Chapter 3

The air was thick with the smell of chlorine. Despite being humid and stale, Jennifer felt alive within the enclosed room. The sound from the bleachers echoed off the walls, making it sound like the audience was much more in number than they were. It was a strange phenomenon that helped the swimmers focus. It made them feel wanted and encouraged. Jennifer scanned the crowd and one face stood out, a face that made her feel encouraged.

There were two swim meets that occurred out-of-district. The four hour drive to southern Iowa was never fun, but the booster club always handled fundraising so the team could stay together in a local motel, with ample chaperones, of course. The over-night trip turned one of the most despised meets into an instant favorite among the team. Jennifer always rejected the club paying for her motel, choosing to cover her own room. She told herself that the funds were for the team, not for her, but really covering her own room allowed her some much-needed time to herself. Sure, Jennifer loved the team like they were a family. Some of them even came to her for dating advice and treated her more like an older sister than an over-baring adult. However, after a long bus ride, and an equally long meet, Jenn needed time to unwind.

The face in her view winked. Jennifer smiled back. She wasn't sure why Clara insisted on traveling four hours just to watch a meet. She could have easily come to any of the more local meets, but she had said that Jenn needed the encouragement more on this one. She was right.

So far the team had been moderately successful. They had trouble in the 200 Medley Relay, and although they won the Women's 200 Freestyle, they hadn't placed again the entire event. Freestyle Relays were beginning, and her team had lost morale. She called Rebecca, her star freshman, to gather everyone around. As the team huddled up, Jennifer took a breath and gathered her thoughts.

"It's been rough today, guys," Jennifer said, "I won't try and sugar-coat it. However, that's the bad news, that's the past. We can't change the past, it's already occurred; it's written in stone. All we can do is look to the possibilities of the future, of these next events. There are a thousand different ways this can turn out, there is one possibility where we come dead last in all of the future events, but there is also one possible outcome where we take home a win for each of these. What kind of people are you? Are you the kind that accepts the loss before the future even comes? Or are you the kind of person that sees the possibility of success and chases after it?"

Nods began shifting through the huddle as Jennifer continued. "We have good swimmers here. I'm proud of each and every one of you. However, we're up against adversity. Things have gotten tough and we have to push on. The only way to face the future is with optimism. We have to go in, and expect to get out of here as a success story. Whether you think you can, or can't, you're right. If we motivate ourselves, if we push everything we have, exhausting every avenue and push forward, then we can do anything. We can beat anything. Are you guys going to throw in the towel?"

"No!" They cheered in unison.

"Are you guys going to give your all?"

"Yes!"

"Are you guys going to beat the odds?"

"Yes!"

"What are we?"

"Sheldon Orabs!"

The team cheered and the next swimmers went to their starting posts. Jennifer always hated the Sheldon mascot. It wasn't clever or intimidating. The mascot name was literally just a mash-up of their school colors, orange and black, Orab. When Jennifer first started at Sheldon High she had made the mistake of asking why they hadn't just changed the name. She had greatly underestimated small-town loyalties and began a heated debate within the staff meeting. Half the teachers stood behind the mascot in the name of tradition, while other teachers cried out embarrassment. It didn't help either case that the name earned the high school a place on ESPN's "Worst Mascot" list. It seemed a topic best to ignore. For the past four years, Jennifer had done just that.

Jennifer looked to the stands again, and noticed Clara wasn't looking at the swimmers, but rather at her. Jennifer smiled again and gave a small wave before returning to her job. Jennifer wasn't sure the outcome of the meet, but she was glad she had a friend to share it with.

"I'm sorry you drove all the way out here for that." Jennifer said.

Clara walked beside her. "Well," Clara said, "I was hoping that I might be some kind of good-luck charm, but it doesn't seem I was."

Jennifer laughed. "We can't win every meet, and that long drive kills the team."

"They didn't let the outcome get them down!" Clara said.

She was right about that. Despite Jennifer's pep-talk, despite the last-ditch attempt at a morale-boost, the team had lost almost every event. Jennifer wasn't upset. She knew that sometimes, despite all the effort, despite all of the perseverance and determination, you lose. Losing wasn't failure; it just meant that sometimes things are out of your hands. Jennifer remembered that from her days as a swimmer. She could have days where she beat swimmers twice as good as her, and days where it seemed she was swimming against ocean waves.

