The Best Year - 17. Chapter 17

I arrived at school, nervous for the first time since walking in as a freshman. Everyone was a little worried then, but it wasn’t long after that I found my place at the top. Now that everything seemed to be falling to shit around me, I didn’t know what to expect. Especially when I looked over at my usual table in the morning, thinking I wouldn’t see Ally there waiting.

There she was though and I stood by the entrance waiting for her to notice me. When she did, she smiled and waved. I looked around to make sure she wasn’t waving at one of the girls before I made my way over to our table. The Cafeteria was pretty full of people since I arrived with only about ten minutes to spare before first bell.

When I got to the table she pulled out the seat beside her. She was wearing a shirt that couldn’t have passed Welker’s eye test, so she likely had on a different shirt when he saw her leave for school this morning. It didn’t meet the dress code either and I couldn’t help noticing her cleavage in the pink, spaghetti strap top.

“Hi Ally,” I greeted hesitating before sitting down beside her.

“Hi,” she offered and I instantly smelled her strawberry perfume. “So, what’s up? Are you totally nervous about your tryout tonight?”

“Ally,” I said, turning to face her. “Yeah, I am nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous, you’ll do great,” she countered patting me on the shoulder. When her hand stayed there I felt the urge to shrug out from under it, but knew it wouldn't be a good idea. I wasn’t expecting Ally to even speak to me today. I expected half the school to know that she dumped me for being a loser. I even thought Emma Camp might walk up to our table and ask me out on a date. Ally and her were big rivals for Prom Queen or Homecoming Queen and they secretly hated one another. It would be the perfect way for Emma to set Ally off, but I hadn’t heard a hint of gossip yet.

“I thought you’d be avoiding me,” I commented, trying to keep my voice level. I jumped when her hand left my shoulder and found my thigh, inches away from my crotch. Looking around I saw the rest of the gang holding back near the front doors staring over at us. When Derek saw me looking he gave me a thumbs up. So they knew about Ally’s plan at least.

“I talked to Lily after I left,” Ally explained leaning into me, her voice falling to a whisper. “She told me that I was acting like a bitch.”

“Ouch,” I said, still looking straight ahead. “I’m sorry…”

“No it’s my fault,” she countered. “I shouldn’t have exploded on you, your day sucked and I just made it worse.”

“Okay?” I said finally turning to face her.

“You’ll be back to your old self after tonight anyway,” she added, giving me a wide smile before squeezing my thigh. “Maybe we could even celebrate.”

“Ally,” I groaned jumping when her hand slid over my crotch. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” She asked leaning in so close that her lips fluttered against my neck as she spoke. Her breath sent a shudder through me and I felt trapped.

“Giving me a handjob under the table,” I hissed and she laughed, taking her hand away.

“So what do you think?” She asked, “Do you forgive me?”

“Yeah, I was in a shitty mood too,” I answered, turning to scan the cafeteria again. This time though, my small gang of friends included Luke and Olivia. They stood a few steps away from the others, but it looked like Toby was trying to explain the situation, especially since he kept pointing at our table. Olivia looked completely amused, but Luke’s cheeks had flushed and I could tell he wanted to stop the Allison Welker ambush. Part of me wanted him to storm up to our table and piss her off, but now that Allison was talking, I didn’t want her freaking out again. It wouldn’t be good for any of us if she did.

“So I can come tonight?” She asked, smiling as she grabbed my hand.

“No, I don’t think that will be a good idea,” I answered sighing when her hand tightened momentarily. She squinted, but then forced a smile.

“Well we’ll celebrate this weekend, Toby has a big party in the works,” she said shrugging her shoulders. Then I watched her motion the all clear and everyone, but Luke relaxed and started walking in our direction.

The morning dismissal bell rang before they got to our table though, so that saved me from the guys. I wanted to shake Ally off, but she clung to me as we stood and walked around the table. We could have been stopped and warned by any number of teachers lining the halls as we passed by about our proximity to one another, but we weren’t. I knew if we were to see Welker his eyes bugged out of his head any moment. I couldn’t afford to get into any trouble today. I was already struggling to get my mind right for the tryout later. Now with Ally dropping herself back into my lap made last night feel worse. I had been able to let her go. As much as I liked her, I wasn’t exactly the best thing for her right now. Not until I got my head sorted out, but part of me knew that even when that happened I wouldn’t be with her. For now though, her soft hands and hair brushing my neck derailed most of what was left of my resolve.

