To Be Freed

Chapter One

PART ONE
~Josh~

The alarm buzzed him awake and he slammed his fist on it. Josh stood and stretched then walked to the restroom.

He combed his hair and threw water at his face to wake himself up some more. His eyelids continued to droop, though.

He saw Makoto in the doorway and glanced at him.

"Knock, knock," Makoto knocked on the doorframe.

"Hey, Dad."

"Ready for your swim meet today, kiddo?"

"Dad, I'm 14 years old stop calling me that."

"Okay, okay then!"

Haru was walking down the hallway, his dark hair in tangles, his eyes barely open.

Josh leaned to see his dad through the mirror and Makoto stepped out of the way, "Um... Morning Dad."

"Oh yeah," Haru faced him and smiled tiredly, "Morning."

"I'm gonna go and cook some breakfast for us." Makoto walked to the kitchen.

Haru stepped inside the restroom to look at both of them in the mirror. Josh was up to his shoulders.

"You're getting taller, aren't you?" He chuckled, "you'll never be taller then Makoto, though."

"I don't know I guess."

"Do you prefer freestyle or backstroke?"

"Well, since you're here, free, but if Taller Dad's here, then I'd say backstroke."

"What if we're both here?"

"Well then I'd say that I didn't have a favorite."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just because."

"Okay...?"

"Well then let's go eat breakfast so that we could get you to the meet in time."

"Okay."
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When they got to the meet, Rei and Nagisa came out of the car next to them.

"Why are they here??" Josh asked his dads.

"Why can't they be here?" Makoto stepped out of the car, "they're kind of your uncles."

"So?"

"Let's just go inside," Haru was already walking away from them, as if the water was pulling him in... Like at every one of Josh's meets.

Makoto was talking the whole time to Rei and Nagisa on the walk to the pool and only turned to talk to Josh right before they went inside.

"Here's 20 bucks for when you're done, just in case we don't get to you in time for the snack bar." Makoto handed him five ones, one five, and a 10 dollar bill.

"Thanks," Josh said, then walked into the locker room.

"Go beat 'em!" Nagisa called after him.

~Courtney~

She hated swim meets. It was for this team, though. There wasn't enough people on it so she volunteered. She didn't think it would be this bad and hard. And she was homeschooled.

"Are you ready yet, sweetie?" Her mom called through her door.

"Yeah, almost."

"Did you remember your money?"

"Mm-hmm"

"What was that?"

"I mean yes."

"That's what I thought."

Courtney turned around and rolled her eyes. She put her swimsuit and goggles in her bag, along with her towel and swimcap. She took a deep breath and exited her room, but stopped in the restroom to look at herself one last time.

"Hurry dear, you don't want to be late, do you?"

Yes, she wanted to say, I want to be so late I get disqualified. Of course though, her mom wouldn't allow it. She was a swimmer back in her day.

She took her inhaler and stepped into the garage and closed the door behind her. Her mom was already in the car and she could tell that she was more ready than she was. Courtney scooted into the passenger seat and shut her door.

They were both quiet the way there. She couldn't stop thinking of the meet and how to do everything that she learned in the past year. She pushed her glasses up and gripped her bag's straps until her knuckles turned white. Her feet tapped anxiously against the soft car carpet.

"You're not scared, are you?" It was as if her mon was trying to intimidate her.

Her voice squeaked, "No, not really."

"Ha! Somehow I doubt that."

Courtney faced the window and frowned a bit.

Frankly, she was scared, but she'd never admit that to her mom. Man, she was terrifying. She didn't give her any freedom. Courtney wasn't kidding herself. She literally kept her in the house all day long. She only got some freedom, well never. She didn't even have a touch screen phone!

More silence. She remembered that she was comepeting in the 50 meter Free and the 200 meter relay. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.