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“An apology, you understand?”
“Yes,Coach,” I say spitefully. I had fully intended to apologize, especially after knowing he was just doing what was asked of him.
Fallon lets go of my shoulder as if I burned him and spins to face the desk. I leave and change quickly in the locker room, thankful for my hoodie and sweats to save me from the cold of the upcoming winter air. When I make it back to the pool, I sit a few feet away from Fallon and ignore his glances. My entire athletic career coaches have praised me for my skill, but with each passing day in his presence, my confidence sinks. Doubts about if I’m good enough to reach the Olympics, let alone achieve state championships, are beginning to weigh me down.
Chapter Seven
Sage
Rolling my shoulders forward and then backward, I crack my neck before stretching my elbow across my chest. The scrimmage a few weeks ago was the start of intense practices, each one more focused on passing, shooting and even breakaway techniques. But it was from the one-on-one weight sessions with Fallon that I could feel the difference with each week. We had even added extra weight to the bar. With the start of the season rapidly approaching, anxiety about our first game increased every day.
Emily flexes her hands out as she paces in front of me. “Gregory said that the men threw up halfway through practice.” Emily had hit it off with one of the guys on the men’s team at the scrimmage. They’ve been seeing each other ever since.
“Well, didGregorysay what the coaches had them doing?” I snicker at her squint and hold up my hands from the way I rolled over his name.
“I’m sorry, the dude is a Greg. He’s gotta accept it,” I say through a few more chuckles.
She shakes her head. “Anyway…They wouldn’t say. Just that it was and I quote ‘putting the hell in hell week’ and that scares me.”
“Coach Amber is still head coach. And last year she didn’t even do hell week,” Anna says across from us.
Gwen nods. “Yeah, so I would stop worrying.”
Emily and I exchange a glance. Something told me that Fallon wouldn’t let us get away with that. My old coach always preached that hell week was a good team building exercise.
A whistle interrupts any further conversation and we stand to face the coaches walking toward us. Amber stops, staying silently behind as Fallon takes a step forward. A taunting grin breaks across his face as he folds his arms against his chest.
“Welcome to hell week, ladies.”
Emily groans and then hisses into my ear. “See. I knew it.”
I push her away slightly, nerves fluttering in my chest as I catch his gaze briefly before he continues.
“I have something special for you guys today. It’s called the Dirty Dozen.”
A few girls inhale sharply around us and I glance nervously at them and the look of pure dread on their faces.
Fallon steps closer. “Let me break it down for you. Fifty meter sprint, get out and do twelve lunges to the deep pool, eggbeater with hands out of water till every teammate is in the pool. Then twelve pull-ups on the side of the pool; waist needs to be coming out of the water. Get out and do twelve lunges back to the lap pool, and a fifty meter sprint back. Rest till everyone has joinedyou. Then you’ll start over by bringing it down to eleven for each circuit and so on.”
I try not to show my excitement; it doesn’t seem so bad. It actually sounds really fun.
“One more thing. The first person into the deep pool starts a countdown of one minute and if every teammate is not in that pool with them by the end, we start over at twelve. Your hands touch the water, we start over. We see you half-assing the pull-ups, we. Start. Over.”
Horror crashes through me, and I give Anna a pointed look. We need the slower girls to start the sprints first, the rest of us to take up the end. My attention snaps away from her when Amber tosses something onto the pool deck. Fallon grins, bending over and picking up the equipment.
“If I call your name, come grab a weight. You’ll be wearing it till at least 6. And yes, if you start over, the weight goes back on.”
My skin prickles as I stare at the small waist vest with disdain. Those are devices of pure torture, especially if he wants us treading water without the assistance of our hands. I bite my tongue when he calls my name third and I reluctantly grab it from him, avoiding his eyes as I retreat to my team and stand near my captain.
“Lily, Beth and Ashley need to go first.”
Anna nods. “I was thinking the same. Me, you, and June will take up last on their lanes.”
“Let’s go. Get in the water, girls!” Amber shouts as Fallon moves the pace clock away from the lap pool and to the other end of the pool deck.
Our captain assigns everyone to their lane as we jump in. I shiver in the cold water as we hover by the wall, stretching along the lane dividers in a disorganized line as we prepare to start.
“Is this even legal? Can they do this to us?” Beth says gingerly, rubbing her arms.
