Magic and Miracles, page 5
Zach braced for another lecture.
“I know we’ve talked about this before,” Coach Baldwin continued, “but what do you want to do when you graduate?”
“I want to go into the navy. I want to be a SEAL.”
“Then make sure that door stays open to you.” Coach Baldwin put her hand on his shoulder. “You have to be mentally tough to be a SEAL. Consider this your practice.” She dropped her hand and took a step toward the door. “My office, six o’clock tomorrow morning. We’ll work on bringing up that government grade.” She lifted both eyebrows and added, “That’s oh six hundred in navy time.”
He fought the smile, but he couldn’t quite keep his lips from twitching upward.
Coach Baldwin left, and Mr. Henderson walked up to him.
“She’s right, you know.”
“Right about what?” Zach asked.
“About keeping doors open.” Mr. Henderson put a hand on the front fender of the car beside him, the car Zach had been working on before Coach Baldwin showed up. “You have a gift when it comes to anything that runs. The navy would be lucky to have you, but they’ll never know what they’re missing if you don’t put in the work now.”
“You’re going to ride me on my grades too, aren’t you.”
“That I am.” Mr. Henderson pointed at the engine. “Now get back to work.”
Zach dropped onto the seat between Connor and Drew at their lunch table. Both of them had their government books open in front of them.
“What’s this? You two never study at lunchtime.”
“This government midterm is worth a quarter of our grade,” Drew said. “Kind of makes it worth putting in some extra study time.”
“Yeah, but that isn’t until Friday.”
“No.” Drew shook his head. “Mr. Rosner moved it up to today.”
“What?” Zach’s stomach dropped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Connor gave him one of his don’t-blame-me looks. “We thought you knew.”
Zach tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling as he tried to rein in his emotions. “I’m totally going to fail this.”
“We’ll help you study.”
“I didn’t do the study guide either. That’s like another five percent of our grade.”
“Maybe Mr. Rosner will let you take it late.”
“I doubt that’ll happen.” Zach spotted Mrs. Jones across the cafeteria talking to one of the other counselors. An unlikely idea formed. Mrs. Jones had said to let him know if there was anything she could do to help him. He stood. “I’ll be right back.”
Zach approached Mrs. Jones. She spotted him and excused herself from the woman she was speaking with and stepped toward him. “Zach, is everything okay?”
“Not really. I just found out there’s a government exam today, but I thought it wasn’t until Friday.” Zach let out a sigh. “And I haven’t done the homework yet either.”
“I gather this is a big part of your grade.”
Zach nodded.
“Who’s your teacher?”
“Mr. Rosner.”
“Let me go talk to him. I’ll be right back.” Mrs. Jones headed for the teacher’s lunchroom.
Zach stood there, not sure if he should go back to his table or if he should just wait. Deciding his grade was more important than lunch, he waited. Less than five minutes passed before Mrs. Jones returned.
“I spoke with Mr. Rosner. He said if you’ll stay after school today for an extra study session, he’ll let you wait until Friday to take the test.”
Zach’s jaw dropped. “Really?”
“Yes. He knows you’re trying, and he seemed to think it would be in your best interest if you didn’t take the test unprepared.”
“He did?” Zach asked. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Or you did.”
“Let’s just say by the time I finished talking to him, we both did.” She motioned toward his lunch table. “You’d better go eat, and it wouldn’t hurt for you to start studying now.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Jones.”
She smiled. “Thanks for giving me the chance to help.”
Eva stood at the end of the lane where her fastest boys were swimming their warm up. For the past several days, Logan had opted to swim breaststroke rather than freestyle. And he had avoided butterfly entirely. Though he hadn’t said the words, the signs were all there that his previous rotator cuff injury was flaring again.
Logan glided into the wall, and Eva bent down. “What’s going on with you?”
“My shoulder’s just a bit sore.”
“Have you been to the doctor?” Eva asked.
Logan lowered his gaze to the water. “No.”
But Eva suspected he needed to. “After practice, come see me. I’ll give you a pass to see the athletic trainer tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Okay, Coach.”
Eva straightened. “And for today, I want you doing only breaststroke and kick.” When Logan started to climb out of the pool, undoubtedly to get a kickboard, she shook her head. “No board. Holding your arms out could put extra strain on the injury.”
Logan nodded and slipped back into the pool.
If only all of her boys were this obedient. Even as that thought crossed her mind, she looked down at the other swimmers in Logan’s lane. Since the vote to keep Zach on the team, Connor had only been late twice, and both times, he’d been coming from after-school tutoring. Drew and Isaac had repeatedly pushed their sprint intervals lower than even Eva asked for in order to help their lane get faster and do better.
Pride swelled inside her. This team truly was special in the best possible way.
Eva glanced at her planned workout, instinctively adjusting it to make it friendlier to Logan without disadvantaging the rest of the team.
The last swimmers finished their warm ups, and Eva called out the first set. “Twelve twenty-fives kick, IM order.” She waited to make sure everyone heard her before added, “First group, go.”
