Page 8 of Diving In
“Whatever,” Tom laughs, pulling a bottle of water out of the bag and handing it to Sam who’s standing admiring the view.
“As if you don’t love it too,” I shoot back. “I remember that poem you wrote when you were eleven. Something like ‘I love thesea, it makes me feel free’. Mum had it pinned on the fridge for a bit.” Sam snickers even as Tom glares at the two of us.
“Shut up,” he growls at me, turning red through his freckles. “You wrote worse ones!”
“Nope, mine were definitely better,” I tell him superiorly, before turning away from my brother’s disgruntled face to talk to Sam. “Want to go splash in the water? I promise it doesn’t count as a training session.”
“Of course,” he says, pulling off his T-shirt.
I shimmy out of my shorts and T-shirt, revealing my slightly worn spare swimsuit underneath. My normal one’s still wet from training with Sam this morning, and this one has definitely seen better days. It’s starting to feel more like a suggestion of clothing than an actual garment. I frown and adjust the straps with the kind of subtlety that screamsI’m not self-conscious, you are.
Of course, all self-conscious thoughts are instantly nuked by the sight of Sam changing. I mean, I’m not blind. Anyone with a functioning nervous system would notice that his abs could shred cabbage.
Not that I’mlookinglooking. Just… observing. Casually. Like a scientist. For data.
I shake myself. Sam would be so uncomfortable if he knew what I was thinking right now.Get a grip, Kath, I chide myself.Stop being weird around your friend.
I’m not the only one being weird. Sam wassoawkward on the first night when he took his shirt off before bed. We’ve had plenty of sleepovers over the years, I’ve seen him shirtless before. It’s not exactly breaking news. But with Tom in the room, he made it weird. Sam sort of stood there for a full ten seconds, then mumbled something about “how hot it is” in a voice that cracked halfway through. Tom didn’t even glance up, just rolled his eyes and muttered, “Alright, Zac Efron, calm down,” before turning back to his Nokia.
I banish thoughts of topless Sam from my mind.
“Race you to the water,” I shout, turning and sprinting down the beach and jumping into the waves. When I break back to the surface, he’s close behind me, spluttering as a wave hits him in the face. We swim a bit deeper, and then turn to bob, watching the cliffs along the coastline.
“You have so many freckles,” he tells me, squinting at my nose in the sun. “There are almost too many to count.” He floats closer, and reaches out, almost touching my forehead. “I swear you don’t have these ones in winter.”
“You have some too,” I tell him, feeling slightly awkward at his proximity. I shake myself.Stop it, Kath.“And a great T-shirt tan line. I’m impressed. I didn’t realise you’d been out that much this summer.”
He laughs and ducks under another wave, shaking his hair out before turning back to me. He looks so happy, water droplets clinging to his eyelashes and bits of hair stuck to his forehead.
“It's amazing here,” he tells me. “The coast is beautiful. Thanks for inviting me, KitKat.”
“KitKat? When did that start?”
Stop blushing!I chide myself.
“Maybe since you started calling me Champ, and I realised I needed a better nickname than just Kath like everyone else,” he says, and now I can’t quite tell whether he’s the one blushing in this light. “Also because you know how much I love naming things after chocolate bars. You have to accept it; it’s taken me most of the week to think of this and I don’t have enough brain power left to think of another one. You’re the clever one, not me.”
“Are you comparing me to your dog?” I gasp with pretend outrage, lifting my arm back and threatening to splash him.
“Well, I like you nearly as much,” he tells me with a grin, and I shriek and jump on top of him, sinking us beneath the waves.
When we resurface we’re both grinning as I cling to his back like a koala.
“Swim us to the shore,” I demand.
“Am I some sort of swimming form of transport now?” he asks me, starting to swim along whilst I cling to him.
“Consider it part of your training. And it’s in the code, remember?”
“I thought you said this wasn’t a training swim,” he teases me as I loop my arms over his neck. His skin feels warm against mine despite the chill of the sea.
Chapter 4
Fourteen years old
Sam
“Ihave to tell you something,” Kath whispers to me as I get off the train at the small Devon station. “But not yet, I don’t want Nan to hear.”
