Instead it’s one of the few adults who seem to run the pool and the park. He’s Ruby’s dad’s age, and there’s no way on earth he’s going to let her leave in the middle of swimming lessons. When she tells him she’s not feeling well, that she needs to go home, he shrugs and says, “Sorry, kid. Why don’t you just sit and watch? I can’t make you go in the water, but I can’t let you leave.” And so she walks back to the Tadpoles and sits down on the edge of the water, drawing her knees up to her chest. “Coming in?” Nora asks brightly, her optimism never wavering. But Ruby just shakes her head and stares at the water. The air is loud with the sounds of children squealing, water splashing, and whistles blowing. It’s all the sounds of summer at once. The ice cream truck that comes by and waits for the kids to be released pulls up, blares “Pop Goes the Weasel,” and all of it is almost more than she can bear. She almost wishes she could just get in the water and let her ears fill, let the cool blue water of the pool drown out all those sounds.