"Sometimes you can't help the outcome," Jennifer said, "but giving your all, making a valiant effort, that's what counts."

Clara smiled. They were walking out to Clara's car. Jennifer had ridden the bus down with the team, but decided to ride back to her room with Clara. She felt horrible at the lack of time she had spent with her friend after such a long drive.

"I didn't ask," Jennifer said, "what hotel did you get a room at?"

Clara blushed looking down at her watch, "I actually didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"Get a room." Clara said, "I just figured I'd drive along home."

"Drive home?" Jennifer asked, incredulous, "Are you aware what time it is?"

Clara scratched the top of her head, "Yeah. I kinda messed that plan right up, didn't I?"

Jennifer laughed. "You're staying with me."

"No, I couldn't."

"Yes, you could, and you will. I have an entire room to myself and it's already paid for. You came all the way down here to cheer us on and we didn't even do well. The least I can do is offer you a place to crash."

Clara looked around. "Um," She said, biting both her bottom and top lip as she thought. "Yeah, I guess I could do that."

"Good," Jennifer said as she opened the passenger door, "but dinner is on you this time."

They drove off, and after grabbing a bite to eat at the only open deli they could find, they headed back to the motel. Jennifer twisted the key and the door opened revealing a room spilled with every shade of brown imaginable. The wall had wood paneling that hadn't been popular since the seventies while the bed comforter was the worst shade of beige Jennifer had seen. The carpet even seemed to be an orange shag style.

"It's not exactly the Marriott," Jennifer apologized.

"It's perfect," Clara said, "thank you so much for inviting me to stay."

They walked in and Jennifer placed her suitcase next to the bed before falling back onto it. Clara held the twelve pack of beer they had picked up from a gas station, while holding a bag of ice in the other hand. The motel didn't have a fridge, so they made use of the bathroom sink by filling it with ice to keep the beers cold.

Jennifer flipped through the channels trying to find a movie or something but finally giving up, she shut the thing off. Clara hopped on the bed next to her, beer in hand, and curled her feet beneath her.

"Most trouble you've ever been in." Clara declared suddenly.

"What?" Jennifer asked.

"Come on, Fitzy, we're having a girls night, and I want to know your secrets." Clara said, a sly smile creeping across her face, "You're one of the nicest people I know, and because of that, I want to know about a time you weren't so nice."

"Like getting grounded or a ticket or something?"

"Sure, or maybe a time you got arrested by the coppers." Clara said.

Jennifer laughed. "I have never been arr…" Jennifer trailed off.

"I knew it!" Clara declared.

"It was nothing!" Jennifer said.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Ok, ok, fine." Jennifer said, "This is so embarrassing."

"The more embarrassing the story, the better it is."

"Ok," Jennifer began, "It was in college. I was with a bunch of guys from the swim team, and one of them had a truck. Now, coming from small-town Iowa, I was used to a group of us just riding around doing nothing in the bed of a truck, but this guy, what was his name?"-Jennifer looked up trying to recall-"Ben! Anyway, there were two guys and my friend Tiffany squeezed in the tiny cab of the truck while me, Ben and two other guys were in the bed of the truck with a six-pack."

"Now that doesn't sound safe at all." Clara teased.

"It wasn't." Jennifer said, "So we drive by this supermarket and Ben yells into the cab telling the guys to pull into the parking lot. Now it's not horribly late, maybe nine at night, and so the place is still fairly busy. Well we're all laughing and the truck drives up by the front of the store right as this eighty-year-old woman walks out."

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, Yes," Jennifer continued, "So, Ben stands up, and pulls out this giant water gun, like uh, what were the called? Super Soakers! And he just drenches this lady. I'm talking horribly. I'm trying to pull him back, but he's had too much to drink already and he just screams 'Go blue!' and we race off."

"Was the lady alright?" Clara asked.

"Yeah, nothing big, but she wrote down the license plate and long story short, everyone in the truck got two hundred hours community service, except for Ben who got a three thousand dollar fine, and a thousand hours community service."

Clara dropped her face into her hand.

"I was so embarrassed. I spent my entire life being the good kid and here I was in a stupid college drive-by water-shooting. My parents were furious. I think they made me do an extra two hundred hours on-top of the court-ordered ones."

"That's it," Clara declared, "I need to find my own room, I don't feel safe in here with a fugitive."

