Chapter 1

Simon Dalton’s mother and father, Sarah, and Peter, had grudgingly come to terms with their son’s sexual preference. For Peter it meant the sudden end of the Dalton line since her had two sisters and Simon was an only child. In the end their love for him overcame the problems.

The loving parents dealt with the problems that coming out caused at their church, among their circle of friends, at school, and on the swim team. Of all of those entities, the swim team proved to cause the least of the problems.

The swimmers accepted Simon. They probably knew before anyone else. As far as the coaches were concerned Simon was a swimmer. To their minds there was no such thing as gay butterfly or gay flip turns. To them, there was swimming and they coached the kids on the team equally.

And yet, despite Simon’s ability in the pool and his top notch grades, not a single coach they had contacted had returned that contact after they met Simon. His sometimes over the top gayness caused the coaches at the school he wished to attend to run away from the Dalton’s home. Peter Dalton had begun to make plans to get a second mortgage on their home in order to pay for Simon’s continuing education.

Then one day they got a phone call, a meeting was scheduled, and Coach Paul O’Dell sat at the kitchen table in the Dalton family and stunned them by asking Simon to accept an athletic scholarship to swim at State. And to top it off, the man offering to pay for Simon’s education in full.

“Coach,” Sarah asked, “We’ve been rejected so often, we’re just wondering why you are so interested in our Simon?”

“Well there are several reasons. First, everything I’ve heard about the young man is outstanding. Second, he will fill a void I have in the 200 and 500 yard Freestyle events. Third, his GPA fits in well with the team’s and we put a very high priority on grades. And fourth, he, and you, came highly recommended by his coaches.”

“His coaches recommended him?”

“Of course. Simon has some great qualities. I’m very picky about the caliber of swimmer and person I recruit to be a member of our team. At State we consider our team to be a family. And I think Simon will fit into that family really well.”

“As what? The crazy uncle?”

“Peter! What a terrible thing to say about your son!” Sarah admonished.

“Dear, Simon is a great kid but he’s a squirrel! I mean not even taking in the fact that he’s gay, he’s a goof!”

“He is that!” Coach said. “That was one of the things that his high school coach emphasized as a strong point.”

“Really?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Simon, what do you think?” Simon’s father asked.

“I don’t know. Coach could I come and visit the school and the team first?”

“Of course, I insist that you do that before you agree to join us. Before I leave tonight we will look at the calendar and see what is most convenient for you. We would fly you in on a Friday and then get you home late Sunday night. You’d miss at least a half day of school on Friday, so we’d need to clear that with the school. Usually missing for a college recruitment visit is no problem.”

“OK.”

“Great. Before I go, I want to make something perfectly clear, I am offering a full, four year scholarship with Simon’s name on it. The only things that could cancel that offer would be if Simon doesn’t care for State or our swimmers or if the swimmers don’t like him.”

“He’s gay.”

“Right. I don’t think that is going to be a problem for us.”

“OK, Simon it looks like you are going to visit State,” his father said.

“Let me open my calendar and see what weekends work for you.”

The coach pulled out his day planner and in about ten minutes they had an agreed upon weekend. Coach O’Dell shook hands with Simon and his folks and walked out the door to return home. Peter dropped into his chair in the living room and Sarah into hers. Their son was going to college on someone else’s dime. Their retirement was more secure.

Simon began to dance around the living room. He pulled his mother and then his father onto their feet and danced around the living room with them. His joy was overwhelming.

“Call us when you get there so we know you’re safe,” Simon’s mother said.

“I will Mom. Stop worrying. Everything is going to be OK.”

“Son, please try not to be too gay.”

“MOM! I’m going to be who I am. If they don’t like it, then State’s not a place for me.”

“I just don’t know what the school is like. I don’t want you getting beat up again.”

“Mom, you worry too much.”

Simon got out of the car and walked into the airport, pulling his carry-on behind him. He went to the ticket counter and presented his I.D. receiving his boarding pass and surprised to see that it was in first-class. He never expected that. He walked to the security and then to the gate with a confident stride. He was proud of who he was and it seemed that so were the people who got his seat.

At the gate, he took a seat and crossed his right leg over his left and waited. He took a few minutes to people watch and found that several people were watching him. He was used to it. His yellow hair and bright blue outfit just screamed “GAY!” but he didn’t care. After about twenty minutes the attendant at the counter called out for First-class passengers to board.

He stood and walked to the door, presented his pass, and then walked down the jet way to the plane. He was the third person to board and so there was plenty of room in the overhead for his carry-on. He took his seat in the second row on the right side, next to the window. His seat was as comfortable as his couch in the living room at home.

