When I'm with you

Chapter 13

We gathered our things on the side where a cardboard saying "Edison Highschool Swim Team" was placed.

I looked around to see all the participants: everyone looked busy. I saw Anne looking towards the left corner of the room, my jaw almost dropped when I saw the St. Mary's swim team. I didn't know they would be participating too. I felt my knees starting to tremble, and I began to doubt myself. I wasn't in good form, and now I found out that we'd be competing the Fresno's best swimmers.

After our strategy meeting and stretching, the competition began. When the races started everyone looked tense. No one dared move a muscle, eyes fixed on the screen or on the pools. The participants for the 100m butterfly made their way to the pool. Sophie didn't make it last time, and she made sure that she'd win her game this time. The gun was fired and everyone started swimming. Sophie was leading the race while St. Mary's representative was trying to overtake. Then the bell for the end of the race rang, and my teammates started screaming. Sophie got first place! The feeling of happiness overwhelmed me so much that it made me want to faint. Sophie made it, even though it was a close call. St. Mary's got the second place.

During the event, I kept glancing at my phone waiting for Paul's message. When I couldn't wait anymore I called him to ask his whereabouts. When he answered his phone he sounded like he had just woken up, but I let it slide. I just wanted to see him, to give me the boost I needed to win the race.

"So, are you coming? You can probably still make it, my race doesn't start 'til--"

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can go. I came home late last night and I have to go somewhere later. I'm really sorry."

I felt so disappointed. He always came to watch me, and it always made me feel so much better. It was the first time Paul missed my race. I wanted him to be here, but there was nothing I could do.

"Okay," I responded.

The competition continued, and it was safe to say that we were winning since the next race was Anne's. The announcer called the participants for 200m freestyle and they made their way to the pool. I gave Anne a goodluck hug, though I knew she wouldn't need it. Anne had always been the most hard-working member of our team, I mean, she was the only one who ran from her house to school to build up stamina. Anne had always won, she never lost one race.

The participants positioned themselves on the platforms. The camera panned to show the faces of each participant. Anne was on the 7th platform, almost to the edge. As I looked at the other swimmers, I noticed that the girl in the 4th platform looked strangely familiar so I asked my teammates about her.

"That's Silena Humpries. She placed first in the 200m freestyle in Fresno's Highschool Swimming Competition for three consecutive years." Katy answered.

I gaped at Silena in awe. I couldn't believe that Anne was up against with this girl. Though I knew Anne was a fast swimmer, seeing her compete with a defending champion for three years was out of my expectations. I figured Anne knew her since she always watched the FHSC. Then I started feeling guilty: I was starting to doubt Anne would win this.

I focused on the screen in the middle of the room to shake off my uneasiness. All of the participants were stretching. Then I noticed that Anne kept glancing at the bleachers, and she looked bothered. I wanted to scream at her and tell her to focus, but I couldn't since I was inside the waiting room. By the time everyone was preparing in their dive-off position, Anne had not done any stretching.

Then Bang!

Swimmers dived into the pool, and started swimming. They moved their arms alternately at full speed. Anne was leading the race with Silena close behind her. She easily reached the end of the pool and proceeded to turn around to swim for the opposite direction, but all of a sudden she stopped. A collective gasp was heard throughout the room. All of my teammates asked me what was going on. I gave them an I-wished-I-knew look. I started to panic, seeing Anne struggling in the water, but after a while she continued her race. I breathed a sigh of relief together with the rest of the team. Unfortunately, her competitors surpassed her and left her behind. As we watched her swimming, it was obvious there was something wrong with the way she swam. She looked like she was in some kind of pain. Somehow, she managed to surpass some swimmers. You could see it in her face and in her movements that she was having a hard time, but she was trying her best.