Free Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald

studying the lifeguard.
    “He’s cute, isn’t he?” Andrea said.
    “Who?”
    “The lifeguard you’re staring at.”
    “I wasn’t staring at him.”
    “Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you were.”
    Jenna turned to her friend. Andrea was kicking at the water with her feet and watching the lifeguard. She hadn’t shown any interest in anyone since Tony Coletti had broken up with her four months ago, and Jenna had begun to think her friend had sworn off boys permanently. It was good to see Andrea interested in someone again.
    “Who is he, do you know?”
    “His name is Michael MacKenzie. He’s going to be a senior. And he’s a jock … a big track star at school.”
    “He sounds a little too good to be true. What’s the catch?”
    Andrea slid into the pool and rested her arms on the edge. “Well, there is this one tiny problem.”
    “Which is?”
    “He’s got a girlfriend.” She tilted her head in the direction of a group of kids playing cards beneath a nearby tree. “She’s the one with the long red hair. Her name’s Darcy Kelly.”
    “You call that a tiny problem?”
    Andrea pursed her lips. “Okay, big problem.”
    Jenna squinted to get a better look at Michael MacKenzie. His lips and nose were covered with white ointment, and the metallic glint of his sunglasses completely hid his eyes. He probably hadn’t been watching her at all before, she thought. She’d only imagined it. He was just doing his job, keeping a sharp eye on all the swimmers. Still, there was something about him …
    w hen she got home that afternoon, Jenna made her daily call to Chief Zelenski. She’d been doing this for two weeks now, sometimes calling twice a day, hoping for information. But this time he wasn’t in when she called.
    Disappointed, she left a message, then headed up to her room to work on math problems. She had just started on the first equation when Jason called.
    “Can I see you tonight?” he asked.
    Jenna, silent, held the cordless phone a few inches away from her face and stared at it. Something was terribly wrong. Her hand was shaking so badly that the phone had been tapping the side of her head.
    “Jen?”
    She put the phone as close to her ear as she dared. Her heart was racing so fast she couldn’t catch her breath. It was happening again. Just as it had at the pool earlier. Only this was worse.
    “What?” She barely managed to get the word out.
    “Uh, is this a bad time? I mean, do you want me to call back later?”
    She tried to remember what her drama teacher at school had taught her about controlling stage fright. Because that was what this felt like, only ten times more severe. And she couldn’t for the life of her imagine what was causing it.
Breathe
, she told herself.
Long
,
deep breaths. Focus
.
    “Hey! You still there?” Jason was beginning to sound alarmed.
    “Yes. Sorry.”
Breathe, Jen. Breathe
. “Tonight?”
    “Is that okay? I mean, that’s all I thought about the whole time I was in Maine. You know? Seeing you.”
    Jenna walked over to the window, concentrating on her breathing the entire time. Outside, the late-afternoon sun bathed the front of the church across the street in a soft glow. That was when she saw the boy mounting the steps of the church and taking his place in front of the door. This was the earliest she had ever seen him there. Then, for the first time, she realized he was staring over at her house. A slight shiver ran along her spine.
    “I wanted to ask you at the pool,” Jason was saying, “but we didn’t get much of a chance to be alone.”
    “Tonight’s fine,” she told him, because she could think of no reason not to see him.
    “Seven? Maybe we can catch a movie at the mall.”
    She shifted the phone to her other hand and wiped her sweaty palm on her shorts. All the while she continued to focus on her breathing. “Okay … well, then … see you.”
    Relieved to have the awkward conversation over, Jenna hung up the phone. Then she turned