Loving Charley (11 page)

When our celebration is
over, I look at the smart ass from the locker room, walk over to
her, and tell her good job because I know that will hurt her more
than being a bitch like her. Then, I walk with my team back to the
stand and am greeted by my own personal fan club.

My parents are extremely
proud. Tessa is acting like the Tessa I love dearly, but what I
wasn’t expecting was for Dustin to be by her side. As I turn to
Cash and my parents, fear enters my eyes.

“Charley, you might want to
listen to Dustin,” Dad says tenderly.

“Listen? More like who brought you?
Not that I mind, but I know y’all well enough that there’s not
going to be a parade of cars going to Southern or Grassy
Pond.”

“Listen, think, and then
speak. Do you understand?” Dad says sternly.

“Yes, sir.”

Cash takes my hand in his
after I wrap my towel around my body, and we walk toward them. I
don’t really want to make a scene in front of the other teams, or
better yet, watch my team start a brawl. I’m not sure if it is the
downfall of the adrenaline or the fact that I know the Sloans are
here.

“Charley, before you say
anything, yes, my parents brought me and against the better choice
of their lawyer. I needed to be here for your family and be with
Tessa.”

“But why? If they know the
lawyers aren’t wanting them to, I mean.”

“They support me. I’m their
son as well. They know that it looks bad for them to have done
this, but they also know that I’m a good person. I’m the one that
doesn’t break the rules or make our lives a livin’ hell. That’s
why.”

I don’t say anything;
instead, I release Cash’s hand and engulf Dustin in a hug. At this
point, I don’t have any words. The fact that his parents brought
him to my family is monumental. Not that they are admitting Dylan
did anything wrong, but it does show that they care about Dustin
and making him happy.

I speak as I pull myself
from our hug. “Dustin, when you walked in, I almost freaked. Not
because you were here, but because I knew your parents were near.
It’s just I don’t know what they would say to me.”

“I can promise you this,
Charley. They are surviving, whether you realize it or not. They
know Dylan’s wrong, but they are still his parents. They are doing
the only thing they know how to do… be loving parents through thick
and thin.”

Dustin is right. I can only
imagine what it would be like to be in their position. I know that
parents love their children unconditionally regardless of their
actions, but I’m sure it’s rough.

“Dustin, I’m so sorry that you and
Tessa are havin’ to deal with all of this.”

“Don’t be sorry, Charley.
He made those choices. It’s rough on all of us, but we’ll make it.
I couldn’t live without Tessa in my life,” he says as he looks at
her.

“You don’t have to say
anything else. I understand,” I say as I guide my fingers into
Cash’s hand.

Dad looks at Mama. “What?”
she asks. “We might need to have a talk with those two
girls.”

“Honey, I’ve already done
that.”

Tessa and I start to
laugh. Does Dad really think that we are that naïve? “Dad, we’re
good. I promise,” I say with a little roughness in my tone, and at
that point, Cash smirks.
Damn him and his
wait until we’re married!
To change the
subject, we talk about the events and then they make their way back
to their seats. All of them know that during this time, I don’t
socialize… I focus on the task at hand.

Chapter 18

The remainder of the preliminary heats continues
without a hitch. As time approaches for our 4x200 IM relay, we
mentally prepare for the event to come. We make our way to the pool
deck when it is time and begin to loosen up the only way we know
how. Stretching in a huddle, we begin to sing Miley Cyrus,’ “We
Can’t Stop,” and, of course, all eyes are on us. Near the end of
the song, we stand and try to relax our muscles by shaking our arms
and legs, and then we head to our lane.

“Hey, y’all. Let’s kick
some ass Southern style,” I say to the girls.

“Hell yeah! Charley, you
get us started off right,” Georgia says. “Let’s see if we can
really leave those Davidson girls speechless.”

