A couple of minutes later, Ethan emerged in the lobby with a small smile playing at his lips. But it vanished the minute Coach Sarah appeared.
"What the heck was that, Ethan?" She bellowed out.
The entire room fell silent.
"I'm sorry Coach, I-"
"That is not the answer I want! I said what the heck was that out there?"
He paused. "It was a late start, Coach."
"A late start! I trained you for three good years, then you give me a late start?" Her eyes were wide with anger. "Where were you before the heat and don't you dare lie to me!"
Princess fumbled in her spot.
"I..." he hesitated "...left the stadium, ma'am," Ethan's voice was the only one ringing in the room. "I left the stadium to go see a couple of friends from high school and I'm truly sorry about that."
Coach Sarah looked like she was minutes away from exploding with rage. Her jaw was tightly clenched and a vein in her neck just kept twitching like a flickering light bulb. "Appiah!"
"Yes ma'am." I shot out of my seat.
"Get ready, you're taking the rest of Ethan's heats. We cannot allow fickle-minded beings to drag the entire team to the ground. Let this be a warning to all of you." She turned around. "Any reckless or stupid decisions and I will not hesitate to cut you out of the competition! Is that clear?"
"Yes Coach." The team chorused.
"Good." The tall woman exited the lobby, and with that, returned the regular chatter, diffusing the tension that had built up in the room.
As Seth and I walked up to Ethan, Princess quickly threw herself at him. "Oh sweetheart, sorry about the things Coach said."
"Yeah it was totally wrong of her to humiliate you like that, we all make rash decisions," Seth added.
"Look guys forget about it ok," Ethan laughed the matter away. "The harm has already been done. The sooner we accept the consequences, the better, so we can support Akwasi here." He placed an arm on my shoulder. "You ready to take on the world?"
I could only nod because I was still surprised that Coach had entrusted me with the rest of Ethan's heats. These were races meant for pros and she just handed over to me. Does this mean she sees me as a pro?
Well, you have been practicing your ass off for Regionals, my subconscious replied. Maybe she noticed your efforts and decided to give you a chance.
A chance. The word echoed in my ears. If this truly was an opportunity to prove myself, then I had to give it more than my all. I had to swim better than I ever had in my life.
Receiving my new heat sheet from Coach, I took note of the races; one individual medley and one medley relay. Individual medleys took a lot of effort, but thankfully, I had an hour break before the medley relay began.
When the announcer called for IM swimmers to get ready, the entire team cheered me on as I warmed up. I had to admit, it felt pretty good having this many people rallying behind me. So much so that I didn't even feel a shred of anxiety as I mounted the starting block and pulled on my goggles. This was my moment to make Penfield shine!
"Oh so you're the rookie replacing Ethan huh?"
My head shifted to the side, meeting a brown-skinned guy with a snake tattoo on his left arm. It sort of checked out because the grin he was sending my way was similar to a python's. "Get ready to have your ass whopped."
My eyebrows dipped low.
"On your marks!"
I bent down with all seven swimmers.
Beep!
With a splash, I dived in, streamlining forward to start with the butterfly. My arms curved, paving way through the mass of liquid. I kept my breathing steady, trying my very best not to overwork myself with the first stroke, because I still had three more to go.
Once I hit the tile, I flipped and soon began the backstroke. With my arms extended, I pushed myself faster and swum the pool's length for a second time before switching to breaststroke.
For a minute, my body felt as if it had been transformed into a torpedo. Because I'd been so consistent with practicing breaststroke, my speed had increased massively. In the blink of an eye, I had reached the turn and was travelling the length of the pool one last with freestyle. But just when I thought that victory was mine, my eyes sensed movement in the next lane. Crap! Snake guy is catching up.
I propelled myself forward, trying to plant a gap between the other guy, but my muscles had reached their limit. The moment I touched the tile, the horn blared, indicating the end of the race. Panting, I pushed my goggles up only to find that same creepy grin on Snake guy's face. My eyes quickly located the scoreboard.
Shit! I hit the water. He had beaten me by a second! Just one second!
"It's funny that you actually thought you could win," Snake guy commented with a smug smile that I really wanted to slap off.
"Jerk." I pulled myself out of the pool and returned to the lobby.
"Great job out there, Akwasi." Nana Kwame was the first to meet me with a high-five. "You gave that bastard Yooku a run for his money."
"But I didn't win," I said, patting myself dry with a towel.
"Yeah, but you still came this close to beating one of Ethan's rivals." Princess beamed. "I'm so proud of you." She gave me a quick hug which I thanked her for.
"So... this Yooku guy," I began. "He's Ethan's rival?"
"Yep." Seth nodded. "Anytime they race, Yooku wins. Now the cocky bastard thinks he's better than every swimmer in Penfield."
"Huh." What an interesting person to meet. I drapped the towel round my neck and my gaze flew over to where he stood, holding an energy drink and flirting with some girls. Very interesting.
The next hour flew by in a blur, mostly because I spent most of it dozing in the lounge. But when the time came for my last race, I was up and ready.
"Ladies and Gents, it's time for the Men's 100meter medley relay. Swimmers, please start warming up."
Grabbing my swim cap and goggles, I followed my teammates out to the pool, surprised to find Ethan's rival standing next to my designated starting block with his teammates.
Yooku's head turned, catching the surprised look on my face. "Ah if it isn't the rookie!" His lips curved into that irritating smirk. "Ready to have your ass whopped again?"
"I'd watch my words if I were you." Nana Kwame commented. "You have no idea what Akwasi is capable of."
