Read Landlocked (A water witch novel) for Free Online Page A

said in horror.
    “Well, actually I have a couple in my locker if you want to read too…” I said hopefully, but her facial expression told me it was a no go. “And I also have a deck of cards we could play—”
    “Sold! Let’s get a tan while I beat you.” She dragged me away from my locker/bookshelf.
     
    ***
     
    Our teammates began to trickle in, and Aunt Sylvia arrived before the coach or any of the other parents did. She waved at me from the stand, still looking a bit on guard. I shook my head. I'd never known her to put any stock in dreams. We always laughed together when those psychic infomercials came on, now it seemed she would call the one eight hundred number at the bottom of the screen. I wondered off-hand if she had some kind of whimsical new age yoga instructor that liked to interpret dreams.
    “Sylvia looks more nervous than usual. She can’t be worried about the meet. We all know you’ll win every match you’re in,” Clarissa said as she stretched her shoulders.
    “I wish it was something that normal. She’s freaked out about some dream I had.”
    She paused mid-stretch. “Are you for real? Oh, the worrywart knows no bounds! What are they going to do when we go to college next fall?”
    I join her in our pregame loosening up ritual. “They'll buy a house next to campus and have us all move in together.” I smiled up at Sylvia, trying to ease her unnecessary concern. “Come on, I think everyone has showed up by now.”
    We walked side by side into the cool locker room. When we turned the sharp corner, I saw that all of the girls had made it on time. We had about fourteen girls on our team. It was enough—but twenty would have been better. With our current roster, no one got a break. I didn’t mind, of course, but most of my teammates were completely drained after their first two races. I might have to go on a recruiting spree again. I felt a little guilty for missing the beginning of my coach’s pre-game speech, so I tried to look extra attentive as Clarissa and I joined the group.
    “They’re from bigger schools. But you know what we have? A bigger heart—”
    “And Maribel,” one of the younger girls interjected.
    “Yes and Maribel, but she is just one person. This is a team, and without all of you pushing your hardest, we aren’t anything. Now go get stretched and ready, and don’t forget your gear!” Some of them would forget about their goggles and cap until right before a race.
    The locker room slowly cleared out, and just me and Clarissa remained with the coach, Mrs. Winegar. “Anything we need to know about, coach, changes to the line-up or anything?”
    “No, everything will be the same as last meet. I’m sure we’ll do well against North and Kelly’s, but Saint Mary’s is the biggest school we have ever gone up against. Their swim program has been around longer than black and white photography. Ours has been going for three years.” She looked down; coach hated losing almost as much as Clarissa. I didn’t care much so long as I got to swim.
    We walked back out into the bright afternoon light and took our seats. Mrs. Winegar reminded everyone to stay loose. Each of us could only compete in four events and no more than two individual races, so it was easy to get cold and have your muscles tighten up on you. My events were always the two longest team relays, the individual five hundred, and my personal favorite the two hundred IM (individual medley). They were fairly well spread with only two of them back to back. Clarissa and a few other girls stood up; the two hundred medley relay was the first event. My first event was the third on the roster and waiting was always the worst part. I wished I could swim in every race… stupid rules.
    As I sat watching Clarissa dominate her event, I felt my aunt’s eyes on my back. I didn’t want to turn around and wave at her like a twelve year old, so I decided to wait until my event was called. I could give her a smile before