September

Chapter Song: Oh Mexico- Jeremy Zucker

Five more strokes.

If I could kick faster I might be able to do four, three if I was lucky. I pushed my already tired body more than usual. Holding my breath for a few more seconds closing my eyes I kicked as hard as I could. It was faster than my normal practice pace, but today I felt good. Better than good.

Normally I would stare at the deep blue tiles that formed waves on the bottom of the floor and let my mind wander. It was an escape from reality, that's how it always had been. Today though it was just me and the water. Like part friends finally seeing each other after years apart.

I knew this pool like the back of my hand. I probably could swim a whole race with my eyes shut if I really wanted. Maybe I would try it at tomorrow's practice if I felt up for the challenge.

3...2...

Shit!

I pulled my legs in fast to stand up just as I let out a cry in pain. I yanked off my swim cap pulling my goggles with it. In the process I felt the usual sharp tug of my hair probably indicating that I ripped out a few strands.

I didn't even want to look at my hand considering the sting I felt. I wasn't paying attention to my counts and ended up slamming my fingers into the wall, half a stroke short.

I looked up at the clock and noticed I still beat my time. It was something at least. Just not exactly what I wanted. It was great to get a better time don't get me wrong, but my now my counts were out of sync.

I threw my goggles and cap onto the pool deck just to slowly sink back underwater. I let out some air watching the bubbles slowly rise to the surface.

Silence.

It was almost my favorite part of the water. How you could hear the silence when you were alone below the surface. Even if it were for a brief second. Usually, when I was by myself I liked it the most. When I wasn't at least the water muffled the chaos of shouts during a race or the splashes of the other swimmers.

My favorite was the stillness of the water. When you sit under the water for a flickering moment there was stillness. Kind of like escaping the world. At least until you needed more air.

I heard the echos of splashing around me, but I stayed there a few seconds longer. Finally, when I couldn't take it I reached for the surface.

"Parker what were you doing?" Coach Tanner scolded me. He looked slightly more irritated than usual, better not test my luck.

"Just trying to improve my time coach." I nodded trying to avoid his harsh stare. I wasn't in the mood to deal with his moodiness today.

"Try not to break your fingers next time we can't have those not working now can we." He smirked returning to flip through his clipboard. He blew his whistle for the next group to leave the blocks as I rolled my eyes.

What a creep.

I hopped out of the pool and began stretching on the deck. In the process of stretching my arms, I checked out my hand. I only saw a few minor scrapes on my fingers, one of my nails looked a little bruised but other than that it wasn't serious.

Thank god. I didn't need anything else holding me back this school year.

I did a few final stretches ending it by pulling my arms behind me while I bent forward. Taking in a deep breath to bend deeper into the stretch I heard footsteps coming near. I ignored them to focus more on the stretch but was quickly interrupted.

"Damn Parker who are you trying to beat cus I know it's not me." Tyler winked at me.

"I'd smoke your ass any day Anderson." I fired back feeling my left eyebrow raise.

Tyler Anderson. Captain of the boy's swim team, junior, cute, but very irritating. The worst part about it was all the girls were in love with him. Actually, they were in love with all of my friends.

Don't get me wrong he was a cool guy that a lot of the junior class (and even some seniors) crushed on, but not me. He's the kind of guy that gets into trouble but can charm his way out of anything with his looks and words. In some ways, I respected his talent, but on most days it gave me a headache.

Every girl on the team would try to throw themselves at him. When he would joke around with me or taunt me they would cast glares my way. I didn't think twice about their looks because it was just Tyler being Tyler. Most of the upper-class girls knew that was a total joke at the thought of Tyler and me being more than anything other than friends. It was always transfers or the underclassmen who would be jealous over nothing.

I didn't have a thing for Tyler Anderson.

Calling him a flirt would be an understatement. Don't get me wrong he was incredibly attractive. His black hair made his green eyes pop more than they already did. Not to mention the smirk that was engraved on his face. His deep olive skin that made every ab muscle pop. He had some insane abs.

"You wish." He looked as if he's about to add something, but we were interrupted by coaches yells and more whistling.

I needed to remind myself to try to find someone to hide that thing. He loved that whistle more than his clipboard by now. I wouldn't be shocked if he slept with those things.

After the third whistle I figured that was my cue to leave. I finished my final stretches and went over the game plan for tomorrow's practice with our coaches. Tyler and I were both voted as captains for the boys and girls teams by everyone.

The seniors this year didn't care too much. Most of them were only here so they didn't have to get an after school job. Around here you either worked or played a sport. Some even did both.

"You know the drill for tomorrow guys- dives, turns, and sprint intervals followed by weights. The lacrosse team is also scheduled for the weight room at that time so it'll be a tight squeeze but we have to work with what we got".

There were groans coming from the back that made me roll my eyes. Great now I'd have to deal with all of the boys being meatheads more than normal tomorrow. It was nothing that I wasn't already used to. It also wasn;t something I was exactly giddy about either.

"Look if we want to take state this year in any events we have to put in the work for it quit complaining. Championships don't get handed to any of us." Tyler scolded the team then gave me a sly wink.

All I could do was shake my head and roll my eyes. I had to bite my tongue to hold back my chuckle. Ty would always make comments acting as if he cared. He was naturally talented so it was his way of making fun of people. Kind of harsh but it was effective for those who didn't understand his sarcasm.

He made a valid point. Most of the seniors on our team only swam so they weren't forced to have after school jobs. That was how Tyler and I both became captains this year. At least we still made the effort to work for our positions. Even if half the time he was being sarcastic about it.

