So F*cking Special: 1996 (Book 1, The So F*cking Special Series)

Crash Into Me Part 1

However, when Lynn called me that sunny day in May and told me the news... about Adrian. He'd spent an extensive day training for track hitting some of his hardest intervals yet and was a success at each one. Beating his time over and over again when Coach Bartlett had him go one last time. There's never been someone more prepared to compete. Reagan and Lynn were beyond excited for him, and I had to confess, I couldn't be prouder he had stuck it to the bastard football coach. Only, on his final sprint of practice he leaped towards the finish and stopped abruptly, excited to see how many seconds he shaved off.

It was one moment, one stupid wrong footing that abruptly halted his body weight forcing all the strength and momentum from his sprint to come down on his knee. It popped. He collapsed on the track and his ACL had completely snapped in two. I had to flip the pages back in my mind to confirm that one was real.

My heart sank to my stomach, and I hid my watering eyes from both Lynn and Reagan when they came and picked me up that day. We all headed to Reagan's to mourn our friend's crushed dream, and the irony that made the whole incident sting more. We knew Lynn would need to go check on him as soon as the initial shock wore off and all had been handled, but we weren't certain when he would want to see anyone past that.

I gathered, with all the turmoil and conflict going on in his mind, not to mention the physical pain he was in, I was the last person he would want to see. I stayed away.

*****************

It was officially the start of summer, not that school had gotten the memo. We had a week and a half left and two more final exams to take before I could leave this institution behind for one I thrived in.

Last May my mother dropped me off at the city pool in the town over from ours where I spent my first summer as a lifeguard. More like paid my dues as a rookie guard up in the early AM for the worst swim lesson slot of teaching four-year-olds afraid of the water. The seven-hour shift that followed in the Texas heat rotating from the deep end to the shallow, was only completed by working the pm pool parties the senior guards didn't want... and I loved every minute of it!

This year, this May fading into June through our last few days of class, I would be a returning guard at the Prairie City Pool. It was a feeling of social status I could never imagine within the walls of Pure Pines High School where hierarchy and merit were mandatory but relative to the powers that be. For one who wasn't that into summer, I had to admit I had a pretty stellar gig. It may have been the one thing I got right.

My grandad had taken me swimming everyday of summer since I could walk. There wasn't a sunny day at the Pure Pine's pool that hadn't been attacked by my bare feet racing to the deep end. Later, that time at our small community pool turned into swim team practice at the larger city pool in Prairie, the town I was getting ready to drive to. It was our initial guard meeting of the summer. Yes, I said drive.

My grandad was working on site for the next three days and would be riding with his work buddy Mr. Young. That meant his beautiful brand new, shiny, black F150 truck would be just sitting in the driveway next to my grandmother's minivan. Although I had the unfortunate pleasure of borrowing her vehicle on occasion, I was certain this moment warranted the truck.

My grandad had been a recreational swimmer in every pond or watering hole Pure Pines had to offer his boyhood. It was fair to suggest he was proud of me, and what all those years of mom dragging me off for competitive swim had led to. The smell of sunscreen and tanning oil was in the air, and I was ready for the only part of summer I loved.

Maybe I needed it, this distraction so big it got my head out of the haunting halls of AP classes and the constant judgment that roamed them. It was a distraction from any unfulfilled moment that lingered, or intrusive thought that reminded me of the last time I saw Adrian.