Synchronized Swimming

Chapter 17: Keychains

Sang- before the first swim practice

I stare at the contents of the fridge. Despite the mountain of food piled inside, nothing looks appetizing. I close the door, and then immediately open it again to make sure that nothing good somehow showed up. I'm still looking in the fridge when I feel someone tap my shoulder. Whirling around, I see Sean looking at me curiously.

"Are you investigating the fridge? Do I need to beat it up for you? Interrogate it? Or I guess the worst fate for a fridge, unplug it?" he asks. A giggle escapes me and Sean's characteristic smile grows larger. He rolls up his sleeves and makes a big production of rubbing his hands together in preparation before bracing his feet against the wall and pushing the fridge away from the wall with all his might. Or rather, he tries to push the fridge, but it refuses to budge.

Sean's face grows redder and redder as he tries to move the fridge. It makes several ominous groaning noises, but remains firmly in place. "What are you doing Sean?" I ask him in confusion. He manages to spit out an answer in between several huge breathes.

"I'm... trying to move the fridge... so that I can unplug it... and make you giggle again." A blush stains my cheeks at his honest confession. Right as I'm about to say something, Mr. Blackbourne walks into the kitchen with Kota and they both stare at the odd scene taking place.

"I'm assuming that there's a reasonable explanation for why you are trying to move the fridge, Sean." Mr. Blackbourne says, not sounding amused at his friend's actions. Sean stops his failing attempt and straightens up.

"I was simply trying to rescue Sang from the fridge. She was staring at it with so much concentration that I thought for sure it had done something to her." By this point the other boys have come to see what all the commotion was about and are watching from the sidelines with barely concealed smirks.

"Care to explain your grudge with the fridge?" Mr. Blackbourne asks me, and I hold in my shock at his almost-joke. He has a sense of humor! Who would have guessed?

I bring my thoughts away from this stunning revelation and back to food. "I was looking for something to eat before practice, but nothing looked good. I'm still pretty full from brunch, so I'll just eat a snack later." Mr. Blackbourne frowns at this, but he knows that he can't force me to eat if I'm not hungry.

Gabriel breaks the awkward tension when he tells me that he put my swim bag by the front door. That motivates everyone to get moving, and we leave the kitchen to head over to the pool. Walking to the door, I see my bag at the end of a line with seven other swim bags. I freeze when I take in the differences between the bags.

Seven are blue, with Charleston Synchro Sharks embroidered in white thread above each boy's name. Each bag has an assortment of keychains, buttons, pins, and tags hanging from it. Looking closer, I see the buttons are made up of pictures from previous meets and that the tags all contain various good luck messages. It's obvious that the boys are very close as a team and that they support each other in getting over their nerves about swimming.

My gaze slides to my swim bag at the end of the line. In contrast to the others, it's a plain black color. There is one tag attached to the top of the bag, and it simply reads "Sang Sorenson". No one has cared enough to give me a good luck present; no one has tried to soothe my nerves. Unbidden, memories of Avidite yelling at me to get myself together when the nerves affected my performance come to mind. I remember each harsh word, each withering glare, each time she pulled my hair or slapped me in punishment.