“Ally,” I hissed when her hand slipped from mine to slide around my side. We were at my locker and when she pushed me against it I froze and looked around. Behind her I saw Derek and Toby smirking. I thought I saw Luke following at a distance behind them, but then Ally’s lips were on mine and I couldn’t see much of anything past her. I could hear the laughing and the whistling though.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I got home last night,” she said smiling. “Well that and punch you in the face, but I think that was better.”

“Yeah,” I grunted as she took a step back. Shrugging and offering me a smile she bounced away towards her first period class, her bag resting between her shoulder blades.

“Dude,” Derek said as he reached for our locker combination lock.

“Shut up,” I groaned, shaking my head. I already had my things for English so I stepped around him ready to ditch my next class’s books for later when Derek wasn’t prepared to ride my ass over Ally.

“Someone’s ‘bout to get laid, she damn near humped your leg right then,” He said and I shoved his elbow messing up the combination. Laughing he started over again as I walked down the hall ignoring everyone as best as I could. By the time I got to English, I only had to stop and pat a few fists with mine and dodge Conner who promised not to have pictures on his phone of us kissing.

The rest of the day went on with more fist bumps and a few nods in my direction. I was beginning to remember how stuffy and stupid our small town really was. If a girlfriend couldn’t even kiss her boyfriend at his locker without causing a stir we had to be pretty fucking boring. It wasn’t like we were the first people to ever do that. Maybe it was because, like Derek and Toby kept pointing out, that she nearly ate my face off that got the attention. The extra attention wasn’t lost on the teachers either, I was even getting a few looks from them. So I was surprised that I stepped into the cafeteria for lunch without having my name called to Welker’s office.

Walking to my table, I was the first one. Sighing I slumped my shoulders and opened my bottle of water ignoring the people around me. Now that it was lunch, I realized that my tryout wasn’t that far away. Looking down at the gross array of food on my lunch tray I grimaced and slid it away from me no longer hungry.

“You need to eat something,” Luke said from across the table standing at his seat. Jumping I glanced up to see Olivia sitting down preparing to text on her phone.

“Really this looks more toxic than anything else,” she complained, sliding her phone into her pocket. “Why does the golden boy have to eat though?”

“I have a tryout later,” I answered when Olivia finally looked up from her own tray of food.

“Oh, so was that a good luck kiss this morning?” Olivia asked, smirking when Luke slid his elbow across the table to knock against her’s.

“No,” I answered, my face flushing.

“She definitely marked her territory,” she added as she picked up her fork and stabbed her soggy pizza. Grimacing, she quickly put her fork back down and like me, slid her tray of food out of the way.

“Olivia,” Luke groaned. “You can go sit with your own class now.”

“No,” she countered, crossing her arms. “I like this table, there's so much going on.”

“Like what?” Luke asked, but when I looked at him he seemed like he wanted to take the question back.

“Well for starters, I don’t even know why you want to sit at this table,” she said turning to Luke. “They’re not the type of people you usually hang out with.”

“So?” He asked as I looked behind them to see everyone else making their way to our table.

“Then there’s Alison Welker…”

“Who is coming this way,” I interrupted just before Ally could get within earshot.

“Future man eater, that one,” Olivia finished lowering her voice. She winked at me just as everyone circled the table and took their seats.

“What are you guys talking about?” Ally asked, sliding her chair closer to mine.

“How pretty you look today,” Olivia answered as she slid her phone from her pocket and began texting again.

“Yeah, that was it,” Derek said trying not to laugh.

“So,” Ally said, leaning into me, ready to forget everyone else at our table. “Are you getting nervous about tonight?”

“Not really,” I lied, shrugging. Looking across the table, I saw Luke studying me between picking at his food. He looked to be shredding his soggy pizza, but no one else noticed.

“I really want to go with you,” she said leaning her head against my shoulder. “For support.”

“Mom and Coach are going,” I countered feeling her soft hair slide over my arm.

“Are you sure I can’t sneak and come?” She asked looking up at me smiling as she ran her fingers down my arm. It sent a shudder through me that seemed to satisfy her more, but all I could think about was what Olivia said about Ally marking her territory. Looking around, no one was really paying that much attention to our table. Toby, Heather, and Lily were talking and by the sound of it, Toby was excited about all the plans he had for the party this weekend. A free weekend between the last scrimmage game and the start of the regular football season. It would be our last long weekend together until January when football ended. My swimming would be heading into mid-season by then, but I loved swimming so much missing things didn’t bother me. The guys tried to come to as many of the meets they could anyway.

