The Best Year - 22. Chapter 22

Wednesday, I had to keep telling myself that it was only Wednesday. That Friday after school I’ll be rushing to meet Tony and the swim team to go to our first meet. Toby’s party seemed so far away now that we were all focused on school shit. The girls had cheerleading, they will be getting into their own competitions soon. Toby and Derek were busy every Friday night until December, Cindy was still keeping Luke locked away, and I had swimming.

Swimming was completely different now too. Not only were my times a lot better, but I felt it in my entire body. After the blow up with Tony, Emily took more of an interest in getting me prepared for the first meet. Now that we were getting closer, I actually missed being coached by Rick. I didn’t miss the YMCA pool though, nothing beat Tony’s setup, especially now that I was there three times a week after school and in the main pool. Always with Emily, but we were hardly ever alone. Jackie had her divers in during the week, especially her one synchronized team.

What I found interesting is that Tony trusted the guys to stay in shape and up on training. They would come in and work on their own, doing what Tony laid out for them. He would come in and check to see if they’re on time and ride their ass if they seemed to be slacking off. Other than that though he left Emily in there to babysit them as she worked with me. We didn’t come in together as a team either unless we had relay training. That is where Tony took over from Emily and this is where I had the most to learn, never being part of a relay team until this year. Matt and Aiden didn’t say much to me on days when we shared the pool. Draeden was all business when he came in, but we took breaks together. I noticed that he was more laid back and quieter than Charlie especially when Charlie wasn’t there to goad everyone into talking. Drae also took the time during breaks to talk to his girlfriend.

It made me wish that Cindy and Henry would catch up to the rest of the world and buy cell phones. At least then I could text Luke. He was still grounded and I wasn’t about to call his house, I didn’t have their number and I didn’t want to ask Mom for it. I doubted he had phone privileges anyway and I didn’t want to be lectured about being a bad friend by Cindy any time soon. The lecture she gave Mom was bad enough and they still weren’t talking despite Henry’s efforts at church to get them back on good terms. She came home frazzled every Sunday. It would have been funny watching her mumble curse words under her breath fresh out of church, but Mom and Cindy weren’t used to being at odds with one another. I would have tried to help them get back on better terms if them not speaking helped Luke and I. Mom was too pissed at Cindy to tell her about Luke sneaking out of the house when he was supposed to be up in his room grounded.

Ally, Bailey Ashton, and some of the others were also in trouble over Cindy’s tirade. Ally tried not to hold it against me, but I could still tell she wasn’t too pleased about Luke. Welker was now on to her and kept a closer watch. Bailey’s parents grounded him and threatened to take his car away.

My favorite days during training was when Charlie was scheduled to come in too. Unlike during the weekend practices when we all were there, his boyfriend Simon would come. Emily didn’t care if he stuck around as long as he stayed quiet. Like me, Charlie was scheduled for every practice day during the week. He had a new event added to his schedule this year and Tony had him in to work on stamina and clean transitions between turns and strokes. Watching him and Simon together made me jealous as hell, knowing that I couldn’t have that with Luke. Simon seemed like a nice enough guy though, quieter than Charlie, and not as tall. He had dark hair and the only thing I held against him was the days he brought in burgers and other delicious fast foods to eat for his dinner.

I hadn’t told them that I was dating a guy either. The only awkward thing between us was whenever I mustered up the courage to finally tell them about Luke, to see if they could help me out with that. Then being a total chicken shit and backing out. It wasn’t because of Luke either, him not wanting people to know didn’t bother me here. It would be awhile before Cindy let him out of her sight. Toby and everyone were always too busy to come to my meets until the middle of January and only Toby, Derek, and Ally had ever come to any to begin with. I didn’t know how long I could keep up with all these fucking secrets, either. I could see them all coming out and blowing up in my face and sometimes I wished they would. At least then I’d be free of thinking about them and having to be careful. I wasn’t the careful type, I usually just let things happen. It was a hell of a lot more fun to feel unbothered, now I had too much to lose for me to even open my mouth.

“Let’s take a break,” Emily announced after I did my second test run for my one freestyle event this weekend. After working with the paddles and the timer Emily seemed done with her bag of tricks. She was happy that my times were going up, my event this weekend was no more than a sprint for me. All I had to do was keep from being disqualified and I thought I would do well. I never felt this prepared for a first meet. After getting me out of the water she blew her whistle and waved Charlie in as well. Tony had watched him for an hour or so, not saying much to him, but now he was back in his office.

Tonight was also a rare night that Jackie didn’t have any of her divers in. Wanting to give them the rest of the week off before their first events. Unlike us they could become stiff or have muscle strains if they over worked during the week building up to a meet. Instead they did light lifting and ballet on days outside of the pool. This was probably one of those days and there wasn’t a big enough area for them to do that here so she took them to a small dance studio down the road.

“Hey, looking good out there,” Charlie said as he sloshed over to where I stood dripping off. I handed him a towel from the stack left by Emily and we both started drying our hair as Simon made his way off the bleachers.

“Thanks,” I offered as I wrapped my towel around my shoulders. I had my warm up suit on the bleachers, but Emily’s breaks never lasted long enough for me to really get cold. Slipping on my flip flops I sat my goggles, nose clip, and cap down on the starting block I used. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good,” he answered, breathing heavier than I was. “It is kicking my ass a little bit, but if I pace myself I’ll do alright.”

“Hey guys,” Simon greeted glancing in my direction before turning to Charlie.

“Hey,” I said, feeling my face flush when I watched Charlie kiss Simon full on the mouth. Not the fleeting one he gave him the first time I saw them together, either. With no one, but me in the area the kiss lingered to the point where I felt like I shouldn’t be there.

“Sorry,” Charlie said after releasing his grip on Simon who was now wet and frowning over his shirt.

“You’re not sorry,” Simon countered, shaking his head. Today he had black framed glasses on and it looked like he had run his hand through his hair to mess up the gel. Like Charlie, Simon was also a junior, but he didn’t play sports. Naturally thin and shorter, with brown hair and blue eyes. They went to school together since middle school when Simon transferred in. They started dating last summer when Charlie took an assistant lifeguard job at their public pool and Simon kept showing up to swim.

“I wasn’t apologizing to you anyway,” Charlie argued, glancing at me. “Do we make you nervous?”

“No,” I answered, biting the inside of my bottom lip. Simon looked apologetic, but Charlie squinted and smirked.

“It sucks being the only gay guy here sometimes,” Charlie said putting his arm over Simon’s shoulder. “Simon doesn’t have anything better to do so I make him come watch me.”

“I have better things to do,” Simon countered smiling. “I just don’t want to hear you whine.”

“I don’t whine, ass,” Charlie said shaking his head. “Don’t make me push you into the pool.”

Looking away I wanted to make up some excuse to leave and give them space. Emily would be calling me back in a couple of minutes, so I knew not to go far. Unlike weekend practices, we weren’t there long enough to warrant having a lunch or dinner break. I would just go home, eat a late dinner, do homework, then go to bed.

“So Jackson,” Simon said after they stopped flirting with one another to notice that I was still standing a few feet away.

