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back, spilling auburn hair over her shoulders, and her lightly freckled face glowed with warmth. She hadn’t laughed much since her father’s conviction. And Leo certainly hadn’t been making her laugh like he once could.
    Leo hopped out of the pool as Audrey climbed back down the bleachers and huddled up the girls’ team for a cheer. He smirked as he dried off while watching their stupid cheer, complete with choreography. He snuck a look over at the Tallahassee Tritons gathered across the deck. Leo hoped they wouldn’t judge Pensacola based on the girls’ cheer.
    The guys wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything that involved dancing — their cheers focused solely on amping up. As soon as the girls were finished, fifteen male swimmers congregated around Leo on the deck. He dug deep to generate some excitement. No matter how he felt, it was expected of him as team captain.
    He yelled the first line in a raspy yet powerful voice, and the team chanted back, clapping to the beat: Leo: I went down by the river!
    Team: Oh yeah!
    Leo: Took a little walk
    Team: Oh yeah
    Leo: Met up with a tiger
    Team: Oh yeah
    Leo: And we had a little talk
    Team: Oh yeah…
    The clapping and energy came to a crescendo, and the team was a frenzy of testosterone by the end of the cheer.
    Buoyed by his teammates, Leo now felt like he might jump out of his skin. Why was it so hard to feel normal now? Shaking it off, he high-fived the closest teammate, but sobered when he saw his father standing in the bleachers, watching him sternly. Looking away, Leo trotted over to his swim bag and guzzled from his water bottle. He stood apart from the team and planned ahead for the 50 freestyle.
    He watched Audrey, Elaine, Susan, and Kelly gather for the 200
    medley relay. They were going after the school record, and Elaine looked particularly fierce as she lectured the two sophomores. When she finished, they lined up with five other teams, ready to start. Only the Tallahassee team offered any competition.
    Alex came to stand next to Leo. “Go, Laney!” he cheered. “Go, my little hag!”
    Elaine’s face turned red as she jumped in the water for her backstroke start. Leo snuck a look at his father, but he showed no sign of having heard the comment.
    In a flash the race began, and Elaine’s strong kick got Pensacola the lead as Audrey mounted the block for the breaststroke leg. She timed the relay exchange perfectly and dived into the water in a tight streamline. A quick underwater pullout and she popped up to the surface. Audrey’s long stroke was better suited for the 100 or 200 breaststroke, but she was able to extend the lead slightly for Susan on the butterfly.
    Susan maintained the lead, but the Tallahassee squad pulled closer on the anchor freestyle leg. Kelly somehow held them off and brought it all home. Elaine, Audrey, and Susan jumped up and down as they realized they’d beaten the school record by one tenth of a second. They practically dragged Kelly out of the pool for a group hug.
    Audrey and her teammates met briefly with Matt to review the race, then she bounded over to Leo. “Did you see that? We broke the school record!”
    Leo managed a non-genuine smile. “Way to go.” Audrey gave him a strange look, then turned and went to sit near Elaine and Alex.
    Leo looked down. Great, now he’d hurt Audrey’s feelings. He didn’t even want to be at this meet. If only he could go home and sleep…Or maybe another Oxy would help.
    When the 50 freestyle rolled around, Leo stood behind the blocks and tried to pump himself up. Usually he’d borrow a teammate’s headphones and nod to the pounding beat while stretching and jumping around, but he didn’t feel like going to the trouble today.
    He felt like he was moving in slow motion as he mounted the starting block, and the race was over before he knew it. Lifting his goggles, Leo’s eyes widened when he saw his time on the board: 22.0.
    He hadn’t swum that slowly in a meet since his