The Dive from Up High

5- Jake's Past

So, I know Jake is very tense. He is this way for a number of reasons. You're about to know why.

Previously, Allison was walking to her class when Jake finds her and says he needs to talk to her...

We go outside to talk.

"Jake, you're extremely tense right now. Are you okay?" I ask.

He sighs. Jake looks at me, his green eyes slowly breaking.

"Well, I moved here two months ago from Baltimore. I was swimming at Lincoln High School, but the budget crisis in the district made swimming get cut from the school. Before Baltimore, I moved there from Orangetown. It was a small town, but the swim team was phenomenal. A budget cut from there hit the town really hard. Swimming was cut from there, too. Everywhere I've been, swimming is cut. Allison, I'm just worried that swimming will get cut from here.

"I've dealt with this moving around since I was a freshman. It made me used to not having any friends, so I've had the vibe of being tense. I was rude to people, because if I didn't have any friends, it wouldn't hurt if I moved away.

"But it wasn't just that," Jake says solemnly.

There have been rumors that East Side Swimming would be getting cut. I wasn't about to scare him with that. I was afraid that he would close himself off again. I really didn't need to have guilt following me around all week long. I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself, and neither would he.

"What else happened?"

"My parents fight constantly. I never know what for half the time. They apparently know of another budget cut crisis going on here in town. I'm afraid that I have to move again."

"I know West Palm Beach has a local swim team for teens. They deal with transfers and budget cut swimmers all the time. Their reputation is much better than this school's team. You should look into that if East Side's gets cut."

"I will. Thank you, Alli."

We walk to Biology, and since it was the first day, no one cared if we were late. I take my seat in the second row, while Jake takes his at the seventh row.
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I run to Diving practice. I wasn't late, I just love the sport so much that I wanted to start as soon as I could.

"Hey, Alli! We're working on the individuals this week in practice. The synchronized diving needs to be worked on outside of class," Coach tells me when I come in.

"Okay, thanks." I go into the bathroom in the pool area to change into my diving gear.

My swimsuit that I use for Diving is a one piece, and it's a silver color. My cap that's used in practice is black with my last name on it (so people at school can identify me outside of the academic setting) in silver letters. I also have a jacket that I got for my fourteenth birthday that's personalized. It's navy blue with silver lettering in the back (my last name), and has the logo of ESHS on the top right side. If I make it to the Olympics, Shiloh was looking into getting the official Olympics sign to put underneath my last name, along with the 2020 year in the sign. It'll be cool.

After I change, I meet Coach over by my assigned board to start the workout first.  Stretching before even starting is vital so that it won't hurt nearly as much when I start hitting the water. I jog around the swimming area once to get the blood flowing in my body once I've stretched. I then head back to the diving board.

"I take it you read your letter for the Trials, right?" Coach asks.

I nod my head. "They want me to at least try out the cartwheel one and a half dive at district. If it works out, then I can use it in the Regionals competition," I respond.

"Alli, if I were you, I would practice doing cartwheels a few times to get comfortable. Do it down here, though. After that, we'll get you to cartwheel a few times off the board."

I decide to do three on land. For me, three is my set number. Coach observes, then says,

"Your cartwheels are excellent, kiddo. Relax a little, though."

With that said, I lightened up as I did more cartwheels. It felt significantly better.

"Good, good. You're ready to take on the board."

I climb up to the top of the ten meter board.

Wow, it's a beautiful view of the pool area from up here.

I took a deep breath.

"Ready, set, go," Coach calls out from below.

I run and do a cartwheel off the board. When I hit the water, I swim out. When I got out, I was shivering. That was one thing I did not miss about it...

"I'm already ready to get these trials over with," I mutter.

I climb up and start again.

"Ready, set, go."

Repeat process.

I'm convinced I'm ready to try to get a one down...