“Yeah?” I asked turning back to them.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” He asked and I felt my stomach twist in my gut. “I mean, Tony wouldn’t care if she tagged along, I wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to.”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend right now,” I answered shrugging.

“Boyfriend?” Simon asked, his eyebrows raising slightly. This time Charlie looked to be waiting for an answer and I closed my mouth to keep from telling them, but I knew I couldn’t stall either. It should have been a fucking simple question to answer, a knee jerk dismissal, but Luke was on my mind a lot more when I saw Simon and Charlie getting along so carefree together.

“Let’s not interrogate him, Simon,” Charlie countered offering me a small smile. Feeling thankful for not having to answer the question I shuddered against the cool air the room always had due to the cold water and concrete floors.

“Sorry,” Simon offered, rolling his eyes at Charlie. I could tell that they both wanted me to answer the question. Something told me that they may have already suspected the answer since I hesitated in the first place. I still hadn’t told Ally and Heather, two girls that I grew up knowing for most of my life. Something told me that if I couldn’t do that, I shouldn’t be telling anyone else either. Not until Luke and I were both ready, no matter how much I wanted to say something, anything, to get some of the tension and bottled up feelings out of me.

“I kind of just got out of a relationship,” I answered, shrugging again. “I don’t really want to get into anything too deep right now.”

“Good idea,” Charlie said reaching over and smacking me on the shoulder. “Tony would rather us all be single and single minded.”

“Yeah, that’s probably most coaches,” I added remembering all the times I got lectured by Rick for letting girls make me late for practice or something. Back then I would just laugh and know that it would happen time and again. With Tony though, I wouldn’t want to push him too much. I doubted he would be willing to keep lecturing until he was red-faced and hoarse like Rick.

A little while later Emily returned with Tony and Simon back peddled to his spot on the bleachers. He had his whistle and Emily had a bag draped over her shoulder. Giving us both a quick wave she smiled and broke towards the exits. Turning to look at Tony, he grabbed his stopwatch from his pants pocket.

“Get warmed up, Jackson,” he said then he eyed Charlie. “Charlie, I’ve noticed that you’re really losing your push in the medley you added, so we’ll work on pacing for that as well.”

Jumping into the water I glanced over the bleachers to see Simon fiddling with his cell phone. I could hear Charlie and Tony discussing the new addition as I kicked off the wall and dove under the water so that my entire body became used to the cool water again. When I came back up for air I slowly did laps, getting myself ready for whatever Tony had in mind. The stopwatch gave me some idea that he wanted to see if my times really had improved.

A few minutes later, Charlie was back in the pool and a shrill whistle stopped me mid-way through a lap back towards Tony and the starting blocks. Steadying my breath I continued making my way to the wall and pulled myself onto the backstroke starting ridge on the pool.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” Tony instructed, offering me a small smile.

Climbing out of the water I had to force myself to calm down. This was the first time that Tony took a true interest in me since signing me up for his program. It felt like my try-out all over again and I knew I had something to prove to him still. Reaching up, I cleared away the water that had somehow infiltrated my goggles and pulled my swimming cap tighter over my head. Then I bent down on the block taking my position and waited for him to blow his whistle.

“Breathe, Jackson,” Tony said and I glanced over my shoulder. He was holding up his stopwatch with one hand and had his whistle in the other. “Do a complete run of your 100 meter for me.”

“Alright,” I muttered, getting back in my stance.

“On my whistle,” he instructed and I nodded my head and looked forward. The blue water was being sloshed gently by Charlie a few lanes over. He was on the upper end of the pool coming back down in a very smooth looking butterfly. Swallowing against the sudden dryness of my mouth I pulled my eyes back to my lane and when Tony blew his whistle I pushed off the block and hit the water. I immediately started my dolphin kick under the water making sure I stayed under as long as Emily instructed me, about thirteen of the allotted fifteen meters. When I saw the bright yellow warning rings on the lane dividers I surfaced and transitioned into my first freestyle strokes. Swimming was all about muscle memory, that is what all the beeping I endured taught me. At first, with Emily, it had felt forced and awkward, but she kept drilling me until I no longer felt like a foal on new legs.

When I approached the turn, I hit both my hands on the wall then flipped and pushed off the wall with my feet. Smiling, I pushed myself harder now that I was in the home stretch. When I surfaced I pushed even harder, not feeling the strain of the race like I used to and when my hand slammed into the wall and I surfaced I immediately turned to Tony, pulling my goggles off and wiping the water from my eyes eager to hear what he had to say.

“Get out of the pool,” Tony said as he quickly scribbled something down on his clipboard. Breathing heavily, I pulled myself up out of the water and he picked a towel off an unused starting block and tossed it to me. Looking around I saw that Charlie had stopped in his lane to watch and when our eyes met he gave me a thumbs up and I felt my face flush.

“Well?” I asked after I draped my towel over my shoulder.

“Did that feel good to you?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow. Being caught off guard by the question I closed my mouth and glanced back down at the rippling water before turning back to him.

“It did,” I answered nodding my head. “Really good.”

“It was damn good,” he said, finally breaking into a smile, clapping me on the shoulder. “That’s how swimming is supposed to feel, I hope you understand what I’m saying.”

“I think so,” I said, still trying to even out my breathing after exerting myself.

“My only warning for you is, to not kill yourself in the water,” he said sighing. “I know this is a short race from what you’re used to, so you can push yourself, but we have a long year and you’ll have more events added someday soon.”

“Okay,” I offered smiling.

“Go hit the showers, I need to yell at Charlie for stopping to spectate when he’s supposed to be swimming,” Tony said, his voice rising as he turned to look at Charlie. Chewing on my bottom lip to keep from laughing as Charlie scrambled to get back to swimming I walked around the pool pulling my cap off and grabbed my warm up suit from the bleachers. When I entered the locker room I breathed a long sigh of relief. It was the first real smile I saw from Tony since I started here, the first time that he felt like my coach and not someone judging everything that I did to see if I just happened to measure up. I knew I still had a lot to prove to him, but I felt that maybe I was over the first hurdle in doing so.

Taking a quick shower to wash off the smell of chlorine I wrapped a towel around my waist and I heard the locker room door open and the sound of someone’s flip flops clapping against the cold tile floor.

“You still here, Jackson?” Charlie yelled just as I turned the corner back into the locker area. Jumping he grinned and held out his fist. Eyeing it I formed a fist and knocked my knuckles against his. “That was a quick one hundred, dude.”

“Thanks,” I offered as I watched him run his fingers through his wet hair. Being a blond I wondered if the chlorine lightened his hair or if it was naturally so light, since we were in the water so much.

“Well, I need a shower,” he said offering me another smile. “Be sure to swim like that in front of Aiden and Matt Friday, okay?”

“I’ll try,” I said as I turned away from him as he pulled down his racing shorts.

Whistling he grabbed some shampoo and body soap from his locker and walked around me to the showers. When he turned the corner I dropped my towel and fished my boxer briefs out of one of the only small shelves in my locker. It was where I kept my underwear and socks from getting wet, there was always water in here and out of all of my clothes I never could stand having wet underwear or socks.

