Page 53 of Whistle

“What happened?” he pressed.

“Your precious Elite tried to drown me.”

Rush rolled his eyes. “Drama is not a good look on you.”

“Well, your face ain’t a good look on you.”

I blew my whistle. Water spurted out.

What a shitshow.

“Knock it off, you two,” I said, grabbing the towel to dry it some more. “Rush, take Bodhi over to admissions and make sure everything is in order. Make sure he has a copy of his schedule and see if his dorm room is ready.”

“Dorm room?” he asked, eyes flying to me.

I averted my gaze. “Well, you can’t sleep on my couch all semester. Elite has dorms.” I looked at Rush. “If there are any problems, let me know.”

He looked like he wanted to protest, then relented. “I’ll get changed.”

I blew my whistle again. More water spurted out and hit me in the face.

Rush laughed. “Your whistle turned into a sprinkler, Coach.”

I did not get paid enough for this shit. “Finish practice, then go. You’re on my time now.”

“Yes, Coach,” Rush said but continued to stand there like a boob.

“Go!”

He went.

Bodhi hesitated in the doorway. I saw the wariness in his eyes.

“Go sit on the bleachers until practice is over. Watch how we do things here.”

Relief softened his face and made me want to pull him into my arms.

“Thanks, Coach.”

Irritation slapped me. “Don’t thank me. It’s only for today. We’re gonna talk about this later.”

But not until I’ve had some space and I don’t feel wrapped around your little finger.

His face screwed up. I knew that look.

“Save it,” I forewarned. “Go.”

He went.

I breathed in the blissful moment of silence and then headed out to the pool to see how practice was going. The second I stepped out of the locker room, I saw Bodhi standing there with Ryan and Jamie towering over him.

He was small. Sometimes I forgot because he had such a big mouth, but seeing him there with two of my best swimmers in front of him, it was impossible to deny.

“Bro, for real. It’s tradition. We do it to all new Elite,” Jamie was saying.

“Yeah, bro, we wanted to make you feel like part of the team.” Ryan continued. “We’re sorry that it, ah, scared you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” Bodhi retorted.

---