In Too Deep, page 15
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Opening the door, I turn to my left and then right to check if anyone is nearby. No one’s around, so I grab Coby, and we hightail it out of my unit and down toward the stadium.
As we arrive, a crowd gathers around the televisions, and I furrow my brows at Coby, who shakes his head. We walk up to the monitor to spot reporters going nuts over something. Then the headline flashes all over the screen—Australia’s first drug cheat shames our Olympic Games. Caro and the Hughes are seen to race off in the background, being swarmed by reporters.
Gasping as Coby wraps his arms around me, I blush.
“Jesus Christ,” I murmur as the reporters run up to Caro and the Hughes. One knocks forcefully into Trinny, making her fall over. My stomach lurches as I watch the horror unfold on the television screen in front of me.
“Fucking hell,” Coby whispers.
Anger surges like adrenaline flowing through my veins. Pulling out of Coby’s grip, I grab a flyer stand nearby and throw it across the room. I groan as Marta walks in, and her smirk irks me to the very core.
“Lacy!” Coby calls.
It’s all white noise.
My feet don’t fail me.
I hit the ground running.
I storm up to Marta and shove her.
She tumbles backward into the bench.
“Are you happy now?” I scream in her face.
She smirks. “Blissfully… my silver has been upgraded to gold. Why wouldn’t I be happy? I’m just sad you’re not a drug cheat like your friend.”
My blood boils. “You pompous bitch!” I lunge forward, but Coby grabs me around my waist, holding me back as my hands and legs flail about, trying to get to Marta at all costs. I’m moaning and groaning as I kick and thrash, attempting to do as much damage as possible, but Coby has me tight as she snickers and walks away.
“Lacy… stop!” Coby demands, dropping and turning me to face him.
My breaths are coming firm and rapid from my nose as I try to calm down. I gaze into his eyes, and he furrows his brows. “You can’t attack her. She’s looking for a way to remove you from the relay team. Don’t let her win… again. Please, stop and think.”
Taking a deep breath and deflate. “You’re right. God! She’s so… so damn aggravating.”
“Try not to let her get to you. Now, how about we get out of here for a while? Maybe go to the Olympic Stadium and watch something else? Get our minds off swimming till Friday?”
“Sounds good to me. What about East?”
“Yeah, let’s go find him.”
Four Days Later
The three of us have spent the last few days checking out the sights and having as much fun as we can with such a big, dark cloud hanging over us. I’ve checked in with Caro every day, and she’s miserable but getting there.
The investigation into Marta proved nothing.
There was no evidence anywhere linking her to the drug scandal, even though all four swimmers connected weren’t known to each other but had the exact same drug in their system. Which points to them taking it at the same time, but again, nothing could be proven. I just wish I’d thought about keeping one of those cups, but then again, what good would that have done?
It’s my word against hers?
And so far, she’s untouchable.
The only saving grace is that word has spread throughout the swim team about Marta, and everyone thinks she should be investigated. But no one will touch her. It’s like she is invincible. I’m sure Karma exists somewhere, but it sure is lacking right here, right now.
It’s the day of the relays, and I’m on the team with Katie, Hayley, and Laura. We’re all on tenterhooks, not comprehending what Marta has in store for us today. I shared my thoughts with Katie about Marta, the false start incident, and the poor Chinese girl who fell prey to her as well. She thinks Marta is perfectly capable of doing it and that I didn’t imagine it at all. So we’re worried that she might pull the same trick again today, especially because she and I will be on the starting blocks together.
As we line up for the walk out, I turn to Katie. “Just watch your back out there, okay? Who knows what she has planned for us,” I whisper.
She exhales. “It’s pretty shit that we have to watch ourselves. I’m sure it’s not supposed to be like this. It wasn’t at the last Games I was at. Everyone supported each other. Marta is in a class of her own. I’ll never understand what she gains from cheating her way to victory.”