After I dressed I made sure I had everything I would need already here in my bag. Then I grabbed my spare goggles, swim caps, and nose plugs and put them in my traveling bag as well just to make sure I had extras.

“See you later,” I yelled as I draped the strap over my shoulder and slipped on my pair of flip flops.

“See ya’,” he responded mid-whistle and I opened the door and walked out.

Friday I couldn’t concentrate on anything but the meet later that evening. It was one of the rare meets that fell on a school day, most would take up most of my Saturdays, some even starting on Friday night and ending Saturday evening. I was looking forward to days like those despite being stuck there with Aiden and Matt, I didn’t really think we would ever be that close.

Throughout the day the guys tried to distract me from the meet, but all I could think about was this being the first chance during my last year to prove myself. Prove that I belonged on a team that maybe didn’t want me there. To the college scouts that would be there scouting talent to fill their rosters. I tried not to think about either, my last practice was enough to give me some confidence. Tony had smiled, cracked a joke even. It was so un-Tony like that I knew I had finally done something good.

When the last bell of the day buzzed I jumped out of my seat and sent my spanish book flying off my desk. Ally had forgiven me enough to sit in her usual spot in the desk next to mine. Laughing, she grabbed my spanish book and handed it back to me.

“If we didn’t have to cheer at the football game tonight, I would come watch,” she said as I shoved the book inside my bag and zipped it.

“Thanks,” I offered, smiling. Although there was still a lot of tension between us, I liked that we could at least talk. Not like we used to, as friends before we were a couple, but I thought one day we could get there again. “I gotta run.”

“Good luck,” she said as I ran from the room.

Shouldering my way through the crowd of upperclassmen trying to make it out the one door that led to the student parking lot, I groaned not wanting to be caught in the line of cars leaving the school. I didn’t have a lot of time before Tony would be pissed and I would be late for the first meet. It wouldn’t be the precedent to set with him, not after my last practice when I did so well. Cursing, I finally made it to my blue mustang, covered in dust. Frowning I hit the unlock button and opened the back door. Already packed in the back seat was my swimming bag and my warm up suit was hanging on the hanger hook. Tossing my backpack into the back seat I quickly closed the door, but when I got into the driver’s seat and started the car laughter in the passenger seat caused me to jump.

“Luke!” I yelled turning to see him already strapped in and ready to go. “What the hell?”

“I thought you’d notice me getting into your car,” he said shrugging. “I’m coming with you, I don’t want to miss your first meet.”

“Get your ass out of my car,” I ordered, shaking my head. “I don’t have time for this and you’re grounded, I don’t want you getting into more trouble.”

“I don’t care anymore,” he countered, crossing his arms. “She can get mad, I just don’t care.”

“She already hates me,” I said, trying not to smile at the stubborn set of his shoulders. I didn’t tell him that he looked like a child that just got told he couldn’t have any cookies before dinner.

“I’m eighteen, I can do whatever I want,” he argued and I doubted that line worked on Cindy, but I didn’t want to get stuck here arguing with him. Sighing I put the car in drive and headed to get in line behind all the other cars waiting to leave.

“I’m going to be late,” I said honking my horn. Not that it did any good, but it made me feel better.

“You’ll be alright,” Luke offered, sliding his hand across the console. Both of my hands were on the wheel, my knuckles white from the frustrated grip I had on it. Glancing down at his hand I saw that it was flipped palm up, waiting. Glancing around, it would be easy for anyone to look in and see us holding hands, cocking an eyebrow I looked in his direction and he was looking ahead towards the car in front of us.

“I’ve missed you,” I said, not taking my hands off the wheel. I wasn’t about to risk it, even if Luke was feeling daring and I had a lot of different things rushing through my head. Quietly I wanted him to come, but knew it would probably be better not to say anything. I wanted him to catch a glimpse of Charlie with Simon. I wanted him to be there to celebrate with me or tell me everything would be okay if I messed things up.

“I missed you too,” he said glancing down at his hand then pulling it back to his lap.

“Sorry,” I offered, “I didn’t want people to look in and see.”

“I know,” he sighed, “I guess I’m just too annoyed with Mom and I’m letting that get the better of my judgement.”

“Well she’s probably going to hunt us down, maybe we need to just go hide out in Mexico,” I joked and smiled when he smirked, shaking his head.

“Dad actually gave me the idea to do this,” he said turning slightly in his seat readjusting the seat belt so it wasn’t tight around his collarbone and neck.

“Really, Henry told you to sneak a ride with someone your mom thinks is an asshole?” I asked as we finally made it to the stop sign that meant freedom. Turning to leave town and meet up with the team at the Aquatic Center.

“She doesn’t think you’re an ass,” he answered, chewing on his bottom lip. “No, I overheard them arguing and Dad was telling her that I was eighteen and if she didn’t let go a little I’d really start rebelling. So I decided that I’m doing that.”

“Damn,” I said laughing.

“I don’t want to just stare at you at lunch,” he said reaching his hand across the console again. This time, now that we were out on the road and away from school I let go of the wheel with my right hand and twined my fingers with his. “Talking nonsense and listening to it while having all this stuff I want to tell you. I don’t think I could do that all year.”

“Me either,” I agreed, sighing when his thumb rubbed across the back of my hand.

“You seem wired,” he said, catching me off guard. “You’ll be alright.”

“I know,” I countered, squaring my shoulders and releasing some of the grip on the steering wheel.

When we finally arrived Tony held up his hand and patted his watch. Emily was holding a stack of papers and Jackie had her divers going through their bags. Stepping out of the car I noticed Luke hesitate until I waved for him to join me. That is when I saw the bus parked beside Tony’s escalade and for the first time I realized that maybe Tony wouldn’t want any guests riding with us.

“Wow, he’s intimidating,” Luke whispered as he caught up to walk beside me.

“You’re late Jackson,” Tony said glancing over at Luke. “And who is this?”

“Luke,” I answered nodding my head.

“Dad, you forgot to explain the rules for guests on the bus,” Emily interrupted, I could see Tony squaring up for a lecture, one that I didn’t want Luke to witness. Behind him Matt and Aiden Townson were holding their bags and eyeing me. Not wanting to give them the benefit, I turned back to Tony.

“You have to discuss traveling arrangements a week before a meet,” Tony explained then he turned to look around. “Luckily today we don’t have very many extras.”

“Thanks,” I offered as two car doors closed somewhere behind us. Glancing over my shoulder I saw that Charlie and Simon were just arriving as well. They got the same angry watch tap that I got from Tony.

“If this is how we’re going to start showing up all year, we might as well just stay home,” he bellowed, shaking his head. “Double check your bags, we won’t be coming back for anything or anyone, asses in seats in five.”

“I think I peed myself a little,” Luke whispered when Tony turned and stormed off to speak with Jackie.

“Shut up,” I groaned then felt a heavy arm fall on my shoulder.

“Hey Jackson,” Charlie greeted. Smiling until I saw the look Luke shot him so I shrugged out of his grasp.

“Hey,” I said and I looked to see both Charlie and Simon were already turning their attention to Luke. “This is my friend Luke.”