“No Ally, sorry,” I answered and she broke contact with me, scooting her chair a few inches away. It made enough noise that Heather, Lily, and the guys all turned their attention back on us.

“Do you not even want me to come?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. With her tight top, her cleavage became more pronounced and I tore my eyes off her body. I hated and felt relieved that the sight of her still caused a stirring in me. I hated being this torn.

“It’s not that, I swear,” I countered scooting my tray farther away. “I don’t know why you’re busting my balls over going.”

“Why,” She hissed, her tone more of an accusation. “I’ll tell you why…”

“Ally,” Lily coughed, nodding her head towards the surrounding tables. “You know what we talked about last night.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Ally countered standing up. Turning to me, I looked up at her trying my best to ignore all the eyes I knew were on me. A hush had gone over the cafeteria, so I knew her outburst didn’t go unnoticed. I could even hear some teachers calling Alison’s name, but her glare never left me.

“Ally,” I said, “calm down.”

“Calm down!” She yelled, “ever since you started hanging out with that loser you’ve been ignoring all of us!”

“No I…” I started, but she held up her hand.

“It’s over, you obviously don’t care,” she said, her voice still seeming to echo off the walls. “If you want to be an asshole and a loser, fine by me, I don’t need you.”

“Fine,” I said, my temper getting the better of me. “Maybe I can finally breathe again.”

“Ass,” she said as she picked up her purse and her tray and left the table.

“Damn dude,” Toby muttered, cocking his eyebrows.

“Jackson,” Heather said, shaking her head as she stood to chase after Ally. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Where are you going?” Toby asked, reaching for Heather as she grabbed her tray of food.

“To Ally’s table,” Heather answered, shooting me a glare. “Until Jackson gets his head out of his ass.”

“Don’t be like that,” Toby groaned, but Heather wiggled her hand out of his grip and left the table.

“Go on Toby, don’t get into trouble because of me,” I said nodding my head towards Heather. Toby looked relieved as he stood and quickly left. Ally had only gone a few tables down from ours. Seniors liked to sit in the back of the cafeteria, but I noticed that she took Conner’s seat next to Bailey Ashton while he was gone. I smirked seeing him pointing to his chair, but he finally gave up and started looking around for another seat at their table.

“She’ll come around, Jackson,” Lily offered, turning away from the other table.

“What is her problem anyway?” Derek asked, taking the last big bite of his soggy pizza. So far he was the only one to make an honest effort to get the food down. I just shrugged and looked down at my phone hoping it was time for the dismissal bell to ring. When I saw that it was, I stood and grabbed my tray ignoring everyone looking at me as I zigzagged my way through all the other tables to the other side of the cafeteria to dump my untouched food and leave.

The rest of the day everyone left me alone. I didn’t really make eye contact and if someone acted like they were about to say something to me I shot them down with a glare. I only started really looking around when the last dismissal bell sounded and people started heading out towards the buses or the back exit to the student parking lot. I hadn’t told Luke about being able to come with us. I didn’t really know how I was going to be able to focus on everything, or if I even wanted him there anymore. I could only see myself failing, with the way my senior year started I began to expect the worst with everything I tried.

Stepping out of the exit to the student parking lot, I scanned the poorly graveled area. It had no real organization or parking lines. The school didn’t care much about our cars or how we parked them as long as there was plenty of room for everyone who drove to school. Most people had already fallen into line to leave, but there were always groups of people talking by cars. Couples kissing and saying goodbye, or people planning to go cruising the town instead of going home to do homework.

Then as I looked at my car, I saw Luke leaned up against the driver’s side door. He looked to be scanning the parking lot, his hand shielding his eyes from the hot afternoon sun. It hadn’t rained for awhile so the gravel dust swirled in the hot breeze and until the fall rain started, there would always be a light covering of it on all of the vehicles. Sighing, I bounded down the steps and walked over the uneven surface. When he finally saw me approaching he dropped his hand and waited for me.

“Hey,” he said as he pushed himself off my car.

“You still not driving?” I asked as I took his spot to lean against my car. I quickly glanced around to see if anyone was paying close attention to us, but no one seemed to be looking our way.

“No they haven’t got my parking pass ready yet,” he answered shrugging. “I don’t need a ride, Mom is dropping by.”

“Call and cancel,” I countered as I dug my keys out of my pocket and hit the unlock button. “Mom said it was okay for you to come along tonight.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” He asked, glancing over his shoulder. “And I can’t call and cancel because Mom doesn’t believe in cell phones yet.”

