Things get worse before they get better...

He was up early again the next day. Despite being so tired the night before, he didn't get as much sleep as he would have liked as the reason he was doing all this failed to leave the forefront of his mind. However, those thoughts just kept him going.

He went back to the local pool. This time, he told his family that he was meeting up with some friends in town. He hated lying to them, but he knew that if he told them he was going swimming again, questions would be raised. Even for him, spending his whole weekend at the pool when there wasn't even a competition coming up was a bit much.

Gordon took the bus again, partially because there were no brothers heading into town this time, and partially because even if there was he wouldn't want them to know where he really was going.

Gordon would have loved to have his own pool at home so he didn't have to go back and forth to town at the weekend. During the week, even when he didn't have practice, he was able to use the school pool as much as he liked until school closed in the evening, as long as it wasn't being used for another club and he wasn't skipping class to do so.

His dad said that one day he would get his own pool, although Gordon had no idea where he would put it. He suspected it had something to do with why his dad was getting so busy with work lately, but Gordon was so preoccupied with his own troubles that he didn't have time to question it now. He only hoped that his dad wasn't lying to him. He really did want his own pool.

For now, though, he would make it work.

That day was much like the one before. He swam laps up and down the pool until his arms ached and his legs couldn't even push him through the water anymore. Again, he skipped lunch as he didn't want to waste time. However, this time he remembered to bring an energy bar and some glucose tablets, which he had after his practice.

Also like the day before, by the time he made it home he was exhausted. He collapsed on his bed and would have slept through dinner if it wasn't for Alan annoyingly poking him until he woke up.

Monday came and so it was time for school again. It was a struggle to pull himself out of bed in the morning, and every effort was put into getting dressed and trying to shovel something into his mouth. Fortunately, Monday mornings were a time when everyone seemed to be half-lidded and barely there, so his unusual tiredness went unnoticed.

The school day came and went with little interest and before Gordon knew it, it was the end of the school day. Whereas most students went home, however, Gordon stuck around.

Now at school, he wanted to make use of the pool as it was much nicer than the one in town, plus he didn't have to put up with loud families or people trying to use his lane.

He came up with some excuse that he was hanging out with friends again. The lie was mostly for Alan, who would be wondering why Gordon wasn't on the bus home with him, and Alan being the younger brother he was, didn't question it. It was easy.

The only problem was Coach Brown.

Gordon didn't want to see the man before he had more time to improve and be visibly better, to show him that he didn't need to take drugs. It had only been a few days and Gordon knew there was still a long way to go.

He snuck around the pool, the locker rooms, and the man's office just to make sure that he wasn't around. There was no sign of the Coach and as the pool appeared to be empty, there would be no classes or water polo practice to worry about. He was alone.

Over the weekend, Gordon had noticed that one area he was lacking in was his turns, so he made sure to focus on them that day. There was no point in trying to go faster if he lost speed just trying to turn around.

By the end of it all, he was once again tired and achy but he was sure he was getting better, which made it all worth it. It just showed him this was the best way to solve his problem.

When he eventually dragged himself out of the pool, he made sure to have a shower and then dry his hair with one of the barely functional hairdryers that were left in the locker room that no one used. He didn't need anyone knowing where he had just come from. Gordon then packed up his things to leave, but as he went to put his goggles in his bag, he realised that he couldn't find them.

He'd left them on the bench at the side of the pool.

Gordon kicked himself for being so forgetful, but grabbed the rest of his things anyway and then headed back towards the pool. He'd grab his goggles on the way out.

He left the locker room and went to head back into the pool, but stopped still at the door when he saw the man not too far away.

Coach Brown.

He was walking along the edge of the pool as he headed towards the storage cupboard at the other end of the room, carrying some floats that had been left out. Gordon didn't think he'd seen him, so he slowly closed the door to just a crack so he could still watch the man.

Gordon felt ridiculous hiding from someone who he used to feel so comfortable around. He had trusted and respected his Coach, but he wasn't so sure of how he felt towards the man anymore. All he knew was that he still wanted nothing more than to be the swimmer his Coach wanted him to be.

He had to wait several minutes before the man emerged from the cupboard. He locked the door behind him, and then left the room. He didn't seem to have noticed Gordon's discarded goggles, which meant he wouldn't realise Gordon had been around.

When there was no more sign of the Coach, Gordon quickly rushed through the door, grabbed his goggles and darted from the room before he could be seen. He hurried out of school, just in case Coach was still hanging out, and managed to find that he was just in time for the late bus home.

The next day when Gordon got to school, he checked to see if the pool would be free again after school, but was dismayed to find that it was going to be used for a lesson. He figured it was probably for the best, as his family would be getting suspicious of how he was spending less and less time at home. However, he wasn't happy at the missed opportunity to practice.

On his way home from school that day, he came up with an idea for how to use his free time. Although practice in the pool was vital for his training, that wasn't the only way he could improve. He needed to build up his strength if he wanted to be quick and agile in the water. He didn't need the water to have a workout.

At home, in the privacy of his room, he searched up some workouts online that he could follow along with. He didn't have any weights or equipment and didn't feel up to stealing anything of Scott's, but there was a lot that he could do without them.

He worked out for a couple of hours. Push ups, sit ups, burpees. He only stopped when he heard his dad get home from work and decided that was enough for the day.

Afterwards, his arms and legs felt like jelly, but he supposed that was just a sign that he had worked hard.

He thought that he would sleep well that night, but he still found himself wide awake hours after he'd gone to bed. He couldn't stop thinking about how he had swim practice the next day. He would have to face Coach Brown and tell him that he still hadn't done as he'd asked, and he still didn't feel quite ready to show the Coach all the work he'd done on his own.

At some point he must have fallen asleep, after exhausting his mind over what he should do, as it was suddenly morning and his alarm was blaring through his room.

He reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and got ready for the day. His limbs were aching more that morning than they had before, which was a sign of his tough workout. He was quiet over breakfast, not that he ate much, and he had to force a smile onto his face as he said goodbye to his family for the day.