“Hi,” Luke offered and I watched Simon’s eyebrows raise and Charlie look between the two of us.

“Hey Luke,” Charlie greeted offering his hand. Luke shook it and I watched Charlie smirk as his eyes squinted. “Got a grip on you, don’t ya?”

“Sorry,” Luke said letting his hand fall back to his side. I wouldn’t have minded the instant bout of jealousy if I wasn’t so nervous about the way Charlie and Simon were both studying us. The last thing I wanted was for either of them to make the connection and start talking loud enough for Matt and Aiden to overhear.

“Are you nervous, Jackson?” Charlie asked when an uneasy silence fell between us.

“Not really,” I lied as I dropped my bag on the ground kneeling before Tony caught us not double checking our bags to make sure we had everything. “Fuck, forgot my warm ups.”

“I’ll get them,” Luke offered and before I could object he turned and walked off. I quickly scrambled to find my keys to unlock the car and when I saw that the doors were unlocked I slid it back inside my pocket.

“So, Luke,” Charlie offered, smiling and I could see the mischief on his face despite the sun’s glare in my eyes that haloed him. “Just a friend, then?”

“Yeah,” I muttered somewhere between a growl and a cough. “Just a friend.”

“That wasn’t a friendly handshake, he nearly shattered a finger,” Charlie countered, stretching out his hand.

“We already had you figured out anyway,” Simon added, “you were sort of obvious the other night.”

“Shut up,” I hissed, “I don’t want…”

“Matt and Aiden to know,” Charlie interrupted, “yeah I wouldn’t either, not with the way they’re acting.”

“Get your asses on the bus,” Tony yelled then a shrill whistle made me wince. Jackie smacked him on the shoulder and told him something that I couldn’t hear as her divers lined up and filed onto the bus followed by the Townson brothers, Draeden and his girlfriend, and the girls, some of them with friends as well.

The bus looked like a remodeled school bus, painted to match the Aquatic Center’s red and white color scheme. On the side you could just make out the white identification numbers painted over. In the driver’s seat there was someone already seated and waiting. Some reason that made me feel better, Tony didn’t look like the bus driving type.

Once inside I saw that the first couple of seats had been removed and a metal bar hung for people to hang their warm up suits and place their bags underneath. Seeing the piled bags I placed mine and Luke followed me to a seat a comfortable distance away from Matt and Aiden who both took a seat to themselves and sprawled out not in the mood to share. Almost everyone else was seated two to a seat, the girls already chatting animatedly about things.

“Don’t count on Drae to be talkative today,” Charlie said as he sat in front of us and immediately turned around. “When the girlfriend is around that’s all he has time for.”

“Jealous?” Simon asked, smirking as he slid in beside Charlie.

“No,” Charlie answered winking as Luke glanced quickly to me before turning back to Charlie. “I don’t think I could handle that slab of dark meat anyway.”

“Settle down guys,” Tony ordered as he stepped onto the bus followed by Jackie and Emily. Both women shouldered past them and slid into the second seat in the row opposite of the hanging rack leaving the first one open for Tony. “We have a long drive, in the coolers you’ll find something to eat, if you asses get carsick, don’t eat.”

“Language dear,” Jackie said, “I know we’re running a little behind schedule, but please calm down a little.”

There was a pair of strapped in light blue coolers, stacked just inside the side emergency exit door on the left side of the bus. Being the closest people to them, Charlie led the way and took it upon himself to just pass the bags of chilled food and bottles of water to everyone.

“Just pass it on back,” he said when he handed me the food. Looking behind me I had to nudge Drae gently on the arm with it. Jumping and frowning until he saw the bag of food he quickly offered it to his girlfriend. When she shook her head he passed it on back and Aiden took it not bothering to pass it any further.

The bus started moving not long after everyone settled in and started eating, not feeling hungry I forced the cold and soggy sandwich down. Luke only took a bottle of water and I liked that we were now well on our way, even if the butterflies still made a home in my stomach.

The ride took just over an hour and the parking lot was spilling over onto side streets and the outbuildings of the campus we arrived on. An independent high school that barely looked a couple of years old by the brickwork and the grandeur of the place. It made the high school back home look like a dump. The driver parked where the other buses were and by the looks of it we were one of the last teams to arrive.

Hustling everyone, Tony led us to the entrance and into the throng of people also trying to find their place. I had to dodge and shoulder past a few people to get back with Luke. I was expecting Tony to tell the tagalongs to beat it at any moment, but instead we followed him until we found our designated area, roped off from other teams, but still in talking distance. It felt like regionals and I understood why Tony and Emily wanted me to take it easy my first meet, it had the feel of the end of the year instead of the beginning. Instead of feeling nervous though, the charge of the crowd and the noise had me tiptoeing on the edge of excitement.

“Look up,” Tony ordered pointing to a square screen. On it was a list of events and times. “That is your best friend tonight, I can’t chase you all down and tell you when to be ready.”

“Divers, let’s get some stretching done,” Jackie announced after Tony fell silent. Glancing over my shoulder they filtered out from where we all stood and found a quiet area behind the folded out seats in our area. I watched them start stretching and when I looked at Luke I saw his eyebrows raise when one girl grabbed her leg and brought it up to where her foot could almost touch the back of her head.

“Jackson, you’re scheduled first so thirty minutes before any of you are due up I want your butts in the warm up pool doing slow laps,” Tony instructed and I smirked at the change in his language after Jackie commented on it earlier.

“Okay,” I said glancing up at the board again. The girls were odd numbers and swam before the guys, but none of our girls were doing the sprint freestyle races that they had me doing. Seeing that they were scheduled to start fifteen minutes from now I started glancing around for the locker rooms to change.

“Everyone else, butts in a seat to cheer him on,” Tony added, turning to speak to an event coordinator that walked around us to get Tony’s attention.

“We came here last year, you want to change through there,” Charlie said walking up to me. “You better hurry and hit the pool, they don’t waste time here.”

“Alright,” I said sliding my bag over my shoulder.

“Where do I go?” Luke asked, turning to Charlie.

“Stands, Tony will be telling you all to hit the road soon,” Charlie said offering him a smile. “You can sit with Simon.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” I said, giving a short wave to Luke and then turned to see that Charlie had caught Simon by the wrist. Instead of watching them publicly make out, I turned to see what Luke’s reaction was. Like me seeing it for the first time, his eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to be looking anywhere else, but never turned his head to do so. When Simon broke the kiss Luke glanced at me before allowing himself to be led away with a short wave back. Draeden was also seeing off his girlfriend and knowing Simon she finally spoke and rushed off to catch up to them through the crowd.

“Let’s go get changed,” Drae said, finally paying attention to the world around him.

“I’d fix your crotch first,” Charlie said, “you look like you have a boner.”

“Fuck you,” Draeden hissed, but he looked down at his crotch anyway. “I don’t have one.”

“Damn,” Charlie whispered and I felt my face flush for having looked myself.

“Seriously though, you can talk to us when Shaye is around too,” Charlie countered as we started walking towards the locker rooms.

