Switched Up

13-III: Literally!

Individual Swimming Event: In this event, there were 5 races to choose from: 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle, and 50 freestyle. Each person has to swim at least one event and could swim up to three. Swimming more events does not mean that the participant would get more points for winning each one. The way it was scored was that the highest placing event for that person would be used. After that was determined, each individual event was scored for placing, but only for the top 5 in each event. For example, if someone swam three events but placed the highest in 50 free, that would be used and the other two events wouldn't mean anything. Swimming in multiple events was meant to give the participants a chance to place higher in different races. However, say a participant placed 3rd in two races. Then one race would be randomly selected for points and the other one would disappear, giving someone else a place to get 3rd. And because only the top 5 swimmers were scored for each event, the points were distributed like so: 1st - 20 points, 2nd - 15 points, 3rd - 10 points, 4th - 7 points, 5th - 5 points.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Ricky, Opal, and Honey returned a few minutes later and they told the remaining three the events that they were going to swim.

Opal: 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke

Ricky: 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 50 freestyle

Honey: 100 freestyle, 50 freestyle

Jack, Oliver, and Sam wished them good luck while they walked towards the locker rooms to change. Ricky lingered a little bit behind Honey and Opal, so Sam called after him. 

"Ricky!"

He stopped walking and turned around to see what she wanted. Sam waved him over to where she was standing. Once he got in front of her, she signaled for him to lean down.

"Now you get to see Opal in a swimsuit," she sang quietly in his ear.

Jumping backward, Ricky grabbed his ear as a shade of pink painted his cheeks.

"Sam! I don't have impure thoughts like that!" he growled. 

While Sam laughed at his reaction, Ricky darted away towards the locker rooms.

A few minutes later, Ricky, Opal, and Honey came out of the locker room in their suits. Girls were required to wear a one piece and guys had the option of jammers or speedos (many of the boys were wearing speedos anyway because they were from the swim team).

As they approached, Sam nudged Oliver with her elbow a few times. He had been talking to Jack so he didn't notice them coming out of the locker room. When he looked over at Sam, she smirked at him and pointed forward. Oliver followed her finger and saw Honey walking towards them in a pink suit with white polka dots. The style of suit accentuated her curves and complimented her hourglass figure. 

Oliver covered up his mouth with his hand and scrunched his eyebrows together. 

"Oh God. She's adorable," he said under his breath.

Sam laughed at Oliver while he tried to hide his expression under his hand. Jack glanced over at Sam and noticed that her smile look a little bit forced.

There it is again, he thought.

Sam glanced up at Ricky. When their eyes met, she gave him an evil smirk just to piss him off. He crossed his arms and turned away embarrassed. Ricky had barely been able to look at Opal since they came out in their suits. She had on a red open-back suit with a unique strap design on the back. It fit her like a glove and the color looked great against her skin. 

Swimsuits really bring out people's true feelings, thought Sam with a chuckle.

"You guys ready to race?" asked Oliver.

"Heck yeah! The weather is perfect right now so this will feel great," replied Opal.

"Yeah, it's gonna feel so good to get in the water!" cheered Honey.

"Attention participants in the Individual Swimming races. The pool is now open for warm-ups. We will start the races in 20 minutes," said the announcer.

"Well, that's our cue," said Ricky.

Ricky, Opal, and Honey said bye as they went over to the pool. Sam, Oliver, and Jack wished them good luck and then made their way up the bleachers to watch the races. 

The trio laughed when they overheard the conversation between the other three down on the pool deck:

"Honey, how are you gonna fit all that hair in a swim cap?" asked Ricky.

"I've done it before, but I usually need someone to cap me though."

"Here, I'll help you," said Opal.

"Oh, thanks!"

Honey wrapped her hair around and around until she had a huge bundle of golden twists on top of her head. She placed the front of her cap on her forehead and waited for Opal.

"Alright ready?" said Opal.

"Yup." 

As Opal began to pull the cap over Honey's bulging hair mass, the cap ripped down the middle. Opal glanced back and forth between the two silicone flaps she had in her hands. Honey let go of her hair, the blonde waves slowly unraveling as she looked up to see what happened. She and Opal made eye contact for a few seconds before they both burst out laughing.

"Well R.I.P. to that cap," said Opal.

"Literally!" added Honey.

The two girls cracked up again while Ricky brought them another cap for their next attempt, which ended up working just fine the second time around. They thanked him and finally hopped into the pool for warm-ups.

"Opal and Honey get along well. They're so cute," said Sam.

"They really do. I'm glad that Honey is making more girl friends," said Oliver.

"Why? Does she not have a lot of friends?" asked Sam.

"Well, she has friends, but they are mostly boys. She gets along with them really well. That's just how she is. But—"

"But girls see her as a slut," finished Sam.

"Yup. Sadly," added Jack.

"She has that whole, 'small-cute-bubbly-big-boobed' thing goin' on, so I can see why. I haven't known her for that long, but I can tell that Honey isn't the type to just sleep around with a bunch of guys. It's dumb that people view her that way."

"It really is. She's such a sweet girl. I'm glad that at least you and Opal can see that in her," said Oliver with a smile.

"Of course," she replied, smiling back.

The three of them then turned their attention back to the pool. The events went by surprisingly fast. As Ricky, Opal, and Honey swam their races, Sam noted that Ricky and Opal were actually pretty good swimmers for not being on the team. Honey wasn't slow; her form was really pretty, but Sam could tell that sports weren't her thing.

After they finished up their races, they got dressed and headed over to the cafeteria for another snack before the Group events started. While they approached the entrance, Sam felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked over to see Ricky standing next to her with an uneasy look on his face. Oliver glanced back at them to see what was going on. Sam waved her hand telling him it was okay for them to go ahead. He nodded and continued with everyone else to get food.

Once the group was a little farther away, Sam asked Ricky what was going on.

"I... I need your opinion on something."

To be continued...