I'll Swim, You Play Your Football

Chapter 46

  To say nationals went well would be quite an understatement. Once my hands touched the wall at the finish of my race, I knew things went better than I ever could have imagined. When I picked my head out of the water the crowd was roaring. I looked up at the score board and saw my name listed at first for my heat. No. Way. My jaw dropped and I jumped out of the pool. That meant I easily earned a spot in the finals race. I threw my hands up and the crowd cheered even louder. Coach came over and led me back to our spot, talking at hyper speed at what I did right and what I have to change for the finals. I was shaking with nerves. I searched the crowd for my parents, Lacey, Josh,  and the one I was really looking for, Landon. There were too many people though and it was impossible to pick anyone out of the crowd.

  My heart jumped when they called the freestyle finals. There were ten of us in the finals and right now I was seated at eighth. Luckily this pool was freaking huge so we all could go at once. It had gotten slightly quieter as we walked to stand at our lanes. That's why I was able to hear the,

  "Let's go Alex!" I looked towards where it came from and saw my little fan group. Landon held up two thumbs up and had a huge smile on his face. I smiled and blew a kiss to them before stepping onto the block and pulling my goggles down. I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. This was it. The last race of the meet. My last chance to prove I can do it. Right now I'm eighth in the country, but that's not good enough. They said a command so we all bent to grab the edge of the block. I waited and then the buzzer went off, shooting me into the water. I don't think I've ever swam so fast in my life. The race was over before I knew it. I surfaced and it was even louder than my other race. I climbed out of the water and all ten of us were staring at the score board, waiting for names and times to be posted. My heart was racing. I've never even made it to nationals before and here I am in the top ten. Suddenly the board lit up. There I was, Alex Littleton, third place. Third place! That was amazing! I'm the third best freestyle swimmer in the whole country! All of us standing in the line cheered...well except the kids that got like ninth and tenth. We were doing high fives all around. Some people came down from the crowd to hug some of the swimmers. I saw Landon hurrying down the steps so I fast walked towards the crowd since I was all wet and the floor was slippery. When his feet hit the ground he ran to me. He wrapped his arms around me, and spun me around, lifting my feet off the ground before kissing me. We were both shaking.

"Alex that was amazing!" He said, pure happiness in his voice. I laughed and smiled before kissing him again. He pulled me in for a hug as more of the audience was coming down to give people hugs.

"Third in the country Landon." I said lightly punching his arm when I pulled back slightly. He smiled and nodded.

"I know gup that's insane!" He said using my old nickname. I bounced on the balls of my feet as josh came running over and slammed into me.

"My awesome brother in law!" He yelled as he smothered me in a hug. My face hurt from smiling so much. I hugged josh tight and he kissed my cheek before handing me off to Lacey.

"Hey that's my best friend!" She squeaked and  pulled me into a hug as well. I laughed and squeezed her before hugging both of my parents. Landon put his arm around me and looked around while pointing down at me.

  "My boyfriend. He's mine." I laughed and put my head on his shoulder.

  "Everyone please take their seats again. It is time for the award ceremony." A mans voice said over the intercom.

"Congratulations baby." Landon whispered as he kissed my cheek before letting me go. I smiled and went back to coach who also gave me a hug. The officials set up the podium and table with all the medals laid out. I was shaking.