Two Days Before the Takeover
My hands met the water first. I was engulfed in crystalline blues and greens and sunlight filtering, somehow, clearly through the water. My legs were always the problem. I barely ever used them to do anything, and didn't trust them to keep me straight and in the middle of the lane. I had nothing else to do but wait for the disqualification whistle to blare, and for me to have to do the walk of shame back to the block; without a ribbon, but with a yellow card.
When the whistle did not sound, I went giddy with excitement. The shirt I wore was flat against my chest, clinging to my swimsuit, tangling in my hair. My goggles surprised me by staying on for once, and not filling up with the chemically-balanced water absorbing into my skin. I sped upwards, my fingertips at a point above my head. My body lurched and I was floating atop the gently bobbing waves. All around me, kids were already halfway done with the relay start. I was ahead of the game. I shot forwards, like a bullet, or a rock from a slingshot, barreling towards the wall at full speed, forgetting to breathe before the flags. I flipped over, rocketing towards the other side; the water creating bubbles on my skin and under my nails that were painted purple and blue to match the aquamarine color all around me. I was almost to the wall. As my knuckles grazed the wall, my heart leapt into my throat. I had completed the race, without disqualification, without cheats, ahead of everyone else. Precisely seven seconds before everyone else.
Willy had already dove into the water by the time I could turn and see the last inch of his foot disappear into the water. He, too, was wearing a multicolored shirt on his chest. It was a relay used to create drag and to see if we could deal with it.
I could feel the wet shirt rubbing my underarms and upper chest. I sighed, leaning against the wall. I could see the leaves at the bottom of the pool collect at a filter. My teammates stood on the deck in front of me, all smiling broadly and clapping heartily. I didn't want to get out of the pool. I had used all my energy to pull myself and the soggy shirt across the water, I didn't think I could manage to drag myself out. So I laid my head on the top of the cemented wall and waited for Willy to get back. I could see the red glint from where he was swimming from, and knew he was close. He had this long, wild red hair that nobody could miss.
We only had two more people to go. Willie touched the wall and one of the twins erupted from the block and smashed into the water with a deafening slap. I could feel our entire team cringe. All twenty-seven of us, as we waited for--
"Kurstyn! Are you alright?" It was Katherine. Kurstyn and Katherine were the twins. For the life of us all, we couldn't tell which twin was which. Of course, they both wore different suits and caps to practice to help us out, we almost enjoyed the game of not knowing who was who.
Kurstyn didn't answer, but continued to swim. It was noticeable, however, that there was a large rip in her team shirt. She didn't seem to mind, and kept going, until she was next to Willy and I, panting.
"Good job," Willy managed through his coughs of water. He had been on the team for nearly three months, and he could still not control the water intake through his mouth.
"I tried. That belly flop..." Kurstyn groaned, pulling herself out of the water and sitting on the edge. Coach barked something in her direction and she climbed all the way out, muttering something under her breath and heading towards the bathrooms.
Willy pulled himself out too, and wandered over to the snack table. It was the second to last practice day until break. Coach was normally kind about this sort of thing, and we always had a party on the last day before we were all off for a week. Willy looked over the snacks and sighed, moving swiftly back over to our lane and sat down at the edge, only to be growled at by Coach again. Katherine had gone first, and was on the deck cheering on the last member of our Relay Team.