As we walk out, we all wave and smile at the cheering crowd. I’m despondent and lonely because the Hughes aren’t here to support me. But I know they’re watching at home.
The announcements start, and I roll my shoulders and slap my biceps, releasing the blood flow through my muscles. I need to be on my A-game for this race.
“Australia,” they announce.
I step forward, holding Katie’s hand, and we throw them up in the air as a team. The home crowd cheers and erupts in applause. I have to admit that having a home Olympics as your first one is pretty special. Having the home crowd advantage is proving to be something amazing.
The buzzer sounds, and Laura moves up to the starting block. My nerves aren’t as bad as they were for my gold medal race, but they’re definitely there. This is more of a team effort—we all need to work toward this goal. We can do it. The buzzer sounds, and Laura drops into the pool to get ready for her backstroke.
“Take your mark.”
Laura positions herself on the wall, crouching up into it and the starting signal fires. She leaps from the wall backward into the clear water. Katie grabs my hand and we jump up and down in excitement as she takes off into the lane perfectly. She’s out in front, right alongside the English swimmer. There’s not much space between them. This is going to be a tight race. Hayley steps up to the starting block, ready to take her place and jump in when Laura hits the wall.
Laura turns down the other end and is still in line with the English and the Americans, with the Chinese tight on our tails. We all need to put in our best efforts to win this relay. Katie and I cheer as Hayley positions herself ready to jump in. Laura glides toward the wall, and I hate this part—anything can go wrong—so my breath holds, and I grit my teeth as Laura slams against the wall and Hayley dives in. My stomach settles. Katie glances at me and beams as Hayley takes off doing the breaststroke in her perfect form.
I’m up next, so I turn to Katie and nod.
She grins at me, squeezing my hand. “You can do this.”
I offer a small smile. “Yeah, we both can.”
She turns to leer at Marta, who I’m going to be racing against, and then she turns to face me. “Whoop her damn arse.”
With a chuckle, I step up to the starting block. My nerves are out of control as I catch Marta staring at me. I glance ahead to watch Hayley and the English girl in a direct line—I can’t tell who’s in front. I need to push to get us a healthy lead, and my God, I am going to push hard to get ahead of Marta.
Hayley swims, and as she gets closer and closer, my stomach flips. I’m nervous, but I can do this. Hayley slams against the wall and I leap off the starting block and dive straight into the water. A slight smile crosses my face as I hit the pool. I’ve missed this, the adrenalin of the race, the thrill of the chase, the speed of the hunt. I live for this. As I come up for air, I raise my arms over my head. Then slam back down into the water. I love freedom in the water. All my cares all my worries disappear. Right now, all I can think about is getting in front so I can kick Marta’s scrawny, pale arse.
I reach out for the wall and turn, and as I come back up, an almighty smack crashes up into my face. My eyes roll around as the sharp pain radiates through my nose. I stop swimming and push myself to the edge of the pool, grasping at my nose. A buzzer sounds as arms reach down to lift me out of the pool as my head fades in and out of blackness.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
My head is pounding as the fuzz clears and the blackness lifts, showing the stadium and all the people surrounding me. My head is hazy as I try to gain my bearings.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I got too close to the lane ropes, and my arm came under and hit her nose. I’m so terribly, terribly sorry,” I hear Marta say in a sickly sweet voice as I lay on the edge of the pool deck, zoning in and out.
“Lacy, Lacy, can you hear me?” Tuck asks while a medic takes my blood pressure.
I dip my chin, trying to take in everything around me. There’s some yelling and I catch security holding Coby back as he struggles to get to me.
I sit up dramatically.
Tuck pats my back. “Lacy… say something.”
“What happened?” I gurgle.
Everyone around sighs with relief.
“Marta’s hand came under the lane and hit your face. She hit you pretty hard.”
I huff and glance at Tuck. This wasn’t an accident. “Okay. What happened to the race?”
“They stopped it. It’s going to be re-run at another time. Once we can find another fly swim—”
“No! I’ll do it. Just give me five minutes to get my bearings.”
