Chapter 2: Swim Club Meeting

At noon, the school's Public Address system announced the "mandatory" meeting of the Girls' Swim Club to be held at 3:30 that day at the pool. Most of the girls sighed with a mixture of relief and irritation; they hadn't known of any club meeting, so they hadn't brought their swimsuits, so the teachers couldn't force them to swim, so this was probably just administrative in nature. Sit around and be bored, probably to get the schedule and listen to some unimportant "important" announcements. Boring, but probably short-lived. It could be worse.

One young lady had a suspicion otherwise. Rebecca, Becky to her many friends, had already heard her mother's proposal over the weekend. Her best friend Linda had already passed along the word that Diane had been sighted leaving the Principal's office with a look of determination and triumph on her face. Rebecca kept it a secret even to Linda as to what her demented mother had planned. If you wanted a story spread quickly, the three fastest methods are: Telegraph, telephone and tell a girl. This was one story the 13-year-old prayed would not become common knowledge until long after she graduated college, thank you very much. She would want the opportunity to change her name and move to another continent first, so Rebecca couldn't even dare ask Linda to commiserate with her over this nasty trick of fate.

At the appointed time, eight girls arrived at the pool, clutching their backpacks and gossipping.

"Well," gulped Ginger to Eileen, "You ready to turn eight innocent young girls into a tableau by Botticelli?"

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to turn myself into 'Venus Rising from the Waves' yet. How about you?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I'm utterly terrified. I've never been naked in front of anyone other than my husband. And my OB/GYN. And the staff at the delivery room, both times I gave birth. Oh, I have stretch marks, they'll see..."

"Easy, remember, we need the job. We need the job. We need the job." She looked up at the observation gallery. "Joe?"

"Yes?" called Joe.

"Yes?" asked one of the girls.

Eileen pointed at the teacher in the stands. "Joe, make sure the doors to the gallery are locked when you leave." Implied was the thought, "leave now. Please."

Just then, a question hit Eileen. "You've been here for a few more years than me, how did you handle the meets at Gymnos?"

"We forfeited. Miss York had yet to leave Elementary School, so the Home and School Association President was someone else. We could forfeit without having the Dragon Lady try to fricassee us."

Ginger noted that Joe had left — and hopefully locked — the gallery. They'd already checked that the boys' change room was locked. "OK, ladies," she called. "Let's have a roll call.

"Andrews, Angela. "Black, Alexandria. "Dover, Debbie. "Johnson, Natalie. "Smith, Joanna. "Thompson, Marcia. "Winters, Samantha. "York, Rebecca."

"All right, let's get the administrative items over first."

"First?" whispered Debbie, a raven-haired Grade 8 student, to her classmate Natalie.

"We've gotten all your parents' permission slips for the Swim Club. All members of the club are expected to do Rescue Breathing, we'll be training on that starting tomorrow. And we have the schedule from the Regional School Athletic Association. Our first competition is in precisely two weeks."

All of the girls cheered at that.

"Will we be training with the boys' team?" called Joanna.

"If all goes well, then after the first week. The boys will be training in the morning until then." The girls squealed with delight at that — training with cute boys!

"So, Mrs. Ford, who are we playing first?" called out Samantha.

Eileen muttered, "It's all yours!" to Ginger, who had turned slightly pink and took a breath in.

"Er, Gymnos Middle School."

The four seniors gave a collective groan. "Oh, no, we've lost before we've even begun!" moaned Marcia, another veteran. "We're gonna default again!"

"Not this year. We're going, we're going to compete, and we're going to win!" Ginger yelled, with a confidence she really didn't feel.