Synchronized Swimming

Chapter 5: Planning Time

Luke

"That'll be $62.94, sir," the cashier at the gas station says. I pull out my wallet, whip out three twenties and a ten, and place the money dramatically on the counter.

"Keep the change!" I sweep the mountain of candy into my swim bag and charge back out to the car where Dr. Green, Gabriel, and Victor sit waiting for me. Stepping into the back seat, I dump my treasure onto Gabe's lap. Dr. Green looks slightly shocked at how much candy I just bought.

"Luke, you know that I try not to tell you what to eat, but that much candy really just isn't healthy," he admonishes me. I glare at him.

"This isn't all for right now! North found my last candy hoard and threw it all away, so now I have to replenish. Road trips are some of the only times that I can get junk food without him knowing since he's usually in the other car."

Dr. Green sighs. "Fine, but promise me you'll at least brush your teeth."

"Promise," I shout, ripping into a package of Skittles before dumping half of the bag into my mouth at once. Victor looks at me and shakes his head.

"You're going to crash by the time we finally get home. If you need to you can stay at my house after the family meeting."

I frown at the reminder about the family meeting. Normally I can guess what they're about, but I have no clue for this one. Nothing unusual happened at the meet, besides seeing that amazing soloist, so unless someone is having a personal family emergency, then the meeting must be about the Academy. I sure hope that's not the case—we're supposed to be on break for the next two months, through the national competition.

After finishing our job at Ashley Waters, the Academy decided to give us some time off as a reward for completing a job that turned out to be much more difficult than we originally imagined. At first they offered us three months, but we balked at that idea. As much as we like down time, we love Academy jobs even more, so we compromised. In theory, we are officially off of the Academy job list until July, which leaves us two whole months to team bond and prepare for the national competition. This emergency meeting gives the impression that something went wrong with that plan, however.

"Luke," Gabe yells. I shake myself out of my thoughts. His eyes narrow, a scowl tugging at his lips.

"Huh? Why did you scream my name like that?"

"Because I've asked you twice now to get your candy out of my lap, and you just keep on sitting there," he says. I look down at the huge mess of candy I've made. Reaching over, I scoop it all back into my swim bag.

"Sorry Gabe, I was daydreaming," I say with a guilty smile. He rolls his eyes at me, but then ruins the effect with a grin.

"So, what did you guys think of that girl, Sang?" he asks.

I'm taking a breath to answer when Dr. Green stiffens. "I almost forgot! We need to discuss something else, something very important," he yells. His voice, normally so relaxed, is high pitched and just a tad bit squeaky.

Victor looks at him weirdly for the outburst. "What? Do you know something about the family meeting?" he asks.

I meet Dr. Green's eyes in the rearview mirror, and for a second think I see a flash of guilt, but it passes too quickly for me to be sure. "I've got no clue as to why Owen called it. The important thing that we need to discuss is that I'm thinking about dying part of my hair purple. Thoughts?"

Gabe immediately begins a tirade shooting that idea down. The rest of the car rides passes quickly, with friendly banter and a plethora of sugar keeping the mood positive despite how tired we all are. The topic of Sang was avoided one more time, by Dr. Green suddenly announcing that he wanted to make dinner for all of us tomorrow. Naturally, we nipped that idea in the bud. I don't think my acting skills are good enough to survive a meal that he cooked.

Kota—Victor's house, the family meeting

I sit at the conference table, pen poised over my paper to take notes on what is about to be said. Despite my exhaustion, I force myself to sit straight and refrain from rubbing my eyes every ten seconds like I want to do. This day has been incredibly long, but I take solace in the fact that I can finally go home after the meeting. I look up when Mr. Blackbourne clears his throat. "Although I know you all are curious about why I called an emergency family meeting, I would like to go over a few points of business first. To begin, excellent job at the competition. The judges gave very positive comments, and your scores were much higher than the other teams, so congratulations are in order."

Dr. Green looks annoyed at his formality. With a frown, he says, "You know Owen, it's kind of hard to maintain the formal façade when there's a ketchup stain on your suit jacket. Can't you just get to the point of the meeting? We're all very tired."

I look towards Nathan at the ketchup comment, who has the decency to look repentant. During one of our stops on the way back from the meet, he was seeing how hard he could whack one of those disposable ketchup packets when it suddenly exploded, squirting a stream of red at the unfortunate person sitting in front of him. Mr. Blackbourne had not been amused, and remained frosty for the rest of the car ride home.

Mr. Blackbourne sighs before continuing on. "If that is what you wish. At the meet, I believe that you all saw Miss Sorenson swim her solo." He looks around the room for confirmation, and we all nod. "I want to know your thoughts on her."

"She's an amazing swimmer."

"Beautiful"

"Delicate"

"Full of passion"

"Resilient"

"Okay I think I get the picture," Mr. Blackbourne says. "Due to my observations at the meet, I believe that she may need our help. I know that this is supposed to be our down time, but who is willing to help Ms. Sang Sorenson?"

As one, we say, "I am willing and I will obey!". Mr. Blackbourne's mouth quirks up into the smallest smile possible. 

"In that case, I have a plan."