“Lacy, you could have drowned. You nearly passed out.”
I cough slightly. “Tuck, I’m not… not racing in this event.”
“Let.. me… through,” Coby yells and somehow bursts through security. He rushes to my side and pulls me to him. “Jesus Christ, Butterfly, scare a man half to death, why don’t you?”
“Sorry.”
He caresses my cheek. “You okay? How’s the nose?”
“A bit sore, but I’ll be fine. I just need to win this relay.”
He scoffs. “You’re not going back in that pool—”
“Coby don’t—”
“No, Lacy, you practically drowned. You probably have a concussion. Be smart.”
I slump and soften my gaze on him. “Coby… I love you for caring, but I didn’t even swallow any water before someone pulled me out. Australia needs to kick Marta’s arse, and I want to help do that.”
“What if it happens again?”
“She’d be stupid to try it twice. Plus, she did it so I would bow out. If I don’t race, I give her what she wants. She will win.”
“She’s right, Cobes,” Katie chimes in from behind me.
“Shit!” Coby huffs.
“So, how long can they delay the race for Tuck?” Coby asks.
“They’re thinking of re-running it after yours.”
Coby winces. “Okay, but you stay by my side until then. Katie, while I’m out racing, don’t let her out of your sight!”
“Agreed,” Katie replies.
“Let’s get you off the floor,” Tuck advises.
I nod as Coby stands up, taking me with him in his arms. I stumble slightly, but he catches me as I take in a deep breath, and the crowd cheers. I wave to them. Coby wraps his arm around my waist and walks with me, Katie, and Tuck to the marshalling area. I sit with Katie while Coby gets ready for his relay race, and we watch on the screen as I try to get my breathing back to normal.
Coby swims last for the relay team and brings home a silver for Australia, being narrowly beaten by the Americans.
I’m super happy for him, though.
By now, I’m much better.
Tuck walks up and squats down in front of me. “Are you okay to race? It’s fine if you’re not, we can withdraw and no one—”
“No way, we are racing. I’m good to go. I promise, Tuck. I’m fine, nothing but a little bump to the nose. Let’s do this.” Standing up, I move over to the lineup. I spot Marta and raise my eyebrow in a gesture of ‘you can’t beat me.’ She grunts. Then I face Katie, who bumps my shoulder. We walk out, taking our positions again, and I must admit I’m nervous. I’m not up to my full potential, and it could be critical to the team. But I am going to power through, and if I struggle, hopefully, Katie can pick up my slack.
The buzzer sounds, and Laura steps up to the block, and she jumps into the pool.
My nose hurts.
I’m still a little dazed, but I hope I’ll be fine.
And I’m not putting it past Marta to try something else. She’s obviously so threatened by us that she’s willing to attempt anything to get us out of the way rather than win on her own merits.
What a loser!
Laura pulls up as she takes her mark, and then the starting signal fires. A sense of thrill and excitement fills the air as the crowd cheers and stomps their feet. It’s hardly ever that a race is run twice. So, this is a rare occurrence.
Laura launches herself into the water. I smile. Hopefully, we can pull through at our second chance at Gold. This time without that idiot interfering. She’d be stupid to try it twice. Katie and I huddle together as Hayley takes her place and Laura swims solid and fast. She pushes hard, and we are second behind England at the moment, with America quickly catching up behind us.
Laura slams against the wall, and Hayley dives in. My muscles tense up slightly at the thought of being next and of what Marta could have planned, but Katie grabs me, turning me to face her.
“Don’t think, just swim.”
I smile and take a deep breath. “I can do this.”
“Yes, you can, now go.” Katie turns me and slaps my arse as I walk up to the starting block.
Marta turns to me and grins maniacally, which unsettles me slightly, but I push all my fears aside as I take my mark.