“Don’t want to,” Draeden grunted as he held the locker room doors open for Charlie and I to walk in. The room was hot and smelled of cologne and chlorine. Packed full of people I felt my face flush as everyone seemed to be in some state of nakedness. Some opted for a shower before swimming and had a towel wrapped around their bodies. Not feeling like a shower was necessary yet, I pulled my bag off my shoulder and found a less crowded area to strip off my clothes. Not having anywhere to store them I shoved what I wore to school into my bag, leaving my underwear on until I got my racing shorts and everything else I needed found. After I dropped my underwear and slid into my shorts, I took my warm ups off the hanger and pulled the pants on over my shorts and pulled the jacket on zipping it most of the way.

Glancing around I saw that Draeden and Charlie were a few feet away, not feeling as rushed as I did going first, they took time to talk. Noticing me fully dressed and waiting they sped up, but I nodded my head towards the door and left them to finish dressing wanting to be out of the warm room and back to where I could see the board and the warm up pool.

After dropping off my bag I glanced up at the schedule and saw that it was time for me to do the warm up laps. Shedding my jacket and pants, I tossed them on an empty seat and pulled on my cap and grabbed my goggles and nose clip. As I walked towards the pool I stretched my arms and massaged my pecs trying to loosen them up and ease some of the lingering nerves I felt in my stomach.

Wanting to get into the water I pulled my goggles over my head and clipped my nose then I bent down and splashed the cool water over my chest. After being in the warmth of the locker room, I let out a shudder and felt goosebumps spread across my skin. The warm up pool wasn’t as packed as I thought it would be, just a couple of girls and a few guys were in lanes doing laps. Not having to share a lane yet, I found an empty one near the wall and stepped off into the water.

“Girls 100 meter freestyle in five minutes,” came across the loudspeaker, barely audible through the din of the crowd. The reaction was instantaneous though as the girls warming up swam to the edges closest to where they were in their lap and pulled themselves out of the pool. Leaving just the three or four guys still warming up I dove under the water and slowly started my first lap feeling my muscles wake up and my breathing even out.

After a few laps I felt good and loose so I stopped and glanced around. The girls were on the blocks and I jumped when the starting gun fired. Not being able to see anything I pulled myself out of the water and took a few steps forward. All the other guys warming up with me also had cleared out of the pool, but I didn’t see any of them craning their necks to see the race.

“Jackson!” Emily yelled from somewhere behind me. Whirling I saw her standing on the other side of the warm up pool. Having gotten my attention she smiled and waved her hand for me to come to her. Walking around the pool, she tossed me a towel when I was a couple of steps from her. Taking it I quickly dried my chest and stomach neglecting everything else.

“Ready?” She asked and I nodded my head looking past her to where Tony was seated in the middle of the other swimmers. Jackie was nowhere around, but her divers were there dressed in their own warm up suits and talking while they stretched.

“A little nervous,” I said, turning my attention back to her.

“I’ll be there every step of the way,” she said smiling. “There are five heats for the 100 freestyle, that means to make it to the finals, swimmers have to finish first or second in every heat.”

“Okay,” I said when she paused to glance towards the board. Turning to look as well, I saw that my race was slated to go in five minutes.

“Remember not to kill yourself in this heat, save something for finals,” she instructed offering me another smile.

“Okay,” I said, nodding my head feeling lame for repeating myself. Emily gave me a measured look, but then shrugged and smiled at me again.

“You drew eight, not the best lane, but you’ll do fine,” she said and on cue the loudspeaker announced my event and directed us towards the pool. Lining up, I checked in with the race stewards and they directed me to lane eight.

“Ready up,” the steward standing behind me ordered. Mine was a woman dressed in baggy pants and a dark navy blue polo. Scrambling I pulled my cap back on and Emily handed me a second cap to pull over the first to smooth out the wrinkles my hair made. Then I slid my goggles over my head and stepped onto the block clipping my nose and checking the seal of my goggles a second time.

On the block I stretched my arms and chest again and let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. The warning beep sounded and I got down in my stance. Looking forward the water hadn’t smoothed completely out from the race before mine. Breathing I waited for the loud crack of the gun as blood began to pound in my ears. When it sounded I pushed off the block and into the water thankful to finally be there.

Kicking I found the bright yellow fifteen meter markers in the distance and glanced around to see if I could make out where most of the other swimmers beside me were in the race. Being in lane eight, I could only make out the two people on either side of me and I was ahead of them. Surfacing just before the markers I took my first breath and found my rhythm after a few strokes and focused on the wall as I quickly approached it.

As I made the turn, it was then I realized that the two guys on either side of me were a couple of meters behind me still charging for the half-way turn. It gave me a clearer view of the pool around me. There I saw that I was about mid-pack, some were turning and others were already kicked off the wall and dolphin kicking back towards the finish like me. Feeling behind as I surfaced at the fifteen meter mark though, I took a quick breath and sped up my strokes and kick. The water was too loud and drumming in my ears to make out any cheering and we were early in the meet, people were probably still filling up on popcorn and sodas not really invested in what went on unless they had a kid in the actual heat.

The last fifteen meters seemed to happen at warp speed. Pushing myself as I was, I didn’t dare look around. Instead as I passed the markers I took one last breath and tucked my head, my arms striking the water seemed to echo in my ears as the wall approached quickly. Like a track runner crossing the finish line, I lunged and stretched my fingers, letting out the breath I took a couple of meters back I surfaced, spluttering water from my face as I ripped off the second cap and my goggles to get a look at my steward.

“Clean race,” she said and I relaxed knowing that I wasn’t disqualified for anything. A moment later I looked up at the board and saw that I had finished first in my heat. Smiling, I slapped the water with my hand and then found Emily, Tony, Charlie, and Drae standing just behind the stewards waiting for me to swim to the edge and get out of the pool.

Breathing heavily, I took the towel Emily offered me and dried off my chest with one hand and pulled off my other cap and nose clip with the other. Then I pulled the towel up over my face and hair to dry away the dripping water before I looked at anyone.

“Nice race,” Emily offered, “but I told you not to kill yourself.”

“You skunked ‘em,” Charlie said, clapping me on the shoulder as I filled my lungs with more air.

“Catch a breath then take a few cool down laps,” Tony instructed, shaking his head. “If you’re not gutted you’re in the finals.”

“Seriously Jackson,” Emily said as Charlie and Drae followed Tony back towards our team’s designated area. “How did that feel?”

“It felt fast,” I said as the loud speakers announced the second girl heat.

“It was too fast,” she countered, but I could tell she was fighting not to smile. “You need to learn pacing, I know in sprints it is all about speed, but there is no way you can do this and expect to fill out a schedule.”

“I know,” I said as I stepped up to the side of the warm up pool. The guys in the next heat seemed to be measuring me up as I sat down and put my legs into the water. Fuller this time, I would be sharing a lane with someone else.

“At least I estimate about an hour and a half before your relay,” she said, glancing down at her watch. “Better get in the water and cool down, about ten laps.”

“Alright,” I said and she left me as I slid into the water forcing myself not to smile so that water that had no telling what in it by now couldn’t get into my mouth.

