that?” she asks casually.
“I don’t know.” I guess I have a
vacant expression on my face, because I have zero thoughts on the matter.
“But what swim school did you go
to?” She’s still flicking through the pages of the newspaper. “I haven’t seen
that stroke before.”
I shrug. “Nowhere.” I take another bite of pie, and the meat and gravy is too hot, but it tastes
wonderful. I blow on the filling. Personally, I’d rather think about failing my
maths exam than the weird way my body is behaving lately. A logical person
might list all the strange occurrences: sleepwalking, jumping into the sea,
swimming so easily, but I’d rather not. I’ll go mad.
A frown knits her eyebrows.
“What? You’re a natural?”
I laugh. “Me? How athletic am I?”
She blinks and sets aside the
newspaper and lollipop and then bites into a big, red apple. The crunch breaks
the silence. A stiff breeze ruffles through the leaves on the trees in the
school yard, and she slaps a hand on the newspaper pages to stop them flying
away. Students traipse into one of the little gardens filled with native trees
and square seats. Spindly branches sway, and birds take flight, tweeting.
“Don’t say it,” she speaks around
the apple in her mouth, juice on her lips. “Just don’t say it, El.”
“What?”
“That you
couldn’t swim like that before the fall.” She gets up on her knees, her
eyes wide. “Right? Do you realise what you’re telling
me?”
“ Er . .
.” I frown. “Maybe the others were bad. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I was with you. We were not bad.
It just doesn’t make sense.” She takes another bite of her apple and rubs her
forehead. She chews thoughtfully. “I’ve had swimming lessons since I was seven.
What with being so close to the water and all. Not that I enjoyed it very much.
What stroke were you using to get to the end so fast? Ashley’s spreading a
rumour that Lakyn pulled you out of the pool and gave you his towel.”
“He helped me out.” I scrunch the
plastic wrapper in my hand, pastry flakes falling all over my skirt, but I
brush them away. “He didn’t give me his towel. I didn’t want to swim, you know,
but he convinced Coach Williams to make me.” I smooth my fringe back from my
face with my hand, because the wind is playing havoc with all my hard work
after I left the pool.
I am determined to look normal on
the outside, even if on the inside my body changes in ways I can’t imagine. I
might have some weird bacteria from the cuts, but no one else is ever going to
know. No one. A sudden idea occurs to me: change is
something I cannot stop. It will affect me no matter what I do. I cannot
control it.
My best option is to make the
right choices while in the flow.
Bethany chuckles. “He’s the star
swimmer. Coach has got his knickers in a twist about it. Lakyn and a few other
guys are all lined up for the nationals. First time this school has competed in
thirty years. You’ve seen him swim.”
I remember the carefree glide of
water across his sleek muscles. The sun heats my back, and my skin prickles
with discomfort. I’d love to go swimming right now. My skin feels too dry. I
can imagine that silken glove upon me, the cocoon of water. “He’s fast.”
I loved my hips rolling and legs
becoming liquid. Not like all the other times when I dunked my head underwater
and held my breath to become a human balloon. Full of hot air, treading water
and totally out of my element.
Instead, I feel happy at the
idea. Powerful. “It’s a good pool,” I say, thinking
Bethany’s expecting me to speak.
She finishes her apple and hooks
it over her head to the bin, but the core smashes against the metal can with a
wet thunk and then rolls away in the dirt. I
laugh, and she grumbles before she stands, then wanders to the bin. Though she casts me a long look over her shoulder once she picks up
the apple core. “There’s something different about you. I can’t figure
out
“I don’t know.” I guess I have a
vacant expression on my face, because I have zero thoughts on the matter.
“But what swim school did you go
to?” She’s still flicking through the pages of the newspaper. “I haven’t seen
that stroke before.”
I shrug. “Nowhere.” I take another bite of pie, and the meat and gravy is too hot, but it tastes
wonderful. I blow on the filling. Personally, I’d rather think about failing my
maths exam than the weird way my body is behaving lately. A logical person
might list all the strange occurrences: sleepwalking, jumping into the sea,
swimming so easily, but I’d rather not. I’ll go mad.
A frown knits her eyebrows.
“What? You’re a natural?”
I laugh. “Me? How athletic am I?”
She blinks and sets aside the
newspaper and lollipop and then bites into a big, red apple. The crunch breaks
the silence. A stiff breeze ruffles through the leaves on the trees in the
school yard, and she slaps a hand on the newspaper pages to stop them flying
away. Students traipse into one of the little gardens filled with native trees
and square seats. Spindly branches sway, and birds take flight, tweeting.
“Don’t say it,” she speaks around
the apple in her mouth, juice on her lips. “Just don’t say it, El.”
“What?”
“That you
couldn’t swim like that before the fall.” She gets up on her knees, her
eyes wide. “Right? Do you realise what you’re telling
me?”
“ Er . .
.” I frown. “Maybe the others were bad. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I was with you. We were not bad.
It just doesn’t make sense.” She takes another bite of her apple and rubs her
forehead. She chews thoughtfully. “I’ve had swimming lessons since I was seven.
What with being so close to the water and all. Not that I enjoyed it very much.
What stroke were you using to get to the end so fast? Ashley’s spreading a
rumour that Lakyn pulled you out of the pool and gave you his towel.”
“He helped me out.” I scrunch the
plastic wrapper in my hand, pastry flakes falling all over my skirt, but I
brush them away. “He didn’t give me his towel. I didn’t want to swim, you know,
but he convinced Coach Williams to make me.” I smooth my fringe back from my
face with my hand, because the wind is playing havoc with all my hard work
after I left the pool.
I am determined to look normal on
the outside, even if on the inside my body changes in ways I can’t imagine. I
might have some weird bacteria from the cuts, but no one else is ever going to
know. No one. A sudden idea occurs to me: change is
something I cannot stop. It will affect me no matter what I do. I cannot
control it.
My best option is to make the
right choices while in the flow.
Bethany chuckles. “He’s the star
swimmer. Coach has got his knickers in a twist about it. Lakyn and a few other
guys are all lined up for the nationals. First time this school has competed in
thirty years. You’ve seen him swim.”
I remember the carefree glide of
water across his sleek muscles. The sun heats my back, and my skin prickles
with discomfort. I’d love to go swimming right now. My skin feels too dry. I
can imagine that silken glove upon me, the cocoon of water. “He’s fast.”
I loved my hips rolling and legs
becoming liquid. Not like all the other times when I dunked my head underwater
and held my breath to become a human balloon. Full of hot air, treading water
and totally out of my element.
Instead, I feel happy at the
idea. Powerful. “It’s a good pool,” I say, thinking
Bethany’s expecting me to speak.
She finishes her apple and hooks
it over her head to the bin, but the core smashes against the metal can with a
wet thunk and then rolls away in the dirt. I
laugh, and she grumbles before she stands, then wanders to the bin. Though she casts me a long look over her shoulder once she picks up
the apple core. “There’s something different about you. I can’t figure
out
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