I normally love swim team, but by the end of the first week of practice, I'd begun to hate it.

There was the obvious issue—Chris being injured—but on top of that, something else had happened, making everything much, much worse.

JEN HAD JOINED OUR SWIM TEAM.

Yep, Jen, my mom's friend Lena's daughter. Jen, whom I'd known pretty much forever…Jen, who couldn't even dive! It was pathetic.

Still, despite the bad things about summer so far (Chris's ankle, Jen) I was still excited about our first swim meet, which was on June 12th. June 12th happened to be a Tuesday. We had swim practice that Monday, but not on Tuesday, so I spent the day at Chris's house, lounging around and watching him play video games.

Okay, so not a very exciting day, but sadly, it's a normal summer day for me. Sometimes I might go play a little soccer or something, and of course hang at the pool, but other than that, I don't have much of a social life. That might have something to do with the fact that besides my swim buddies, Chris is pretty much my only friend. Honestly, I don't care. Some people think it's weird. (Like Laura, Bailey, and Jen, not to mention my mother.) Some girls at school hate me for it, since with the girls, he's considered "cute," but to me he's nothing like that. We're just friends…we always have been, and we always will be.

ANYWAY. Back to the story. At three o' clock, I went home, arranging to meet Chris at the pool at four. Swim meets started at six, but at home meets, we went early to start setting everything up. And Chris, though he couldn't swim, was totally still a part of the team. Just not a vital part.

So at home I packed up some food, slipped my iPod into its waterproof case, changed into my swim team suit, pulled on a pair of shorts, grabbed my towel, slid into flip-flops, then, trying to carry everything, headed out.

Soon, though, I had to stop. I was carrying too much: my towel; the bag that had my iPod, a deck of cards, ten bucks, my cell phone, my goggles, my swim cap, and sunscreen; the small cooler, which was filled with ice, strawberries, and Gatorade (enough to share); and another bag which had chips, peanut butter crackers, and granola bars inside. These were essential things at swim meets.

"Hey, uh…you need some help?"

I looked up into an unfamiliar face.

A very, very cute unfamiliar face.

The boy, whoever he was, had long, sort of shaggy dark hair and dark eyes. He was tall and lean and grinning down at me.

"Um," I said, straightening up. "Yeah, I guess so." He took the cooler and the plastic bag with the food. "Thanks," I said.

"No problem," he said easily. "My name's Adam."

"I'm Dell," I said. "You live around here?"

He shrugged. "Kind of near, I guess."

Then I noticed his T-shirt. It was green, an ugly olive green. There was a picture of a shark on the front. Underneath the shark, it said: Lakehaven Sharks: City Champs 3 Years in a Row! 2006. On the back, in white, it said "ADAM."

Oh, no. No, no, no.

He was a LAKEHAVEN SHARK!

Let me explain. My swim team is the Eagle Woods Eagles. (Bet you didn't see that one coming, huh?) We're a strong team. But we haven't won city since 4 years ago.

No, our enemies, our RIVALS, the Lakehaven Sharks have beaten us out three years in a row.

Just my luck that I finally get an encounter with a cute boy, the kind you read about and wish happened to you, but he had to be a Shark! So unfair.

I'm not a girly-girl who gushes over cute guys, but trust me, I notice them, and stuff. Get crushes periodically (but they fade pretty quickly.) But I've fantasized about boys, and stuff. So…this was nice. But a Shark boy? My friends would never forgive me for that.

"So," he said, as we walked, "where were you headed with this stuff?" I then noticed that he was wearing swim trunks (probably concealing his tighter, team-color suit underneath) and had his own bag. I racked my brains. Were we swimming against Lakehaven today? I couldn't remember; my mind had gone oddly blank.

"A swim meet," I replied.

"You swim?" he asked, looking interested.

"Uh, yeah. I'm an Eagle," I said, bracing myself for Jake's reply.

He laughed.

He laughed.

Whatever I'd been expecting, that wasn't it.

"What?" I asked indignantly.

"It's just funny," he responded.

Now he was making me mad.

"You know," I said heatedly, "just because the Sharks have won city three years in a row doesn't mean you're better. We've had problems. People have been sick. And…stuff. Besides, I'm sure I could kick your butt in a race!"

He looked a bit taken aback. I wasn't sorry.

"Uh…sorry," he said. "But I wasn't laughing at the Eagles. I know the Eagles are good. You're pretty much our top competitors." Was he sincere? I couldn't tell. He seemed sincere. "I was laughing because, you know. Eagles and Sharks are like rivals."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid and regretting my outburst. "Yeah. You're right. We are."

"Yeah," he said.

"You're kind of early for an away meet," I pointed out, as we rounded a corner and the bathhouse, painted a violently bright yellow, came into view. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah," he said again. "I am."

"Any particular reason?"

He shrugged. "No." Then he changed the subject. "So what's your favorite event?"

