Page 30 of The Absence of You
Chapter Twenty-Six
DAHLIA
It’s been over a week since Coach Swanson demanded Grayson teach me to swim, and I’ve still not spoken to him about it. I’m still hoping to get away with having Callie teach me. I figure if I can even get a few lessons in with her, maybe Coach will let me join the class instead of forcing Grayson to teach me.
Still, I’ve been dreading this all morning. Callie has just picked me up for my first swimming lesson, and I’m not looking forward to it one bit. She’d assured me the pool was quiet on weekend mornings, so I could at least practice without anyone seeing how bad I am.
I change into the two-piece that Dee bought me and follow Callie through the changing room door. She was right about it being quiet at least, with only one lone swimmer doing laps underwater on the far side of the pool.
Placing my towel down on the bench next to Callie’s, we walk to the side of the pool, and I climb down the ladder. I cling to the side, hating the fact I can’t reach the floor. Callie slips into the pool next to me.
“We are just going to start with some water confidence,” Callie tells me. “Do you feel confident enough to let yourself float a bit? You can keep hold of the side. Just let your body relax, and you’ll find your natural buoyancy.”
For the next half an hour, I listen to Callie patiently instructing me and before long, I’ve loosened my grip, and I’m not completely hating it.
Eventually, we decide we’ve done enough for the first session, and we get out to shower. As we’re leaving the changing room, I notice the rows of sports team photographs along the corridor. Stopping to study the most recent ones, I find Grayson on most of the swim team photos from the last few years.
“Didn’t you say your parents both attended here, Dahlia?” asks Callie as she notices me studying the photos. “If you follow the corridor down to the left towards the boy’s locker rooms, the older team photos on the wall there. Goes right back to the 1970s. Maybe they were on one of the teams.”
“Cool, I’ll take a look.” I have literally no idea if either of them had been particularly sporty at my age, but I’m interested to find out.
“Take your time, I’ll grab us a couple of drinks from the vending machine, and meet you at the car,” calls Callie as I turn the corner.
Quickly doing the maths in my head, I work out my parents would have attended between the mid to late 90s. I start scanning the wall to find the right period, when a voice from behind startles me.
“If you’re looking for one of your dad, it’s there,” I turn to see Grayson step in beside me. He points to a photo of a cricket team in all white. “Look, there he is.” He is standing so close to me, pointing them out, that I can feel the warmth from his body, and the clean scent of his body wash fills the air. Although neither of us ever met my dad, he’s recognisable from all the photos dotted around Dee’s house.
“So, I guess you won’t be joining me on the swim team anytime soon, then?” Grayson asks me, amusement on his face. Realisation dawns of who the swimmer doing laps had been.
“You saw me.” I blush, embarrassed about how pathetic I must have looked clinging to the side of the pool.
“How were we friends for all those years and I didn’t realise you couldn’t swim?” he asks, incredulously. “Now that I think about it, we’ve got a pool at the house and not once did we use it together.”
“As we got older we spent more time at Dee’s house than yours. Wasn’t like we had much opportunity to swim. ” I don’t specifically mention his father’s increasing fits of anger, but we both know that’s the reason we learnt to avoid his place.
He tilts his head, studying me before shoving his hands in the pockets of his joggers.
“No, I guess not.” He smiles sadly. “You still could have told me. I’d have found a way to help you.”
“I know. I kept wanting to say something, but by the time we were old enough to go down to the local pool on our own, I was too embarrassed to ask you.” Wanting to change the subject, I turn back to the photographs.
“Did you know my mum went to college here? That’s how she met my dad,” I tell him. Grayson frowns.
“Really? I had no idea. There might be a picture of her here too, somewhere. Let’s look.” We search the walls until eventually, Grayson lets out a shout.
“Found one! Here. Rosie Winters. Lacrosse Team 2004.” I walk over to where he’s standing. “Wow, this could almost be a photo of you. I never noticed how alike you were before.”
“Yeah, I guess we are alike. The thought of her being here is so strange. Even seeing her photo wearing college colours is weird.”
He looks at me curiously. “She never told you herself?”
I shake my head. “It’s strange. Over the years, Dee tried to persuade my mum to let me come here. She offered to pay the fees so many times. But Mum always shut down the conversation. I assumed it was because she didn’t like the idea of accepting money from Dee, but now I wonder if there was some other reason.”
“You’re here now. What made your mum change her mind?”
I turn to look back at the photograph of her.
“She didn’t exactly change her mind. I hand no choice but to move here.” I pause, the words sticking in my throat, “She… she’s in rehab, and I don’t have any other family, so Dee offered to let me stay while I finish my education. That’s why I’m here.” The air in the hallway suddenly feels heavy as the words hang between us, and I avoid Grayson’s gaze.