Of course, he cared but not in the cheesy way he always talked to everyone. He only really cared about placing high enough to go to state and actually winning his state events.

As of lately, we had both been on edge about college recruiters coming to the meets. More of them had been coming to the meets we've had over summer and found out they'd be returning for this season. It made everything a little bit more intense lately.

After our meeting was done I walked into the locker room to rinse off in the showers before changing. I dried off as much as I could before throwing over my hoodie and a pair of joggers. I twisted my wet hair into a knot on the top of my head. I hated the feeling of cold water dripping down my neck. It sent shivers down my spine even thinking about it.

I made just my way towards the parking lot as the crisp air immediately slapped me across the face. I had to bite my tongue to keep from shivering even more than I already was. Winter was definitely going to come sooner rather than later this year.

I always loved this time of day with the sun setting turning the sky a golden orange color with pink kissing its edges. There were laughter and horns honking throughout the parking lot. It was usually busy around this time with all the sports getting out of practice. I secretly loved the chaos of it all, but never admitted it.

"C'mon Kenny!" Liam yelled interrupting my moment of peace. "I'm not going to keep driving with you if you keep taking your sweet time, the guys are coming over tonight." He slammed his door shut to prove his annoyance.

"Cus god forbid the boys can't live two seconds without you." I rolled my eyes jogging towards his car. He really would leave me to walk if I didn't hurry. Not that it mattered I would get a ride with Cal or even Ty.

"Besides I offered to drive your car if you wanted to go with Cal like you usually do." I added slamming my door shut with just as much force as he did.

My car was in the shop for the week so my dad was forcing Liam to play chauffeur until it was fixed. He was losing his mind over it, which brought me a little joy. I loved my twin to death but sometimes it was in my rightful duty as his sister to get on his nerves.

"Like I would ever let you drive my baby." He gasped while rubbing his dashboard as if it were a newly adopted puppy.

"Oh please, you've hit more trashcans in this car than I ever have," I argued.

"It's your turn to make dinner," he grumbled. He didn't say anything else the whole ride home.

Argument won.

You know in your friend group there's always that one friend whose house all of your friends constantly go to? That was ours.

I would always bring girls over for sleepovers when I was younger. Liam would always be playing video games in our basement with the boys, or out in the backyard throwing balls around. There was a constant flow of traffic. The traffic being us kids over the years bringing in familiar faces with new memories. Of course, it slowed down over the years, but there was still a constant of certain faces in the house.

My dad was a surgeon so he's rarely home, and my mom left us when we were seven. My dad had gotten remarried a few years ago. He and our stepmom had one kid a few years ago. How our stepmom managed to put up with all of us was something I didn't think I would ever find out.

Our birth mom was an Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast when she met our dad. She was training for another round. He was at a conference during his residency in the town she was training in. They met on a train commuting to both places and one thing led to another and surprise they were having twins.

Instead of winning another gold medal, she won a wedding ring. So she took to coaching and raised us until my dad finished his residency. Liam and I were fraternal twins and he luckily got our dad's looks while I was stuck with hers. I was a constant reminder of what could have been, and I hated it.

From what I can remember in the early years, my parents were in love, but it isn't anything like him and my stepmom Tish.

When we were nine dad met Tish. She and my dad met when they both ran into each other grabbing coffee before work. They both had the same order and went to grab for it at the same time. My dad being the true gentlemen let her take it as long as he could give her his phone number, and the rest was history. They got married when we were eleven, and by the age twelve, we had a little sister Olivia.

As we pulled into the driveway I knew it was just me and Liam until everyone else got home. Mondays were usually my dad's late nights, and Tish just opened up a spin studio this summer so she had been busy with that. Livi was either with her or with Tish's sister.

As soon as we walked into the door Liam threw his bag down stopping to say hi to our dalmatian Winnie and rushed to go shower. Before going to the kitchen to start dinner, I stopped to pet Winnie too. I found one of her treats and gave it to her.

We usually took turns making dinner, during everyone's late nights and tonight was my turn. I usually let Livi help me, but since she wasn't here it was just me. I decided on pasta with broccoli, grilled chicken, lemon juice, and olive oil topped with fresh Parmesan.

It was more of a summer pasta, but I decided one last go of it before fall fully came into play. Besides I loved anything that had to do with carbs.

"You always make pasta." Liam complained trudging up the stairs running the towel through his hair. He tried to pout like I was going to magically pull a pizza out of the oven instead. I really didn't understand what his deal was today. He's usually less grumpy than this.

"And you always order pizza on your turn." I threw a dishtowel at his face. "Besides there's leftover stir fry in the fridge if you don't want pasta." I shrugged.

"I'm just kidding Kenny lighten up." He came and tugged at my bun.

I just rolled my eyes and took my dinner to the table to work on my English essay. Only one day into school and I already had an essay due. Junior year was going to be rough.

"When are the guys coming?" I asked never looking up from my laptop.

"In about an hour and don't worry I'll do the dishes." He said between mouthfuls of pasta.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Good, it's your turn anyway."

Liam and I had always been close. We kind of had to since my dad was always at work growing up. He'd been my built-in best friend for forever. He took it harder when my mom left, so I tried to take care of him and my dad. When dad met Tish, it definitely helped having another female around. For all of us.

I didn't really know how, but I just tried to do my part. I followed the rules, did well in school, and was always there for Liam. We stuck by each other no matter what the other one was doing, or how much trouble we would get in for it.