Moonstone (6 page)

“She’s pretty,” her mom said. Her gaze was on Kelsey’s back as she hopped out of the pool.

“Yeah, so?” Joy returned, not daring another look at Kelsey.

“So. That’s all.” Mom sniffed. “I’m just saying I agree with you. She’s pretty.”

“I never said anything about her.”

“You didn’t have to,” her mom countered. “Your eyes said it.”

“My eyes didn’t say anything at all.” Joy swallowed. “She’s the best swimmer on our team. I like watching her race. That’s all.” Fortunately no one was close enough to hear her mom’s comment. They were on the far side of the bleachers, sitting on the grass. Her teammates were grouped on the other side of the pool and the few clumps of people nearby were no one she recognized. “She hasn’t lost a race this season.”

“You don’t watch anyone else race. And when she’s not swimming… You don’t look at anyone else that way.” Her mom adjusted her sunhat and leaned back on the grass. “I can tell. It’s okay to be attracted to someone beautiful. In fact, it’s perfectly natural.”

“It’s perfectly natural that I’m watching the best swimmer on our team,” Joy argued. “Why are you making a big deal out of this?”

“I’m not trying to. It’s just that I noticed that you like her. I thought maybe you’d want to talk about it.”

“Well, you’re wrong. I don’t want to talk about it. In fact, can we please drop this?”

Her mom shrugged.

“Like forever?” Joy added.

“Fine. But I know how you feel. First time I saw your dad I could hardly speak. Fortunately Sam could talk to a doorknob.” She laughed. “But even after we started dating, I didn’t want to tell anyone about it. I worried that everyone would tell me I had to stop seeing him. God, I had it bad for him. I couldn’t look at anyone else. I wanted to yell it from the rooftops—I was in love with Sam Henderson—but I didn’t say anything to anyone. Not my parents or any of my friends. It was different back then…I knew no one would understand.”

“Just because I look at someone doesn’t mean anything at all.” Joy swiped at the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead. She reached for the Gatorade and took a big swig.

Joy saw Coach Treble heading their direction. He smiled at her mom and then glanced at Joy. “You almost ready for your next race, Joy?”

Joy nodded.

“You pulled through on that relay. I knew I could count on you to give us a good start. And bringing in a second-place finish on that hundred-meter fly wasn’t bad considering who you were up against.” He paused and mopped his brow with the back of his hand. “All this sun is killing us. Are you staying hydrated?”

Joy held up the half-empty Gatorade bottle. It was the third meet of the season—an open invitational in the blazing sun of Santa Rosa.

Coach Treble continued, “Even with this heat, we’re close to winning this meet.”

After Kelsey’s last win, the Raceda Rays were only three points behind the Del Rio Dolphins. The Monte Vista Matadors were in third place but only one point behind Raceda. Joy wasn’t only keeping track of Kelsey’s races, regardless of what her mom thought. She was watching every point.

Coach Treble glanced at his scorecard and then at the starting blocks. When he squinted back at Joy, he cleared his throat. “Here’s the deal,” he started. Whatever was going on inside her head, he didn’t care. Or maybe he couldn’t tell. That was Coach Treble. All business. “You’re up in two races, so I want you to start warming up. You’re in Lane Three for the two-hundred-meter fly.”

“Yeah. I checked.”

He smiled at her mom. “She’s one of those kids you can always count on, isn’t she?” He turned back to Joy and continued, “I need you to clinch this one. If we pull ahead of Monte Vista in this race, we’ll be set to win the meet. Del Rio won’t have enough swimmers left to pull ahead of us. And if we win this meet, we’ll be in a really good position for the rest of the season. Recruiters are already starting to notice. But this is gonna be close.”

Joy nodded.

“We’ll all be rooting for you, Joy,” Coach Treble said. He waved to her mom and then turned and headed for the stands, his gaze focused on the lineup of swimmers at the starting blocks. The assistant coach, Jillian, was standing next to Andrew in Lane 4. Andrew dipped his hand into the water and splashed his chest, then stepped behind the starting block, waiting for the announcer to signal his race. He was swimming the hundred-meter free—his best stroke. Glancing over the competition, Joy guessed Andrew would win the race easily. Del Rio didn’t even have a swimmer in this heat.

Joy reached for her goggles and swim cap. Her mom handed her a towel.

