Remember When **Under MAJOR Editing**

Chapter 12

"Mya!" the three chicks on my relay team screeched at the same time Coach bellowed, "Commander!" Then I hit the water.
I knew I'd jumped the block almost before I jumped it. Starts were one of the key parts of relay practice. Swimming fast and growing stronger were important, but I also had to make sure I didn't dive into the water before the person ahead of me touched the block I was standing on. If I did, I let down all three teammates in the relay with me.

I surfaced quickly so the team would have less time to talk trash about me. I caught Stephanie in the middle of, "Not again !" Then I swam to the edge of the pool and held on to the side, waiting for Coach's rant.

He didn't rant or even kneel down to give me a talking-to. He barked, "Dry off, Commander," like that was the end of our discussion.
"Coach!" I shrieked. "I'm fine. I won't do it again."

"You've done it three times in a row," Stephanie pointed out. Swim caps and goggles didn't enhance anyone's natural beauty, but I thought Stephanie looked particularly googly-eyed and sea monsterish as I hoisted myself out of the pool and slapped to the bleachers to drip-dry in the afternoon sun.
Swim practice started the last period of school and extended an hour and a half after school was over. I'd done fine at first. And my head wasn't bothering me. As a precautionary measure I'd taken painkillers all day—only two every four hours, exactly the recommended dosage. Maybe Coach would let me back in the water after a few minutes.

Because I could focus now. I'd finally accepted that Dade wasn't coming to swim practice. He'd skipped English this morning. I'd spent a long hour in
fear that he wouldn't come to school at all, I would stay in the dark about our accident for another day, and something had gone wrong with his leg. Gangrene.
Then he showed up in biology after going to the doctor to get the splint off and a cast put on. You couldn't miss him when he entered the classroom. He was enveloped by boys hooting, the weak ones capitalizing on a strong boy's downfall. The thought crossed my mind that he would punch them for this, and I wondered if it crossed theirs. I wasn't sure why he had attacked that guy outside history class and had gotten suspended for it two years ago.

I didn't cross the room and talk to him myself. After sleeping with him on the bus Saturday, I didn't want to give anyone reason to tell Zack something was going on between Dade and me. Besides, now that Dade was back at school, I knew I could talk to him during swim practice without so many people around.

And now he'd gone missing. When I'd taken roll at the beginning of swim practice, Gabriel had told me Dade was in Ms. Northam's class making up the English test he'd missed this morning. That accounted for his absence last period. It didn't explain why he still wasn't here after school.

I shivered in the cool autumn breeze that had settled in despite today's hot sun. We would need to put up the massive dome over the pool this week if the wind kept up. Then I sat on the bleachers, pulled my phone out of my backpack—as always, checked first for a message from my mother—and pressed Dade's number. Cringed in anticipation of his voice mail announcement, which is what I usually got when I called him about a change of swim team plans. Sighed with relief when his phone rang. Tensed again after the third unanswered ring, hoping he was okay, revisiting thoughts of gangrene. The rest of the swim team splashed back and forth across the pool in front of me. Dade should be in the pool with them.

The wreck hadn't been my fault. He'd said that himself. So why did I feel guilty? "Mya!" he yelled through the phone, and I jumped. "Are you okay?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "Did you think I wasn't?" He sounded like he was as worried about me as I was about him. But that was impossible. Dade didn't care that much about anybody.

Static sounded on the phone as he let out a long breath. "I didn't expect you to call me."
"I wanted to make sure you're okay," I said. "You're not at swim practice."