Page 55 of Validus Vale Academy 1
Wait, hold that thought.
With a twist and a flip, they’re off again in the other direction. The sound of excited screams washes over me as one pulls ahead to win. Professor Feniks notes down times, then calls the next group, which includes the swaggering figures of Troy Farrington and Johnny DeVille. No Manu, though.
Heh. I love the thought of Manu exiting a plane and finding out his new fancy position is at an outpost surrounded by polar bears and permafrost.
My sadistic joy in his future distracts me for the next few minutes until it’s finally just me, Willow, and the two remaining Ordinarii students left to swim.
Iwantto give swimming the whole race a shot. But diving headfirst into the unknown depths? That’s a step too far. I’m going to take Willow’s advice and warn the professor that I’m very much a beginner.
“Last group, hurry the fuck up,” Feniks yells.
As we stand, the locker room door bangs open dramatically, and Cosmo saunters in. “Sorry, I’m late,” he drawls. Cosmo’s chiselled chest shows not a single bruise now, making him a perfect display of hard-ridged muscle. The tight Lycra of his swim trunks doesn’t leave much to the imagination either, and behind me, I can hear several girls gushing and sighing. Ugh.
Professor Feniks pointedly ignores him and gestures for my group to move to the starting blocks. I hear thoughts about my body and baggy swimsuit as I walk past the bleachers, but I keep my head high as I approach the professor. “Sorry, Sir, but I can’t,” I swallow, then continue, “I can’t dive. Dive into pools, that is.”
He cocks his head, looking at my face. “And no cap or goggles. Are you actively seeking detention, Wilson?”
I bite my lip. “No, Sir.”
“Fine, I’ll let it go, this time.” Professor Feniks’ voice softens a fraction. “Swim as you are and start from the water, no diving.”
I nod in relief. “Yes, thank you, and a heads-up—I’m going to be slow. Painfully so, probably.”
He rolls his eyes slightly. “Why am I not surprised, Wilson?”
When I take the lane next to Willow, she gives me an encouraging smile. “Good luck,” she whispers as I awkwardly lower myself into the water, causing laughter from the bleachers.
“Nice suit, little dud,” Cosmo drawls as he takes the lane on the other side of me.
Just brilliant. Gripping the edge of the tile, I put the other students out of my mind to focus on the technique Wes and Donovan had, in their own unique and distracting way, attempted to teach me. Relax, kick my legs, move my arms like I’m pushing the water away from me.
Breaststroke.
The lesson led to various other kinds of strokes unrelated to swimming.
Focus, Theo. The whistle starts, and I push myself off the wall, letting the momentum glide me for a few feet. It feels pretty good, but then I remember I have to start kicking. Shit, OK, done. The water muffles the sounds, and I kick and push at the water, trying to find a rhythm.
Finally, gasping for breath, I reach the end of the pool, and I’m about to attempt the spinny, flippy thing when a muscular arm drops into the water, pulling me to a stop.
Blinking the water off my eyelashes, I peer up to see Professor Feniks looking down at me. “That’s enough, Wilson. We don’t have all day.” With startling ease, he pulls me out one-handed. That’s when I realize the rest of the class is all sitting around looking bored. How long had I taken to swim that one length?
The professor blows his whistle to regain their attention, then announces that they’ll be splitting into relay teams. “Boring,” Troy yells.
Professor Feniks looks down at me. “Not you, Wilson. You’ll just slow everyone down.” The look he gives me is one I can’t quite tease out. “Make your way over to the dive pool to practice your strokes. I’ll meet you there.”
The pool towards the back of the aquatic center has a high dive board hovering many feet above it. “OK, thanks,” I reply, accepting the towel he offers me and wrapping it around my goose-pimpled body.
As he organizes the relay, I slip into the dive pool. The numbers printed on the tile tell me this pool is sixteen feet deep. Yikes. I cling to the pool edge until my heart comes back under control. Fit, strong, and brave are my new mantras, and a little extra depth isn’t going to halt my progress.
From the corner of my eye, I notice a figure climbing the long ladder of the high dive, but I ignore it to do some more practice. The other students were way faster doing the crawl; I should work on that.
Pushing myself off, I start thrashing about.
OK, it’s definitely harder than it looks, but I’m making progress—I think. It's hard to tell, as my face is mostly submerged in the water, and I have to keep twisting it to the side to catch a breath.
Suddenly, it’s like I’ve been hit by a rocket.
A massive, unexpected force slams into me, knocking the air from my lungs and pushing me down, down, down. The light above me fades and distorts as I plummet like a stone.
