The end of the day came up fast, and the swimming team had gone to check the notice on the board for the new swimming hours. The new hours were from three to four, Mondays to Thursdays. Caleb turned around and saw the swimming team behind him.
"Come on guys! We're headed to the pool!" Caleb shouted, and the team followed him to the pool. They headed to the locker room and changed into their Speedos, and then headed to the pool. The girls' swimming team was already there, but they were still in the uniforms. Coach Hart was explaining something to them, and by the end, they all started cheering.
"Well that's interesting…" Reid perked his head up, looking over at the girls' team.
"We'll probably find out soon." Tyler said, smacking Reid on his bare shoulder. Coach Lyre was standing at the end of the pool, waiting for the boys to gather around him. Caleb and the rest followed the crowd and stood around Coach Lyre, waiting for him to speak.
"Everyone here? Good. Boys, we're having a competition here in two weeks time. Practice, as usual, is crucial. So you all better step up and show me what you boys have got." He looked at everyone, searching for any signs of disagreement, but there was mostly confusion. The girls seemed very happy with the news they had gotten, and unless Coach Hart was more convincing in her speech, they didn't understand why the girls had cheered.
"And for that reason, boys, we're getting new team colour Speedos. The girls have already received theirs, but yours is due Wednesday." Coach Lyre finished. The boys shrugged, they knew the girls always wanted new team colour Speedos, but they weren't as excited.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get to the lanes; we're supposed to be practicing!" Coach Lyre shouted at them. They quickly got in even numbered teams and got up on the platform for relay. Coach Lyre stood next to pool and blew his whistle. The boys in each lane dived, and the next one got onto the platform. Caleb got onto his platform, and watched for Pogue. Right next to him was Chase, also ready to get up next. Chase nodded at Caleb, and Caleb returned the courtesy. Caleb looked back to his lane, just in time to see Pogue touch the wall. Caleb dived, and Chase followed him right in after. Chase was swimming freestyle like Caleb, but every time Caleb turned his head, Chase was inching closer to him. On the turn, Chase had made better time, and was right in front of Caleb. For a moment he was distracted by that thought. He was never beaten, that's why he was the swimming captain. Caleb swam as fast as he could push himself, and just before he reached the halfway mark, he was even with Chase. With less than five strokes to reach the end of the pool, Caleb turned his head one last time, at the same time as Chase turned his. He knew what he saw, and he was sure he wasn't hallucinating. Chase's eyes were black, midnight black. Caleb didn't know what happened next. A sudden weight hit him, and he sank into darkness. For a few minutes, he was in a cold and dark place, a place he didn't know how to get out of.
"Caleb? Come on, wake up!" A familiar voice cut through the darkness.
"Caleb? Don't you think we should call 911?" He heard the voice again. Caleb cracked open his eyes and noticed five blurry figures above his head, moving ever so slightly.
"Geez Caleb, are you ok?" Another familiar voice asked him. Caleb sat up and rubbed his eyes, forcing his eyes to focus again.
"You're lucky Chase was here to save your butt. You sank like a rock, buddy." Pogue said, giving Chase a congratulatory hit on the shoulder.
"Well, I gotta carry on swimming, so you guys keep an eye on him." Chase said, and the coach followed him back to the poolside. Caleb pulled himself up a little more and looked at his three friends.
"What the hell happened?" Caleb mumbled, rubbing a sore spot on his head.
"You swam into the pool wall. Not exactly the smartest thing you've done." Tyler joked. Caleb made to stand up, but swayed uneasily on his feet. Reid and Pogue caught his arms and helped him walk over to a bench. Reid gave him the ice pack he had handy, and Caleb put it on his head with a nod of thanks to Reid.
"Chase…he…" Caleb mumbled incomprehensively.
"Chase saved your butt before you drank up the pool." Pogue tried to finish Caleb's sentence. Caleb shook his head and spoke even softer.
"No, his eyes…they were black." Caleb whispered, but he knew the other three had heard him just fine. Their eyes went as wide as possible, and they stood frozen.
"Wait…what?" Reid whispered back to Caleb.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Caleb shook his head. As they spoke, they didn't realize that Anna had moved closer than the rest of the girls in the team. When they finished speaking, she disappeared back to her line and got ready for relay.