“Don’t worry about what your coach said, sweetie. Someone should tell him to lighten up. Is he always like that?” When Joy didn’t answer, she continued, “You’re here to have fun. No pressure. Who cares about points?”

Joy clenched her jaw rather than argue with her mom. She was there to sunbathe. Her mom should have been a hippie. Joy sighed. Long ago, she’d decided the woman was from a different planet. They didn’t get along but they didn’t fight either. They hardly spoke. And most of the time, she didn’t seem to be paying close attention to anything in Joy’s life. But she was suddenly noticing things now. She wished her mom would go back to being oblivious.

Joy headed for the warm-up area. She passed a group of her teammates, all girls, but no one said anything as she passed. This, she realized was an improvement from the first summer she’d been on the team when the whispered taunts would follow her to the starting block. She tried not to think about her mother’s words. She’d never talked to her mom about who she liked or who she didn’t and her mother had never brought it up before. Joy hadn’t told her mom that she wasn’t into guys. Somehow, she must have guessed. But her mom was wrong about Kelsey. Joy only liked to watch her swim. That was all.

Kelsey was stretching in the warm-up area. She still had one more race—the last relay. Joy heard her mother’s words repeat in her head and kept her eyes down. She took the long way behind the timekeeper’s umbrella, hoping that Kelsey wouldn’t see her. If her mom had noticed that she was paying too much attention to Kelsey, there was a good chance that Kelsey had noticed this too. The thought of Kelsey thinking that she was attracted to her made Joy feel sick.

Joy found a space to set her towel and rolled her shoulders, keeping her gaze focused on the water. She felt a hand touch her arm and nearly jumped.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Kelsey grinned. “I only wanted to say good luck.”

“Thanks,” Joy managed.

“We’re close to winning this.”

The loudspeaker boomed with the announcer’s voice. The next race was about to start. The sound of a gunshot was followed a moment later by the distinct splash of swimmers diving into the water.

Kelsey continued, “You know Monte Vista’s got a girl swimming in your heat that’s already got a scholarship to swim at UCLA?”

“Oh.” Joy cringed at her words. Oh? That was the best she could do?

“Anyway, she was in my last race. The thing is, she’s getting tired. Iverson’s her last name. I think she’s swimming in Lane Four. Don’t push her really hard right at the beginning—just keep an eye on her and stay within a few lengths. As soon as she slows down, push as hard as you can to get past her. That’s what I did. She thinks she’s won the race before it’s over. She should stick to sprints.”

Joy didn’t answer. She couldn’t manage more than a nod.

“You can beat her no problem if you swim anything like you did in our relay. You made the rest of us look good. We were a half-length ahead before Kim even got in the water for backstroke. It was a cakewalk by the time it was my turn.” She paused. “After the meet some of us are going to Denny’s. Somebody started talking about pancakes and sausage and then it kinda became this thing. If you want to come…”

“I’ve gotta study tonight.”

“I probably should study too.” Kelsey glanced over at the bleachers. “But I don’t think I’m getting out of going to Denny’s. Sadie Padgett’s my ride home and she’s set on pancakes.” She turned to walk away and then said, “I saw Coach talking to you and I bet he was giving you the ‘I gotta be able to count on you to win this’ speech. Ignore him. He only cares about points. We’re doing way better than everyone thought we were going to do. Just swim your race. But make sure you kick Iverson’s butt. She thinks she’s hot stuff and bugs the crap out of me. Plus I know you can beat her.”

Joy couldn’t help but smile. She watched Kelsey head back to the spot under the umbrella. The announcer’s voice boomed on the loudspeakers. Andrew O’Reilly had come in first. Joy made her way to the starting block, pushing Kelsey’s face out of her mind. She refused to steal another glance toward the umbrella. Instead, she focused on the nearly six-foot-tall Iverson. Iverson didn’t smile when Joy glanced her direction. Joy pulled on her goggles and stepped onto the block, waiting for the sound she loved to hear. She thought of Kelsey’s invitation to join them at Denny’s, then took a deep breath and exhaled. She knew why she’d said no even if she didn’t want to admit it. It had nothing to do with finals. She was too scared to say yes.

“Swimmers, take your mark.”

Joy leaned down to grip the edges of the block. She stared at the glistening water, waiting for the trigger snap to silence all the noise in her head.

