Risky Business (25 page)

Everyone nodded in agreement, their faces somber.

“Okay then, here we are. Let’s get to it, girls.”

“Let’s see.” Kate checked the list Coach gave them. “We’re supposed to have oatmeal, fruit, and an egg-white omelet.” She, Pam, and Brittany ordered the same breakfast and topped it off with coffee—not on Coach’s list. They gobbled their food, in a hurry to get to the pool.

They jogged across the parking lot of their hotel to the sports arena across the street. The bowl of oatmeal sat like a heavy lump in Kate’s belly, and the egg-white omelet didn’t agree with her at all. Hopefully, the nervous rumbling in her stomach would pass soon. She took the last swig of her coffee and dumped the cup into the trash outside the women’s locker room.

“Here we are, girls.” Coach looked around the circle of teammates. “I can’t believe the season is almost over. This is it. What a way to end it!” She made eye contact with each swimmer and then blinked her eyes several times.

Holding back tears? Really, just an old softy
. Kate smiled.

“This is the first time we’ve ever had this many swimmers who qualified for the State competition.”

Kate’s cell phone rang in her bag and Pam, Brittany, and Sandy snickered. Without changing expression, she used her feet to shove the bag farther under her seat so Coach wouldn’t hear it.

“Not only does this reflect well on me, your coach, but it reflects on each one of you. It shows the support and encouragement that you’ve all given to each other. I’m so proud of you girls.” She gestured with open arms. “This is a very special group, and each one of you is very dear to my heart.”

Kate’s phone uttered one last lonely beep to signal a voice mail message.

“Girls, you know your stuff. I’m not going to spend a bunch of time telling you how to swim. If you didn’t know how to work your meet already, you wouldn’t be here. Just go out there, do your thing, and have fun!” The girls stood and cheered. Their energy sizzled with electricity. “Kate and Sandy, I’d like to see you two, if you don’t mind.”

“Whoops! We’re in trouble, Kate.” Sandy laughed.

When the others had cleared out, Kate said, “What’s up, Coach?”

“Girls, you’re both scheduled to swim four events. Unfortunately, Kate, two of yours are merely separated by three heats—maybe twenty minutes. That’s going to be tough. Your other two races should be fine, though.” She pointed at the schedule.

“I’ll be fine, Coach. The two hundred is first—that worked well for me at Sectionals. And there’s over an hour between the IM relay and the one hundred. I’ll just have to get some rest in there. I’m ready for this.” Kate nodded with confidence. Could they hear the butterflies fluttering in her stomach?

“Me, too.” Sandy put up her hand for a high five, and Kate’s hand met hers with a satisfying
slap
.

“I know. I can’t wait to see how things go today. You two have really made this an excitingyear. You and my new ulcer.” They all laughed.

Right before she went out to the pool, Kate checked her phone to see who had called.
Olivia
. Kate groaned. She’d missed two other calls from Olivia in the past week. She probably just wanted to wish Kate good luck. It would have to wait.

She walked out onto the deck and stopped. People had to walk around her while she stood transfixed, unable to move. The sight of the crystal clear water, the echoing sounds of the preparations going on all around her, and the smell of the chlorine spelled home to Kate. The packed bleachers looked like a faceless sea of people, yet she felt like she knew each one of the spectators. Even the extra seating in the upper deck behind the glass windows overflowed.

Snapping out of her daze, Kate glanced up and down a few rows of bleachers, looking for her mom, but gave up her search and hurried to the starting block to squeeze in a warm-up. She spit into her goggles to prevent them from fogging and then pulled them over her eyes. She swam a few brisk laps in the Olympic-sized pool and gave herself a pep talk.

You can do this
.

This is no different than any other meet
.

This is swimming. It’s what you do better than anyone here
.

You’re most at home in the pool
.

Just swim like you’ve been swimming
.

You can do this, Kate
.

This is no different than
…

The whistle blew its warning, and the swimmers cleared the pool. Kate toweled off and stood with her team during the National Anthem. She put her right hand over her heart, but she hopped and moved around on her feet to keep her muscles warm and shook her left arm to keep it limber. When the last bars faded, the sounds of the crowd, the water, and the swimmers erupted into an instant roar. She shook her right arm out and readjusted her goggles on her forehead.
It’s time
.

