“DADDY, LOOK!” I SCREAM as I’m about to jump into the deep end of the pool. He waves and his smile is huge. I know I’m going to make him so proud by finally being brave.
My feet hit the cool water first and I feel it rush through my toes and up my legs. I squeeze my nose closed as tight as I can, suck in lots of air and hold my breath. My heart is pounding as the rest of my body sinks below the surface. I kick my legs as fast as I can, trying to reach the sunlight through the water. The muffled sound of clapping hands becomes louder as my head pops out of the water and I take huge gulps of air.
“Great pencil dive, Sam!” Daddy yells from the porch. He’s surrounded by his friends from work. We’re having a party to celebrate his secretary’s retirement, and everyone loves her so much, they wanted to come and share this special day with her. Lucy is super sweet and she says she’s going to travel the world with her husband. She’s old, like fifty or sixty. I don’t know why she waited so long to follow her dream of seeing things like the Eiffel Tower and the Tower of London. Lots of towers. Kind of seems boring.
Her granddaughter, Cassie, is my age and she’s here too. She’s a really good swimmer and taught me how to jump into the deep end. Today’s the first day that I’m not wearing my swimmies.
“Woo-hoo!” Cassie says from the diving board. “It’s my turn now!”
My heart is beating fast as I try to paddle to the shallow end. My arms feel really heavy and it’s hard to keep my head above the water. My toes scrape along the bottom of the pool that is the slope leading to shallower water. I’m almost there.
“Sam, please stay in the shallow end when you don’t have your swimmies on,” my mother calls from the stairs. As soon as my feet are firmly planted on the flat surface of the shallow end, I turn and smile. “I’m okay, Mommy. See!” I throw my hands up in the air, splashing water around me. She smiles as she shakes her head and turns to pass a tray of food to one of Daddy’s friends from work.
“Cannonball!” Cassie yells from the diving board, pulling her knees to her chest. She lands in the water and doesn’t even have to hold her nose. Her eyes are open huge and she’s laughing as her face disappears beneath the waves that she just made. She doesn’t come up right away and I’m suddenly worried. Before I can say another word, I feel a cool hand wrap around my ankle and I’m underwater again, flailing and laughing.
We both surface while I cough out the water I just swallowed. “Hey! No fair. And no playing rough or your grandma will be down here before you know it,” I say to her as she pulls herself onto a large raft. It’s Mommy’s raft and is usually off limits to kids, but she’s busy with Daddy’s friends and probably won’t notice. Cassie paddles over toward me and I climb on next to her.
Our shoulders are touching on the raft. It’s really hot.
“I like your pool,” she says, covering her eyes with her arm.
“Thanks,” I say, doing the same with my own arm.
Cassie giggles and kicks her foot in the water, spraying it all over us.
“My dad is sad that your grandma isn’t going to work for him anymore. He keeps saying he doesn’t know what he’s going to do without Lucy,” I say and see Lucy and Mommy looking out from the deck.
“I know, Grammy is pretty sad, but she and Grampy have been planning their retirement for a long time. They said I can come on a road trip with them in their RV. I think they’re going to take me to Florida next summer and maybe to Maine.”
“I’m going to Disney World next month for my birthday,” I say and think about all of the fun things we’re going to do there.
“Really? Oh, I wish I could come!” Cassie whines and splashes me again. I laugh and try to shield my face from the cold water from the pool.
“I bet you’ll go there when your grandparents take you next summer.”