The Richardsons

Video #41

"I survived the second quarter, but just barely. I fainted once this year, and now people are calling me weak in swim. First off, who in the world thought it was a good idea to physically torture me by putting gym then swim back to back? The gym quarterly was hell! Anyways, let me catch my breath because it's a new month and a new quarter. Just let that thought sink in, Kat."

After retaking my swim quarterly, I felt so embarrassed the whole day. Even in other classes, I was more quiet since somebody must've spread the truth on what I did and that would make me go into a panic.

I was sitting in the lunch room with Adrian and Cassie, chewing on the school's undercooked sausage, unbothered by the fact that it might kill ms by eating it.

"Kat, you seem down." Cassie worried.

"I'm an embarrassment. Look at everything that I do. See? I faint, people find out who I really am, you know? Times like these are when I hate myself."

"Don't say those kind of things! You're not a disappointment or an embarrassment! It's not your fault that you fainted or people found out." Adrian nearly got up.

"But, everything feels like it's on the line. Even my status, If I let these kinds of things truly affect me, then I will lose everything. My GCF placement, my happiness, friends, swim team status; it's more than you think."

Gosh, I feel so dramatic.

"We're halfway through the year and a new quarter is starting. Sometimes, bad things can happen. And yet, they still heaven's released the quarterly grades, but everything said that they were so hard"

so there is a chance that I probably didn't fail, but I feel as if it's so slim, even for me.

"Anyways, how was your swim exam? Didn't you that it recently?" Cassie asked.

"I do better whenever I have less eyes on me. It was just the teacher and us, and I thought I did above average. She even said 'you swim as if it was a family tradition. Do you come from a family of swimmers?' Honestly, I don't know."

"That's good. Very good actually."

"If I took swim, I would drown."

Cassie is a hydrophobe, although she might not seem like it. Maybe because when she was a baby, her brother and her were swimming in the kiddie pool and her brother pushed her under and ever since then, she got scared of water.

"I mean, you actually challenged yourself with swimming. Ever since that incident when I was a baby, my parents took away the kiddie pool and I became scared of water."

"Do you want to face that fear?"

Cassie gulped.

"I do. But where do I start? There seems to be so many walls that begin from this fear. There is no way that I'll be like you, Kat. And to be honest, I kind of envy you."

"Because you seem so perfect." She mumbled under her breath.