The water felt refreshingly cool when I dove in. As I glided forward, it enveloped my figure like a liquid blanket. My arms and legs were drawn taut in a streamline position. I dolphin-kicked my way to the surface and launched into freestyle as soon as I broke through. My whole body flew into action and propelled me forward. Faster! I coached myself. Faster...
In order to complete the 400 freestyle, I had to swim up and back twice. With each lap I pushed myself to go faster, never once glancing over my shoulder to see where the other swimmers were. I focused solely on myself, not worrying whether or not someone was going to pass me. It felt like no time had even elapsed when I slapped the tile and finished the race.
My chest heaved as I gasped for air, but a smile broke out on my face nonetheless. I whipped off my goggles and waved to Marley and Sage, who were jumping up and down, screaming my name.
"And first place goes to the swimmer in lane 5, Rayne Bennett, from Shady Cove High School!" the announcer bellowed. Hoots and hollers erupted from the crowd as I pulled myself out of the pool.
Sage and Marley were the first to dash over, immediately wrapping me in a large bear hug. "I'm positive you just broke a school record," Sage said in awe. "That was amazing! How do you swim so fast?"
"I don't know," I laughed. "I just swim!"
"Words of wisdom," Marley said solemnly, before letting out a laugh of her own. "But seriously, I'm glad you put you-know-who in her place."
Uh-oh. I turned and glanced at Madeleine, who was scowling at me as she climbed out onto the pool deck. "She's gotten first place one too many times," Marley explained. "It always goes to her head. I'm glad someone beat her for once!"
"And by a whopping six seconds!" Sage added.
I ducked my head shyly as my friends continued to rave about the race. Then someone placed their hand on my shoulder, and I glanced up to see my father smiling down at me. "Dad!" I cried.
"Hey, honey. Fantastic race," he congratulated me, giving me a brief hug. "And guess what?" He waved his phone animatedly in the air. "I got it all on video! Come take a look!"
Marley, Sage, and I crowded around him to watch the replay. The camerawork was a little shaky in the beginning, and Dad's voice could constantly be heard cheering me on in the background, but it was entertaining nonetheless. It was interesting to see myself in action for once. I realized I did look pretty fast, especially with my streamlined form, long limbs, and taut muscles glistening with water droplets. "Wow," I breathed.
"Wow is right," Marley exclaimed. "I mean, look at yourself! You only took five breaths the entire race!"
We all froze upon realizing the truth of her words. Sage, Marley, and Dad glanced up from the video to gape at me. "Hey, she's right," Sage said, awestruck. "How did you hold your breath for that long?"
"I've been training," I admitted, caught off guard by the question. I hadn't even realized I had held my breath for that long until Marley pointed it out. I guess all that training in the ocean had paid off.
"Training?" Dad echoed. "Since when?"
"Well, I don't know...maybe since last week? I started forcing myself to hold my breath for longer periods of time. You know, during swim practice," I explained, stretching the truth a bit. If Dad had known I was actually swimming in the ocean, he might not let me go hiking along the cliffs again. The crashing waves and dangerous current didn't exactly harbor safe conditions—and yet I had been in the ocean so many times that I was familiar with it by now.
"That's insane," Marley gasped as Dad replayed the video. "I wish I could hold my breath like that!"
I was starting to feel a little queasy, so I quietly edged away. I slipped into the women's locker room and changed into my clothes, knowing that the 400 freestyle was my only race for today. Usually I swam in two or three races, but lately I hadn't been that interested in swimming—in a pool, that is. Now the ocean was a completely different matter.
I paused with my T-shirt halfway over my head. I glanced down and realized I had a rash just above both hipbones. "Stupid swimsuit," I muttered, tenderly rubbing the sore areas. I winced as my fingers brushed across the reddish-pink surface.
If anything, the tender spots felt like strawberries, the kind one gets from falling off a skateboard or bicycle and landing on the concrete. It reminded me of when I had skinned my knee as a little girl, leaving a reddish-pink area on my kneecap.
"Ouch," I muttered, accidentally pressing against one of the tender spots a little too hard. What could I have done to injure myself like that? It was possible that my swimsuit was getting too tight...
Whatever the problem was, it would have to wait. I quickly slipped my T-shirt all the way on and headed back out to the pool deck. It was time to watch Marley and Sage swim in their races.
