass inside. He should have just come on in and saved me the trouble of attempting to lie to Mom. When he caught my glare he rolled his eyes as he shrugged his shoulders.

“How long are you grounded?” Mom asked as she turned back to the food on the stove.

“I don’t know,” Luke answered as I watched him turn his attention back to me. He nodded towards the front door and I smiled. “Whenever she calms down, I guess.”

“Well I’m sorry for the part I played in making her angry,” Mom said as I started walking towards the living room.

“We’ll be out on the front porch, Mom,” I said and when she didn’t say anything I ushered Luke outside and closed the door behind me.

“You were taking too long,” Luke whispered, smirking as we kept walking from the front door. He led me down the stairs and back to the tree line where there weren’t any windows for Mom to see out.

“You could have just come in and saved my ass the trouble, you know,” I countered smiling. “You could have talked to her while she cooked.”

“What was that anyway?” Luke asked, wrinkling his nose.

“No clue,” I answered trying not to laugh. “At least it didn’t smell like fish.”

“Gross,” he said, taking a step towards me. “Good thing I got here before you ate, your breath would be toxic.”

“Shut up,” I countered, “what was Cindy really like?”

“I’m lucky to still be at school to be honest,” he answered sighing. “I’m not allowed to be your friend. I’m not even supposed to be talking to you at school, but Dad told her she was overreacting. He’s been sleeping on the couch.”

“Sorry,” I said, but he smiled.

“Don’t be, Dad is getting cranky,” Luke countered, “he hates the couch, Mom’s cat likes to lick elbows and the dumb thing don’t care if you’re asleep or not when he does it.”

“So Henry will calm her down, you think?” I asked and he sighed.

“Yeah, eventually,” he answered, taking a step forward. “I didn’t come here to talk about my parents though.”

“Oh?” I asked, smiling, but when I went to close the distance between us he held up his hand.

“Toby cornered me out by my car when I was getting food for dinner tonight,” Luke said, “wanted me to tell the women about me and you.”

“He said women,” I said laughing when Luke grinned.

“He thinks he’s going to slip up and say something,” Luke added, but this time he wasn’t smiling. “How do you think Ally will take it?”

“I don’t know how either of them will,” I answered shrugging. “Since Lily hasn’t told them, I’m worried that they won’t like it.”

“I can’t keep you from your friends,” Luke whispered letting his hands drop back to his sides. “Ally and Heather are your friends, it would be easier if they knew.”

“I don’t want to say anything to them that would cause you shit with people,” I countered reaching out, I grabbed his shoulders and leaned forward so that I could see him better in the dark. “I don’t even know what I would tell them if I wanted to.”

“Olivia knows,” Luke said, “she cornered me on the way home. Said she had me figured out, I couldn’t tell a convincing enough lie to get out of it.”

“How did she take it?” I asked hating that we couldn’t talk about these things at school and that we didn’t see one another. All of this felt like old news, it should have been old news. It made me angry with Cindy all over again and I hoped Henry put his foot down soon, it seemed to be the only way Luke would have any freedom.

“She thinks it’s funny,” he answered frowning. “That I would be into guys, but be dumb enough to fall for the biggest, well you know, on campus.”

“Asshole,” I offered when he hesitated. He barely succeeded in not laughing. It was enough to drive me over the edge of my resolve and I pulled him forward and kissed him. At first he stood rigid, but then I felt his lips soften and move against mine as his arms wrapped around my waist.

“Jackson!” Mom announced from the front door. “Where are you? The food is getting cold, tell Luke to come on in and have a bite.”

Jumping I took a step back and shot a glare behind me towards the corner of the house. Sighing, I turned back to Luke and he smirked. Hating Mom’s poor as fuck timing I wanted to ignore her, but I knew she would just come out looking for me if I didn’t answer her.

“We went for a walk, Mom, I’ll be a minute,” I answered, not turning away from him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said offering me a smile. “I’ll sneak out after church or something.”

“Okay,” I said as he walked up and gave me a quick kiss then turned and walked back into the treeline. I watched as his white shirt faded into the darkness as he retreated before I walked around the corner of the house. I wondered how I could make all this work with everything stacking up against us. For once I wanted the year to fly by, to put everything behind us for a bit of freedom. Nothing felt more stifling than having a secret in a small town like this.