By some miracle, she happened to look to the right, straight at her mom. Mom sat beside an empty space—the only one in the whole place, Kate thought. She imagined her dad sitting there, holding his wife’s hand, cheering for his daughter.

Kate begged her mom for encouragement with her eyes. She smiled, nodded, and then put her hands together in a symbol of promised prayer. Kate squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment and nodded her thanks as she climbed onto the block.

“Swimmers, take your mark….” Kate closed her eyes.
Lord, help me
. When the gun blasted its call to action, she sprang off the block. She sailed through the water with the ease of a dolphin. Kate pictured her mom watching with tears in her eyes. By the turn on her last of four laps, Kate glanced to the sides and saw no disturbance to the water on either side of her—not even one swimmer competed for the win.

Reinvigorated by the taste of impending victory, Kate pulled from deep within her and gathered everything she had to finish the last length of the race. Fifteen meters, ten meters, final pull, glide, touch. The race ended as quickly as it started. She, a first-year swimmer, had just won her first race at State.
Could it be enough for a new record?
Kate lifted her head and peeled off her goggles to check her time.

As soon as the water cleared her ears, she heard the riotous cheers. One by one, the other swimmers glided into the timer pad. She had won the race with a huge margin—but no new record. Over the PA system, Kate heard, “Kate Walker has taken first place in the 200–meter free.”

She floated on her back for a moment, allowing her body to cool down.
I won!
She couldn’t let her victory become clouded with disappointment over not setting the record.
I won!

Cooled down, she hoisted herself onto the pool deck, and Coach Thompson ran to hug her.

“Congratulations, hon. You deserve this.”

“Congratulations, Kate.” People she didn’t know were shaking her hand.

“Congrats, girlfriend.” Pam patted her on the back as she walked by.

Kate stumbled toward the locker room, still in a fog, unable to really wrap her mind around what had happened.
I did it
, Kate said to herself.
I did it
. She looked up to the stands where she had found her mom before the race and saw her wipe away the tears. She gave Kate a big thumbs-up and nodded her head, grinning from ear to ear.

With at least an hour before her next race, Kate rummaged through her bag for a protein bar and a big bottle of water and headed for the locker room. The cheers and congratulations rang in her ears.
Come on, hold it together—just one more minute
.

Once inside the locker room, she ran to a bathroom stall. As soon as the door swung shut,

she pressed her forehead against the cool metal door and collapsed into sobs. She couldn’t hold it back any longer. She watched as the tears ran down and dripped onto the floor. She took a raggedy breath and sat back, rubbing her eyes.
Too much pent-up emotion
.

About forty-five minutes later, Kate’s team took third place in the IM relay and second place in the free relay. Coach had told Kate not to push too hard. She really wanted her to save as much energy as possible for her last and most important—hopefully, record-setting—race.

Kate needed a break. In ninety minutes, she’d be swimming her last race. She moved around the pool deck and gave herself little pep talks the whole time, trying to keep her mind focused and her muscles warm.
Yawn
. She stretched and hopped side to side.
Come on, wake up
.

“Hey, Kate.” Coach came up behind her. “You seem to be fading. Why don’t you go eat a granola bar or a banana?” She put her hands on each side of Kate’s face and looked into her eyes. “You really need to perk up, kiddo. It’s crunch time. This is the most important race of the year. I didn’t want to tell you this, but do you see that lady over there?” Coach pointedto a pretty woman in a sage green dress on the sidelines with a clipboard in her lap. When Kate nodded, she continued, “She’s the head coach of the OSU team. She asked about you.”

Kate was stunned. “She did? What did she say?”

“She asked me to keep you going and to point you in her direction when it got to be picking time. She said that she imagined she’d have a full ride for you if you keep it up.”

“Oh, wow! Talk about pressure! I’m so glad you told me, though. It really gives me something to swim for right now.” She yawned again. Why was she so tired?