My stomach flutters as I take a calming breath. “From the heart,” I murmur as Hayley hits the wall, and I jump in. The water soothes me. Although I struggle, I push through. I come up for a breath and throw my arms over my body, slamming into the water slower than usual, but I continue my strokes as powerfully as I can.
In the words of Dory, ‘Just keep swimming.’
I’m fatigued already, but I hit the wall and sluggishly turn around. My face is aching, my lungs are burning. It scares me. But I need to push through this final fifty for my team. I’m almost there, just a little more.
Just a little more.
I dive and hit the wall.
Relief floods me as I come up, taking a much-needed breath, and it’s then that I understand nothing’s gone wrong—no dramas, no interference, nothing happened—and as I glance down my lane, I see Katie has already jumped in to do her portion of the race.
Glancing up, I find out that I’ve hit the wall in third. That means Katie has to pick up my poor performance. I just hope I haven’t stuffed this up by being stubborn and wanting to swim.
Laura nods. “Good job.”
“Thanks,” I reply through staggered breaths.
Katie strokes up into first place, and Laura, Hayley, and I cheer for Katie as she speeds up to half a body length in front.
Katie is killing it!
Hayley, Laura and I jump up and down in excitement as Katie freestyles into a full body length in front of Anna. She hits the wall, turns back, continues her powerful stroke and leads all the way to the wall. As she slams against the tiles, we all scream in celebration.
We scan the scoreboard.
Shit!
There’s a DQ sign coming up.
We all stop celebrating immediately.
Who could it be?
England came in second, followed by China in third.
Katie jumps out of the pool and studies the board.
My heart is frantically racing as we all stand there, holding our breaths. The board flashes, and the DQ lights up next to England. I scream along with Katie, and jump up and down in euphoria.
We won the gold.
England is, therefore disqualified.
Katie races to me, and we jump around in a circle as the microphone turns on, so we stop so we can hear the announcement.
“Swimmer three for England left the blocks before swimmer two hit the wall—England are therefore disqualified.”
Marta groans, throwing her cap on the floor. She storms off. I can’t help but laugh along with Katie.
“Maybe Karma does exist?” Katie suggests.
I give Katie a hug and she hugs me back.
“Again, I am sorry for everything that happened at the trials. I was just jealous of you and Coby. But I can picture you two together, just from the way he eyes you. He never looked at me like that. Be good to him. He is an amazing man, and you deserve to be happy.”
“Thank you. I like him… like a lot, and I wanna give this a go with him.”
“Does he know that?”
I smile. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to tell him.”
I link my arm with hers, and we head off toward the marshalling area, where Coby waits impatiently for me to return. I let go of Katie, and she smiles at me.
“Go get him,” she whispers and walks off as I race toward Coby.
He picks me up into a giant bear hug and kisses me in front of everyone. I break out into goose bumps as sparks fly between us.
“No fraternization!” an official yells.
He slides me down his body and gazes into my eyes. “I’m proud of you.”
My shoulders lift and fall. “It was a team effort.”
“Yes, but you didn’t have to swim—”
“Yes, I did.”
He smiles a full-on ear-to-ear grin. “Okay, go get ready for your medal presentation. It’ll be after mine, then I want you all to myself.”
“Sure thing,” I beam.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After changing for the medal ceremony and leaving Coby in the marshalling area, I’m heading back toward the athletes’ area at the back of the pool deck, where I prepare to receive my medal. My pride and elation for myself and my country is still incredible. To have done this not once but twice, is something I could never have dreamed of.
Smiling to myself as I walk with a spring in my step, I see a couple hugging over in the corner. I smile at the love people show around here. It’s amazing the support you have when you have the right people by your side. Even though the Hughes aren’t here right now, I still have Coby, and he’s all the support I need.
I continue to stare at the couple—I vaguely recognise the girl as Katie. Opening my eyes wider—as I had no idea she had a boyfriend—I stop on the spot when they separate and stare at each other. My heart leaps into my throat when I see the guy she was hugging so tenderly is none other than…
Opening the door, I turn to my left and then right to check if anyone is nearby. No one’s around, so I grab Coby, and we hightail it out of my unit and down toward the stadium.
