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“It’s not. If they find out you’ll be thrown off the entire pool deck,” I say.
I cross my arms, staring at Anna and Gwen in disdain. This is a dirty trick that should have been left in high school.
Anna rolls her eyes. “No one will find out. We do this every year, it’s fine.”
My stomach twists, knowing I can’t let it go. “If you use it, I will tell Coach Harris. I’m sorry, I can’t risk being thrown out of the NCAA.”
“Are you serious?” Her mouth drops open and Emily moves closer to me in solidarity.
I nod. “I am. We don’t need it. We got this. We’re good, we don’t need to do this.”
“Don’t do it, Anna,” Emily says.
Gwen grips onto Anna’s elbow, looking warily between Emily and I. “Coach Harris will suspend us from the team.”
“Not just the team, any athlete caught doing anything like this can be thrown out of the college. You are a representative of them, and it looks bad if their athletes are cheating.”
Anna scoffs. “It’s just baby oil, it’s hardly cheating.”
“It gives you an unnatural advantage over your opponents.”
Emily clears her throat. “Just don’t use it, and we forget this happened. Sage and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
“Whatever. You’ll see,” Anna warns, walking past us with a disgruntled expression.
Gwen stands there idly before muttering a ‘thanks’ and following Anna out of the locker room.
I rub a hand down my face before pulling my suit down to cover more of my ass, already fed up with the constant wedgie.
Emily sighs. “What are we going to do if they use it anyway?”
“I’ll report them. I’m not joking.”
“I know you’re not, but they would lose everything. I don’t think Slater Hills would give them a degree.” She bites her lip in worry.
I grind my teeth. “I’m going to sound like a bitch, but that’s not my problem. They can lose their degree and I lose my chance at the Olympics. That’s all I care about, and they’re not going to take it from me.”
She doesn’t say anything as we walk out of the locker room and onto the pool deck. I know she agrees with me but Emily has a bigger heart than me. She worries about everything andeveryone. I may lack a little empathy for others, but at the end of the day, I have to take care of myself and my family.
A whistle pierces the air, the ref waves his hand in a circle for us to line up so he can inspect our nails. Bending them toward my palm, I press my fingers as hard as I can into my hand to make sure I don’t get sent back to clip them. Holding them speared out as the slender, older man walks by, he barely brushes over the tips of my fingers.
The minimal effort to ensure we’re not bringing a pair of claws into the water means I am definitely going home with battle wounds. He finishes up with the other team before asking to speak to the captains and the rest of us head back to the bench.
Fallon is waiting there, caps in hand. “Head in the game, ladies. Ball awareness at all times, communicate with each other, we play as a team and we win as a team.”
Gwen grabs her red cap, and throws me a slight smile as she jumps into the pool and into the goal. Anna doesn’t acknowledge me as she grabs hers and follows Gwen into the pool. The rest of the starting girls do the same till only Fallon and I are standing there. Coach Amber and the subs are already sitting on the bench.
“How you feeling?”
I give him a sly smile. “Relaxed, just a little nervous.”
He puts my game cap over my head, the feel of it over the silicone of my swimming cap causes my heart to pick up. There’s a certain point when you’re preparing for a competition that a switch flips and you push the doubts away. He ties the strings under my chin and then taps the plastic cup over my ear.
“Show them why you deserve to be on our national team.”
Jumping into the water, I ignore the flutters that course through me at his words. I swim to my position on the side of Gwen. I spit the water out of my mouth, rest the back of my head on the goal line and ignore the glare aimed my way from Anna. Ihope she’ll put everything aside and work as a team, but I know she’ll never trust me on the same level again.
The ref blows his whistle, tossing the ball into the middle of the pool between the two nets and the six players on each side launch themselves forward, sprinting to be the first one to grab it. I push myself as fast as I can, cutting through the water as my fingertips touch the rough yellow texture of the ball, I tip it up into the air and send it behind me with a smile. I love being the first team to play offense. The player from the other team almost crashes into me. I grip onto her, using her body to spin around her and drive forward. Kicking hard to splash up water, I push myself to gain even a few feet before she’s on me.
