My Best Friend

Six

Six

The summer between the time I went back to school for first grade and second my mother had a baby. I was now a big sister to a wide blue eyed boy named Jake. Cali and Jake. I wasn’t the only child anymore. Well, I had never considered myself an only child. I had always considered Bo to be my brother, but now I actually had a brother. Jake took up a lot of attention from my parents so I spent most of the time with Bo, playing outside.

This was also the year we got a pool. Now, it was a nice in ground pool, with a diving board on one end and stairs leading into the shallows on the other. I loved it, and thought it was humongous. However, I was definitely not the best swimmer.

One hot summer afternoon I was throwing a beach ball to Bo, who would jump up and bat it back to me with his nose. A gust of wind came by and blew it into the deep end. My dad was at work and my mom was inside with Jake. Bo accidently tipped the ball into the pool, and I didn’t want to have to wait for someone to get it.

I reached as far as I could, trying to touch the tip of the ball with my fingertips. Next thing I knew I was tumbling through the water, it flooded my ears and nose and mouth instantly and I flailed helplessly. I screamed, getting a mouthful of water, choking, feeling my vision blur in and out. I was sure I was going to die.

Next thing I knew, I was back on the pool deck, a whining wet figure beside me. I remember my mom rushing out after that, screaming,’ Cali! Cali! Cali! Never do that EVER again! You almost got yourself killed!’

Soon after that I was enrolled into a swim team, so I got a very early start on learning how to swim. I would practice swimming and Bo would always swim next to me, so if I couldn’t make it or got too tired I would grab onto him and he would guide me to the edge of the pool to rest. He was a fabulous swimmer.

Noah also started swimming. He picked it up really quickly and we would race all the time. I was only slightly faster than him. Little did I know that would change as we got older.

In first grade I wasn’t in either Noah or Heather’s class, as they were in a class together. I stayed to myself that year and didn’t really talk to anyone except when I saw those two in the hallways or when we went to each other’s houses. I remember praying every night that in second grade, the three of us would all be in the same class.