As we arrive, a crowd gathers around the televisions, and I furrow my brows at Coby, who shakes his head. We walk up to the monitor to spot reporters going nuts over something. Then the headline flashes all over the screen—Australia’s first drug cheat shames our Olympic Games. Caro and the Hughes are seen to race off in the background, being swarmed by reporters.
Gasping as Coby wraps his arms around me, I blush.
“Jesus Christ,” I murmur as the reporters run up to Caro and the Hughes. One knocks forcefully into Trinny, making her fall over. My stomach lurches as I watch the horror unfold on the television screen in front of me.
“Fucking hell,” Coby whispers.
Anger surges like adrenaline flowing through my veins. Pulling out of Coby’s grip, I grab a flyer stand nearby and throw it across the room. I groan as Marta walks in, and her smirk irks me to the very core.
“Lacy!” Coby calls.
It’s all white noise.
My feet don’t fail me.
I hit the ground running.
I storm up to Marta and shove her.
She tumbles backward into the bench.
“Are you happy now?” I scream in her face.
She smirks. “Blissfully… my silver has been upgraded to gold. Why wouldn’t I be happy? I’m just sad you’re not a drug cheat like your friend.”
My blood boils. “You pompous bitch!” I lunge forward, but Coby grabs me around my waist, holding me back as my hands and legs flail about, trying to get to Marta at all costs. I’m moaning and groaning as I kick and thrash, attempting to do as much damage as possible, but Coby has me tight as she snickers and walks away.
“Lacy… stop!” Coby demands, dropping and turning me to face him.
My breaths are coming firm and rapid from my nose as I try to calm down. I gaze into his eyes, and he furrows his brows. “You can’t attack her. She’s looking for a way to remove you from the relay team. Don’t let her win… again. Please, stop and think.”
Taking a deep breath and deflate. “You’re right. God! She’s so… so damn aggravating.”
“Try not to let her get to you. Now, how about we get out of here for a while? Maybe go to the Olympic Stadium and watch something else? Get our minds off swimming till Friday?”
“Sounds good to me. What about East?”
“Yeah, let’s go find him.”
Four Days Later
The three of us have spent the last few days checking out the sights and having as much fun as we can with such a big, dark cloud hanging over us. I’ve checked in with Caro every day, and she’s miserable but getting there.
The investigation into Marta proved nothing.
There was no evidence anywhere linking her to the drug scandal, even though all four swimmers connected weren’t known to each other but had the exact same drug in their system. Which points to them taking it at the same time, but again, nothing could be proven. I just wish I’d thought about keeping one of those cups, but then again, what good would that have done?
It’s my word against hers?
And so far, she’s untouchable.
The only saving grace is that word has spread throughout the swim team about Marta, and everyone thinks she should be investigated. But no one will touch her. It’s like she is invincible. I’m sure Karma exists somewhere, but it sure is lacking right here, right now.
It’s the day of the relays, and I’m on the team with Katie, Hayley, and Laura. We’re all on tenterhooks, not comprehending what Marta has in store for us today. I shared my thoughts with Katie about Marta, the false start incident, and the poor Chinese girl who fell prey to her as well. She thinks Marta is perfectly capable of doing it and that I didn’t imagine it at all. So we’re worried that she might pull the same trick again today, especially because she and I will be on the starting blocks together.
As we line up for the walk out, I turn to Katie. “Just watch your back out there, okay? Who knows what she has planned for us,” I whisper.
She exhales. “It’s pretty shit that we have to watch ourselves. I’m sure it’s not supposed to be like this. It wasn’t at the last Games I was at. Everyone supported each other. Marta is in a class of her own. I’ll never understand what she gains from cheating her way to victory.”
