Everblue

Chapter 5 - Ash

ASH

 

No cup of coffee cleared out the morning cobwebs like a douse of 70 degree water at early morning swim practice. Though warmer water would have made the first lap a little more bearable, the pool slowly began to feel like bathwater once I got going.

Bubbles of air escaped from my nose as I glided underwater. This quiet haven was where I could think in private, away from noise and distraction. I broke the surface and stretched my arm forward, propelling my body through the current one stroke at a time. Thirty five laps to go to finish my warm-up.

After my last lap, I looked at the board—same old thing. Three miles worth of laps split into individual medleys and sprints. Piece of cake.

"Psst," Georgia, my closest girl friend at school whispered from the lane next to me. "You finished with your warm-up yet?"

"Yeah," I answered, and rinsed out my goggles.

Her shoulders dropped. "Really? Already?"

"Enough chit-chat! Let's go ladies!" Coach Madsen barked.

Georgia stuck out her tongue when Coach wasn't watching and pushed off the wall with a splash.

"You finished, Lanski?" Coach directed at me while twirling her whistle.

"Yeah." I sank into the corner of the wall to rest before the next set.

"Nice job," she said with a slight smile, then proceeded to yell at a pair of slackers a few lanes down from me.

After practice, the locker room buzz was all about Senior Ball when it should have been about the big swim meet in two weeks. With a quick check of the clipboard, Meredith Hamusek, my nemesis from Squaw Valley Academy, and I were slated to race one another in the 100 yard butterfly—which left my stomach in a knot.

The dance did, however, loom in the recesses of my mind, but my fantasies involved Fin as my date and no one else. Tatchi had pestered me about taking up Ryan's invitation. He was cute, but I'd already told him "no." She couldn't know the real reason. But after what happened yesterday,  maybe a date with someone else would be what Fin needed to finally make a move.

Attached to my gym locker door was a picture of the three of us, hanging out at Fannette Island when we were thirteen—my only picture of Fin. They'd bet I couldn't swim the entire distance, all of 500 feet. The freezing water cramped up my calf, but I did it without a whimper.

With a quick brush of my finger over my lips, I touched his exquisite face. Why couldn't he understand we needed to be together?

While Holly, my locker neighbor, sauntered about in her pink bra and skimpy panties, bragging about the cost of her dress, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, slathered on my favorite honeysuckle lotion, and applied a little mascara. I just wanted to be on time to English.

A quick exit into the hall accosted me with bigger drama than fancy dresses. A cluster of girls whispered in the corner, eyeing a red-eyed Brooke, who had her own soirée surrounding her. What could the head cheerleader and girlfriend of Lake Tahoe High's sexiest guy at school, Callahan, possibly be crying about? Then I heard—they'd broken up.

Tatchi is going to love this one.

I pressed my lips together to suppress a smile and ducked into the classroom. Mrs. Keifer had already written our assignment on the board—more chapters due from The Scarlet Letter. I pulled out my book and marked the pages. I could identify with Hester Prynne, but my chest felt branded with the scarlet S for shy.