We put our goggles in place
and focus on the event. Glancing in the stands, I notice my family,
Cash, and other teammates looking in our direction. I have to say
the entire conversation with Dustin was beyond weird, but in a way,
I’m relieved. I give them a little wave, jump up and down to get a
few jitters out of my system and take a few deep breaths as I wait
for the announcer to tell us to enter the water. Then, I hear
him.

“Swimmers 4x200 Individual
Medley Relay. Backstrokers, enter the water feet first.” Plunging
into the water, I feel my nerves vanish as I grab the start block.
“4x200 Individual Medley Relay. Swimmers, take your
mark.”

There is slight pause
before the buzzer sounds. Arching my back as I burst off the wall,
I kick with everything that I have. There is no holding back like I
did in my individual event. This is for the team, and we are going
to leave them all speechless if I can help it. Cutting my arms like
blades through the water, I make it to the flags with ease and
continue to push myself to beyond my breaking point. On the final
lap of my leg of the race, I truly let go of everything that might
be holding me back and jet half of a pool length ahead of the
others. When my fingertips touch the time pad, Georgia jumps in.
Tori pulls me from the water, and I’m cheesing from ear to ear. She
points toward the time board. As I look at my leg of the race,
chill bumps cover my arms. I have just beaten my own personal
record as well as Southern’s record, and if all goes as planned, we
will be one step closer to Olympic Trials.

Focusing back on the water,
we all cheer as our teammates glide through the water, keeping the
distance between the other teams. On the last leg, we begin to jump
up and down as Sarah brings it home. When she taps the time pad, we
all turn straight to see the official time.

We don’t say a word; we
grab each other and begin to scream like little girls with
excitement.
OMG! 9:22:46!
Keeping our composure together, we make our way
from the deck and toward the stand. We are still beyond excited. We
broke not only our record but also Southern States.

Coach meets us at the
entrance to the stands with open arms. She is one proud mama bear
of her cubs. “I believe a little Ben & Jerry’s is in order.
What y’all think?” We hug a few more seconds before going to our
seats.

When we get there, the guys
from Howard tell us congratulations, give us high fives, and ask if
we can join their team. We all cut our eyes and tell them no. One
guy looks heartbroken as he places his hand over his heart and
pouts. It is beyond adorable. I look at Tori, and she is definitely
taking him in. I nudge Georgia, and she laughs.

“I bet she gets his number
or meets up with him in the locker room before this day is over.
Whatcha think?”

“I’m not taking that bet
because we’d be on the same side,” I say as someone’s arms wrap
around me from behind.
Cash.

Turning around, I hold on
to him tightly, hearing a teammate yell for us to get a room in the
background. I just turn and grin.

“That was beyond amazing,”
he says.

“I know, but not as
amazing as you. Thank you for
everything.
”

“I know I shouldn’t be over here with
the teams, so can you come over here for a few?”

“Yeah, just let me let
Coach know.” I tell her and make my way to my parents, Tessa, and
Dustin.

“Ohmygosh, Char! That was
freakin’ ah-maz-ing! You kicked ass!” Tessa exclaims.

“Tessa! Watch your mouth!” Mama
says.

“Well, it’s the truth.
Anyways! I wish you could have heard everyone up here. They were
all running their mouths beforehand, and then they shut up quick
when you left them all behind. If this is just preliminaries, I
can’t wait to see what y’all do tomorrow.”

“I know. I hope we do this
well again. We really need those times in the actual events instead
of today, but hey, it was worth it, regardless.”

“We’re so proud of you,”
Mama says as she pulls me in for a hug and gets soaking
wet.

I excuse myself from everyone and go
back to my teammates. We take turns going to change as our events
come to a close for the night. I shower quickly before returning
and watching the final two events.

As the preliminaries come
to an end, we gather our things and make our way to the van. Our
first stop is Ben and Jerry’s. Who needs supper when you can have
ice cream?