_ _ _ _ _
By the time the meet was over, it was almost two-thirty in the afternoon. Sage and Marley had both gotten third place for the 400 breaststroke and 200 backstroke, respectively. As I waited for them to change clothes, I quickly texted Kimmie, reminding her that I would see her tomorrow. Dad had promised to drive me back to Newland at least once a week to see my old friends, and today's swim meet had left an aching hole in my heart. Hanging out with Marley and Sage on the pool deck reminded me of how Kimmie and I would laugh and talk together. I wanted to see her so badly.
Once Sage and Marley were dressed and ready to go, we all piled into Dad's car and headed down the highway to my house. As soon as they caught sight of our massive home, they immediately burst into a flurry of questions. "It's huge! How many rooms do you have in that thing?" "Do you really own all this property?" "How big is your room?" "Do you have a walk-in closet?"
Dad and I shared a knowing smile through the rearview mirror. "Yep," I laughed. "Our house is pretty big, isn't it?"
"'Big' is an understatement," Marley snorted.
As soon as Dad parked the car, the four of us filed out, and I was obliged to give my friends a tour of the house. I showed them the living room, office, kitchen, and dining room on the first floor; the bedrooms and bathrooms on the second floor; and I briefly described the spare bedrooms and game room on the third floor (with the exception of my old bedroom). I didn't want Sage and Marley to see the picture of her on the wall—that would be asking for a plethora of unwanted questions.
Fortunately, we kept ourselves occupied for the next few hours as we watched TV and messed around in the game room. Dad ordered pizza for an early dinner and even promised to buy us a gallon of ice cream afterwards. I felt like the happiest girl in the world. Rarely did I enjoy sleepovers, since Kimmie had never been a big fan of them, so bouncing off the walls with Sage and Marley was a whole new experience for me. They made everything fun, including braiding my hair and sneaking onto the roof to watch the sunset. As we lay on the cool shingles, our breath coming out in warm vapors against the chilly night air, I suddenly felt queasy once again. My gaze drifted over to the ocean, which was tinted pink and orange from the sunset. I felt another pull on my heart, immediately wishing I was diving under the waves.
Before I knew what I was doing, I said, "Hey, we should sneak down to the beach tonight."
"All the way to Shady Cove?" Marley asked, incredulous. "But that's miles away!"
"No, just to the private beach down there." I pointed to the edge of the cliffs. "There's a little trail that I found. It leads to a secluded cove. We could sneak out with flashlights after dark."
"I don't know...isn't that a little scary?" Sage asked nervously.
"My dad has a huge lantern. You can easily see everything within a ten-foot radius," I said, remembering how we had used that lantern during camping trips.
"Let's do it," Marley said eagerly. "What time should we go?"
"Midnight," I suggested.
"That's so creepy." Sage shuddered. "Why can't we go now and get it over with? What if there are wild animals that come out at midnight?"
Marley chuckled. "There aren't any wild animals in Shady Cove, silly—unless you count the squirrels."
"And we can't go right now anyway," I added. "I don't think my Dad will want us hiking down a trail in the dark. We have to sneak out." Once again, I felt that familiar forbidden thrill that came with the ocean. I couldn't wait to go back to my private beach and feel the sand between my toes, hear the waves pounding on the shore, feel the wind tousling my hair, and—
"Rayyyyyne!"
I immediately snapped back to reality. "Oops, Dad's calling me." The three of us giggled as we clambered down the roof and through the window of the game room. Sage was the slowest, and she barely made it back inside before Dad burst into the room.
"There you are," he said. "I was wondering what flavor ice cream you girls wanted me to get."
The three of us were still giggling from our secret escapade on the roof. Dad eyed us warily. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," I said quickly, causing Sage and Marley to giggle even louder. "Can you get us Neapolitan?"
As soon as my father left the room, we shared a knowing smile and burst into another fit of laughter. For the next couple hours we had a movie marathon in the living room while bundled up in sleeping bags. Dad went to bed around 11:30 after I had convinced him we would get a good night's sleep.
"You don't have to worry about us," I reassured him. "After this movie's over we'll go right to sleep."
He was a little skeptical at first, but after Sage and Marley promised they wouldn't stay up the whole night talking, he assented. The three of us grew more and more excited as midnight grew nearer.
"Okay," I said when the clock struck 11:55. The desire to swim in the ocean was overwhelming now. "Follow my lead," I instructed Sage and Marley, quietly stuffing a few pillows into my sleeping bag to make it look like someone was snoozing underneath the covers—just in case Dad decided he wanted to check in on us. The girls copied my movements, and before long we were ready to sneak outside.
The three of us bundled up in sweatshirts and coats, knowing it would be freezing out on the cliffs. We left the TV on to hide any extraneous sound before slipping out the front door. I carried Dad's huge lantern in one hand, but we agreed not to use it until we were well away from the house, just to be safe.