"Relay," I said. "Medley. I have this awesome team. Me, Krissy, Jade, and Jessica. We kick butt…we're going for the city record this year. We're only about thirty seconds over right now."

Adam looked impressed. "Wow," he said. "That's really good. We have a pretty good medley relay team, too. The girls, I mean. They won city last year. But it wasn't a record." He grinned. "You'll have to swim pretty fast to beat them."

"Don't worry," I said confidently. "We'll blow them out of the water." Luckily, he didn't look offended.

We had reached the bathhouse. "Well," I said, taking back my things, "thanks for your help. I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah," he said. "Good luck tonight!"

"Thanks," I called over my shoulder, as I headed inside. He was already making his way to the designated guest team area.

Through the bathhouse I went, then stepped into the pool area. It was four oh five, and pure chaos. I set down my things and went to find Chris.

I found him sitting on a deck, watching as Rick and Alex separated the lanes. "Hey," I said.

"You're late," he accused. "Who's that guy you were talking to?" He didn't sound jealous, just curious.

"He helped me with my stuff," I said. "He was named Adam. But he was a Shark."

Chris made a face. "Ew."

"He said their girls' medley relay team is really good and that they won city last year."

Chris rolled his eyes. "You and Krissy and Jade and Jessica are awesome," he said. "Don't worry. Just swim."

That was pretty much Chris's mantra during swim meets—"Don't worry. Just swim." It got old, but it hadn't yet this summer. I grinned at him. "Okay, okay."

Gradually, everybody else arrived. Rick posted a sheet saying which people would swim which events. I was signed up for the breast and butterfly this week, as well as the relay, of course. I ambled back over to Chris.

"What are you swimming?" he asked. I told him. Soon the races began. For a while I cheered on Krissy, Jade, Jessica, Jake, Zach, and Ben—my swim team friends. I couldn't help wincing at Jen's pathetic attempt at the butterfly. (She came in dead last.) I also couldn't help noticing Adam in a freestyle race. He had great abs and toned, tan arms. He won, too, beating out Jake, our best freestyle swimmer. Wow.

I watched him discreetly as he hoisted himself out of the pool and toweled himself dry. He was enveloped into a group of Sharks. And wait, who was that?

A tall, skinny blond girl had just walked up and hugged him. She very obviously was not on the swim team: her hair wasn't chlorine-y or dry, she was dry, and she was wearing a tiny skirt and a tight tank top. Not swimming attire.

And why was she hugging him?

"Dell? What are you looking at?" asked Krissy. "Your race is starting! And dude, you'd better win. We're down by twenty points!"

"Twenty? Really?" I shed my shorts and handed them to Chris, who was standing by. "Okay, then. I'll win."

I made my way over to the start line for my first race—breast. Jade was also swimming it. We'd be against two lean, fit-looking Shark girls, but I didn't let them intimidate me. I never got nervous before racing, but I knew Jade did, and sure enough, she looked pretty unsure of herself. She's a good swimmer, but she always gets nervous. I squeezed her shoulder. "Don't freak," I said. "You'll be fine."

She smiled, and then we climbed onto the platforms, waiting for the signal to go. When it came, I dove into the water, surfaced…and then the race began.

Like always, it was a totally surreal experience. Distantly, I could hear splashing and yelling and cheering, but it seemed like it was in another world. I wasn't in that world, I was in this one, in the water. Nobody else mattered, not Chris or Jade or Adam or the two Shark girls. Just swim. Just swim…

The wall. My body, as if on autopilot, executed a perfect flip-turn and started swimming back. I didn't know where the others were; I didn't care. But I was going fast, maybe faster than I'd ever gone before.

Almost there now…almost there…I stretched my arm out, knowing that the sooner I touched the wall, the better off I'd be. Finally my fingers met resistance.

Whew. That was a tough swim. My legs were shaky. I floated there for a second, then tore off my goggles and got out of the pool. I noted with pride that I'd won the heat. I hadn't set a new record for myself, but it was definitely a good time. Jade had come in third.

My friends surrounded me, congratulating me. Somebody handed me my towel. I gladly accepted it, then broke away from them to get a Gatorade.

As I was bent over my cooler, a shadow fell over it. I looked up into Adam's face. He was still shirtless, and I had to tear my eyes away from his bare chest.

"Hey," I said, popping open the bottle.

"Hey," he said. "I saw you swim just then. You were awesome."

"Thanks," I said. "I saw you, too. You beat Jake, and he's really fast."

Adam nodded. "He is." Then he shrugged. "Well, I just wanted to say good job."

"Thanks," I said again.

"Maybe I'll see you around this summer," he said. "You'll have a meet at Lakehaven, won't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, most likely. And conference?" I asked, referring to the huge, end-of-summer meet where all teams raced against each other.

He nodded earnestly. "Oh, yeah. Definitely." He grinned and my heart almost stopped, he was so cute. "Well, I'd better go. See you later," he said, then loped off.

Wow. I watched him go, breathless with anticipation of the next time I'd see Adam the Shark.