Honestly

Prologue

I could hear the crowds screaming with every breath I took. I hit the 50 metre mark, settling into an easy rhythm: breath, stroke, stroke, breath, stroke, stroke. I could feel the cool water sliding over me, thinking, this is what I live for. Victorian State 100m Breaststroke, competing with the best. I hit the wall and turned, pushing off the wall as hard as I could. I felt my legs straining as I pushed that bit harder. My arms were burning, but I pulled out my reserves of strength of strength to finish off. I could see the girl in front of me tiring as I pulled forward. I could see the wall coming up; feel the waves from my competitor. Neck and neck, we wouldn’t know who had come first until it was announced. We looked at each other and smiled breathlessly, knowing that we had both put in every little bit we had. The whistle blew; we climbed out of the pool and walked to the marshalling desk, trailing the rest of the swimmers. We checked in with the marshals and then went our different ways, sitting with our schools in the stands. The poolside went quiet. ‘And the winner of the 2011 State Championship 100m Breaststroke is…’ A collective breath was held as the announcer paused, ’Teresa Williams, by 14 thous…’ The rest of the announcement was drowned out as the entire stand burst into shouts and screams; my family, friends, classmates, schoolmates, teachers and coach were all cheering. Aimee, my coach came down the stand and hugged me, followed by my parents and brother. ‘You smashed out there, Resa!’ Mike exclaimed, pride showing through his beaming smile. I laughed, ‘You obviously weren’t watching, dear brother, because otherwise you would’ve noticed that the difference was less than a second.’ The congratulations continued, drowning out whatever race was on at the time. ‘Bit of hush, bit of hush, this is Meg’s race!’ called out Mr Han. His real name was Mr Hanoglio, but that was too much of a mouthful. As a result of this abbreviation there was continual jokes made referring to Star Wars. As Meg neared the finish of her race – the individual medley – the crowd quietened and watched on as her and another girl from somewhere on the coast touched the wall at the same time. Although Meg was my unspoken enemy – we were complete opposites – I was cheering as hard as I could. The pool went quiet, the announcer read out the winner – Ebony from Inverloch – and everyone went down to congratulate Meg. She caught my eye, shooting me a death stare. Oh no, I thought, Just another reason for her to hate me. That’s the sort of hate-hate relationship we have. The day went on and I must say, I didn’t notice much of it. I was riding the high from my win, coasting through with my head in the clouds.