Synchronized Swimming

Chapter 43: Arts and Crafts

Sang

And then those three weeks turn into one. Between practice and hanging out with the guys, the time whizzes by. I'm so busy that I barely have time to think, which is good because it keeps me from getting too nervous.

But now Mr. Blackbourne has started tapering practices so we aren't exhausted at nationals, and I'm bored for the first time in weeks. That leaves me plenty of time to think about the upcoming meet. What will it be like to swim with a team at nationals? It's in Seattle this year, so I'm hoping we have some time to sightsee in between events.

It seems like everyone has something to do but me right now. The meet schedule and order of draw were released yesterday, so Kota has been busy handicapping the teams with Victor. Coach Sterling sent us her estimate last week and predicted we'd get fifth, but since we weren't trying our hardest I'm not putting too much faith in it. Victor made some fancy computer algorithm that'll look at historical score trends, the amount of swimmers, and the average age and experience level per team to create a more accurate prediction.

Mr. Blackbourne and Sean are sorting out my latest mess. As it turns out, when I first started synchro ten years ago, Avidite filed my paperwork incorrectly, so they've been working night and day to get it fixed. Switching teams alerted officials to the discrepancies, and they threatened to disqualify our team if they weren't rectified. Mr. Blackbourne thinks they'll have it solved by tomorrow, though.

Nathan, Luke, and Gabriel went out to get some mystery object hours ago and still haven't returned. Silas and North have locked themselves in the garage and won't tell me what they're doing either, so for the first time in ages I'm on my own.

I don't like it- I've gotten used to the boy's constant company.

I plop down on my bed and stare at the ceiling. What to do, what to do? My gaze slides to my synchro backpack leaning against the wall. Looking at the nine keychains hanging from it brings up the same feeling of happiness as when the boys first gave them to me. I've become so much more confident since that incident, and it's all because of them.

Wait... those keychains were originally nationals presents. I struggle to remember what Kota said about them. Hazy memories of him explaining how everyone makes handmade nationals presents for each other come to the forefront of my mind. I was so overwhelmed when he said that that I didn't realize the significance of his words, but now it hits me like a ton of bricks- I need to make presents for nationals! And we leave in a week!

I don't exactly have a lot of experience making DIY gifts, and there's the additional pressure of having the gifts be meaningful. This is my first nationals with the Synchro Sharks and I want my gifts to reflect my appreciation for all they've done for me.

This is going to be tough.

I wonder what the others are making. Nobody's brought up presents, but since they do it every year they probably forgot to mention it. I'll have to be sneaky in gathering my materials so they don't know what I'm making.

Since we're the Synchro Sharks, I could cut a little shark out of cardboard or something and paint a swimsuit onto it. That would be cute, but once it got wet it would probably break. I'm not sure if my drawings skills are up for that, anyway. So really, anything involving drawing is out.

I rack my brain trying to think of what I'm good at arts and crafts wise. Glancing at the keychains on my bag for inspiration, I notice they're all made of cloth, plastic, or other materials that can get wet. I can braid keychains for everyone! That shouldn't be too hard, and I can use old t-shirts for fabric so I don't have to get any new material. Now I just need to figure out how to make a braid meaningful.