Secrets Can Kill

Chapter 6: Cover Story

The pain in her shoulder doubled by the time she got to the pool. She changed into her swim gear while the girls sat on the bleachers. She turned on music and oddly enough Anxiety by Papa Roach and Black Eyed Pease blasted through the speakers. All she could think about was not disappointing her parents and getting a scholarship to Stanford. She tried to breath her anxiety as she stepped on to the board, hoping her pain mentally and physically would disappear once the water surrounded her. Her feelings felt so small with the waves of water gliding past her, like it was swallowing them one by one. She looked up at her friends staring intently at her. She imagined a crowd watching her and the Stanford scout and her mom. Her anxiety tripled, but this was the only way she would perform like she was going to on Tuesday. She sucked in a large breath before counting down and hearing an imaginary horn before taking off down the path. The water was relaxing. The only thoughts she had were of winning. She touched the wall and flipped and turned back in the opposite direction. She continued this for 10 more laps before getting out of the pool. A teammate came in the pool.

"Hey Emily, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Oh just practicing for the meet. Would you be able to time me?" Emily asked.

"Of course!" she said dropping her bag and getting out her timer. Emily took a drink of water and caught her breath. She stepped on the board and waited for the girl to count down. Her heart was racing and her stomach was in knots. She squeezed her shoulder to make sure she was okay. "Three, two, one," and Emily heard a noise from her phone. She dived in and did the same motions. Her thoughts were non-existent. This was the best part of swimming. She didn't have time to think, only move. Soon she approached her last lap and felt to motivation to go faster. She touched the wall and climbed out of the pool. Her teammate wore an unreadable expression and looked at her in shock.

"What is it?" Emily asked her nervously.

"You just beat you old record by 4 seconds!" she yelled.

"What? Are you serious?" Emily grabbed her phone and it was confirmed. The girl wrapped her arms around Emily and spun her around.

"That's incredible!" she jumped for joy. "Congrats Em".
"Thank you," Emily said breathless and squeezed her back.

"How's your arm?" she asked.

"I don't feel it when I'm in the pool and I guess the adrenaline is stopping it form hurting now," Emily said trying to catch her breath. She was on Cloud 9. She didn't need the drugs to swim and that made her happy. She went back into the locker room to change and when she exited her shoulder was throbbing. Her friends were waiting outside the door.

"Good job Em," Alison said.

"Thank you," she replied. "Thank you guys for helping me this weekend, I know I would've been worse off if it hadn't been for you guys".

"We love you Em," Spencer said wrapping her arm around Emily's neck.

"I love you guys too," she said. "Let's go get coffee". They all nodded and headed for The Brew. They sat down and started talking.

"So Em how's your shoulder?" Aria asked.

"It's throbbing, but I don't feel anything when I'm swimming or right after I finish. I'm just going to put some ice on it," she said.

"That's good right?" Hanna asked.

"That's very good," she responds. The sound of Emily's phone ringing and the flash of 'mom' on the screen interrupted them. "I have to take this," she said before getting up to take the call.

"Hey mom," she said.

"Emily, I'm preparing dinner, invite your friends over," Pam said.

"Tonight?" Emily gulped.