“Do you not want to come?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Maybe we need to cool it off a little,” he answered sighing as he leaned against the back door on my side. We had unintentionally cleaned off the dust and I noticed a creamy white stain on the back of Luke’s blue shirt.

“Fine,” I said, turning to look straight ahead squinting against the glare of the sun off the remaining cars. “If that’s what you want to do.”

“It isn't what I want to do, Jackson,” Luke hissed kicking rocks with his foot sending up another cloud of dust to join the rest still swirling in the air. “But I think it is what we should do, for now.”

“Why?” I asked, still looking ahead. My heart was hammering in my chest and I felt my palms begin the sweat.

“You heard what Ally said, that it was weird for us to be friends,” he countered. I could see him looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t turn to face him.

“You should have told me that last night,” I said, trying not to show him how much this bothered me. “So that I didn’t just fuck everything up for you.”

“Do you actually care about all that?” He asked this time, turning his body to face me as well.

“You care too,” I said, shaking my head. “Or you wouldn’t care about what Ally said.”

“I’m scared,” he whispered and this time I did turn to face him. His brown eyes were wide and I could see him tearing up. “I don’t know what all of this means to you or what it means for me. I saw how you looked at Ally today, she hurt you, you care for her.”

“I do care for her,” I said and I noticed his jaw muscles clench as he took a deep breath.

“So maybe,” he said swallowing past his tears. “We need to think about what all this means before we lose everything we have.”

“Fuck everything,” I said throwing my hands into the air. By now we were the only ones left in the parking lot. The only people that would see us now would be cleaning staff or teachers. I couldn’t care less about them seeing me. “At this point I don’t care what I lose, I don’t.”

“Yes you do,” he countered pushing himself off the car. “And I do too, I’m sorry.”

“Fine,” I said, “why are you standing here then? Go wait for your mom to come get you, I need to get home.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and I watched him turn away and begin walking towards the sidewalk that led all the way around to the front of the school.

Knowing I had an anxious mother waiting for me at home, I didn’t stand at my car and watch Luke disappear around the corner. Football practice was starting a short distance away from campus and it only reminded me that I had somewhere a lot more important to be. As I started out of the parking lot I glanced over to see the football team huddled on the other side of the field near their weight training building. The school put a lot of money into the program and never really had a team worth putting on a field. I knew Rick wouldn’t be there and it looked like the guys were getting an ear full from the other coaches.

I didn’t start feeling nervous until I was a few minutes away from home. I thought I would need to pull over and try to calm myself down, throw up, or something. We still had an hour or so drive ahead of us to the Aquatic Center and I was glad I hadn’t eaten any of that disgusting food at lunch. The last thing I needed was to lose it in the middle of my tryouts.

When I pulled into the driveway, Mom was already waiting by her car. Rick had pulled his truck in beside her car and was busy talking on the phone leaning against it. Dad wasn’t there, but I didn’t really expect him to be coming along. I had long accepted that his job was important. Likely more important than other people working other hospitals. He was one of the few doctors here qualified to take care of anything that walked through their doors. It only bothered me when he missed important things when I was younger. I didn’t think either of my parents were particularly interested in my swimming though. That they were more proud of my above B average GPA. That is where they saw a future for me. In a classroom learning business management or medicine, like them. I never saw myself as either and they never pushed me to be like them, but it didn’t stop them from pushing me for answers on my future. I had always just told them that I’d think about it, that I had time.

Now with this tryout and no college in my future. I thought time was something I didn’t have anymore. That it had somehow vanished out from under me. I had everything I wanted all wrapped up. I could relax and just wait for the end of next summer. I would have been free from this town and people that didn’t care much about a swimmer or a sport that wasn’t even important enough to be accepted by the school district.

“Hi sweetheart,” Mom greeted as soon as I slid out of my car. She looked a little frantic, but she kept herself from wrapping me up into another hug. Something she really took up doing a lot more of the past day or so.

“Hey,” I greeted as I attempted to wiggle out of her grasp. Rick was looking over his shoulder at the two of us as he talked on his phone. By the tone of his voice, I knew he was talking to his wife Carrie. She worked at the hospital with my dad as a receptionist. Unlike Dad though, she got to leave every evening, letting the night shift take over.

“It is almost four, is Luke not coming?” Mom asked as she broke the hug and did a quick glance at her watch. She was probably one of the last people that still wore one on her wrist.

“No,” I answered as I leaned inside my car grabbing my backpack, “I need to run into the house to grab a few things.”