The first swimmers in each lane pushed off the wall, followed by the second. Eva focused on Logan and sighed. The boys were doing everything within their power to reach their goals. This was not the time for an injury.
9
Zach didn’t know what was going on, but when he walked into the pool, Coach Baldwin and Coach Robin were deep in conversation. At first, he suspected Baldwin was filling Coach Robin in on his little disappearing act over the last couple days. When they both kept looking at Coach Baldwin’s clipboard, he suspected they were worrying over someone besides him.
Logan approached them, and Coach Baldwin handed him a paper. After a short discussion, Logan headed for the locker room.
Connor walked toward him. Apparently, it was his turn to practice with Zach.
“What’s going on with Logan?” Zach asked.
“I think it’s his shoulder again,” Connor said. “Coach didn’t let him swim anything but breaststroke and kick today.”
Zach mulled that over. If Logan ended up injured and couldn’t swim the rest of the season, Zach would be able to take his place in the relays without any of his friends needing to give up a spot.
“You said he was still swimming breaststroke?”
“Yeah.”
Coach Robin approached. “You ready to get started?”
“What’s with Logan?” Zach asked, repeating his question.
“He’s going to see the trainer tomorrow,” Coach Robin said. “We’ll know more then, but in the meantime, we need to focus on your freestyle and butterfly.”
“Why?” Even as the question passed his lips, Zach guessed at the answer. “Coach Baldwin isn’t going to let me take Logan’s place on the medley relay, is she?”
“If Logan can’t swim anything but breaststroke, it wouldn’t be fair to pull him out of the only race he could swim in post season,” Coach Robin said. “But you’re solid in all the other strokes too. We need you to be ready to take whatever spot will be best for the team.”
Disappointment filled him. His favorite stroke, the one he had hoped to swim individually in the state meet this year, and now, he might not get to swim it at all. “Zach, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but you need to be willing to make sacrifices too.”
“Right,” Zach said. But he didn’t want to make sacrifices.
Coach Baldwin’s comment from earlier today echoed through his mind. Navy SEALs had to be mentally tough. Apparently, Zach was getting more practice on that skill than any of them had anticipated.
Eva stood in the athletic trainer’s office while Kevin, the athletic trainer, worked Logan through another series of stretches. After several minutes, he stepped back.
Kevin turned to Eva. “I’m afraid you’re right. It’s his rotator cuff.”
“Can I still swim?”
“As long as you avoid anything with a forward arm movement for at least the next two months.”
Which meant he could only swim breaststroke and backstroke for the rest of the season. And he wasn’t good in backstroke. Eva’s heart sank.
Logan paled, and he looked up at Eva. “Does that mean I won’t get to swim in states?”
“Logan, you’ve worked hard for this team. We’re not leaving you behind.” Eva glanced at Kevin briefly before she continued. “I’ll make it work to keep you in the medley.”
Clearly relieved, Logan pushed off the examination table. “Thanks, Coach.”
“You’re welcome.” Eva gestured to his shoulder. “In the meantime, I want you to follow Mr. Blake’s counsel and make sure you stretch the way he told you.”
“I will. I promise.”
As soon as Logan left, Kevin said, “Why do I get the feeling that I just made your life a lot more complicated?”
“Because you did.” Eva leaned back against the table. “Brenda is already riding me about how it’s not fair if I let Zach swim in the post season.”
“I heard.”
“What?” Eva stepped back. “Where did you hear about it?”
“From Brenda. She’s ranting about you playing favorites to anyone who will listen.”
“Great.” Tension built inside Eva’s chest, and she shook her head. “It’s bad enough when the high schoolers create drama. We don’t need it from the staff.”
“I agree,” Kevin said. “But if it makes you feel any better, I have Drew in my fourth block class. He seemed pretty determined to make sure Zach can swim.”
“He’s not the only one. The whole team bought into the plan. Zach keeps his grades up and gets eligible, and they’ll sacrifice a few relay spots so he can compete.”
“But now he can’t swim in a spot he’d planned on.”
“No. Not without Logan sacrificing far more than what he agreed to.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Kevin gave her arm an encouraging squeeze. “You always do.”
“I hope so.”
10
The news about Logan spread through the team long before Coach Baldwin gave Zach the news. She still planned to swim Zach in relays, but Logan would be keeping the breaststroke leg of the medley.
Now here he was on the side of the pool for yet another meet he couldn’t swim in while watching Logan compete in the event that should have been his. At least Trevor continued to nail his flip turns. That would make a huge difference when it came to making it to finals at states, especially if Zach was swimming freestyle or fly instead of Drew or Isaac.
And Zach had to admit, Logan looked good. He went into his turn and lost a little ground against his opponent.
Zach pointed at the center lane. “Logan is too deep on his pullout off the turn.”
“A bit,” Coach Baldwin said, not taking her eyes off the pool. When the race ended, with their team winning once more, Coach Baldwin turned to him. “Any chance you’d be willing to work with Logan on his turn and pull out?”
She was asking him to make his replacement better. Zach sighed. “I guess.”
