Free No Turning Back (Full Circle) by Casey Peeler Page B

Cash, the club, and myself.
     
    At 4:45, I turn off my alarm, jump out of bed, and grab my swim bag quietly trying not to wake Crystal.  Tori is coming out of her room and Georgia’s room seems quiet.  We knock, and she comes to the door asleep.
     
    “Oh crap!  Give me two secs!”  Within two seconds she is out the door.  We decide to drive across to the gym.  Yes, it probably takes longer to walk to the car than across campus, but that’s what we do. 
     
    Once in the locker room, we change and head to the pool.  That’s when I notice it.  There is a box in my bag.  I open it and find a necklace.  It is a silver chain with three charms: an anchor charm, silver heart charm, and a hand stamped $ symbol on a pea-sized sterling silver circle charm.  Inside is a note that reads:
     
    Char-coal,
     
    No matter where you are, I’ll be your rock, your anchor, I will help you stay grounded even when I am not physically there.  I love you Char-coal, and this will always keep me close to you.
     
    <3 $
     
    I beam with happiness and send him a quick text to let him know how much I love it and head to the pool.
     
    Coach has already written the warm up on the board.  It feels so surreal for me to be back at a pool.  I feel like a kid in a candy store.  I dip my cap into the water, then put it on followed by my goggles. I dive straight in.  500m choice warm up. I got this.  I glide through the water like I haven’t left.  After we finish the warm up, we do a few sets.  Then Coach decides it’s time to see what we’re made of. 
     
    “Alright, Tori, Charley, Georgia, and Sarah (another teammate) Lane 1.  Brittany, Harper, Sally, and Jordan Lane 2.  Let’s have some fun!  Let’s see what you are made of.  It’s  4 x 200 IM relay time!”   
     
    We all take our places and that’s when we hear the whistle.  We all begin to holler and cheer on our teammates.  I jump in feet first, since I’m leg one, place my hands on the starting block, feet on the wall, and wait for the whistle.  I dolphin kick.1, 2, 3, 4, and then I begin to kick it in high gear.  As I reach the flags, I count and do my flip turn, then I continue for three more lengths of the pool.  I give everything I have to my last lap.  I see the flags in view and push with all my might.  As I tag the wall, Georgia dives in.  I climb out feeling like a brand new person.  We continue to pull out teammates through the relay, and we have an awesome finish time of 4:41:23.  Dang, if we are doing that good right now, I can’t wait to see our time at Southern States!
     
    “Wow girls, I’m impressed.  Oh, and Charley, you are a damn fish!” 
     
    “Thanks, Coach!”  I smile.
     
    “Great practice, girls!  We won’t have anything this weekend.  I know how important those outfits are for Hank’s tomorrow night.  So go shopping this afternoon and be ready for two-a-days starting next week.”  She just laughs.
     
    “Oh, and remember girls, have fun, but be smart.  If you need me at any time, I am always here,” she says with so much compassion.
     
    We go to the locker room, shower, and change.  We are about to starve, so we go to the café.  I make a waffle, sit at our usual table, and go to the dorm to get my stuff to meet Joe.
     
    I walk out of the dorm and notice that he is sitting at the table already.  He looks like he is really focusing on something then I see his cellphone.  I decide to mess with him a little bit.  I walk as quietly as possible to where he has his back to me.  I tip toe up to him and place my hands on his shoulders. BOO!  He almost jumps out of his skin, and I die laughing.  I mean like bent over, can’t talk, about to hyperventilate laughing.  I don’t think it would have been nearly as funny except that he is totally embarrassed due to some of his teammates walking to class, but then I see this dark look in his eyes.  I stop laughing.
     
    “Charley, that shit isn’t funny.