Stepping around her I jogged up the sidewalk and the front stairs. The door was already locked so I quickly grabbed my keys from my pocket and unlocked it. Then I walked across the living room and up the stairs to my room. I quickly grabbed my swimming bag and unzipped it. Then I slid my backpack off my shoulder and put it at the foot of my bed. Looking inside my swimming bag, I double checked to make sure I had everything I thought I would need, but not knowing what they really expected.

Sighing I finally zipped it back up and slid it over my shoulder. Then I jumped when I heard Rick’s horn and I hurried back down the stairs. Locking the door behind me, I jogged off the porch and down the stairs to his truck. It was an extended cab and Mom held open the back passenger seat door for me. I slung my bag in before I climbed in and she closed the door behind me and slid into the passenger seat.

“Got everything?” Rick asked as he slipped his phone into the car console and slid on a pair of sunglasses.

“Yeah,” I answered as I fastened my seatbelt as he started the truck and backed out of our driveway.

“Are you hungry?” Mom asked as she smoothed out her hair, turning to look over her shoulder at me.

“No,” I answered, shrugging. Rick wouldn’t let me eat anything so close to getting into the pool anyway. Not having anything to eat all day, I knew, was a bad decision though so I didn’t dare bring that up either.

“So why did Luke not come along?” Mom asked, offering me a small smile. I knew she just wanted to make small talk as we rode along down the road. I didn’t want to talk about Luke, not with Mom. I didn’t want to talk about Allison Welker either, but it didn’t escape me that she hadn’t brought her up. Shrugging I turned to look out the tinted back windows as Rick drove out of town.

Living out here in the middle of nowhere I was used to long drives just to get to where we needed to go. Being a kid it didn’t really pay to be carsick, it shortened outings. Now it didn’t bother me as long as there was a good radio station on or someone worth talking to riding along. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about Luke or school, stuff that Mom wanted to pass the time talking about, to keep from bringing up the tryout that we were going to. It was her way of calming herself, thinking that it had the same effect on me. I also expected Rick to begin lecturing me any moment now. He was likely saving it for the last twenty minutes or until Mom wasn’t in earshot. Anything that he would say, probably wouldn’t be approved by her, especially after all of her attempts at calming small talk failed.

“When is Dad’s next slow week?” I asked when I finally felt bad about ignoring the Luke question.

“He really wanted to come,” she said smiling. “Right now he’s filling in for Doctor Miller, she took her husband away for their anniversary.”

“Oh?” I said shifting around in my seat, tugging on the seat belt. “Where did they go?”

“Hawaii,” she answered, “She promised your father a very light week after she gets back Monday.”

“That’s good, we’ve not seen much of him lately,” I said leaning my head back against the headrest.

“I know,” she replied, sighing. “He looks rough in the mornings right before we head out.”

“We’re almost to the Aquatic Center,” Rick announced after a small silence fell between Mom and me. “The Garrisons own it, so don’t let that scare you.”

“Alright,” I said as I turned away from the window to lean over the shoulder to try and get a look at the place. We were still in traffic, but in the distance I could see a long building with a high ceiling and a lot of glass windows. It looked like the newest building there and was surrounded by chain restaurants. We were still a couple of hours away from the sun setting, but some of them already had their signs lit up.

“Just try to relax and swim like you always do,” he continued and I saw him glance at me through the rearview mirror as he flipped on his turn signal and entered the turning lane. “And don’t get defensive, the Garrisons will find a lot of things wrong with you.”

“Rick,” Mom started, but he waved his hand.

“He needs to know this going in,” Rick countered, but I saw him offer Mom a small smile. “Someone has a temper sometimes.”

“Shut up,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes. “I don’t.”

“You do, so don’t give them any backtalk,” Rick said as the turning lane light turned green and we entered the parking lot. For the most part it was deserted, but it looked like a large parking area that could hold a lot of cars. “Just know that they are already interested in adding you to their program or they wouldn’t have even agreed to this, okay?”

“I’ll try to remember that,” I answered, swallowing hard against the tightness of my throat and the sudden nausea as my nerves tried to take over.

“You’ll do fine,” Mom offered, reaching back to take my hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze before Rick parked beside the only thing in the parking lot beside ours. It was a black shiny Escalade that I would have taken some time looking over if I wasn’t nervous. It was the first one I had ever seen and it would normally catch my full attention. When we all slid out of the truck I even saw Rick walk slower just to admire it for a few moments.

When we entered, I could already smell the familiar and welcoming scent of chlorine. The front foyer was well lit, but it was closed off from the pools that I could just see through slits on the doors as we approached. I didn’t see the Garrison’s waiting, but Rick didn’t hesitate so Mom and I followed him to one of the doors and he held it open for us to walk inside.

