The Water Is Always Bluer

The Water Is Always Bluer--1

Chapter One

            It was one of those mornings again. One where the wind carried the ocean breeze into town. It was a cloudy morning that promised a storm later in the afternoon. The waves already proved that to be true. It was, though, a perfect morning to go out on a jog. Which was exactly was Sophie Rodgers was doing. Her bare feet sank in the soft cool sand, breaking the warm outer layer allowing the cool lower layer to seep between her toes. She picked up speed as the house came into view. It was a nice, modest house. One story, four bedroom, beach front, nice ocean view, with a dock leading to the water. Once she reached the house she headed towards the dock. In one fluid motion she stripped from her running gear to her purple bikini and dove into the cool dark blue water. It was a nice refresher after her extremely hard run that morning. Her father, Tim Rodgers, had been especially tough on her the day before so she felt the need to run out all of her frustration towards him.

            School had just gotten out two days earlier. She was in the summer between her junior and senior year. All she had done was ask her dad for a week off in order to go on a vacation. Her father of course responded by saying this was the most important year of her life. Scouts would be watching her like a hawk. She could get a full ride scholarship to any college of choice, but only if she trained and studied hard. Obviously the answer was no. And just because she asked, she had to do double her normal workout that day. She could barely walk out of the YMCA later that afternoon. So, of course a nice hard run is just what her muscles needed right? Well, she wasn’t exactly thinking about her muscles. She was thinking about what her mind needed.

            After she surfaced the water she flipped over and floated on her back. As the waves rocked her body she stared at the cloudy sky. She loved when it stormed. She loved sitting on the beach and watching as the waves crashed along the shore and into each other. Sophie flipped back over onto her stomach and ducked under the water before surfacing again. She was about a quarter mile from shore. She free-styled it back to shore and was there in no time. Waiting for her on shore was her best friend, and the sensible person in her life. He always kept her in check, making sure she didn’t push herself to her breaking point, but also making sure she didn’t slack off. He was also the only reason she had the grades she had.

            “Freddy!” she called out pushing her wet, red hair out of her blue eyes. She had reached walking point of the water and she waded through getting to the shore before she continued on. “What are you doing here so early?”

            “It’s seven o’clock. My usual time that I meet with you when I practice with you,” Freddy shrugged running his fingers through his yellow blonde hair. He wore a white t-shirt with yellow and blue swim trunks.

            “Don’t know if that’s the smartest idea,” Sophie grimaced walking to the dock where she left her running gear. She bent down to pick it up.

            “Why not?” Freddy wondered trailing a little behind her.

            “Dad’s not too happy with me. Turns out asking your summer coach for a week off the summer before you most important year in high school is not the smartest idea,”

            “I can see that. How hard was the workout?”

            “Double my usual,”

            “Ouch! And you still went for a run this morning?”

            “I can’t imagine what he’d make me do if I skipped my morning run,”

            “Oh yeah… hmm maybe I won’t practice with you today. I might just observe and cheer on!”

            “Yeah, like you’d get away with that. My dad will expect you to practice with me today. You know him,”