Page 2 of In Too Deep

And what a bad time to have them.

One moment, I was swimming like a fish and the next, I was cramping, sinking, drowning.

And I couldn’t do anything, my body was numb and my mind suddenly blank.

My leg muscles were twisting in knots. I couldn’t kick to get to the surface. I actually though I was going to die…

I could just see the headlines now.

Nationally-ranked, collegiate swimmer dies of leg cramps in university swimming pool.

How ironic.

How pathetic.

And yet if I was going to die, I wouldn’t choose any other way.

I closed my eyes, allowing the water to embrace me tighter, to take me deeper, ignoring the pain in my chest.

Just when everything had gone silent, I felt air rush into my lungs as arms pulled me out of the water.

For the next few minutes, I coughed as I waited for my arms and legs to come back to life.

Then I lay still, taking a deep breath before opening my eyes. As my vision cleared, I saw a pair of blue eyes looking down on me.

“Hey, Janet! Are you alright?”

Christina was looming over me, dripping water on my face.

She had beautiful blue eyes, all right, blue like the turquoise earrings my Mom gave me for my last birthday. It was the shade of blue that evoked hope and faith in infinite possibilities.

Too bad they belonged to her.

“I’m fine.” I sat up coughing. I ran my hands through my drenched hair. “You don’t have to make such a fuss.”

“We thought you were dead,” Nicole Merriman said, standing behind Christina with a towel to her chin.

“Like I’d drown,” I scoffed, getting up on my feet, although my head was still swimming (pun intended). “Don’t you guys have something better to do than crowd around me? Go practice! You all need it.”

Coach Banks came over and put a hand on my shoulder. She was short and had to look up to meet my eyes. “Sure you’re all right, Anderson?”

I nodded.

“Take a break, rub those muscles,” she ordered before walking away.

I headed towards the bench and grabbed my towel, using it to wipe my face before draping it around my shoulders.

Great. Now, I’d made a fool of myself.

And it was all Christina’s fault.

She wasn’t just phony.

She was also deadly.

She nearly became the death of me.

“She saved your life, you idiot,” a little voice in my head said.