The movie theater had a long line. Kelsey stared at the list of shows as the line inched forward. None of the titles were familiar. Both Denise and Barb had thrown out suggestions. They’d been going to movies weekly for the past few months. The fact that her mom had a regular date should have made her feel happy for her. It didn’t. Somehow she wanted to forget that she didn’t have a date and hadn’t had one in months. Seeing Joy that morning hadn’t helped.

Joy was even more attractive than she’d remembered. The thick-rimmed glasses were gone and she’d cut her wavy curls short. The hairstyle accentuated her high cheekbones and the fact that her smooth skin didn’t need any makeup. Her diamond studs were understated but they caught the light and sparkled. Which was when Kelsey realized she’d been staring too long. And she’d only come to drop off a brochure. For Dr. Henderson.

Kelsey sighed. She’d spent the better part of the afternoon debating whether or not she hoped Joy would cancel their lunch meeting. She wanted an excuse to talk to her but not about a software system. She had a hundred questions to ask her and none of them were about work.

“Kelsey West? No way!” Andrew O’Reilly’s voice hadn’t changed since high school. It was still high-pitched and several decibels too loud.

Kelsey turned around and forced a smile. “Andrew.” The bald, overweight version of Andrew O’Reilly bobbed his head up and down when she said his name. Only the voice and the ruddy cheeks were the same as they had been eighteen years ago. Of all the days to bump into him…

“Man, it’s great to see you,” he continued. “I heard through the grapevine that you were back in Raceda—but I didn’t believe it until now. What’dya know? How’s life?” He laughed and continued, “Crazy how so many of us have ended up back in Raceda, isn’t it? Where’s your Olympic medal? I’ve always wanted to see one of those.”

If there’d been any doubt in Kelsey’s mind that this was indeed Andrew O’Reilly, it vanished immediately. Only Andrew would ask. “Sorry. No medal.”

“But you swam in the Olympics, right? Don’t they give out participation medals?” Andrew pressed.

“I was an alternate. No medal.”

“Really?” Andrew seemed honestly stunned. “I can’t believe that. I heard you’d made it on the Olympic team and always thought that meant you’d go to the Olympics, you know? You were always so damn fast…It’s hard to believe you didn’t take home a fistful of gold medals.”

Andrew turned to the woman standing next to him and said something Kelsey couldn’t hear. Only then did Kelsey recognize Tamara Whitmore. Andrew and Tamara had dated senior year but she would have never guessed they’d still be together.

“They don’t give out medals if you don’t actually make it to the Olympics,” Tamara said. “Anyway,” she smiled and clasped Kelsey’s hand as if they were long-lost friends. “It’s so good to see you after all these years. You’re really keeping yourself up. You look great. Still swimming?”

There were so many things Kelsey thought to say in response to their ridiculous comments. But where to start? As for swimming, it was easiest to stick with the truth. But not the whole truth. “Not much these days.”

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Tamara said.

“I always thought it was boring, didn’t you?” Andrew asked. “All those hours we spent in practice… Why waste two hours a day staring at the bottom of a pool for four years?”

Tamara laughed. The sound of her laugh mimicked Andrew’s and made Kelsey clench her teeth. The line moved several steps forward and Kelsey was suddenly next. She stepped to the side and said, “Hey, do you guys mind going ahead of me? I’m still trying to decide what I want to see.”

The woman at the front counter waited expectantly and Andrew shrugged and stepped past her. He paid for two tickets, but Kelsey couldn’t hear which movie he’d picked. With Kelsey’s full attention, Tamara had lit in to a discussion of all the benefits of swimming. “It’s more than great exercise,” she continued. “It’s a whole-body healing experience. That’s what I tell everyone. I do a water aerobics class twice a week. You should try a class.”

“Water aerobics?” Kelsey bit her tongue. Of all the classmates she might have run into after high school, Tamara was at the bottom of the list of people she’d ever wanted to see again.

“I know what you’re thinking. But it isn’t all a bunch of old ladies waving flabby arms around. Think of it as yoga in the pool.”

Andrew motioned for Tamara, waving their tickets. “Great seeing you, Kelsey,” Andrew said. “Too bad about the Olympics. I always thought you’d win.”

“Enjoy your movie,” Kelsey said. Some days she hated Raceda. She waited until Andrew and Tamara had gone inside the theater and then stepped up to the counter. “Can you tell me which movie the last customer bought tickets for?”

The woman at the counter looked at her skeptically. “Um, I don’t think I can tell you that.”