Let's Dive! (Ereri/ Riren)

The Discovery

***WARNING: This chapter does contain some talk of religion and I really don't feel like fighting with people about it. I know it's a controversial topic but it's just what I've been taught and how I view the situations that present itself in this book. So with that in mind, please ENJOY! :) <3

One rule about traveling to our competitions is that you have to ride on the bus with the team. It wasn't a bad thing, in fact, I loved it! I got to spend more time with Levi. But I was worried about my mom. We were going to a place that was kind of hard to find and if it weren't for God's heavenly creation known as a GPS, my mom would have never made it to my first meet that she was able to come to.

I sat with my hands folded in my bare lap on the bench as I waited for my turn to go up to the dive board. Coach is letting me compete in one of the solo events now, which I was thankful for, but I'm having to balance solo with synchro now, and it was hard. Especially on my body. I couldn't slack off during practice anymore, I had to give one hundred percent effort, and then, when everyone went home from the three hour practice, I stayed with Levi and gave that practice the best of my ability as well. But after a long, five-hour day of practice, I would come home, do my homework, eat dinner and go to bed. Sometimes, I would just fall asleep on my bed without even taking a shower, which made me feel disgusting in the morning, but the showers usually woke me up enough to where I could go to school and start the whole thing over again without dying.

Even though I was exhausted, I was sitting on the bench, wide awake. This was my first solo event and if I screwed this up I would not be able to live with myself. I know I shouldn't be thinking this hard about it but I get really nervous, even though, I really shouldn't be. I've done this so many times before. Heck, I hadn't even thought about switching to synchro until coach put Levi and me together. He had been talking to me in the locker room before the competition started and told me to "calm down, babe. It's just like synchro. The only thing different is that I won't be up there with you." That seemed to calm me down all the way up until now, when the announcer called my name to the diving board. I mechanically stood up and stiffly walked to the ladder, feeling my nerves jerk my stomach every which way. I took a deep breath and shook my head in thought.

'Remember what Levi said. Just imagine he's up there with you.'

I gripped the ladder tightly, with white knuckles. Every sore, worn-out muscle in my body tensed as I arrived at the top. The cold, smooth cement, the only thing my senses could process as my heart thudded against my ribcage. I approached the end of the platform and panic shot through me. What was my routine again? I shook and shook until I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, reminding myself how many times I've done this and that it was just my nerves that gripped my memory, blocking me from it. As if my nerves realized they had been caught trying to steal my thoughts away, the routine came back to me instantly and I turned around, getting into my starting position.

I jumped off of the platform, doing my tricks until I straightened and landed in the water smoothly. From what I could tell, there was little to no water resistance so it was likely the splash would be small. My head popped up, breaking through the surface of the water and all I could hear were cheers. I guess it must have went well. I climbed out of the pool and started to approach the bench. Levi stood, giving me a bro hug, aware of my mother's presents. While his head was next to my ear I heard him whisper, "damn, that was good, babe." I willed my blush away and we tore away from each other as I said a quick "thank you". He smiled and winked, while heading to the ladder where I had been just moments ago.

It was his turn now and he made it to the ladder just as the announcer had gotten done introducing him. I sat myself down onto the bench, being congratulated by my fellow teammates and thanking all of them. I looked up to see that Levi was at the top and at the edge of the diving platform. He looked so natural up there, like he belonged there and I believed he did. It also looked innate for him to fall off of that platform and "dance in the air" as he had explained in his story of why he wanted to dive. He did an amazing job. His and my solo routines, plus the synchro pulled our team ahead by five points, ultimately claiming victory for the Dolphins.