As we walk out, we all wave and smile at the cheering crowd. I’m despondent and lonely because the Hughes aren’t here to support me. But I know they’re watching at home.
The announcements start, and I roll my shoulders and slap my biceps, releasing the blood flow through my muscles. I need to be on my A-game for this race.
“Australia,” they announce.
I step forward, holding Katie’s hand, and we throw them up in the air as a team. The home crowd cheers and erupts in applause. I have to admit that having a home Olympics as your first one is pretty special. Having the home crowd advantage is proving to be something amazing.
The buzzer sounds, and Laura moves up to the starting block. My nerves aren’t as bad as they were for my gold medal race, but they’re definitely there. This is more of a team effort—we all need to work toward this goal. We can do it. The buzzer sounds, and Laura drops into the pool to get ready for her backstroke.
“Take your mark.”
Laura positions herself on the wall, crouching up into it and the starting signal fires. She leaps from the wall backward into the clear water. Katie grabs my hand and we jump up and down in excitement as she takes off into the lane perfectly. She’s out in front, right alongside the English swimmer. There’s not much space between them. This is going to be a tight race. Hayley steps up to the starting block, ready to take her place and jump in when Laura hits the wall.
Laura turns down the other end and is still in line with the English and the Americans, with the Chinese tight on our tails. We all need to put in our best efforts to win this relay. Katie and I cheer as Hayley positions herself ready to jump in. Laura glides toward the wall, and I hate this part—anything can go wrong—so my breath holds, and I grit my teeth as Laura slams against the wall and Hayley dives in. My stomach settles. Katie glances at me and beams as Hayley takes off doing the breaststroke in her perfect form.
I’m up next, so I turn to Katie and nod.
She grins at me, squeezing my hand. “You can do this.”
I offer a small smile. “Yeah, we both can.”
She turns to leer at Marta, who I’m going to be racing against, and then she turns to face me. “Whoop her damn arse.”
With a chuckle, I step up to the starting block. My nerves are out of control as I catch Marta staring at me. I glance ahead to watch Hayley and the English girl in a direct line—I can’t tell who’s in front. I need to push to get us a healthy lead, and my God, I am going to push hard to get ahead of Marta.
Hayley swims, and as she gets closer and closer, my stomach flips. I’m nervous, but I can do this. Hayley slams against the wall and I leap off the starting block and dive straight into the water. A slight smile crosses my face as I hit the pool. I’ve missed this, the adrenalin of the race, the thrill of the chase, the speed of the hunt. I live for this. As I come up for air, I raise my arms over my head. Then slam back down into the water. I love freedom in the water. All my cares all my worries disappear. Right now, all I can think about is getting in front so I can kick Marta’s scrawny, pale arse.
I reach out for the wall and turn, and as I come back up, an almighty smack crashes up into my face. My eyes roll around as the sharp pain radiates through my nose. I stop swimming and push myself to the edge of the pool, grasping at my nose. A buzzer sounds as arms reach down to lift me out of the pool as my head fades in and out of blackness.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
My head is pounding as the fuzz clears and the blackness lifts, showing the stadium and all the people surrounding me. My head is hazy as I try to gain my bearings.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I got too close to the lane ropes, and my arm came under and hit her nose. I’m so terribly, terribly sorry,” I hear Marta say in a sickly sweet voice as I lay on the edge of the pool deck, zoning in and out.
“Lacy, Lacy, can you hear me?” Tuck asks while a medic takes my blood pressure.
I dip my chin, trying to take in everything around me. There’s some yelling and I catch security holding Coby back as he struggles to get to me.
I sit up dramatically.
Tuck pats my back. “Lacy… say something.”
“What happened?” I gurgle.
Everyone around sighs with relief.
“Marta’s hand came under the lane and hit your face. She hit you pretty hard.”
I huff and glance at Tuck. This wasn’t an accident. “Okay. What happened to the race?”
“They stopped it. It’s going to be re-run at another time. Once we can find another fly swim—”
“No! I’ll do it. Just give me five minutes to get my bearings.”