"I feel like a ninja," Sage whispered as we stumbled towards the edge of the cliff.
Marley chuckled. "I feel more like a secret agent," she said.
Before long, we reached the start of the downhill section of the trail, and I lit the lantern to illuminate the way. It was extremely bright, and the three of us stared in awe, watching as our warm breaths exhaled against the chilly night air.
"This way," I said, stepping in front and leading my friends down the trail. The cold was seeping in quicker now, biting any exposed skin and making us shiver.
"How much farther?" Sage asked after a few more minutes of hiking.
"Just a little." I ignored the fact that we had at least ten minutes to go, maybe even longer. A freezing gust of wind shook our coats and sent Marley's beanie flying into the air, but I pressed on. I was consumed with the desire to see the ocean and dive under the waves. I just had to keep going.
"Rayne!" Sage suddenly gasped.
"I already told you; we're almost there," I retorted.
"No, it's not that," Marley interrupted. The worry laced through her words made me pause. "Sage meant—I mean—it's your hair."
I quickly glanced up at the night sky. I gasped when I saw that the billowing clouds overhead had parted, allowing a sliver of moonlight to dart through. I immediately dropped the lantern and threw my hood over my hair. I made sure to keep my eyes downcast so they couldn't see my glowing eyeballs, either.
Marley and Sage gaped at me. "What was that?" Sage asked, shocked.
"Nothing. It was nothing." I suddenly realized I was freezing cold, and the previously overwhelming need to swim in the ocean was ebbing away like a flowing tide. "You know what?" I sighed. "This is stupid. Come on, let's go back."
I grabbed the lantern and pushed past my friends, feeling like a complete and utter fool. What had I been thinking? I had led them out to the edge of Redrock Cliffs, only to let them see the glowing streaks in my hair! Now I was sure to be called a freak at Shady Cove High. How could I have let this happen?
"Sorry, guys," I muttered as soon as we were back inside my warm, cozy house. I peeled off my layers and sank down on the couch, angry with myself for giving into my impulses once again.
Marley and Sage didn't move. They didn't even take off their coats and sweatshirts. "Okay," Sage said finally, letting out a shaky breath, "what happened back there?"
"Nothing happened," I said automatically.
"Oh, sure. Like watching your hair turn blue before our eyes is 'nothing,'" Marley pressed. "There has to be an explanation."
I didn't say anything. I merely buried my head in my hands, my mind swimming with all kinds of excuses, but not one of them sounding suitable for the situation. My stomach felt like it was turned upside down.
"Rayne?" Sage asked quietly. "Is this why you don't like to show off your hair?"
I was about to say "no" when I realized that I could use Sage's words to my advantage. Heaving my most realistic sigh, I admitted, "Yes."
"Then why does it turn blue?" Marley demanded.
"Promise you won't tell anybody?"
Sage and Marley nodded solemnly. I then jumped into an explanation that would hopefully satisfy their questions. "Well," I began, "years ago, I went through this phase where I wanted to dye my hair blue. But during a dare at my old high school, I was forced to use glow-in-the-dark dye."
My friends swiftly exchanged glances. I panicked when I thought they weren't going to buy it. After all, it didn't take a genius to realize the whole glow-in-the-dark hair dye excuse didn't explain why my hair had been normal the first twenty minutes we were romping down the trail.
But to my relief, Marley let out a loud laugh. "You didn't!" she exclaimed.
"You saw it yourself." I switched on the light and let down my hood.
"That's crazy," Sage murmured. "At first I thought your hair was magic or something."
I laughed nervously.
"Hey, let's turn off all the lights," Marley suggested. "Can we see your hair glow again?"
"Marley!" Sage hissed. "Can't you see Rayne is upset?"
I put on my best puppy dog eyes, and Marley gave a little sigh. "Sorry," she murmured. "If it makes you that uncomfortable, then I don't want to put you on the spot."
"Thanks," I replied weakly. An awkward silence descended on the room, and the walls flickered from orange, to blue, then to black. Credits began scrolling on the TV in front of us.
Sage cleared her throat. "So, how about another movie? Anyone want to watch Pirates?"
"Sure." Marley plopped down on her sleeping bag, and I gingerly removed my pillows before slipping into mine. I didn't even breathe until the new movie started playing and my friends' gazes were fixed firmly on the TV. My hands were still shaking from our little adventure. My secret had been close to being discovered—much too close. I couldn't afford to be as careless next time.