Inside, I stopped just past the door. I felt my mouth fall slightly open as I took in the Center. There were four pools total. One of them was a deeper pool for diving and I glanced up at the high dive platform at the very top. Off to the side of that were two hot tubs for divers to destress a little between dives. But everything was calm, nothing seemed to be stirring the water and it gave the impression of blue glass or thin ice.

When a door opened and closed on the other side of the center, the sound echoed. Stepping out of it though, was an older couple in matching clothes. Red shirts and khaki shorts. The man had a whistle around his neck and a clipboard with paper in his hand. Both of them wore glasses and had salt and pepper hair. The woman was smiling, but I couldn’t tell if the man was or not, he had a bushy gray mustache. What made them stand out though, was how fit they both looked for their age.

“You’re early,” The man said as they walked around the sides of the pools near the stands. “We like that.”

“Good to see you, Tony,” Rick greeted and I felt him nudge me forward. “This is Jackson Forrest and his mother Grace.”

“Good to see you,” he said as they walked up to us and I noticed that their voices echoed in the emptiness of the center. “Jackson Forrest, is it?”

“Yeah,” I answered looking down to see Tony’s hand outstretched. I took it and he gave it a firm shake before letting go.

“The locker room is just down the hall there,” he said pointing toward a small hallway off to the side of where we entered.

After offering him a quick smile and a nod I secured my bag over my shoulder and walked quickly down it to the men’s locker room. It was the first door that I came to and when I opened it I looked around. There were open lockers lining one wall, all of them had names and designated cubbies above them. There were goggles, caps, and nose clamps in all of them, but the last one was empty. I noticed it didn’t have a name so I walked to it and dropped my bag. Everything was clean in here. It didn’t even smell like the YMCA and definitely not like the school’s locker rooms.

Not wanting to waste much time, I pulled my shirt off over my head and kicked off my shoes and shorts. I never was bashful or nervous in locker rooms, not even when I was younger. But I couldn’t help missing the sounds of other people milling around as I changed. The silence bothered me more, but I couldn’t help smiling when I thought about changing in here with a group of teammates and not just people spending time splashing around at the YMCA gym. It would be a welcome change from that at least.

Opting for the racing shorts, I grabbed them out of my bag along with my goggles and everything else I needed. Then I zipped it up and tucked everything away into the empty locker. I quickly pulled on the shorts and readjusted my junk. I took some time walking around in a small circle trying to calm myself. I even walked around the corner and looked at the showers. They were open wall showers, the YMCA actually offered stalls, but there weren’t any in here aside from two that likely had toilets.

Sighing I finally gave up on calming myself down and took one last glance around before I left the locker room and walked back down the dimly lit hall to where they were all gathered talking. From what I could tell Mom was grilling both of the Garrisons about the place and when it was built. I didn’t want to know anything about that, but when I approached, Mom stopped talking and I saw a small stack of papers from the clipboard were already in her hands.

“Alright then,” Tony said as he handed Jackie the clipboard and a blue inkpen. “Let’s get this started, do you have any questions?”

“Not that I can think of right now,” I answered, not daring to glance at Rick or Mom. I’m sure they had questions, but all I wanted to do was get into the pool. I hoped that the cold water took away the battle of nerves, but when I started towards the water Tony chuckled.

“Not so fast, Jack,” he said and I cringed, but didn’t correct him. I hated when people I didn’t really know called me that. “Let me take a look at you.”

“Sorry,” I muttered and I found a spot on the far wall to look at as I tried not to blush or twitch. I didn’t want to show them how nervous I was or how uncomfortable I felt having both of them looking at me.

“You’re holding on to some of that baby fat,” Tony said as he began to circle around me. I heard Jackie mark something on the clipboard and I couldn’t think of what would be on it. “And you don’t shave.”

“I do during the season,” I answered, still not meeting his gaze.

“You have long arms, that’s good,” he said and I jumped when he measured one of my arms. “You’re jumpy.”

“Sorry,” I coughed, finally turning my head to look at him.

“Hold your arms out to your side for me,” Tony said and when I did he quickly measured my wingspan and Jackie wrote down the measurements as she hovered over his shoulder.

“Try not to be nervous,” Jackie said when they stopped their circle to stand in front of me. “Just doing some standard measurements.”

“Okay,” I offered and she smiled as she held out her hand.

“Can I see your equipment?” She asked and I quickly nodded and pulled my goggles off of my head and then my cap. My nose clip was tucked into the hem of my shorts, so I quickly slid it out and handed it to her as well.