After taking my cooldown laps, I toweled back off and walked over to where the team was stationed and waiting for their events to run. Jackie and her divers were gone and when I was caught looking for them by Draeden he pointed towards the diving pool where they seemed to be warming up by doing small platform dives and even more stretching.

“You can sneak up to the bleachers after an event,” Drae offered when I sat down beside him making a point to ignore Matt and Aiden who were seated on the other side of him.

“Have you seen Pete anywhere?” I heard Matt ask and when I glanced over, Aiden just shrugged and shook his head. Drae smirked and rolled his eyes, but neither Townson brother seemed to notice.

“How long have you been with Shaye?” I asked wanting to pass the time as quickly as possible. The more I waited the more my muscles seemed to tense and ache. I didn’t know if that was from exertion or nerves, but I slid back into my warm up suit and a pair of flip flops with my goggles and nose clip in my pockets.

“About a year,” he answered, cocking an eyebrow leaning in closer to me. “How long for you and that blond?”

“Blonde?” I asked and when he sighed, shaking his head I realized he was talking about Luke.

“Oh,” I hissed feeling my face flush. “I don’t know.”

“What?” He asked sprawling out in his chair, they weren’t very comfortable, just padded folding chairs with the same navy blue and white colors of the home team.

“Complicated,” I muttered not wanting to go into details about Luke. To be honest, I didn’t really know what we were. I wanted to call us boyfriends, but that meant all the confusion I felt about Ally and girls in general didn’t matter and it did.

“Well come on, I’m not up until the relay and my ass is getting sore,” Drae grunted as he stood.

Following him he led me through the maze of other teams towards the stands on the opposite side of the aquatic center. The pathway divided the swimming from the diving areas and I expected to hear Tony or Emily yelling for us to come back, I know Rick didn’t like me wandering off to sit in the stands, but no one ever called out for us.

When we got there I looked up and already saw Charlie sitting between Simon and Shaye. Luke was a couple of inches away and noticed me well before the other three did. Seeing me he smiled as I started up the stairs towards them. Wiggling past everyone, only taking time to acknowledge the ‘good jobs,’ from Simon and Shaye, I made room for Drae to sit and Luke scooted further down the bleacher to make room for me.

“Hey,” he greeted lowering his voice over the cheers from the crowd. The second male heat was just ending and I smiled as Luke glanced up at the board. “Your time is still the best time.”

“I think that’s because I damn near killed myself,” I said smiling when he turned to study me. “I kind of overdid it a little.”

“I didn’t know it would be this exciting,” he commented scooting closer to me. “Charlie and Simon were filling me in on things.”

“What sorts of things?” I asked, feeling his knee brush up against mine through my pants. He was wearing shorts and I could see goosebumps on his arms.

“About you and the team,” he answered smiling. “That you have a temper.”

“You already knew that,” I countered wanting to turn around and slap the hell out of Charlie and his big mouth.

“That you don’t get along with the brothers,” he added, still grinning. “I’m surprised you haven’t tried to drown them.”

“I might have thought about it,” I said, shrugging. “Are you cold?”

“Yeah,” he answered, but he shook his head when I went to shrug out of my jacket.

“No, you need that,” he countered, his face flushing. “It has your name on it and…”

“And what?” I asked as I zipped it back up just past my nipples.

“Nothing,” he answered looking ahead. “Maybe it would feel too much like a promise or announcement.”

“Sorry,” I apologized my own face flushing.

“No,” he said, turning back to me offering a small smile. “Charlie and Simon just make me feel so far behind.”

“Don’t,” I whispered hoping no one overheard us. “They’ve been practicing with one another a whole lot longer than we have.”

“Alright guys, we gotta roll,” Drae announced. Both Luke and I jumped and I felt Luke’s knee leave mine as I turned to see Drae standing up. Shaye stood with him and gave him a kiss that lingered, one that probably caused a few people to frown and whisper about.

“Good luck,” Luke offered, eyeing the couple. Shaye whispered something in Drae’s ears before finally letting him go and giving me room to shuffle around everyone to follow.

When we got back to our seats, we both stripped out of our warm ups and after grabbing our things we headed for the warm up pool. Aiden and Matt were already there, talking to a tall dark haired guy that looked too old to still be in high school.

“That’s Pete,” Drae said, frowning as he pulled on his cap and goggles. “I wondered when we’d see his ass.”

“You don’t like him?” I asked as I did the same, feeling my nerves from earlier come rushing back over me. This would be my first ever relay and I only ever watched them on television and during meets thinking they looked like a blast. It was something I wanted to be part of in college, so now that I was in one I didn’t want to let the other three guys down. Going second though, Tony explained, meant that I could judge how fast the race was going better. That he had me racing second because out of the three, I was still the unknown and if I made a mistake the others could adjust, since they had been relaying together for a couple of years.

“I don’t like cheaters,” he answered, “and I don’t like that them two still think he pisses gold.”

“He’s warming up,” I commented smiling despite my nerves as Drae pumped himself up.

“He’ll relay, freestyle is his thing, he’s your competition in the 100 meter finals later I bet,” Drae said and I watched Pete take long smooth strokes in the water as Aiden and Matt still talked off by themselves.

“Hey!” Tony barked from just behind us, “I’ve been watching you idiots, you’re wasting your warm up laps!”

“Sorry Tony,” Drae offered not flinching when I jumped and damn near stumbled into the pool.
Trying not to laugh he slid into the water and pushed off the wall. Following him into the cool water, I could feel the tension still in my shoulders and the heaviness of my legs. Trying to even out my breathing I forced myself to ignore everyone around me. The pool was full and that meant I had to share with Drae, but we made sure to keep far enough away from one another so that we wouldn’t bump heads or slosh the water too much.

It took more laps than I would have liked to feel loose and ready and when I stopped to look around I saw that everyone else was standing around waiting for me. Leaving the pool, Emily handed me a towel and both Tony and her led the way to the main pool.

There were five teams participating in the relay so there wasn’t a need for a qualifying round. As we lined up Pete’s team wearing black and gold shorts was on the other side of the host team in lane two and we were in lane four. The announcers introduced each team and when Matt stepped up onto the starting blocks I took a long calming breath and stepped in line standing beside Tony.

“You’ll do fine, these are easy just wait until Matt touches and you’re good to go,” Emily instructed, grabbing my arm just below my elbow. She gave it a friendly shake trying to loosen up some of my nerves and I offered her a smile. “You might want to get your gear on though.”

“Oh, right,” I muttered grimacing as I quickly slid my cap over my hair and sealed my goggles against my face.

When every team settled, the warning bell toned and a few moments later the starting pistol followed. I watched Matt dive off the board strong and hit the water before I slid on my nose clip and climbed up on the board. Standing, I watched as Drae, Tony, and Emily started yelling and cheering for Matt, but he already seemed to be fading behind the others before the turn.

“What is he doing?” Tony asked, stepping up to stand next to the steward who made a motion for him to take a few steps back. “A dead fish could swim faster than him.”

“He’ll make it up,” Aiden offered, but we were in last going into the turn and Matt seemed to be going along like he was a waterlogged tree on his way back.

