Author's note: Me Gusta. Note me if there are any mistakes.
_______________________________________
Ch.3 Part 2 Nice to Swimmeet You
There were two rules that Dash always followed when in the Swimming Dome. One was to always wear shoes; athlete’s foot was nasty and painful. Second was to always, no matter what, win. This rule meant a lot of different things. For instance, she never let anyone pass her during warm-ups and she didn’t let other kids beat her during practice. The same when for meets, scrimmages, duals, and so forth. But sometimes, she took the second rule to a new level.
As she walked onto the deck of the warm-down pool, she felt a tiny twinge of nervous energy deep inside her. This was the kind of feeling she experienced before a race. That’s weird, she thought, I’ve never felt that outside of the pool. She brushed it off and continued walking.
The room wasn’t very large, big enough for a 6-lane pool used by the swimmers to warm-down after swim meets. There were a few rows of bleachers to put bags on, but other than that the pool was empty. Empty. Dash’s rose eyes scanned the deck, but she saw no one. No bags were on the bleachers, there was no sign that anyone had been there.
“Um… Hello?” she called out to the empty room, hoping the new student hadn’t gotten lost. Dash was all too familiar with trying to find people in a hurry. The issue of someone not being there before their race had happened many times, and Dash was always the one sent out to find them.
She paced around past the bleachers, towards the door. Suddenly, she heard a splash from the other end of the pool, near the stairs. Her rainbow-colored head jerked in the direction of the sound.
It was a boy. He looked to be about her age. He breathed in a deep breath of air as he broke the surface of the water.
He swam over to the latter effortlessly. Dash pursed her lips and observed the boy as he lifted himself out of the pool. His shoulder muscles flexed as he grabbed a towel close by. He knew he was being watched.
“Can I help you?” He said, his back facing the girl. “Or are you just here for the show.”
Dash jumped, her face turning scarlet. “Um no… I mean yes!”
The boy chuckled, turning around. Dash got a full view of his very impressive abs. She tried not to stare. “You must be the team captain. The coach told me you were coming.”
“If you knew I was coming, why weren’t you ready?”
“I was. You’re late. She said you would be here at 12:15.”
Dash looked down at her watch. It said ’12:30’. “Oh. Well I was busy.”
He carelessly hung the towel around his neck, his pale grey eyes watching her. “I decided to go for a swim. Swimmers do that sometimes you know.”
“Well of course I know that!” Her eyes furrowed. “But you weren’t swimming, what the hell were you just sitting there in the water for?”
“I was practicing my breath holding.” He smiled a white grin. “Helps me stay on top.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I do that all the time! I don’t even need to anymore.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? How long can you hold your breath for?”
“Three and a half minutes.” Dash said with a smile, her arms crossed against her chest.
The boy’s cocky smile gave him away. “I go five minutes. Are you sure you’re the great swimmer the coach was telling me about?”
Dash’s pale face reddened. “Of course I am! I’m the best swimmer on this team!”
“For now.” He said with a sly smile.
Anger pulsed throughout her body. She felt like running over and punching him in the face. But that was the kind of stuff that
could get someone kicked off the team. She held her tongue.
“So,” She managed to say calmly. “Who are you?”
The boy grinned, “I’m Soarin. You might’ve heard of me.”
Dash’s jaw dropped. “You mean THE Soarin’? The one who went to the Olympic trials?”
“The one and only!” He stood up straight and tall.
Her grin widened. “The same one that didn’t make it to the real Olympics?”
Soarin’s face fell. “I would’ve made it.” He muttered under his breath.
“What’s that?” She said cupping her ear in her hand and leaning in closer.
“Never mind.” He mumbled. “I have to go. Got other things I need to do.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah whatever.”
He grabbed a white t-shirt out of his back and pulled it over his head, messing up his dark, navy blue hair. Dash couldn’t help but giggle.
Soarin started walking off in the other direction, towards the door. He stopped. Dash looked up. Their eyes met.
“I…I uh… I didn’t catch your name.”
“Dash.” She said. Pointing to herself with her thumb, as she always did. Her eyes were locked on his.
He nodded. “Nice to meet you Dash. I’ll catch you later.”
“See yah.” She said quietly, her heart pounding.
And with that, he threw his bag over his shoulder and walked out.
Dash watched as the door to the men’s locker room swung closed. She clenched her hands into fists. Why are my palms so
sweaty? She wondered.
Shaking her head she turned in the opposite direction and walked out of the pool, trying to think about anything but
swimming.