“How tall are you?” Tony asked as I watched Jackie look over my cap. She jotted down the size of it.

“Six feet, two inches,” I answered and I hated that I still couldn’t read Tony’s expression. I could tell he was all business and that didn’t make me feel better about my chances.

“Weight?” He asked and this time I felt my face flush. After the baby fat comment I didn’t really want to give him my weight.

“About 195,” I answered and I saw the tiniest of smirks as he looked at me.

“We’ll be getting that down to about 185,” he said and I only nodded as Jackie scribbled on her clipboard. “Your Mom already has a packet with some tips on diet, you look like you’re carrying a few too many McNuggets in there.”

“Yeah,” I offered, my face getting hotter, but I was relieved when he clapped his hands together once and turned to Coach and Mom. I relaxed and finally let my arms drop back to my sides. Jackie handed me back my things and I put everything back on. “Coach you can stay, but Mom has to go sit in the stands.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” Mom offered and I grimaced and allowed her to wrap me into a quick hug and kiss me on the cheek. I didn’t look at the Garrisons until she left us and started walking to the rows of bleachers on the other side of the pools.

“We have looked over your film,” Tony said as Rick came over to stand by my side. He put his arm over my shoulder and gave my shoulder a squeeze that held me in place. “You don’t have a good finish, you’re not using your hips, and your breathing and stroke rates aren’t consistent. You’re slow off the block and quick to resurface after turns. So you’re doing everything wrong.”

“Sorry,” I started, but he frowned and held up his hand.

“Don’t apologize for that,” he countered and I noticed his mustache bristle. “Despite all of that, you have managed exemplary times.”

“Really?” I asked trying not to let his criticism bother me. Rick had already warned me that the Garrisons could be tough and I was starting to see that. I hated feeling so intimidated. “Is that the only reason I’m here?”

“Yes,” he answered and I saw Jackie jab him with her inkpen. He didn’t acknowledge the jab, but his shoulders did relax some and she did wink at me. “If you’re willing to work right now, we have a spot for you here. You will be tested moving forward with us and it will be the worst kind of hell for you. I’m giving you a fair warning before we waste time and money.”

“I want to swim,” I answered as Rick's grip tightened on my shoulder.

“Okay then,” Tony said as he glanced at Jackie. “Ready?”

“Ready,” she said and I watched her pull a stopwatch out of her pocket.

“Get on the block,” Tony instructed and Rick slid his hand off my shoulder and I pulled my goggles down over my eyes and my nose clip over my nose. On the block I stretched my arms, breathing deeply. Then I bent down and splashed water over my chest so that the cold water wouldn’t be a shock to me when I dived. Then I placed one foot to the front edge of the block and got into my stance and waited. “Choose any stroke you think you’re strongest at and do one full lap.”

The rippling of the water splashed against the sides of the pool and the bright yellow and blue lane dividers swayed back and forth. There were ten lanes in this pool and another ten lanes in the pool behind me. I could just see the diving pool from the first lane. I knew it wasn’t the ideal lane to be in, but I didn’t want to walk to the middle of the pool to the easier ones. What I didn’t think I would feel here though, was comfortable. My heart still hammered in my chest, but it always did just before I swam. The butterflies were gone and I smiled as I looked down and waited for the shrill sound of the whistle. When it came though, I wasn’t ready. Cursing under my breath I launched off the block and hit the water. After a few strokes into my freestyle though, I heard three quick whistles and I stopped and surfaced.

“You entered the water like a dead fish,” Tony said shaking his head. “Clear your mind and be ready, back on the block.”

“Sorry,” I offered, but he frowned and readied his whistle, so I hurried out of the pool and back on the block still smiling as I got down in my stance. The whistle came quicker this time and I dove, gave a few kicks as I resurfaced and started swimming. After a few strokes I fell into an easier rhythm that allowed me to breathe and when I approached the turn I hit my hands against the side, then dove, turning in the water and pushed off the wall with my feet. Kicking I stayed under the water for a few meters then resurfaced and tried to push myself for the finish harder than I did going down, hoping I had enough left in me to hit the wall strong.

When my fingers touched the far wall I surfaced and took off my goggles, shaking the water from them. I looked around to see Jackie standing halfway down my lane with her stopwatch. She was jotting something down and Rick and Tony were standing side by side, both with their arms crossed over their chests. Rick actually looked pleased, but Tony still confused the hell out of me.

“You surface too soon on the turn,” he said, “why?”

