So when somebody starts banging on my door after midnight, I am incredibly pissed. Susannah didn’t go out for once and was fast asleep hours ago, so she’s mad too.
“Go away!” she hollers, burrowing under her covers.
I pad to the door in bare feet and look out the peephole to find Levi and Jason.
I open the door.
“Happy birthday!” they yell.
Jason passes me one of those big balloons you buy at the grocery store. It’s the pink Power Ranger.
“Thanks, Jason.”
He playfully punches me on the shoulder and goes to jump on Susannah’s bed, flopping all over her to be annoying, making her screech. I cringe. Her screams may wake up the whole hotel.
Levi sets the gift bag he’s carrying on the floor, embraces me in a long hug, and gently kisses my cheek in a friendly way. “Happy birthday.”
Being in his arms feels so nice I let go of the balloon, and it floats to the ceiling.
“This is going to make me sound like a dick,” he starts, “But hear me out. I got myself something for your birthday.”
He reaches inside his T-shirt and fishes out his chain with the Make Waves pendant. He’s added a second one—a small silver disc. Looking more closely I see that it says Maggie, alongside an etching of a bear. That’s the Cal mascot. I grin really big.
“Thanks,” I say quietly, touching the pendant with a fingertip. “That means a lot to me.”
“I got you this too.” He gives me the gift bag, which I open to find the soft gray sweatshirt with his name on it in cursive. Lucassen. I bring it to my nose, loving its smell of cedar and his aftershave.
I cuddle his favorite shirt in my arms. “You’re sure?”
“I want you to have it when you’re at college.”
Jason chooses that moment to start a pillow fight with Susannah. She picks up her own to clock him on the head. “Get out of here, asshole!”
“Sorry,” Levi says to me. “I didn’t want to bring him, but he really wanted to give you that balloon.”
A loud knock pounds on the door. I open it to find Coach Josh standing there looking equal parts pissed and tired. He even has his visor on.
“Coach, do you wear your visor to bed?” Jason asks.
He sets his hands on his hips. “What are you all doing?”
“It’s my fault,” Levi replies. “I wanted to bring Maggie her birthday gift.”
“Did you forget I was staying right next door?” Coach asks.
Jason takes the opportunity to bop Susannah on the head again with a pillow.
“Jason. Keller,” Coach says. “Get your butt back to your room.”
Jason tosses the pillow back on the bed. “Cooaaach,” he whines like a fourth grader. Coach points at the door. Jason mopes out without another word.
Susannah smiles smugly and crawls back under the blankets and shuts her eyes.
“C’mon, Lucassen,” Coach says.
“Happy birthday,” Levi tells me, and pats my arm.
When he’s gone, I slip his sweatshirt on over my tank top. It’s so cozy soft and warm and smells like him. Almost as if I’m in his arms.
Going to sleep after that is easy.
The next day, Levi is on fire.
If he hadn’t already committed to Texas, every college scout in the country would be all over him at the Atlanta Classic.
It all starts with 100 breaststroke. He wins his prelim a full length ahead of his competitors! Then, in the final, Levi leads the lanes.
Coach Josh grabs my elbow as we watch the race, both of us staring at the clock. 1:03.69 is the time he needs to make his cuts. He is totally going to beat that time. When he sails in at 1:02.90, I am jumping up and down, screaming my butt off. Coach Josh is squatting down, covering his face. Ten years of working with Levi just paid off in the biggest way.
Now Levi gets to compete in two races at trials! Both 100 and 200 breast. Two chances to make the Olympic team!
When Levi turns and sees the scoreboard, he rips off his cap and goggles and climbs out of the pool. He’s shaking as he folds his arms around me in a long hug. I’m so proud of him.
Once we’re off the pool deck and out in the foyer, he digs in his bag for his phone.
He wraps an arm around my waist, and I listen in as he calls his mom, Oma, and Opa to tell them. Their screams pour out of the phone.
I don’t get my cuts during the meet, but it’s okay because my best friend got his.
Sink or Swim
Levi drops me off at King’s Royal Engagements after weight lifting one afternoon.
I wave hi to the receptionist and head back toward Mom’s office, but I don’t make it there because I hear laughing and arguing coming from the dining room where my parents do tastings for prospective clients.
I poke my head in to see what’s happening and find Coach Woods sitting there with Dad and five other people.
“Hi,” I say. “What’s going on?”
“Jordan and Sam dropped by for a tasting,” Dad says, beaming. When I told him Coach Woods was interested in having him plan her wedding, he went nuts. Not only does he love having the business, her dad was a famous quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, Dad’s favorite football team. I’m not sure how much Mr. Woods cares about design elements and feng shui, but Dad sure is happy to tell him all about it.
Dad introduces Coach Woods’ parents, her fiancé, Sam, and his mom and dad. Their parents start asking me tons of questions about swimming—they seem really into sports. Meanwhile, Coach Woods and Sam are hovering over a platter of Chef’s chocolate truffles, popping them in their mouths like M&M’s and groaning about how good they are.
Mr. Woods throws his head back and stares at the ceiling. “Do either of you ever stop eating?”
“Dad, these truffles are so good!” Coach Woods exclaims.
“Jordan, we have to get a truffle display,” her fiancé says.
“Can we try some?” Mrs. Woods asks, but by that point, her daughter and future son-in-law have eaten them all.
Coach Woods turns to Dad, still chewing her final chocolate. “Can the truffles be shaped like footballs?”
“Of course.” Dad makes a note on his iPad, and the parents start shaking their heads, exasperated.
“How about we talk color themes?” Mrs. Woods asks. “And let’s look beyond the Titans colors.”
“But I had my heart set on the groomsmen wearing football uniforms,” Coach Woods jokes.
“And the bridesmaids will be in cheerleading skirts,” Sam replies.
Coach Woods punches his shoulder, which makes him laugh and kiss her.
“Let’s compromise,” Sam says to his fiancé. “You can wear the cheerleading outfit on our honeymoon.”
The parents roll their eyes.
I leave them to their planning and go back to Mom’s office. She’s busy playing with one of her Pinterest boards online. She posts a picture of the baby shower she catered a couple weeks ago, specifically the yellow place mats and the individual tiny white flower arrangements at each place setting.
I sit down across from her.
“Hey, Tadpole.” The sweatshirt I’m wearing with Levi’s name on it catches her attention. “Is that Levi’s?”
I feel myself blushing. “He gave it to me for my birthday.”
“You guys made up?”
“Not specifically,” I say. “But we’re back to normal.”
Mom clicks the mouse on her laptop. “That’s how it is with good friends. Actually, that’s how it is between your dad and me.”
“Really?”
“You know we argue all the time,” Mom says with a fond smile.
“Yeah, but it’s about little stuff. Like what to name your aioli sauce.”
“I think we get along so well because we fight about the things that bother us, rather than stewing about them.”
“Levi and I had a big fight,” I say. “We’d never really had a little one.”
Mom turns away from her laptop to concentrate on me. “The good news is that you’ve made it through a bad fight. Your friendship is solid, and if you have another one—though I hope you don’t—you both will be okay.”