The Incredible Adventures of Aqua Girl

Chapter 18 - Back In The Groove

I snorted at Lacey's comment, stepping to the side and walking around them. The unnamed girl trotted behind me as I heard Harriet mutter a sentence with the word 'bitch' in it.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you two have the nerve to come back. See ya in the pool." I called back to them, glancing up and spotting Rach in the spectator's area, staring sleepily at her phone. She spotted me padding towards her and smirked.

"I see your favourite girls have returned." My best friend murmured, before taking a sip from a shiny Thermos mug. I guessed it was coffee, at this time of the morning.

"Well done, Sherlock." I grumbled in reply, winking at Rach and grinning before following the rest of the team to the far end of the pool. Coach Sterling smiled warmly at me as I joined the pack, gaining the familiar sense belonging, with a little bit of added competition from the snarling twins. After Coach barked out our warm-ups for the day, I glanced over at my lap buddy and immediately regretted my life choices.

"Cascade! Yanno, while you were gone I won multiple races, so good luck beating me!" 

"David, I highly doubt that." I muttered, glancing over at the annoying boy before jumping up and down to warm my lazy legs up.

"It's true! Very true, actually. If you don't believe me then.."

"Dude, I don't actually care, ok?" I interrupted, moving forward as we approached our respective blocks alongside one another. The pair ahead of us leapt in, and I gazed longingly at the chlorinated water. 

"Cass! David! You're up next!" Coach Sterling roared from his seat a few metres away, surveying the pool. I had come to realise over the years that talking normally for Coach was near enough impossible. All he ever did was yell. I'd hate to live with him.

Ignoring the ignorant boy next to me, who began muttering to himself in an attempt to psych himself up, I climbed onto the block and grinned to myself. The glistening pool ahead of me was only a jump away, and I couldn't wait. 

"On your marks...get set...go!" As soon as the last word left Coach Sterling's dry lips, I was already launching my body into the water. Moving my arms was almost a reflex, and soon I was on my third lap, with David some distance behind me. I was back in the groove.

"Yo, I don't think I've witnessed you dressing that quickly in, like, ever." Rach exclaimed, as I approached her in the lobby, my swim bag swinging behind me.

"Lacey and Harriet were in there. If looks could kill, I'd be in my grave by now." 

"Fair enough."

We began walking alongside one another out of the lobby, into the golden San Francisco morning. The sun burst through the periodic gaps in the tall buildings, fighting its way through the urban landscape.

"You ready for tomorrow then?" Rach asked, as we realised my mom wasn't here yet.

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow. The dance." 

"Oh, sh-"

"Cass! No swearing!" Rach hissed, yet still smirking. I ignored her, my mind racing with what tomorrow would hold. I was a crap dancer, and didn't have a single elegant bone in my body. Aside from that, I knew Ace wouldn't stop smirking at me all night, and he was probably an amazing dancer, which would make me look even worse, especially amongst the people at my school, who already thought I was a weirdo.

It was going to be absolutely fabulous.

"Cass, for God's sake, snap out of it!" Rachael demanded, nudging my sides with her sharp elbow. I glared over at her as a car's engine approached us. Turning our heads in unison, we were met with a black Range Rover pulling up in front of us. The front window slowly rolled down, revealing two men inside with black sunglasses on.