To Be Freed

Chapter Three

~Josh~

He couldn't help but feel bad for himself. He, the unbeatable, was beaten. He faced the disappointed, yet cheery appearances of the four men in the bleachers.

"It's okay, Josh!" Nagisa shouted.

"You'll do better next time, right?" Rei questioned, fixing his glasses.

"You did great, Joshua," Makoto smiled.

Haru was silent, which made Josh feel even more bad. He got second place in his dad's favorite swim style.

Haru then started laughing... Laughing. "Place never mattered anyways." He finally said, then they all sat down and waited for Josh's next event: 200 meter relay.

Josh was wondering if the girl was swimming in that event. Courtney? He had to admit that she was a good -maybe a great- swimmer. Unless he just lost focus because she caught up with him. That didn't matter, right? He was definitely going to beat her in the relay.

~Courtney~

She needed to calm down unless she would waste her energy. And then she wouldn't do as well. She wanted to win Josh now.

After 20 minutes of waiting, it was time for the relays to start.

"Beat him again," Her mom demanded.

"Yes ma'am," Courtney replied, trying to stay calm. I've beat him once and you were only happy for five seconds?? She was thinking.

She walked up to the starting block, once again lane 4. She was swimming Free in the relay so she was going first.

She saw Josh slipping his goggles on and getting ready to go on the block in lane 3. She looked at him and he looked back. She closed her eyes and exhaled. "Good luck," she smiled a bit.

He nodded, "Yeah you too."

The Freestyle swimmers were given the signal to go on the blocks. Her heart was beating so fast.

"Get set..." The whistle blew. In unison, Courtney and Josh dove off.

She swam like it was her last time. She turned to breathe and saw Josh's parents standing and cheering.

After a little bit, she turned again and saw her mother sitting and frowning.

Courtney felt and saw Josh kicking in front of her. She needed to focus. The wall approached and she did a flip turn the exact same time that Josh did.

Exhilaration attacked her as she neared the wall and her legs kicked as fast and as hard as she could muster. Her legs felt like they were going to fall off. Daniel Long, backstroker, was already in form. With one last kick, she smacked the wall and Daniel dove in.

The next swimmer in Josh's lane was already ready to dive. She sighed, but wasn't surprised.

~Josh~

He wanted to congratulate her... But should he? She was an amazing swimmer. He turned to face her about to climb out if the pool and he held his hand out. She looked up and took it and he pulled her out.

"You did really good!" Courtney acknowledged.

"Yeah um... Thanks you too." Josh replied, his cheeks flushing.

"Are you doing any more events after this?"

"No, are you?"

"No."

They stayed and watched until the rest of the relay was done and started walking after congratulating their team. Josh's team beat Courtney's by a couple of seconds.

"Do you want to go get something to eat?"

"Sure! My mom probably won't let, though. She doesn't let me do anything with my friends."

They were almost to where Josh's parents were sitting when Courtney's mom came walking briskly towards them.

"Why are you talking to the enemy?" Her mom questioned, tapping her foot.

"Mom, can't he be my friend?" Courtney looked extremely annoyed, but sounded terrified.

"No! He could be like his dads!" She whispered. Josh felt like he was stabbed in the heart.

"What's wrong with his dads?!"

"Don't you raise your voice at me, young lady!"

Josh wanted to shrink, but instead turned around and walked away. He glanced at his parents and their friends and they beckoned him over. He shook his head and walked as fast as he could to the locker room.

~Courtney~

She looked at her mom and felt nothing but hate. Her mom grabbed Courtney fiercely by her shoulder and walked her back to their place in the bleachers.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," her mother scolded, "Everyone's looking at us because of what you caused."

You mean what you caused, she thought. Her chance of having a friend ruined because of his parents' sexuality.

Her mom forced her to sit down on the bleachers. They watched the rest of the meet in silence. She felt a continuous scowl rolling off of her mom. She sighed and couldn't help but think of Josh and how horrible her mom treated him.

She was wondering if he was like his parents, though. She felt bad for him.

He came out of the locker room wearing a blue t-shirt and sweatpants and went to go sit at a table near the snack bar.

"Can I go to the locker room and change?" Courtney whispered to her mom.

She sighed, "I guess. But don't go and talk to that boy."

"Yes ma'am."

She showered and changed as fast as she could and went to the snack bar. Josh's face was in his hands. She hoped he wasn't crying. She didn't want to know whether he was or wasn't, though.

Courtney sat across from him and he looked up, his eyes shining. She took a deep breath. "I'm so, so sorry about my mom. She's a homophobe I think," she felt like it was already a bad start,  "She doesn't like me having friends because she thinks it'll interfere with my school work... Even though I'm homeschooled."

He smiled a bit. "It's fine, really. I'm used to people staring at us. I grew up with it. Don't feel too bad."

Courtney blushed a bit. She never really had conversations with anybody. It was silent for a bit. Another race just ended. Her mom might be worried, but she didn't care. She somehow liked the presence of another person besides her mom. She listened to the splasing of the water and the cheers of the crowd and for once, didn't fear of her mom.