Book #3 in the Medley Series
ZEKE MITCHELL:
With the World Championship in swimming approaching and our medley team in better condition than ever, nothing can stop us.
Expect, as the season starts, an old injury rears its ugly head again, potential...
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Walking into the Canham Natatorium, I feel instantly soothed. The noise in my head simply quiets down, and only then do I realize how loud it's been. I've been more or less distracted since Maya left for her yoga retreat two weeks ago. She's returned, and everything is back to our new normal, but still, I can't quite shake that day.
She might not have left for good then, but she is leaving eventually, and for a moment, I forgot. It's been too easy getting comfortable having her around again, but I need to keep my head on straight here.
Luckily, swimming has always been a balm to my frayed nerves. When I'm in the pool, everything else takes a backseat and worries about Maya is no different.
I take a deep breath of chlorine-filled air, feeling settled for the first time since I woke up an hour ago. It's six in the morning, and most of my teammates are rubbing red-rimmed eyes, sleep lingering in their expressions, but I feel energized just being here.
"Morning," I greet Sennels, coming up behind him as we exit the locker room onto the deck. He reaches up to the lifebuoy on the first column, taping it with a flat hand. It's some weird ritual he and Davis have.
"You're cheery," he remarks, throwing me a tired look over his shoulder - with three adolescent boys at home, I think he might be the one getting the least sleep on the whole team.
"Just happy to be here, captain."
"Suck-up," Saltz mutters under his breath, appearing on my left side.
"Aw, you're just jealous that Sennels likes me more than you."
My youngest teammate looks deeply offended at that. "He does not!" Glancing at Sennels, who's actively ignoring us, his expression turns worried. "You don't, right?" Jogging after our captain, Saltz calls out, "Sennels, that's not true, right? Right?!"
"Diabolical," Davis says as we stop by the pool's far end. In most day-to-day operations, the Wolverines train on one side of the room and us on the other. We have fewer lanes because we're a much smaller team. Today, though, Kimmy has forced the U-M swimmers to go on an early morning jog because she's unsatisfied by their general enthusiasm for morning swim. So she's showing them how much worse it could be.
Talk about diabolical. Gotta love that woman.
It means we have the pool to ourselves during the time it takes sixty-something swimmers to circle campus. So, a while.
Saltz got lucky that Lewis requested him for a medley team training session this morning.
"We only have the fun we make ourselves, right?" I smirk at Davis while we watch Saltz pester Sennels. He's a good kid, and in reality, Sennels probably prefers him to me. But he doesn't need to know that.
"Good morning," Lewis says, stepping out of the office connected to the deck. "As you can tell, we've got some space today, and I intend to take advantage of it. First, warm-up."
