A/N - Thanks so much for giving this story a chance. I'm sorry that the original summary was a bit confusing... I edited it to make it clear: This is definitely a Paily story. :)
As talented as Emily was, she didn't get to swim very much in competition during her first two years at Rosewood High. Coach Fulton had to reserve those slots for her juniors and seniors - the ones whom scouts would be checking out. Emily spent most of the team's swim meets recording stats, taking notes for the assistant coaches, and congratulating her teammates. She did see some competition in those years, though, swimming one of the middle legs in the relays from time to time. Coach Fulton wanted to give her some live competition experience, both to prepare her for the spotlight that she would occupy in the coming years and to see whether or not she froze under the pressure. Coach Fulton had another reason to put Emily in during competitions; She wanted the other team to see what was ahead of them; that the Rosewood Sharks were going to be a dynasty for years to come.
The biggest obstacle in their way was the Ravenswood Torpedoes. Their future looked bright, too, once they snagged a young transfer student named Paige McCullers. Emily didn't know it, but she personally was the main reason that Nick McCullers' decisided to relocate to Ravenswood. He had done his homework, scouting out both schools' teamss. "Why go to Rosewood," he asked Paige, "and end up fighting against the hometown favorite for the number-one slot, when you can go to Ravenswood where no one comes anywhere close to you?"
For all of Paige's talent, her sophomore year at Ravenswood was remarkably like Emily's at Rosewood - watching, learning, absorbing; waiting for her moment in the spotlight.
Everyone in Rosewood, it seemed, had turned out for the final match of the season: the Sharks versus the Torpedoes. The meets were contested in Rosewood and Ravenswood in alternate years, and, this year, it was Rosewood's turn to host. The meets were always the last of the season because the district championship was usually on the line.
Emily knew going in that she wouldn't be racing. The meet was too important. It wasn't that they needed to win; Coach Fulton had drilled into them that giving their best was all that mattered. Titles, although they were nice, were secondary. What made the meet was important was that it would be the last chance for the seniors to showcase their skills for the scouts, who always wanted to see how the great swimmers fared against great competition. Also, there were some seniors who weren't going on to swim at college. Coach Fulton wanted to make sure that they had one final taste of competition, in recognition of their hard work, dedication, and persistence through the years.
Emily was fine with that. She swam for the love of swimming. Sure, it was great to compete, but she knew that she would get her turn. And she was happy to celebrate with the seniors when they got their moment.
Emily picked out Paige on the opposite side of the pool early in the meet. Paige, like her, was still in her warm-ups, with a clipboard in hand. It was obvious that she wouldn't be getting into the pool unless something catastrophic happened.
Emily was surprised at how Paige behaved during the meet. She looked like a really great teammate. She was completely into the match, fist-pumping when their swimmers did well, always the first one in on the hugs when her teammates - win or lose - emerged from the pool. Emily was seeing a different side of Paige McCullers - a Paige who could celebrate other people's success. She wondered whether it was because Paige had matured, or, more likely, she thought, because Ravenswood's coach had been as emphatic as Coach Fulton in developing a team-first mentality.
Rosewood came out on top that year. As the teams lined up to shake hands, Emily, near the end of the line with the rest of the freshmen, found herself anticipating shaking hands with the new Paige. She even came up with something witty to say: Instead of "Nice meet," she was going to say, "Nice stats."
The line was taking longer than usual as the seniors on both sides, who had competed against each other for four years, exchanged not just handshakes but hugs, and tears. Finally, Emily was a handshake or two away from Paige, and her smile got even wider. But Paige, when she got up to her, dipped her hand at the last second, not looking Emily in the face as she skipped over her and moved on to shake hands the next swimmer.
Really? Emily thought.
Spencer was right: Mind games. Even though they hadn't yet had the chance to swim against each other in a race that meant anything, and might not, even in their junior years, Paige still felt the need to lay the groundwork: Rivals, not friends. And not friendly rivals. And Paige was determined to get into Emily's head for whenever the time came that they swam against each other.
The next time that Emily saw Paige was in Ravenswood. Emily was sitting in the stands, watching Spencer and the field hockey team take on their district rivals. And, once again, Paige showed herself to be the consummate team player, high-fiving her teammates and cheering vigorously.
Deep down, Emily wished that she could talk to Paige; change her; change her perspective. It just seemed such a waste to take such an us-versus-them view of things. Paige was closing herself off to a large potential group of friends simply because they weren't on her team. She was like those people who were only comfortable with others of their race - or nationality - or religion - or sexuality. Emily didn't hate those kind of bigots. She felt more of a pity for them. They were missing out on - or, more accurately, willfully denying themselves - the many joys that a life of inclusion brings with it.