“Get ready,” Tony ordered and I got down in my stance as the first swimmers hit the fifteen meter marks.

“He threw it,” Drae groaned directly behind me. “No way he didn’t throw it.”

“Be quiet Drae,” Tony hissed as I watched the second swimmers from all the other teams dive into the water.

When Matt finally touched the wall, I dove into the water as the steward of our lane threw her hand up to signal Matt’s finish. Knowing I had a couple of lengths to make up by the looks of the splashes ahead of me I pushed myself, my breathing already more strained than I liked trying to close the distance between the swimmers on either side of me.

By the time I reached the turn and started my dolphin kicks on the way back, my arms and legs were burning. Not wanting to slow down I gulped air after every few strokes trying to oxygenate my limbs, and felt relieved when the closing fifteen meter mark came into view through the splash and the waves. Taking a last big breath I tucked my head and didn’t stop until my hands hit the wall.

When I surfaced Drae was already in the water and I looked up to see the Steward motioning for me to get out. Choking down air, I went to climb, but felt my knees buckle under my weight and with a quick second attempt I was able to pull myself up on the backstroke starting ridge under the water.

“He needs help,” Emily said and I looked up to see Tony kneeling to grab hold of me. Pulling me up I scrambled away from the edge of the pool and out of the stewards way still gasping desperately for breath.

“You’re spent,” Tony said as he handed me a towel before glancing over my shoulder to watch Drae. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Sorry,” I breathed reaching up, my arms still on fire, I managed to take off my goggles and cap as he left me to cheer on Drae. Emily took over as I held my head between my legs trying to steady my breathing.

“You’re not going to have anything left for finals, kid,” she said, but unlike Tony her tone was calm as she rubbed my shoulders.

“Did I make up any time?” I asked looking up to see her now sitting with her legs spread on either side of me and she continued to massage my shoulders as Drae finished his leg of the relay and collapsed on the other side of me.

“That bastard,” he breathed and I looked over to see him pulling off his goggles and his cap spitting water that ran from his face as he rested on one elbow. Breathing heavily he accepted a towel from Emily and sat all the way up to dry himself.

Feeling strength in my limbs again, I rolled to my knees and stood to watch Aiden. By the sound of Tony’s yelling, it wasn’t good and when I stepped up to where I could see him, he seemed to be taking his time as well.

“Meet me back at our station,” Tony growled stepping from between Matt and I. Glancing over at Matt he was too busy watching wide eyed as Tony stormed away from us to see me glaring at him. Moments later Pete’s team erupted as he hit the wall first and pulled himself out of the water followed by the host team in second. Aiden was last to touch the wall and when he did he casually climbed out of the water as Matt handed him a towel.

“Where’s coach?” Aiden asked barely out of breath as he dried himself.

“I’m going to kill you, Townson,” Drae growled slamming his damp towel on the ground.

“Enough!” Emily yelled looking around at everyone celebrating around us. “Get to our station, come on.”

Following her on shaky legs I was thankful to finally be seated in my folding chair. Charlie had joined the team there and a lot of the girls were already eyeballing Tony as he paced the small area our station provided him.

“Charlie, go warm up you have your 100 meter butterfly coming up,” Tony ordered then held his hand up. “No wait, you need to hear this too.”

“Dad,” Emily said, but he shot her a glare as she motioned her hands to try and show him where exactly we were and that it was within listening distance of other schools. Huffing he motioned for us to follow him, waving off the girls when they started to stand up and follow.

“Girls, you all are fantastic tonight, you don’t need to hear what I’m about to say,” he said offering them all a quick smile as he waved and snapped his fingers a second time. By now the other teams knew exactly what was about to happen, glancing around as I followed Charlie and felt Drae behind me, I saw a few people pointing and laughing. Just before we walked around the corner to the locker rooms I caught sight of Pete near the cool down pool and Tony stopped and pointed. “Look at him, Pete, he has a team, go on look at him smile and laugh with his teammates after a good race.”

“Coach,” Aiden started, but shut his mouth when Tony turned on him.

“Not a word,” Tony growled his face reddening by the second as he started walking again.

When we reached the locker room wall he motioned for us to line up against it. Leaning against the cold stonewall sent a shudder through me as Charlie and Drae leaned against it on either side of me. Aiden and Matt stood a few steps away from us, both had their arms crossed over their chests and Matt had grabbed his warm up jacket and pulled it on sometime between our station and here.

“Aiden, Matt,” Tony said, taking a step back. “Look over at Jackson and Drae.”

“Coach, I can explain,” Aiden countered as neither of them turned to look at us.

“I said look!” Tony yelled and I could hear all commotion in the locker room cease instantly. The door opened, but closed quickly after Tony shot a glare at the nosey guy that poked his head out to see what was going on. “They’re gutted, Jackson’s legs are so tired he can barely stand. Why did you do that? I’m completely lost here.”

“We,” Matt started, but Tony held up his hand.

“It doesn’t matter why,” he said, seeming to finally rein in his thoughts. “What you two did out there was embarrassing and inexcusable. You realize, don’t you, that just before the relay Aiden, your future coach came up to ask about you?”

“What?” Aiden asked and Tony smiled as he looked right at Aiden.

“Oh yes, he was very pleased with your progress,” Tony explained, “but you made a damn liar out of me. I have never known two people more selfish, more, there are no words that I can say that I won’t regret later.”

“We have a full day, Coach,” Aiden said, “that 100 meter relay would have just hurt our other events.”

“Right, that’s why you did it,” Drae countered pushing off the wall. “You did it to be an ass or for Pete to win because you still have a fucking hardon for him.”

“Draeden,” Tony warned, holding up his hand as he turned back to Aiden and Matt. “You two wasted our time, not only that, you made fools of yourselves. Draeden had the second best time, right behind Pete’s and Jackson had the third best time. You would have won, easily, if you two weren’t being jackasses. So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, I’m benching you for three meets each.”

“But Coach!” Aiden yelled, dropping his arms to his sides.

“And your attendance is mandatory, you miss a practice, you miss a meet, you step one toe out of line you both are gone,” Tony added crossing his arms.

“Maybe we should leave,” Aiden argued as Matt grabbed his shoulder. Wide-eyed his attempt to get Aiden’s attention failed as Aiden ripped his arm from his grip.

“You won’t find any team with openings, not for both of you,” Tony said, shaking his head, his voice defeated. “By all means, if you think you can find another team go for it, but after today don’t expect my report to be the nicest on you.”

Tony and Aiden had a silent glaring contest when a man and a woman walked around the corner. They both wore old team shirts and when Tony heard the sound of their approach he turned and did a small double take before turning his full attention to them.

“There you are,” the man said, “we’ve been looking all over after the relay.”

“Sean, Andrea,” Tony said, “you’re not supposed to be back here.”

“We know,” Sean said glancing past Tony to where Aiden and Matt stood. It was easy to see the family resemblance between him and his two sons and when I glanced at Drae he was smirking.

“Coach, I need to go get warmed up,” Charlie said and my eyes followed his gaze up to a digital clock hanging on the wall opposite of the locker room doors.