Chapter 19

We enjoy our ice cream and then check into the
hotel before ordering in pizza. We all pile into one room for a
little fellowship and food. I text Cash when we finish eating. He
lets me know they are in the hotel half a mile down the road. He
says that Mama and Tessa are in one room and he, Dustin, and my dad
are in another. That should make for an interesting night. My dad
with the two guys that hold his little girls’ hearts. I’d love to
be a fly on the wall tonight. We talk for a few minutes, and I tell
him I’ll see him tomorrow. He knows how important this meet is for
all of us. He also knows that he will hold me in his arms tomorrow
night.

I share a room with Tori,
Georgia, and Sarah. We relax, talk about anything and everything,
turn on a movie, and finally fall asleep. We are exhausted from the
adrenaline rush that we have all felt today.

When the alarm buzzes in
the morning, I want to chunk it across the room. That sound gets
worse and worse each time I hear it. We gather our items and meet
the team downstairs for a continental breakfast of champs. I devour
a boiled egg, bacon, and a bowl of oatmeal before leaving for
Southern States.

The arena is already
beginning to fill with people in the stands this morning. It is
very evident that today is going to be a lot wilder than yesterday.
We repeat the same events from yesterday, even down to where we
sit. I guess you can say we are all a little
superstitious.

After warm-ups, we take
our place in the stands and wait until it is time for our events.
My family, Cash, and Dustin arrive and give us a wave. Ten minutes
later, I see Piper and Joe. It dawns on me that I didn’t see them
much yesterday, and then I realize that Piper is having her own
version of a walk of shame in front of my parents, even though it’s
not really a shame. She smiles and has a glow about her.
Glow! I know what they did last night! The last
time she looked like that was a night she let Justin go a little
too far, and she liked it!
Joe says hey to
my parents, and he and Cash give each other a welcome and take a
seat. Piper looks my direction, and I press my lips together and
smirk. I can’t wait to talk to her tonight!

Georgia must be reading my
mind because she gives her eyebrows a raise, and I giggle. For
someone who still has her V card, she sure knows when someone else
has done it. I grab my iPod and focus, because today is a day for
giving everything I have and more.

The list of events is
pretty close to the same as yesterday. Today’s meet will fly by due
to there only being one to two heats of each event, unlike
yesterday, when there were five to six. I wait patiently for the
200-meter backstroke.

When it’s time for me to
make my way to the pool deck, I am caught completely off guard by
several signs being held up in the fan section. They all
read
#TeamDylan
.
I get sick to my stomach just looking at them. I feel the blood
drain from my face, and I hurry to the trashcan to lose all the
contents within my stomach. That sick bastard is still trying to
scare me. The problem is, I’m not going to let him.

Instead of getting sick, I
pull all the fear, anxiety, heartache, and nervousness to my core
and walk to stretch with my head held high. What I’m not prepared
for is Joe to turn around and yell at those people. I see Cash
stand, and all I can think of is him getting in trouble. There is
little time to think about what is going on, especially when I see
my dad stand and turn as well. He takes a step up the bleachers,
and even though I can’t understand what he is saying, I know it has
to be epic, because after about thirty seconds, they sit. They
still hold their sign, but they are quiet, which is what I need to
continue to focus on the prize at the end of the race.

As the announcer calls the
event, I realize that it is now or never. It’s time to make them
all stop talking for once and for all. I relax my body and listen
for the moment to enter the water. When that happens, it’s game
on.

Pointing my toes as they
enter the water first, I come up and grab the start block. Once the
buzzer sounds, I tunnel my thoughts and body toward winning this
race, but not against anyone in this pool; I focus on beating
myself.

With each lap, I dig
deeper for more strength to continue to pursue my goal, and by the
final lap, I know that if anyone is anywhere near my time it’s
nothing short of a miracle from the big man upstairs. As the tips
of my fingers tap the time pad, I pop my head out of the water and
look directly at the time board. Throwing my arm in the air, I yell
with excitement.
2:11:02! Holy freakin’
cow!
I just beat my record, Southern
College’s record, and Southern States’ record. Pushing myself up
out of the lane and water, I’m greeted by my coach and teammates.
They embrace me, and we all squeal with excitement.