Emily's eyes were repeatedly drawn to Paige. It wasn't idle curiosity. It was the strangest thing: She kept feeling Paige's eyes on her. When Paige was about to rotate into the game, she looked up towards Emily in the stands. When she made an aggressive block or stole a pass, she stole a glance at Emily. When she sat back on the sidelines and buried her head under a towel, she emerged with her gaze on Emily. Mind games, Emily knew.
She really hated mind games.
That summer, Emily wasn't looking forward to swim camp. She knew that Paige McCullers would be there, and she wasn't in the mood for having that downer every day. She started looking for programs out of state; one in Baltimore, and another in Upstate New York. She discussed them with her mom, arguing that it would be good exposure for her: She would be able to work with different coaches and meet learn from other talented swimmers - swimmers other than than the usual crop who went to the camp in the Philly suburbs every year. Emily was actually only referring to one swimmer, but she didn't volunteer that information to Pam.
Her mother was sympathetic, but she just couldn't figure out a way to make the finances work. When Emily's pleading persisted, Pam came up with an alternative. She asked whether Emily would like to head out to Texas for a couple of months, to stay with her father. The base where he was stationed had a pretty good summer recreational program for officers' kids. Wayne had done some checking, and their swimming program was pretty good.
It wasn't an easy decision for Emily. She loved her father, and she missed the opportunity to be with him, but going away for two months was a lot different than going to camp in Philly for two weeks. Emily wouldn't see her friends for the entire summer, and she would be leaving her mom by herself that whole time.
On the other hand, there would be no Paige McCullers.
Emily talked it over with her friends, and they encouraged her to go. They knew how much she missed being near her father, and, when they looked at the dates, they saw that Emily would get back to Rosewood in time for the end-of-the-summer trip to Spencer's cabin, with Spencer's older sister, Melissa, and her fiancé, Wren, chaperoning.
Emily talked with her mother, and Pam told her that she could handle being by herself for the two months. And, Pam thought, she could work late when Emily was away, rather than sit in the big empty house by herself. That way, she could catch up on some paperwork at the office and clock in some overtime, so that she could afford to fly out to Texas for Emily's last two weeks there.
Emily leapt into her father's strong, welcoming arms when she saw him at the airport, wearing his camouflage uniform and a huge smile. They talked and got caught up on the ride back to his apartment, stopping along the way for an artery-blocking lunch of chili dogs and bacon-cheese fries that Pam would never have approved.
Emily filled Wayne in on her progress with the swim team, her academics, and her friends. Wayne took it all in, his eyes wide with pride and delight.
Later that evening, the two of them relaxed in front of the TV ("Netflix and chill," Wayne teased, always throwing around terms that he heard some of his younger soldiers use, in an attempt to "prove" to his daughter that he was in touch with her generation). In between episodes of "Community," Emily hit pause and asked, "Dad, how do you deal with difficult people?"
"Difficult how?" Wayne asked, and Emily launched into the tale of Paige McCullers. Wayne listened intently before he rendered his judgment. "Well, there's one thing I've learned, Emmy. You can only be responsible for your own behavior. Don't let Paige drag you down to hers. I tell my soldiers that there is a debt that every human being owes every other human being. It's the debt of respect, kindness, and courtesy. Now, I can't be responsible for anybody else's debt, but you can bet I'm going to be responsible for my own debt. You see, you can't control whether or not Paige lives up to her obligation to treat everyone with decency and respect, but you have control over how you respond to her, and whether or not you live up to your own obligation."
"I don't know, Dad. I guess I just thought that, if I did that - if I lived up to my obligation - maybe it would move Paige, you know? That it would inspire her, somehow. I don't know."
"And, you're right. Maybe it will."
"But it hasn't."
"But it might. You can't control that. It might not happen in a day, or in a year. It might not happen at all. But whether or not Paige changes, you can't quit, Emmy. Choosing to treat everybody with kindness and respect is just as important for the effect that is has on you as it is for the effect that it may or may not have on Paige. Bitterness and disdain - even if they're directed toward someone who deserves it - have a way of harming you in the end. And it spreads - if you can be like that to one person, it becomes easier and easier to be like that with more and more people. And, ultimately..."
"I become Paige McCullers."
"Easy there, Em."
Emily nodded. "I become like the person who was so difficult."
Emily knew that her father was right. She would have to treat Paige the way that she, herself, would want to be treated. She was just happy that she didn't have to see Paige very often. And she was really happy that she got to spend the summer with her dad. She gave him a hug and restarted the queue.
