Second Lanark

Swimming in Trouble - Part 30

My body felt spent as I heaved myself out of the pool and gathered up my pull buoys, paddles, fins, goggles, and cap and stuffed it all into my mesh swim bag. I couldn't wait to get back to my residence, eat some greasy food and hang out with my boyfriend. I always found a good workout was the best thing for clearing my mind.

I was pretty sure that Rob's strange mood the last few days had to be linked more to the Cal/Lark situation than Rachel. Throw in the pending countdown until he leaves once we returned from Christmas and it was a recipe for weirdness. I'd only have five months with him when we came back from break – five months – how was that ever going to be enough?

"Liz?" Coach Burton called to me over Faith's head. They'd been deep in a discussion about pacing and intervals right after practice. Faith was a distance swimmer, and she loved to talk about pacing. I found it boring, much like distance swimming in general.

"Yeah, Coach?" I asked, stuffing the last of my equipment into my bag.

"Are you able to come to my office after you've changed? I was hoping we could have that quick chat about your season so far?"

I stifled a sigh. That was probably the last thing I wanted to do today, but it needed to be done. "Sure, no problem," I said, looking up to meet his gaze. When I turned towards the change rooms, Ashley's eyes connected with mine before sliding away. I was thankful she didn't try to give me yet another reminder of what was at stake.

I showered and dressed in record speed. Rob had told me the other day that he thought whenever he missed me, he'd just have to step foot on a pool deck and catch the strong whiff of chlorine to have all his memories of me come rushing back.

Accurate, weird, but also strangely romantic. The idea of him, who looked more like he was drowning than swimming, spending time on a pool deck to remember me was one of the sweetest things I'd ever heard.

I pulled open Coach's door after knocking and took the seat across from him without being told where to sit. This wasn't my first time in his office, but it was the first time I'd felt nervous about being here.

He finished writing something on some of the practice sheets from today and then looked up. "So, Liz, in general, how is your year going?"

"Good, I think. It's sometimes hard to balance school, my social life, and practices. That's nothing new; it's just a little harder to get up for morning practice without my mom badgering me to get out of bed."

He laughed, showing his straight white teeth. He was a big guy – tall, broad, athletic looking. He had dark hair and eyes – the sort of looks that probably made girls swoon years ago. Heck, maybe girls his age still swooned.

All of that also made him feel just a touch intimidating. I'd always liked a coach where I felt a healthy dose of fear-respect, which meant he was quickly becoming one of my favourites. He was tough, not always fair, but I knew he wanted me to be better almost as much as I wanted to be better.

"As you know, I've spoken to Ashley, Mark, and Katie about the situation that occurred a couple months ago. It's my understanding that Katie thought the Ottawa Citizen was looking into the story. I don't think that's currently true, but it doesn't mean it won't happen. They would have been calling swimmers; they would have contacted me; they would have contacted the university. None of that has happened yet."

I stayed silent, waiting to hear what he wanted to know from me if the situation wasn't as dire as Ashley believed.

"I want to know how much trouble we're going to be in if this blows up. I also need to decide whether I should be getting ahead of the story by speaking to the Director of Athletics. What happened, regardless of whether or not it was 'fun', should not have happened. Both Ashley and Mark have been reprimanded by me and will not be attending the next two swim meets as Team Captain. I'm very disappointed in both of them."