The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

Figures. Mandy was tight with Amber again. She’d want to make sure it stayed that way.

I rolled back over onto my back and thumbed the volume up.

After a little while, I’d gotten up, checked my email, and finished up my homework. Now I was bored—which is sad.

Spying my swimsuit, remembering the feeling of swimming yesterday, I grabbed a bag and packed it. Slipping on some flip-flops, I called out, “I’m going swimming.”

“What was that, honey?” Shelley came out, smiling warmly.

“I’m going to go for a swim. I think the school has a pool I can use.”

“Oh yes! That’d be wonderful. Hold on, let me grab my own suit. I’ll come with you.”

What…the…oh hell.

My new mother was coming swimming with me. Not my idea of me time.

Emerging from the hallway, she had a bright smile on, and called out cheerfully, “Okay, honey. Let’s go.”

Shelley drove and I sat in silence. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. The nice thing was that she knew where the pool was, where to park, and which doors to take.

Turning the car off, Shelley explained, “I used to be a swimmer. So any excuse I have to slip on the old suit, I’m happy for!”

Nice.

“When’d you learn how to swim, Taryn?” she asked.

“When I went to Earlington.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Shelley exclaimed, “you were on the swim team, weren’t you? I remember reading that in your file. I was so excited. I thought for sure you’d try out here, but I didn’t want to push you.”

“Yeah.”

“You were on the varsity team, weren’t you?”

“No,” I said hastily, “I was on J.V. I didn’t make it to varsity.”

“Still,” she said proudly, “you were in the seventh grade. That’s quite an accomplishment. Especially for Earlington. They’ve been the state championships for the past twenty two years. They have an excellent program. I’m sure you’d have no problem making varsity now. Taryn, you could maybe even get a scholarship for school.”

Okay. Too fast.

“Uh…I don’t know.”

“Okay,” Shelley was back-pedaling, “whatever makes you happy, Taryn.” She put her hand on my arm. “But I must tell you, I’m extremely excited that we’ve found this bond between us.”

The uneasy feeling disappeared the second I walked out and saw the sparkling Olympic-sized pool.

I chose the second highest diving board and performed a tuck, slicing through the water and smoothly cutting through the water to do it again.

It felt like home. God, I’d missed this.

I didn’t notice Shelley at all. She might’ve been watching for a while, but I caught a glimpse of her later on. She was doing laps in the lanes.

I stayed with the diving board for another good hour before I moved on to swimming laps.

It felt right. I let myself enjoy it and pushed harder through the water.

Pulling myself out of the pool, an hour later, I sighed happily. I had missed that, and pushing through the doors, I vowed that I’d keep at it. Who knows. Maybe I would try out for the team.