“Go Charlie,” Tony said, his voice calm. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Are we excused?” I asked not really wanting to be here anymore, even if I was somewhat enjoying Tony yelling at Aiden and Matt I felt exhausted and all I wanted to do was find a comfortable spot to sit down for a while.

“We would like to say something, first,” Sean Townson said, adjusting his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. The motion reminded me of Dad and not at all like his asshole sons. “Draeden, and…”

“Jackson,” I offered when he hesitated and looked at me.

“Jackson,” he repeated, offering me a smile. “Jackson you’re one hell of a swimmer, young man and Andrea and I both know Draeden is as well, so we want to apologize for our son’s poor sportsmanship.”

“Dad,” Aiden groaned and I chewed on my bottom lip when Andrea snapped her fingers at him.

“Tony, we agree to whatever punishments you handed out for their behavior,” Sean said, eyeing Aiden and Matt ready for any objection. “They will not waste anymore of your time and our money.”

“Well I did bench them for three meets,” Tony said, not sounding like he needed any approval.

“Then for their next three meets, we want to sponsor Jackson, Charlie, and Draeden,” Andrea said, shooting a glare towards Aiden when he made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a snort. “Tell their parents they need not to worry.”

“Thanks Mrs. Townson, Mr. Townson,” Drae offered and Sean clapped him on the shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said feeling completely out of place in this small gathering of people.

“Draeden, Jackson, you’re dismissed,” Tony ordered and I breathed a sigh of relief as I shook Sean Townson’s hand and was patted on the shoulder by Andrea as I walked by them. Glancing at Draeden he was stifling a laugh, but I still felt too awkward to find any of this funny aside from the fact that it was Aiden and Matt and not me.

It seemed like an hour or so after we left that Tony came back without the Townson brothers. Cocking an eyebrow, Draeden didn’t say a word, but it was nearing time for my event final and the last event of my night. Sitting here though, my muscles were stiff and aching, and I nodded off on Draeden’s shoulder once and he had to nudge me back awake.

“Jackson, I’m scratching you out of event finals,” Tony said as he came to a stop in front of me. “I’m sorry, but you’re just too…”

“It’s alright,” I offered frowning. “I’m hurting anyway.”

“And we’ll work on that next week at practice,” he said sighing. “Even if it wasn’t completely your fault you over exerted yourself. We also need to discuss what events we’re adding to replace the relay, you’ve definitely earned them.”

“Thanks,” I said, reaching up to massage my temples.

“And you got a lot of attention from scouts today,” he added and I sat up straighter in my seat. Noticing me he smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. “So keep up the good work.”

The rest of the meet, I watched the girls and Charlie winning or doing well in most of their events. Then I moved into the stands with the team on the diving end of the center and everyone watched Jackie’s divers put up nice scores as well. By the end of the day, it was past midnight and we were all quiet in the locker room and in the bus ride home. Luke let me lean on his shoulder on the way, too tired to care what people thought anymore.

When the bus stopped at the aquatic center I slid out of the seat and let Luke out ahead of me. Tony said a quick goodbye to everyone as he shook Emily and Jackie awake in the seat behind him. Grabbing my things I stepped out of the bus and immediately hit the unlock button on my car and popped the trunk. Shoving everything inside I quickly closed the door and got into the driver’s side, Luke already waiting and buckled in.

“Ready?” I asked, offering him a smile.

“Are you?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. “Do you want me to drive?”

“No, I’m alright,” I said, “just sore as hell.”

“Okay,” he said as I buckled my seatbelt and started the car.

Like the bus ride, the car ride home from the aquatic center was also quiet. Like the ride over though, Luke held my hand. This time, I thought it was to make sure that I stayed awake and kept the car between the lines. It was definitely the most exhausted I’ve ever been after a meet and I hated that I usually had a much fuller night and wondered just how out of shape I was.

“You did really good,” Luke offered and I glanced at him to see him studying me. “I can see you thinking, it’s all over your face.”

“Sorry,” I said smiling. “I guess I’m not a lot of fun right now.”

“No, I like seeing you like this,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze. “Although you reek of chlorine.”

“Yeah, skipped the shower,” I said, yawning. “Tony wanted to bolt as soon as possible anyway.”

“At least we’re home,” Luke sighed as I hit my turn signal and pulled into the driveway thankful to finally be home.

Mom’s car was home and when I killed the engine the front door flew open and she stepped out on the front porch. Seeing Luke slide out of the passenger seat she crossed her arms and walked to the edge of the stairs.

“I think Mom called your mom,” Luke whispered as he came around to walk up the sidewalk with me.

“Hi guys,” Mom greeted, “Jackson honey you look exhausted.”

“I am,” I said, “didn’t have the best night.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said bounding down the stairs. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really,” I answered, “I just need a bath and then to lay down.”

“Luke, Cindy called,” Mom said, turning her attention to him. She didn’t seem angry, but tense as she uncrossed her arms. “She was worried about you, I bet she still is.”

“I’m sorry,” Luke said, “I just didn’t want to miss Jackson’s meet.”

“I know how you feel,” Mom sighed, “well I’ll let you say goodnight then I’ll take you home.”

“No need to, Grace,” Luke countered smiling. “I’ll just walk.”

“In the dark?” She asked, “No, I can’t have you walking around in the dark.”

“I do it all the time,” he answered, still smiling. “I’ll be alright, you’ll probably hear Mom as soon as I get home from here anyway.”

“Yes, I say I will be able to,” Mom said, patting him on the shoulder. “Well if you’re sure, goodnight.”

We both watched Mom head back inside and close the front door behind her before we walked to our usual spot just at the forest’s edge. Looking up I saw there wasn’t a moon and the stars seemed brighter in its absence.

“Stay,” I whispered looking from the sky back to him. “It’s the weekend, just stay.”

“And have my mom bust down your door?” Luke asked, snorting. “You need sleep anyway.”

“We will sleep,” I countered as I closed the gap between us. Here standing next to him, I could smell his cologne still lingering from when he applied it this morning. It was a clean, unintrusive scent that sent goosebumps racing over my body.

“I want to,” he whispered, “I don’t get to see you, we don’t get to be like this.”

“I know,” I sighed leaning into him as he planted small kisses along my cheek.

“I need to go,” he said gently, taking a step back. “Don’t worry though, I’m still all for living like I’m eighteen and rebellious.”

“Good,” I said smiling as he stepped around me leaving me to the darkness and the stars as he made his way through the forest. After his footsteps faded away I yawned and walked back around the house and up the stairs. Opening the front door, I stepped through, kicking off my flip flops only just remembering all my junk in the car. Waving my hand hoping that I remember it tomorrow morning, I closed the door behind me then walked to the back of the couch where Mom sat reading a book. Leaning down, I kissed her on the cheek.

“Goodnight, I love you,” Mom said, reaching up and patting me on the arm.

“Love you, too,” I said through another yawn and walked upstairs feeling every ache of my muscles that longed for sleep. When I got to the second floor I ignored the bathroom and walked into my room and collapsed onto the bed falling asleep not long after my head hit the pillow.