Mermaid

The Meet

  The pool area was full by the time they arrive, packed full of nervous swimmers, cheerful family members, and stressed out coaches. Josie feels the first pangs of anxiety as she watches the other teams stretch and practice their strokes. It's times like this that she wishes that her parents cared more about their daughters than they did about your jobs. At least then she would have someone in the stands, cheering her on and relieving some of the pressure off her tired shoulders. From the look on her sister's face, she could tell Lizzie was feeling the same way. She watched as Hope ran to Lizzie's aid with jealousy. No one had yet to even notice Josie shaking with nerves, or bothered to ask if she was okay. She pushed the selfish thought away, excusing herself from her team to get changed for the meet.

  When she returned, she found her towel laid neatly on the bench, a familiar piece of stationery paper settled gently on top of it. She picked it up and unfolded it, shielding it from the view of the other swimmers. On it was a doodle of a cute little dolphin- their mascot- and a short reassurance: 'Don't worry so much, Jojo. You're going to do great; You always do.' It was signed with the normal sign off, Mermaid. Josie looked around the room, wondering who had been daring enough to leave the note in such a public place. She joined Hope and Lizzie at the edge of the pool, beckoning for them to come closer. "Someone left a note on my towel. Did you see who left it?", she asked, earning confused looks from the two girls. Hope and Lizzie turned to face each other, then stared back at Josie. "I set your towel out a few minutes ago", Hope admitted, tucking her auburn hair back into her swim cap. "I didn't see anything after that. Did you see anything, Liz?" Lizzie shook her head no. "Wait, someone sent you a note? What did it say?" Before Josie could respond to her sister's interrogations, the buzzer sounded for the meet to begin. All the swimmers clamored to their respective line-up sheet, anxious to know who they would be up against, and in what category they would be swimming in.

  To nobody's surprise, Josie had been placed into the 500 freestyle race. She groaned inwardly; That certain category was Penelope Park's forte. It was inevitable that they would be pitted against each other- again. Beside her, Lizzie's chill demeanor changed, and she stormed off away from the group without a word. Josie watched her go, debating if she should be the one to try to diffuse her sister's fiery temper. Before she could decide, however, Hope stopped her. "Let her go; She's pissed because they put her down in 200 for backstroke.", she explained, her arms crossed. Josie bit her lip. It was understandable that Lizzie wasn't happy. Backstroke was her worst category. "They have me up against some freshman from Celtbrook.", Hope stated with a devious glint in her eyes. "So this should be an easy day for me." "Well, I wish I could say the same.", Josie quipped, staring across the pool to where her rival was sitting. She caught Penelope's eye for a split second, but she looked away before she could catch sight of the girl's annoyingly infamous smirk.

  "Ouch", Hope commented, patting Josie's shoulder. "Up against Park again? I mean, not unexpected, but totally not ideal." Josie sighed, shrugging in a way that said 'what can you do?' "I can deal with Penelope, okay?", she assured her, sitting up a little straighter. She pointed to where their teammate was getting ready to compete. "C'mon, Kat is going up; Let's go cheer her on." Hope turned toward the meet, her attention off Josie for the moment. She sighed with relief, clapping for her teammate as the buzzer sounded.
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  "How does it feel to come second yet again, Salvatores?", a random girl in a Bellmont school windbreaker sneered. Josie bit her tongue, her hand firmly on Lizzie's arm to avoid the blonde from lashing out. "Oh yeah? Well, your suits are ugly!", Sadie Michaelson retorted, causing the opposing team to snicker at her failed comeback. Josie tried to ignore the approaching team and return to the safety of the bus, but the Bellmont co-captain stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Penelope wiped the floor with you, Saltzman.", the girl stated matter-of-factly, bringing a flush of embarrassment to Josie's cheeks. "It's no wonder- look at how tight your swimsuit is. Your fat ass couldn't even keep up." Josie dug her nails into her palms, trying to stop the flood of tears threatening to fall. She stayed silent, waiting for the horrible moment to end. "There are no fat girls in profession swimming, you know? Such a pity." Lizzie stepped forward, her already foul mood escalating. "That's it!", she exclaimed, raising her fist to strike the girl. Josie grimaced, waiting for the chaos to follow. Fortunately, however, the impending fight was broken up by an unlikely mediator, who stepped in between the two teams- Penelope Park herself.

  "All of you, get on the damn bus!", Penelope yelled, her voice loud enough to make even Hope flinch. "We already did what we came here to do; And you-", she said, pointing to the offending girl. "You've earned yourself towel duty, indefinitely." The Bellmont girls obeyed, and in a matter of moments, the parking lot was deserted except for the Salvatore team and Penelope. The latter girl opened her mouth as if to say something, but she decided against it at the last moment. Instead, she sent Josie an apologetic look before turning around and walking away. As Penelope boarded the bus, Josie caught a glimpse of her bag- a bag decorated in pink and purple, and almost resembling the scales of a mermaid.