He was no sooner settled when the flight attendant approached him and asked if he would like a glass of orange juice.

“Oh, yes please.”

When she returned with the glass, and it was glass, he looked at it and smiled at the attendant.

“This is the first time I’ve ever flown First-class.” Then he whispered, “If I do anything stupid tell me.”

“I’m sure that you’ll be just fine. What are you flying for?”

“Cause walking’s too far.”

“Really?” The attendant said. “You’re going to be one of those, huh?”

“One of those?” Simon asked with a flared movement of his hand.

“Not one of those. One of those! A smart ass.”

“Well, I can be one of those as well.”

“Let me start over,” she said with a giggle. “Are you flying for business?”

“I’m sorry. No, I’m being recruited to swim at a college and this is a recruiting trip.”

“And they are having you fly in First? They must really want you.”

Simon Dalton started a bit as it hit him.

“Yeah, I guess they do.”

It was as if the truth of it just hit him.

“So most schools don’t do this?” He asked.

“No. Usually the college kids get shoved into the back of the bus. Well, if you’re that important, I’ll need to make sure you are well cared for.”

She left and welcomed other passengers. It took about twenty minutes to load the plane. Then the door was closed and the plane was pushed back from the gate. The safety announcement was made and then the pilot came on and told us the time of the flight and the current temperature at the destination airport.

The plane taxied forever. Simon thought that they were going to taxi all the way to State. Then the pilot came on and said that we were fifth in line to take off. The attendant came and took the empty orange juice glass and asked him to put the tray up. Simon did so and then went back to looking out the window.

The plane turned and gave Simon a view of planes taking off. It was a cloudy day and he noticed that the plane he was watching disappeared into the clouds. Finally this plane finished the turn and it never stopped. It finished the turn, straightened out, and then he was pressed back into his seat as the plane accelerated. He watched out the window as the runway passed by faster and faster and then it began to fall away as the plane rose.

Then everything went white as the plane entered the low clouds. He knew he was moving but couldn’t see any movement. Suddenly, the plane broke out of the clouds and the bright sun and blue sky was magnificent. Simon looked down at the top side of the clouds and saw that they had hills and valleys like his home. He sat back and took a breath before falling asleep.

There was a shake and it woke him. Looking out the window, he could now see the Earth below. The plane was descending so he figured that bump had to be the landing gear coming down. He felt the plane suddenly slow down and knew that the flaps had just been extended. The ground got closer and soon the plane was right above the ground and there was the thump of landing.

The announcement was made welcoming the passengers and noting the time and temperature. Then reminding everyone to remain seated and belted in until the plane stopped.

“Well, I’d ask how you enjoyed your first flight in First-class but I don’t think you noticed.”

“No. I can’t believe how fast I fell asleep.”

“Well, all you missed was lunch.”

“Lunch?”

“Yes. On all our flights over four hours we serve a meal in First-class.”

“I didn’t think I was that tired.”

“Most people aren’t tired, but they get to travel and not worry about anything like driving. So they relax more than normal and poof! Out they go.”

“Well I guess I certainly poofed!”

“I won’t say anything about you poofing if you don’t.”

Simon smiled at the reference and stood up. He stretched his legs as he reached up for his carry-on.

“Thank you for a nice lunch, whatever it was.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck on your visit.”

“Thank you.”

And with that Simon sashayed out the door and up the jet way. He walked out into the concourse and turned towards the baggage claim. Exiting through the security door he got about ten steps and heard “There he is!”

His attention was drawn to two boys standing with a sign that said, “Welcome Future State Swimmer, Simon Dalton”. He headed straight for them.

“Hi, I’m Simon.”

The two looked at his yellow hair and bright blue outfit.

“Simon, we never would have guessed. I’m Jerry Harden, Men’s Team Captain. This is Paul Boden one of our swimmers. Did you check a bag?”

“No.”

“OK, let’s hit the road,” Jerry said.

“How was the flight?” Paul asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You slept the whole way, right?”

“Yes.”

“I do that too. I’m usually asleep before they close the plane’s door.”

“Seems like a lot to pay for a nap.”

Both the guys laughed at that.

“Well, we’ve learned to sleep whenever the opportunity arises. Between studies and practice any little power nap is a blessing.”

“Life is that hard?” Simon asked.

“Only when we’re awake, Simon. Only when we’re awake,” Paul replied.

“Now you’ve got me worried. Is it really that hard?”

“Simon,” Jerry said as he unlocked the van door, “It’s like Coach O’Dell is always telling us. Every practice is easy if you’re lazy. And every practice is a challenge if you take up the challenge.”