Stories Collide - A Stuart Gibbs Story

Chapter 15: BRAND NEW PERSPECTIVE TIME

I probably would have been panting if my head wasn't underwater. I was swimming as fast as I could across the pool, trying to prepare for my race next Saturday. I shot through the water and touched the wall at the end.

"Good, Chloe-Grace. But try a little faster next time, alright?" Said Coach Perry.

All I could do was nod my head. I had been practicing for weeks and still couldn't get fast enough. I decided to try again tomorrow.

I walked over to the chairs and sat down, waiting for my brother, Carter, to come on his bike to ride home. He had water polo today, in the other pool. His class went 10 minutes after mine, though, so I had to wait. I normally didn't have swim class today, but I wanted to practice more. The race meant a lot to me.

A few minutes later, Carter pulled around the corner. He rang his bike bell, like he always did. I pulled my shorts over my bathing suit, grabbed my backpack, walked over to him, and got on my bike.

"Chloe-Balony! Stop being slow! Dad is making burgers for dinner!"

I whistled. "Okay."

As Carter and I rode, I was thinking about what I would do at home. Mom had died when Carter and I were little, and we didn't usually have much to do, so we filled up all our time with sports and hobbies. We were both currently training for the school bike race.

"Race you home?" Asked Carter.

I grinned. "Bet you 10 dollars you can't make it home before me."

Carter took off like a rocket. I fumbled with the handlebars of my bike, cranked it to the highest gear, and took off after him.

I peddled as fast as I could muster, silently cursing the bike for not having higher gears.

After around 10 minutes, Carter, ahead of me, pulled into the driveway. He shouted, "Woo-hoo!" and tried to get off his bike, but he tried it too fast and fell into the garage door. I laughed.

I hurried into my bedroom and peeled off my bathing suit. Then I wrung it out in my sink and left it to dry in front of the vent.

I pulled on a t-shirt and sweatpants and exited into the backyard. Carter, predictably, was already there. Dad was making burgers, just as promised. I sat down at the picnic table. My cat, Bongo, hopped into my lap.

Even though I love burgers, it was routine. My whole life, nothing exciting ever happened to me. I was just a regular 13-year-old girl, living in Los Angeles.

All I was thinking about was how interesting the characters life's were in my books. If my life was a book, I would be lucky to sell ten copies.

If I had known what would happen after that, I would have been wondering if I'd jinxed it.