Dancing Dreams

~ Chapter 7 ~

Flippa pulled herself groggily out of bed. It was 5 am on Friday the 26 of October, and she was going to swimming practice. She had to be there by 6, or Coach would make her swim an extra 500 yards. She pulled her swimsuit on, mumbling curses about her team. They decided that they were gonna swim before school, not after, because of something about the boys swim team. She just didn't get it.

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"Hurry! C'mon, Flippa, before Coach sees you!" Amy yelled. Flippa and Emily hustled over to a corner of the High School that was blocked from sight from the parking lot. They were met with the sight of about 23 girls running around with blankets and PJs. A few already had their swimsuits on, and looked absolutely freezing.

"What's this all about?" Flippa whispered to her friend Maria Lonya.

"We're gonna scare Coach." she whispered back.

"Here she comes!" a voice called out. Smashing herself to the wall with the other girls, Flippa barely breathed.

"False alarm!" the voice called out again.

Spreading themselves out, the team posted two scouts and conversed the rest of the time.

Suddenly, Haeli, one of the scouts, came racing around the corner.

"She's here!" she cried, grinning. The girls bunched up again, and became so silent, you could hear a pin drop. They heard a car door open, and Coach's voice rang out. Apparently seeing no girls, she started grumbling. A few more team members drove up, but the majority of them waited in the corner.

As clear as crystal, they heard Coach say, "That's it! Anyone who is not here in the next 30 seconds is doing an extra 500!"

She turned away, and everyone ran out from behind the corner, screaming and yelling.

Jumping and giving a sharp intake of breath, Coach relaxed as she realized it was just them. Although, Flippa would've freaked if a whole swim team was running at you at 6 in the morning.

The team stumbled into the locker room, and Flippa was so tired, she almost forgot to take her socks off.

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Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, Breathe! Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, Breathe! Stroke, stroke, Flip.

Flippa streamlined, then was back to stroking. Endless pulling and kicking in freestyle. That was what the team did. Every day, of every week. It was relentless work, but guess who never complained? Flippa.

Finally, they got out of the pool, and got changed. Catching a ride with Coach, Flippa joined the team as they went to Dunkin' Doughnuts. She ordered a bagel with cream cheese and a steaming cup of hot cocoa.

Eventually, the students meandered back to their appropriate schools, and thus the school day started:

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"Hey, Flippa!" Noah said when he saw her at the end of the day. They had been dating for a week. She grinned back at him, her heart doing a little relay race in her chest.

They talked a bit, mostly about the lame 'Adventure Based Learning' they had to do with their homeroom class, then suddenly, out of the blue, Noah said, "Holly has been pressuring me about hugging you."

Flippa snapped out of the happy haze she was in, feeling a bit awkward. Trust Holly to make their relationship 'better.' Her friend Mykenna was doing the same thing.

Blushing, Flippa looked at his face. Instead of looking down, he met her gaze, and gave a little smile. Flippa was shocked. Could it be possible he actually wanted to hug her? Shaking her head a bit, she was a bit relieved to see her group of friends moving towards her.

"One sec." she said, joining her crew. He followed, and Flippa tried to make it seem that she hadn't noticed him coming, probably failing.

Entering the conversation, Flippa found herself relaxing. There was nothing like her friends' 'calm' arguments to lower her blood-pressure. They also were talking about the Adventure Based Learning.

No, never mind. They weren't talking about ABL. They were ranting about it. It was actually quite amusing.

She struck up a conversation with Holly, talking about the IAC's that were gonna happen tomorrow. Flippa was really nervous. The IAC's were a championship that she was hosting with her swimming team. Talking about that, then talking about the Obama/Rommney debation for President, Flippa was still acutely aware of Noah standing near her. Diminishing in the conversation that now involved Ryan, Logan, Juniper, and Holly, Flippa thought a bit. In about 4 seconds, she made up her mind.

As if waiting for her, the bell rung. Noah turned to her, and she watched him. He seemed a bit awkward, but that didn't matter. She opened her arms just a little bit, and they hugged. Feeling about to burst with happiness, she told him goodbye, and reluctantly turned away. She looked back over her shoulder, and saw Jennifer grinning at her, giving her a thumbs up. Flippa grinned back at her, and forged through the choked hallways to reach her bus.