"What he's capable of?" Yooku scoffed with a laugh. "He's a rookie. A nobody. There's nothing he can do that's going to shock me. I've kicked your captain's ass a thousand times and I'm definitely gonna do it again, but this time, to the whole lot of you. So you better kiss Nationals goodbye." He cackled as he took his leave.
Nana Kwame lunged after him. But before he could lift a fist, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Dude, are you crazy? Punching him will have you disqualified!"
"I know that," he huffed, yanking his arm out of my grip. "I just can't stand Yooku! That sleazebag needs to have his cockiness levels knocked down to zero!"
"I know right." I shot the thick-headed guy a look. "But we don't need a fight to do that." I turned back to Nana Kwame. "We just need to beat him and his entire team then he'll go home with his tail in between his legs."
"Yeah definitely." Nana Kwame began stretching.
Another prompt echoed out of the speakers and my teammates and I quickly formed a line before our starting block. Seth stood in front, ready to start the race with his backstroke. Alvin, a level 300 guy on the swim team was replacing me for breaststroke. Nana Kwame stood behind him, still stretching his arms for butterfly, leaving me at the rear end to deliver the final stroke. Freestyle.
To begin the race, backstroke swimmers jumped into the pool and held on to the metallic railing.
"On your marks!" A masculine voice bellowed out of the speakers.
All the chatter had faded off, leaving the entire court in complete silence. The last race for the day had everyone on the edge of their seat.
This was our moment of truth.
The buzzer went off and swimmers arched themselves backwards, throwing their bodies into the water. Loud cheers from the audience shoved the silence away. Almost everyone was up, encouraging the various swimmers to break past their limits.
Seth was the first to reach the turn and Nana Kwame and I couldn't help but to cheer him on. He had put us in the lead out of the five teams we were racing.
My eyes darted to the side, catching a tensed Yooku watching with bated breath. "Come on, Isaac! Close the gap!"
But Seth denied him that opportunity. Before Yooku's teammate could attempt covering that space, Seth slapped the tile, giving Alvin the greenlight to jump in.
"Yes!" I pumped a fist in the air. At this rate, that Nationals ticket was ours for the taking... or so I thought.
The breaststroke swimmer for Yooku's team dived in, and even though Alvin was ahead of him, I could tell that by the time he reaches the turn, the gap Seth planted in the first leg would be gone.
"Arrgh," Nana Kwame growled. "Alvin needs to pick up the pace."
Unfortunately, Alvin realised that too late. The moment they hit the turn, Yooku's teammate shot past him, threatening to plant an even bigger gap than Seth's.
"Come on, dude! Swim!" Seth yelled at him.
For someone who had been a part of Penfield's Sharks longer than I had, Alvin was an incredibly slow swimmer. Even his speed wasn't speedy enough as he forced himself to finish his last lap. When his hand slapped the tile, giving Nana Kwame the chance to jump in and start his butterfly stroke, Yooku's team had already nabbed the lead.
"Shit!" I mumbled.
"Like I said," Yooku teased. "Start kissing Nationals goodbye."
Not on my watch, I thought.
It was just the two of us now. Freestyle swimmers were the last to end the race, so I started warming up. Nana Kwame tried his best to bridge the gap in his final leg. But when his hand hit the tile, that task was transferred to me, Penfield's last hope.
The water swallowed me, cooling off my body heat. I could see Yooku, flapping ahead of me, doing everything he could to keep the gap. As I emerged to begin my strokes, I tried not to think about him.
Swimming was my gift from God. It was my talent. I had spent almost fifteen years of my life in water. I don't need to struggle or to force myself through. This is my element.
This is what I was born to do.
My hands effortlessly cut through the water. My feet drove me forward, taking me further and further to the other end of the pool. It almost felt as if I was back in the ocean again, feeling the warmth of the sun in the water and the soft ripples against my skin. I lost myself in that tenderness. Ever since I started swimming competitively, I had never felt this way. It made me wish I was back home, back in that vast dome of water, swimming my heart away.
But then, a harsh blare brought me back to reality to find my hand--fingers spread wide apart--on the tile. My gaze flew up.
Holy shit! I pulled my goggles off.
We won! The joy flooding my heart was beyond overwhelming. I had beaten Yooku by a whooping five good seconds! "Holy Crap!"
Brushing water out of his face, Ethan's rival glared at me, finding it hard to believe that I'd managed to slip past him despite the wide gap.
Before I could say anything to him, two hands latched onto my forearms and pulled me out of the water.
"You fricking did IIITT!" Nana Kwame, Seth and Alvin sandwiched me in a tight hug that took me by surprise. By the time they let me go, the rest of team surrounded us, blasting our ears with shouts and cheers.
Ethan pushed past everyone with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on his face. He wasted no time, clobbering me in a hug. "You did it, bro! You did it! You kicked that bastard Yooku hard!" He slapped me on the back then let me go. "You're a Legendary Shark now, bro! I'm fucking proud of you!"
I managed a laugh. "Thanks bro."
"AKWASII!" Without warning, Princess crashed into me, nearly pushing us back into the water. "Ahhh, I'm so happy I could kiss you right now!"
"Wait...wh-" The rest of it stayed in my mouth because Princess placed a large kiss on my lips and pulled away, grinning like a jester.
My heart jumped in my chest, fearing that Ethan saw us. But he was so busy leading the rest of the team in a victory chant. "...Who we arree!"
"Who we arree!" The entire team yelled after him.
"And where we come from!" He continued.
"And where we come from!"
"So we tell them!"
"So we tell them!"
His voice rose higher, "We are the Penfield Sharks!"
The team followed his energy. "The Mighty Mighty PENFIELD SHARKS!"
"And if they don't hear us?" Ethan quizzed.
"WE SHOUT A LITTLE LOUDER!"