"Oh, hush!" Jennifer yelled, throwing a pillow at her.

They continued this way for a couple hours, swapping stories. Clara told stories about home, filled with embarrassing dates, funny holiday meals and her first love. As the night wore on the stories lost their comedic edge and grew deeper in topic. Jennifer discussed her first boyfriend. Clara talked about losing her Nan. Jennifer talked honestly about her disappointment in not making the Olympic team. They were vulnerable, and they were open. As the drinks began the disappear, and the stories grew personal, Jennifer found herself laying in Clara's lap, Clara's fingers running through her long curly hair.

"Then, he just, left." Clara said.

"Just like that?" Jennifer asked.

Tears began to fill Clara's eyes and she looked off, caught in memories. "Yeah, he just, disappeared. It was like, he came in my life so suddenly, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted him there, but right when I thought we had something, right when I thought that maybe our friendship was deeper, right when I opened my heart he just faded out of my life."

"Where'd he go?" Jennifer asked.

"Oh, he had somewhere else to be, I guess. It's complicated but, I know he never meant to hurt me."

"Did you ever see him again?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah," Clara continued, "but it just never felt the same again."

Jennifer sat up and looked Clara in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Clara."

"Don't be!" She said. "It is, what it is. Sometimes we chase after something, and it works, it just clicks, and other times it's just all in our head, right?"

Jennifer lifted a hand and tucked an errant strand of Clara's hair behind he ear. "Completely," she said, "we wonder if what we feel is real, or if it's just in our mind."

Clara looked back at Jennifer. "If they feel the connection like we do."

"If we're friends…" Jennifer added.

"…Or something, more." Clara whispered.

Jennifer caught herself looking into Clara's eyes. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, but she lost track of how long the pause in their conversation had lasted. She couldn't think of the next word to say, she couldn't think of what to add. She just looked at Clara, who stared right back at her. Then, Clara did the thing she did at Jennifer's house, the one thing that caused Jennifer to look away last time. Jennifer couldn't explain why, she wasn't sure why it had made her so uncomfortable, why it had bothered her before. Jennifer wasn't even sure what it meant, or why such a subtle movement had such a large impact. Jennifer watched Clara's eyes in slow-motion. First she bit her lip, and pulled her eyebrows in, studying Jennifer, eyes locked. Then, Clara's eyes broke free from Jenn's gaze, and shot down to Jennifer's lips before returning quickly to her eyes. It was quick, it was small, and it was an invitation.

Jennifer made her move.

The sensation of Clara's lips against hers was instantaneous. The kiss began softly but soon the inebriation and passion took hold. What began as a small kiss, as a small secret that friends might keep, exploded into every emotion, every desire each had held back. Clara pressed into Jennifer, taking charge. Before Jennifer knew it, Clara was sitting in her lap, lips exploring her neck. Jennifer could hardly breathe. Her hands slipped under the back of Clara's shirt, feeling the moist sweat.

Clara pulled Jennifer towards her, towards the edge of the bed, and then, with Jennifer sitting on the edge, pulled up her skirt and straddled Jennifer's thigh. She ran her fingers through Jennifer's hair. Jenn responded by sliding her hand up the side of Clara's thigh, feeling the heat between Clara's legs on her own.

Clara breathed a hot, humid breath in Jenn's ear, pulling on the bottom of her shirt, stretching the fabric out. Jenn began untucking Clara's blouse from the back of her skirt, freeing it entirely as Clara pushed her hips into Jenn's thigh.

Jennifer felt Clara's fingers pulling at the button on her shorts. Jenn pressed her hand on the small of Clara's back, feeling her hips as she slid back and forth. She found herself biting on Clara's lower lip as Clara's fingers began walking down, into Jenn's shorts, rubbing the hair beneath her panties, sliding lower.

Jennifer choked on her breath, her stomach a knot of anticipation. She tried to kiss Clara but Clara pulled back, teasing her with a smile. Jenn lifted her hips to meet Clara's fingers as they slid into her. She pushed forward, fighting Clara's protests before pressing her lips into Clara's. Clara surrendered, kissing Jenn back. Her finger rubbing circles around Jenn's button, Jenn's fingers digging into her back, popping the clasp on her bra.

Clara slammed Jenn back on the bed and lifting an arm, turned off the lights.