Being sent away to camp for a month was bad enough, but having to take a swimming test on the very first day was even worse. Sarah wasn’t sure which she hated more, having everyone see her in a bathing suit, or jumping into a cold lake. Dutifully, she changed into her bathing suit, but opted for the more modest approach by changing in the bathroom. She never felt comfortable being naked in front of anyone and didn’t care that they were all girls. It was her body and it was private. In fact, she felt very uncomfortable seeing the other girls naked as well and averted her eyes.

  Sarah put on the only bathing suit she brought. It was dark blue and very plain. Thankfully, there wasn’t a mirror in the bathroom. Sarah was worried how she looked. Not quite a woman yet, no longer a little girl. This in between stage was taking a long time. She slipped on her shorts and t-shirt over her bathing suit. Sarah hoped no one would notice her.

  As she waited for the other girls to change, Sarah reflected about her history with water. Somehow, she had avoided swimming nearly her whole life. Her father disliked water unless it was warm and transparent. Sarah remembered a time she and her parents were on vacation together at a resort in the Caribbean. The water was a beautiful turquoise colour and not cold at all. Her dad only went in the water to his knees and then opted to spend his time sitting on the white sand. Her mother was a little braver and even swam a little in the ocean. Sarah spent the day digging in the sand and looking for seashells. The memory of them all being together brought tears to her eyes.

  Her mother tolerated swimming pools, but never pushed Sarah to learn how to swim. Instead, she encouraged her daughter to pursue her musical and intellectual interests. As a result, Sarah could play guitar and piano remarkably well for her age. She also read plenty of books and spent many happy hours at her local library. As for swimming, it just never happened. In the summer, she might dip her feet in water if it were really hot, but never felt tempted to take the plunge. Now she was worried, not only would everyone see her in a bathing suit, she had to take a swimming test, and would undoubtedly fail.

  All the girls walked together to the lake. On the docks were swimming instructors and lifeguards. Sarah’s group waited for their turn. She listened in to their silly conversation.

  “I hope Tristan is here, this is my favourite bathing suit.” Lisa squealed.

  “He won’t notice you dummy, he wants a woman, like me.” Cara struck a pose

and the girls burst out laughing.

  “Maybe Chelsea will make her moves on him,” suggested Debbie, “she’s fixing her hair.”

  “She’s always fixing her hair. I knew her last year and she spent the entire summer in front of the mirror.” Natasha said with authority.

  “Maybe she wants to be a hairstylist,” Debbie said.

  Marnie and Cara looked at Debbie and laughed. Marnie put her arm around her shoulders, “She doesn’t want to be a hairstylist, she wants to be Mrs. Tristan Beaulieu.”

  “Better than being Mrs. Mitch Popovich.” Natasha announced.

  “Who gives their kid a rhyming name?” Cara rolled her eyes. “What the hell were his parents thinking?”

  “They obviously weren’t thinking,” answered Marnie.

  Sarah looked away from them and concentrated on the swimming tests. She wasn’t sure how many laps she would have to swim. She was especially worried since she’s never even swam one lap before in her life. Maybe once in the water she would magically begin swimming.

  A lifeguard with dark curly hair walked up to Sarah’s group. “Hi everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Mitchell. You can come and take the swimming test now.” The girls dutifully followed Mitchell to the dock. “Jump in, the water’s warm, don’t worry. Try to do as many laps as you can. After you finish swimming laps, I’ll test you on treading water. Your level will be based on both those elements. All right girls, jump in!”

  No one moved.

“I said, jump in!” Mitch reiterated.

Cara stuck her toe in the water. “Ooh, it’s freezing!”

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“Jump in Cara.” Chelsea ordered.

“You jump in.” Cara answered back.

“I already did my swimming test three days ago. Right Mitch?”

“Right.” Mitchell remembered only too well what a fuss she made. She couldn’t live with getting her hair wet in lake water.

“Come on girls, the sooner you do it, the sooner it will be over.” Mitchell said trying hard not to lose his patience.

“Oh, why not.” Natasha jumped in the water and made a huge splash, getting Cara and Marnie wet. “Aaaahhh!” they both screeched at the same time.