“Lacy, you could have drowned. You nearly passed out.”
I cough slightly. “Tuck, I’m not… not racing in this event.”
“Let.. me… through,” Coby yells and somehow bursts through security. He rushes to my side and pulls me to him. “Jesus Christ, Butterfly, scare a man half to death, why don’t you?”
“Sorry.”
He caresses my cheek. “You okay? How’s the nose?”
“A bit sore, but I’ll be fine. I just need to win this relay.”
He scoffs. “You’re not going back in that pool—”
“Coby don’t—”
“No, Lacy, you practically drowned. You probably have a concussion. Be smart.”
I slump and soften my gaze on him. “Coby… I love you for caring, but I didn’t even swallow any water before someone pulled me out. Australia needs to kick Marta’s arse, and I want to help do that.”
“What if it happens again?”
“She’d be stupid to try it twice. Plus, she did it so I would bow out. If I don’t race, I give her what she wants. She will win.”
“She’s right, Cobes,” Katie chimes in from behind me.
“Shit!” Coby huffs.
“So, how long can they delay the race for Tuck?” Coby asks.
“They’re thinking of re-running it after yours.”
Coby winces. “Okay, but you stay by my side until then. Katie, while I’m out racing, don’t let her out of your sight!”
“Agreed,” Katie replies.
“Let’s get you off the floor,” Tuck advises.
I nod as Coby stands up, taking me with him in his arms. I stumble slightly, but he catches me as I take in a deep breath, and the crowd cheers. I wave to them. Coby wraps his arm around my waist and walks with me, Katie, and Tuck to the marshalling area. I sit with Katie while Coby gets ready for his relay race, and we watch on the screen as I try to get my breathing back to normal.
Coby swims last for the relay team and brings home a silver for Australia, being narrowly beaten by the Americans.
I’m super happy for him, though.
By now, I’m much better.
Tuck walks up and squats down in front of me. “Are you okay to race? It’s fine if you’re not, we can withdraw and no one—”
“No way, we are racing. I’m good to go. I promise, Tuck. I’m fine, nothing but a little bump to the nose. Let’s do this.” Standing up, I move over to the lineup. I spot Marta and raise my eyebrow in a gesture of ‘you can’t beat me.’ She grunts. Then I face Katie, who bumps my shoulder. We walk out, taking our positions again, and I must admit I’m nervous. I’m not up to my full potential, and it could be critical to the team. But I am going to power through, and if I struggle, hopefully, Katie can pick up my slack.
The buzzer sounds, and Laura steps up to the block, and she jumps into the pool.
My nose hurts.
I’m still a little dazed, but I hope I’ll be fine.
And I’m not putting it past Marta to try something else. She’s obviously so threatened by us that she’s willing to attempt anything to get us out of the way rather than win on her own merits.
What a loser!
Laura pulls up as she takes her mark, and then the starting signal fires. A sense of thrill and excitement fills the air as the crowd cheers and stomps their feet. It’s hardly ever that a race is run twice. So, this is a rare occurrence.
Laura launches herself into the water. I smile. Hopefully, we can pull through at our second chance at Gold. This time without that idiot interfering. She’d be stupid to try it twice. Katie and I huddle together as Hayley takes her place and Laura swims solid and fast. She pushes hard, and we are second behind England at the moment, with America quickly catching up behind us.
Laura slams against the wall, and Hayley dives in. My muscles tense up slightly at the thought of being next and of what Marta could have planned, but Katie grabs me, turning me to face her.
“Don’t think, just swim.”
I smile and take a deep breath. “I can do this.”
“Yes, you can, now go.” Katie turns me and slaps my arse as I walk up to the starting block.
Marta turns to me and grins maniacally, which unsettles me slightly, but I push all my fears aside as I take my mark.
