The Dive from Up High

3- The Big News

I walk into my History class, already feeling tired. All morning, I've put up with teachers lecturing the athletes that school comes first. I've known that since I came in for freshman year here at this school. It doesn't hurt to be reminded, I'm sure. I take a seat in the second row, the first seat. I'm a short diver, being at 5'3, and if I want to have a fighting chance at passing, I have to see that board right in front of me. A guy comes by chair and stands there, tapping his foot impatiently.

"May I help you, sir?" I address him politely. He has jet black hair, green eyes, tan skin, and, with just one look, you could tell he was lean. He has a sketchy demeanor about him, but he releases a breath I never knew he held. He smiles.

"Is the seat behind you taken?" He asks nicely.

"No sir. You may take it," I respond. He sits down behind me.

"What's your name? You're a polite one," he asks.

"Sir, my name is Allison," I say, extending my hand for him to shake, "what's yours?"

"I'm Jake. Pleasure to meet you," he says, shaking my hand. He lets go of it, looking much more relaxed than he was a second ago.

"Are you okay? You seemed tense for a moment," I ask.

"It's been a rough morning." He sighs. The teacher comes in, muting our conversation.

For whatever reason, the teacher scares me quite a bit. I'm a diver... Please don't murder me, sir... His appearance as a whole sends chills up my spine. He has the most darkest hair I've ever seen in my life, very dark brown/almost black eyes, tan skin, extremely tall (like 6'4), wears dark clothing, and seems to be in his mid-thirties.

He was staring me dead in the eye. I gulped. This was going to be a long year in this classroom...

I wondered when he was going to start talking. This silence was giving the whole class an awkward vibe. It was like we were afraid to utter even a letter to one another. We were afraid to make any sounds; we weren't even breathing, either.

Start talking, please, sir. I was currently sinking down into my chair.

"Hey, class! How are we today?" Mr. Scary Guy says in an excited voice. Well, Mr. Nice Guy now.

The class just burst out laughing. We weren't laughing at him: we were laughing because we got scared silly over nothing. I sit up in my seat and put my head down in embarrassment. You can dive from ten meters up and be fine, and you can't even develop courage around a teacher without wanting to cry. Way to keep your fears in check, Allison.

Our teacher eventually joined us in laughter. We couldn't stop laughing for a solid ten minutes. It was absolutely hilarious. Just when things couldn't get anymore interesting, Coach Schwartz walks in, laughing with us too. I hide my head under my arms on the desk, hoping Coach doesn't recognize me. I'm still laughing as I do this. Tears of joy were falling down my face, my stomach was hurting because I laughed so hard. I'd like to think I was burning calories from all of this laughter. This went on for half the class period. No one knew what was happening now. Coach had no idea what he was here for, which amused all of us.

"POTATOES!! WE ARE ALL POTATOES!!" Jake exclaims, which makes us laugh even harder than we already were. It made me question my class choice for a split second, but we were having too much fun for me to second guess it. Eventually, the laughter dies down. We were all sitting in uncomfortable positions, trying to cope with the stomach pain the laughter brought us.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this class, but could I have Allison come into the hall for a second?" Coach says with a smile.

"Sure. Allison, Coach Tristan needs to see you for a moment," the teacher says nicely.

I get up, meeting Coach in the hall. He closes the door.

"You needed to talk to me, Coach?" I ask. I notice he has a packet in his hand. I wonder what this thing is...

"I meant to give this to you when you were at state last month. The Olympic Committee of the United States addressed this to you. The President was there and saw your individual and synchronized dives. He talked to me, and he agrees that you have Olympic potential."