My friends and I sat in our seats all the way in the back. As soon as we were seated, the bus began to move. The venue for the awards show was only about ten minutes away. Everyone on the bus had their windows down, which created a nice breeze. It was a good thing that my hair had so much spray in it, otherwise, it would be all over the place.

Alexis and Leah were chatting in their seat and Faith began listening to music next to me. I didn't want to bother Faith and I didn't feel like yelling across the bus aisle, so I decided to just stare out of the window. The bus was driving through a small neighborhood of houses. Some of the residents were out and about doing work or playing. A group of kids was even playing kickball.

One of the last houses in the neighborhood had a pool in the yard. There was a man next to it. He was using one of those long nets, pulling leaves out of the water. Other than the leaves, the pool looked very clean and well cared for. The water was clear but tinted blue because of the pool tiles. I'm not exactly sure what, maybe it was the smell of chlorine as we passed, or maybe it was just seeing the pool, but I was drawn into another memory.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" my coach asked.

"Yes," I sniffled. "I loved the water, everyone knew that. I loved swimming, but I can barely even look at the water anymore, how am I supposed to swim?"

I had to look at the ground as I handed over my uniform. I couldn't bear to look at my teammates' faces. They were filled with disappointment, pity, or both. I didn't want to do it, I loved swimming and I was even one of the best swimmers on our team, but it was just too much for me. I couldn't do it.

As my coach took my uniform, I whispered sorry and turned to leave.

"Cordelia, wait."

When I turned around, he was holding my uniform out in front of me.

"Keep it. When you're ready, your spot will still be waiting for you."

I knew there was no going back after this, but I took the uniform and nodded anyway. On my way out of the building, I couldn't help but notice how red and puffy my face was.

The bus jerked to a stop and I couldn't stop myself from slamming into the seat in front of me. My friends laughed at me and we all headed off of the bus.

To be continued...