My stomach flutters as I take a calming breath. “From the heart,” I murmur as Hayley hits the wall, and I jump in. The water soothes me. Although I struggle, I push through. I come up for a breath and throw my arms over my body, slamming into the water slower than usual, but I continue my strokes as powerfully as I can.
In the words of Dory, ‘Just keep swimming.’
I’m fatigued already, but I hit the wall and sluggishly turn around. My face is aching, my lungs are burning. It scares me. But I need to push through this final fifty for my team. I’m almost there, just a little more.
Just a little more.
I dive and hit the wall.
Relief floods me as I come up, taking a much-needed breath, and it’s then that I understand nothing’s gone wrong—no dramas, no interference, nothing happened—and as I glance down my lane, I see Katie has already jumped in to do her portion of the race.
Glancing up, I find out that I’ve hit the wall in third. That means Katie has to pick up my poor performance. I just hope I haven’t stuffed this up by being stubborn and wanting to swim.
Laura nods. “Good job.”
“Thanks,” I reply through staggered breaths.
Katie strokes up into first place, and Laura, Hayley, and I cheer for Katie as she speeds up to half a body length in front.
Katie is killing it!
Hayley, Laura and I jump up and down in excitement as Katie freestyles into a full body length in front of Anna. She hits the wall, turns back, continues her powerful stroke and leads all the way to the wall. As she slams against the tiles, we all scream in celebration.
We scan the scoreboard.
Shit!
There’s a DQ sign coming up.
We all stop celebrating immediately.
Who could it be?
England came in second, followed by China in third.
Katie jumps out of the pool and studies the board.
My heart is frantically racing as we all stand there, holding our breaths. The board flashes, and the DQ lights up next to England. I scream along with Katie, and jump up and down in euphoria.
We won the gold.
England is, therefore disqualified.
Katie races to me, and we jump around in a circle as the microphone turns on, so we stop so we can hear the announcement.
“Swimmer three for England left the blocks before swimmer two hit the wall—England are therefore disqualified.”
Marta groans, throwing her cap on the floor. She storms off. I can’t help but laugh along with Katie.
“Maybe Karma does exist?” Katie suggests.
I give Katie a hug and she hugs me back.
“Again, I am sorry for everything that happened at the trials. I was just jealous of you and Coby. But I can picture you two together, just from the way he eyes you. He never looked at me like that. Be good to him. He is an amazing man, and you deserve to be happy.”
“Thank you. I like him… like a lot, and I wanna give this a go with him.”
“Does he know that?”
I smile. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to tell him.”
I link my arm with hers, and we head off toward the marshalling area, where Coby waits impatiently for me to return. I let go of Katie, and she smiles at me.
“Go get him,” she whispers and walks off as I race toward Coby.
He picks me up into a giant bear hug and kisses me in front of everyone. I break out into goose bumps as sparks fly between us.
“No fraternization!” an official yells.
He slides me down his body and gazes into my eyes. “I’m proud of you.”
My shoulders lift and fall. “It was a team effort.”
“Yes, but you didn’t have to swim—”
“Yes, I did.”
He smiles a full-on ear-to-ear grin. “Okay, go get ready for your medal presentation. It’ll be after mine, then I want you all to myself.”
“Sure thing,” I beam.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After changing for the medal ceremony and leaving Coby in the marshalling area, I’m heading back toward the athletes’ area at the back of the pool deck, where I prepare to receive my medal. My pride and elation for myself and my country is still incredible. To have done this not once but twice, is something I could never have dreamed of.
Smiling to myself as I walk with a spring in my step, I see a couple hugging over in the corner. I smile at the love people show around here. It’s amazing the support you have when you have the right people by your side. Even though the Hughes aren’t here right now, I still have Coby, and he’s all the support I need.
I continue to stare at the couple—I vaguely recognise the girl as Katie. Opening my eyes wider—as I had no idea she had a boyfriend—I stop on the spot when they separate and stare at each other. My heart leaps into my throat when I see the guy she was hugging so tenderly is none other than…