Melanie slid in the water and Debbie reluctantly followed. Alex shrugged her shoulders and went in without a fuss. Now only Cara, Marnie, Lisa and Sarah remained on the dock. Lisa looked at Mitch. “I don’t feel well, I can’t go in.”

“Well, if you’re not feeling up to it then you better head off to the nurse. You know the first thing she’ll do?”

Lisa shrugged her shoulders.

“She’ll take your temperature. And you know where that thermometer goes, don’t you?” Lisa shrugged her shoulders again.

Cara looked at Mitchell. “You are so perverted, you know that?”

“Get in girls, or the nurse gets you.”

Cara huffed and slowly climbed down the ladder into the water. She shook her long blonde hair and gave Mitch a dirty look. Marnie hesitated and followed.

Sarah stood on the dock and waited. “I don’t believe you. Thermometers go in the ear, or the mouth.”

Mitch smiled, “Just get in.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You’ll be wearing a very unflattering orange life jacket during every general swim.”

  “I’m ok with an orange life jacket.”

  “I find that hard to believe.” Mitchell put his hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be just fine, just get in.”

“You can swim.” Chelsea had finally stopped playing with her hair and shook her head with disbelief. They weren’t paying her enough to deal with these annoying kids. The humidity was making her hair even curl more and she desperately wanted to go inside before she melted in the hot sun. And to make matters worse, Tristan spent the entire bus ride talking to the new counsellor Julia.

  Sarah took a deep breath and let the truth out. “I can’t swim. I really can’t.” Before Mitchell could respond, Chelsea broke the number one cardinal rule of swimming safety and shoved Sarah into the water. With a yelp she hit the water hard. Sarah swallowed water and felt herself sinking. Then suddenly she bobbed up and gulped some air. “Hey” she cried out. She saw Mitchell flirting with Chelsea on the dock.

  Sarah’s head was at water level and she tilted it back as she tried desperately to inhale air. Her arms were at her side pushing downwards and her head bobbed up and down. She then attempted to roll over on her back but couldn’t manage it. Sarah tried to swim by moving her arms and legs but she looked as if she were climbing a ladder, and she wasn’t going anywhere, the dock was too far away. Sarah’s hair covered half her face and her mouth was wide open as she continued to bob up and down. When she looked up she saw Mitchell who seemed more interested in Chelsea than watching the group swim. Sarah’s eyes closed as she desperately tried to inhale air.

  From a distance, she heard someone ask her if was ok, but Sarah couldn’t answer.

  Sarah panicked and felt herself sinking again, she was too exhausted to fight it. As she slowly descended to the bottom of the lake she felt the cool lake water envelop her. Soft silky sand met her feet as they touched the bottom. Suddenly she felt something grab her violently from behind and pull her to the surface. Someone was dragging her back to the dock. She felt herself lifted as she was placed on the wooden boards. Sarah’s head was turned to the side and water dripped dripped from her mouth and nose.

  “Is she breathing?” Mitchell asked.

  “No,” answered a man. He pinched Sarah’s nose and breathed strongly into her mouth four times in a row. He observed her chest to see if it was rising and falling.

  “She has a pulse.” Mitchell remarked. “Continue the CPR.”

  The counsellor breathed another four times into Sarah’s mouth. Sarah suddenly sputtered and coughed.

  “She’s breathing. Thank God.” Mitchell announced.

  Sarah’s eyes began to focus on the faces above her, and then the tears began to flow. Mitchell covered her with a towel covered her as she lay there shivering. Tanned arms lifted her gently and held her against a warm chest. Her head leaned against a muscular body and she felt strong hands rubbing her arms up and down. She heard a man whisper in the most soothing voice, “Everything is alright. I got you. You’re fine.”

  The tears slowed but Sarah didn’t want to open her eyes. She felt humiliated and stupid. She could feel everyone staring at her. Opening her eyes would mean facing this reality and it was so comfortable to be held and protected. Mitchell ordered the campers off the dock, and those in the water, were told to get back to the beach.

  She finally opened her eyes and glanced up at a red faced Mitchell standing near her. Chelsea stood next to him twirling her hair anxiously. Sarah looked up at the person who held her. She knew instantly that this was the famous Tristan.