Coach Kendra called across the natatorium. Bri pulled herself from the pool and onto the slick tile floor, unable to hide the grin on her face. She’d kicked Chloe’s butt in that last relay and both of them knew it. The obvious anger on Chloe’s face when she surfaced and saw Bri already halfway out of the pool was perfect. Bri wished she had a camera. “Yay, Bri!” Max called from the top of the bleachers. She had books and notebooks spread across her lap. Max didn’t like being home in the afternoon. Her parents worked third shift at the hospital so she had to be silent while they slept. “I didn’t realize hustle meant walking like frickin’ zombies!” Coach Kendra clapped her hand against the clipboard permanently attached to her other hand. The twelve girls who made up the swim team picked up their pace until they huddled around Coach. Her beady brown eyes captured each of them in her gaze before she spoke. She looked the part of a female high school gym teacher with her too long and unflattering shorts and shirt big enough to swallow any sense of her figure.