“I’ve always done that,” I answered glancing over my shoulder.

“You have fifteen meters, use them, you have a strong kick underwater,” he said, turning to glance at Rick before turning back to me. “You’re exerting more energy than you need to be by surfacing too soon.”

“Okay,” I said as I held onto the wall and rested on the backstroke ledge so I didn’t have to hold myself above water.

“Your stroke rate and breathing also need a lot of work,” he added as he broke his stance and walked towards me. Then he smiled and offered me his hand. When I took it he pulled me out of the water and slapped me on the back. “Your splits were good, they could be a heck of alot better and we’ll be grilling you hard all season, but welcome to the program, if you still want to be here.”

“I do,” I said, still breathing heavily. I smiled as Tony offered his hand and I shook it.

“We’ll need to get your weight down, your strokes consistent, you need to shave before we see one another again,” he said then he seemed to forget something and looked across the pool towards Mom. When he waved his hand I watched her stand and begin to run around the pool until Tony whistled and pointed to the rules posted on practically every wall on the place. Noticing them she slowed down, her face flushing as she joined us.

“How was he?” Mom asked, smiling at the Garrisons.

“He has accepted our invitation,” Tony answered and Mom hugged me with enough force to nearly topple us both over the edge and into the pool.

“I’m so proud of you baby,” she said and my face flushed as I heard snickering over Mom’s shoulder.

“Mom,” I groaned when she started kissing me on the cheek.

“We practice on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday,” Tony announced after Mom quietened down. “You’ll meet everyone Friday, Wednesday I want you to work at your home gym with Rick, I’ll be faxing over all of our notes for you two to discuss and begin implementing.”

“Okay,” I said and Tony looked at Jackie.

“What have I forgotten, Jackie I know there’s something,” He said and Jackie rolled her eyes stepping forward.

“‘Well you forgot your, ‘this is not a pay to swim team,’ speech. That is a good sign, I wasn’t looking forward to hearing that one again,” she said offering him a smile.

“It is true though,” Tony said and I felt some of my earlier nerves resurface. “If you don’t improve to where you can compete with the rest of the guys, expect to spend most of your time benched.”

“And you forgot to mention sponsors,” Jackie interrupted winking at me. I knew I was going to hear the complete speech another day, hopefully by then all of this would have sunken in better and I would be ready for it.

“They’re sponsoring him, Jackie,” Tony countered and Mom smiled, patting me on the back. “Well if you don’t have any questions, you’re free to leave.”

“I have some questions,” Mom started, but I groaned.

“I can’t think of anything right now,” I said and they both nodded and Tony dismissed me with a nod and a wave toward the locker rooms. I could only imagine what types of questions Mom would have thought up in the time she sat in the stands. I was too excited to ask the dumbass questions that were flooding through my head.

As we started back home the sun was nearly set. It didn’t seem like we were there that long, but I couldn’t keep the smile from creeping back across my face every time I thought about training there. They would kick my ass, but I would try not to give them a lot of shit for trying to turn me into a better swimmer.

“Do you have enough shaving cream dear?” Mom asked just as we were heading out of town.

“Yes Mom,” I answered, shaking my head.

“We can pick some up before we head home,” she added and I smiled and looked beside me. It was the first time that I remembered the talk I had with Luke earlier. I wanted to call and tell everyone that I had made it, but I left my phone in the pocket of my jeans knowing it would be easier just to tell them all tomorrow at school.

“I have a lot, Mom,” I answered and she turned back around, probably thinking of more things to ask me.

When Rick turned into our driveway I couldn’t help scanning the treeline for Luke. Not seeing him, I frowned as I grabbed my bag. It made the fight we had at my car feel more important, more final. We had danced around, pulled, and pushed at one another ever since that first day at the park. I hated that I anticipated seeing him waiting, just where I could see him, or maybe even on the front porch, not caring what Mom would say or think. Even if that wouldn’t be a good idea for either of us, it was better than me thinking that he wasn’t going to show. Wasn’t going to throw rocks at my window.

“Congratulations,” Rick said through the rolled down window as I slid out of the truck and closed the door behind me.

“Thanks,” I said and he waved and said a quick goodbye and started backing out of the driveway.

“Are you hungry?” Mom asked as we started walking towards the front steps onto the porch. I took one look towards the dark forest before we walked up the stairs. “I guess I need to go grocery shopping soon, to get you on their diet and meal schedule.”

“Does it look bad?” I asked grimacing.

“Like hell,” she answered laughing as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Sighing I followed her in and closed the door behind me.