“I’m sure if you do that, he’d be willing to help you work on that chemistry assignment. He’s a whiz at science.”
Zach huffed out a breath. “Am I the only person on the team who’s not a brainiac?”
“We have a very intelligent team,” Coach Baldwin said. “And you’re included in that statement. You just don’t like schoolwork.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “That’s the truth.”
“Talk to Logan. He still has the 100 breast coming up. Maybe you can help him make some adjustments during the break.”
“I guess I can try.”
“Thanks, Zach.” Coach Baldwin started her watch as the next race started. She jutted her chin toward the swimmers who just completed the medley relay. “Why don’t you go give the guys their splits?”
“Will do.” Zach headed toward the medley relay team and held out his clipboard so they could see their times.
Drew nodded his approval. “Nice.”
“Hey, Logan. Coach wanted me to help you with your pull out off your turn,” Zach said. “If you’re okay with that.”
Logan’s surprise illuminated his face, but he nodded. “That would be great.”
“We can mess with it during the break.”
“Thanks, Zach.”
“Yeah. No problem,” Zach said, even though it killed him to know he wouldn’t be able to swim breaststroke again in competition. But that wasn’t Logan’s fault.
Drew slung his arm around Austin and Isaac’s shoulders. “Okay, boys. Tonight’s the night we get our 400 free relay cut.” Drew looked up at Zach. “Time to prove we’re going to be the team to beat at states.”
Nods of agreement followed, but Zach had already done the math. Drew might be trying to pump his team up, but with both Austin and Connor swimming 54s in the 100 freestyle, there was no way their team was making it to state on a qualifying time. No, they were going to have to get in the old-fashioned way. They’d have to earn their place by claiming one of the top three spots at districts.
Eva pulled up Zach’s grades on her office computer and couldn’t help but smile. His English grade was all the way up to a B minus, and with the exception of his government class, he had brought everything else up to a C, not including auto shop in which he had maintained his As. And even the government grade was up to a D+. If Zach kept this up, he would not only be eligible, but he’d graduate easily.
Footsteps approached, and Eva looked up as Robin walked in.
“Hey, there. You need to see this.” Eva turned her monitor to face Robin. “Zach’s getting a B minus in English.”
“That’s amazing.” Robin leaned closer and read the rest of the grades before she lowered into the chair across from Eva. “You’ve done a great job with him.”
“We’ve done a great job with him,” Eva said. “I just hope we can get that last relay into states, or it’s going to be tough to find him a spot without weakening the team significantly.”
“We knew you probably couldn’t get the qualifying time without Zach,” Robin said. “The boys will just have to be careful on their starts at districts to make sure they can get through without any DQs.”
“How’s it going with Zach at practice?”
“He’s looking good.” Robin pulled out her phone and passed it to Eva. “Those are his practice times from yesterday. Of course, they should be faster if he’s starting off of a block. The pool won’t let us use the starting blocks because Zach isn’t part of a team practice.”
“That’s annoying.”
“I know, but he’s been swimming most of his life. It’s not like it’ll take him long to get up to speed again when he does start practicing with the team.”
“Only one more week.” Eva read through Zach’s times and nodded her approval. “Thanks again for working with Zach, both at practice and on his English assignments.”
“It’s been good for me too. Who knew how much writing I could get done at the pool while waiting for him every afternoon?”
“I’m glad it didn’t get in the way of your deadlines.”
“Sometimes you have to juggle priorities,” Robin said. “And like we’ve both said before, Zach’s worth it. All your swimmers are.”
“True.” Eva handed Robin’s phone back to her. “Any chance you might be available to go with me to states this year? I’d love to bring you as my second coach.”
“I would love to.” Robin grinned. “I can’t wait to see how everything goes for them. Can you imagine if the boys win the 200 free relay again?”
“I hope it happens. They’ve all worked so hard.”
“They really have.”
Zach didn’t think he’d ever worked so hard in his life. Even though government was the only class that his grade wasn’t a C or better, Coach Baldwin still had him coming to six a.m. tutoring sessions every morning to make sure he didn’t slack off. Zach suspected she also knew he’d never get through his government class without Drew and Connor’s help. At least he was definitely passing now.
Coach Robin worked with him every day at the pool while the rest of his team practiced, and then he spent another hour and a half in the pool for his own practice sessions.
His practice buddies had settled into the same rotation: Isaac, Logan, Trevor, Connor, Austin, and Drew. All six of the top relay swimmers, all of whom would likely make adjustments to their post season races to make room for him. Well, technically Logan wouldn’t adjust anything. He couldn’t compete in anything but breaststroke because of his shoulder injury, but if that hadn’t happened, he would likely have given up a freestyle spot to him in one of the other relays.
Now here they were, only three days from districts, and the rest of the team was looking forward to their first post season meet while Zach would once again stand on the sidelines. And the team had yet to qualify in the 400 free relay.
Beside him, Coach Robin read through his latest English essay on her laptop. She typed yet another note. This was the seventh one in the past five minutes. Zach hated sitting around while other people read what he wrote.