Coach eyed her. “Kate, I’m not kidding. You need to go get some fuel in your body. But it’s getting close, so don’t eat too much.” She put her hands on Kate’s shoulders and steered her toward the locker room.

Pam and Brittany followed her in. “Hey, we heard what Coach said. That’s so cool!” Pam patted her on the back.

Kate collapsed onto the bench in front of her locker. “Yeah, it sure is, but I’m so nervous. I’m just not feeling it. What if I bomb?” Her knuckles were white as she squeezed the seat beside her legs.

“You’ll be fine, Kate. You can do this in your sleep.” Brittany waved her hand in the air. “No problem.”

What am I going to do? I can’t do this without help—but I promised Mom
. Kate shook her head to clear her doubts. She made a quick decision. “You guys, I need a Red Dragon. Please tell me you have an extra.” Kate looked up at them with puppy eyes.

“Oh man, I was worried you were going to say that. We each just drank one, and I gave one to Sandy. We don’t have any more. I’m really sorry.” Pam knitted her eyebrows, looking concerned.

“Oh no. And there’s no time to go out for one. Do you know anyone else who might have some?”

They both shook their heads with regret. “Not anyone who’s here.”

Kate plopped on the bench in despair. “Okay, I’m going to have to put any hopes of an energy supplement out of my mind and find my energy from within, right?” She peeled a banana and took a bite. She practically swallowed without chewing and then threw half of it away. She paced the floor. “There’s nothing left for me to do.”

“Not necessarily, Kate.” Pam and Brittany eyed each other, and Kate saw Brittany shake her head. Pam nodded and opened her locker.

“Kate, I just need you to trust me. Take one of these.” She held out the palm of her hand. In it lay a tiny blue pill.

Speed
. With wide eyes and an open mouth, she looked from the pill to Pam and then over to Brittany and back to the pill. She could tell by the way they were acting that Pam held the real thing.

“Pam … I … um … I … don’t know what to say.” Kate stalled, trying to think. “Where on earth did you get that?”

“Now, Kate. We’re in the big leagues. Everyone takes these. It’s pretty much expected.” She talked fast while Brittany just nodded. “In fact, when you walked off to the locker room, Coach motioned for us to follow you because she knows, without being able to come right out and say it, that this is what you need right now. I promise you, you’ll sail through this race. You’ll thank me for this.”

Kate shook her head. No way Coach Thompson was involved. But she couldn’t worry about that right now—no time. “My mom would kill me if she knew I even considered it. And I’d probably be yanked off the team for even thinking about it, let alone actually doing it. What are you guys thinking? No way.” Kate swung her head side to side the whole time she talked—
Olivia, why couldn’t it be you standing here with me right now?

“Don’t get all preachy and whiny on me. You’ve got to get a backbone and do what it takes to get through this race with a bang. It’s not the time to be a prissy mama’s girl.”

Someone came in to use the bathroom, so Pam lowered her voice to a whisper. “Kate, you’re running out of time. This is it. You have no more time to prepare yourself. Are you ready to get on the block and swim in the state you’re in right now?”

Kate shook her head and looked down, twisting her swim cap in her fists.

“I didn’t think so,” Pam rushed, almost out of time. “Look, I can promise you that your mom would never tell you to take this little pill, but I can also promise you that her trust on an issue as minor as this”—she held out the pill again—”is far less important than a college scholarship. You
will not
get caught, and you
will
swim the race of your life. Kate, there’s really no decision here.”

The time has come for Kate to make a very difficult decision. Think long and hard about what you would do if you encountered the exact same circumstances that Kate is facing. It’s easy to say that you’d make the right choice. But are you sure that you could say no and risk a college scholarship? What if your mom struggled with only one income and didn’t have the money to send you to college? What if you truly believed you wouldn’t get caught and promised yourself that you’d never ever take another drug or energy supplement again? Would you consider doing it? Would you be tempted? Are you sure?

Once you make your decision, turn to the corresponding page to see how it turns out for Kate—and for you.

Turn to page 315 if Kate is able to stay strong and refuses to take the drug
.

Turn to page 350 if Kate decides to take the pill—just this once
.