Tonya shivered as she lined up at the high board for her chance to try out. The Diving Team was supposed to be an escape from stress, but it wasn’t turning out that way. Instead of concentrating on preparing for her dive, all she could think about was family. A couple of days ago, she had received an email from her aunt saying everything was fine. At least she was alive, but since then she hadn’t responded to texts or email.

Ahead of her, divers in their Tyr and Speedo suits looked slim and twice as muscular as Tonya. She took a deep breath and tried to visualize herself spinning perfect somersaults above the trampoline. She loved the weightless feeling of bouncing high into the air, and had spent the summer practicing. Varsity represented a new, athletic life for her, something she’d never had before. Could she belong here? Ahead of her, girls with perfect, tanned bodies executed dive after dive. Her turn was coming, much too fast.

When a short, hard-bodied girl cut in ahead of her it was a relief, until the girl smirked back in Tonya’s face.

“You? In a swimsuit? Try not to belly flop, Freak.”

Tonya placed her hands over her stomach. It was Marta, Donna Ashton’s daughter. Donna and her beef-shouldered brothers thought the Trads foolish for concealing magic from the Mundanes, but Marta was worse. She called Pures like Tonya freaks for denying their supernatural abilities.

With bullies like Marta, offense was the best defense. “How do I know you’re not going to cheat?”

“I don’t need magic to beat you, Freak.” Marta climbed to the top of the board and stepped gracefully to the edge.

Tonya watched Marta execute two and a half reverse somersaults with two and a half twists in pike position. Perfectly, of course. Tonya’s best dive was two somersaults with a twist. Would that be good enough to make the team? She wiped her palms on the front of her swimsuit. If she failed, Marta would tell every Mod in town.

Legs trembling, she mounted the ten-meter ladder. At the top, she tried not to look down. Somehow, practicing her spins on the trampoline never gave her the same vertigo standing on the platform did. It was a long way down and Marta’s stupid comments had activated a chorus of internal doubts.

She couldn’t do it, not with everyone staring at her. The pool below seemed to move to the left while the diving platform felt like it tilted beneath her feet. Her toes tensed on the emery board surface of the platform, and she fought the urge to retreat. Tonya couldn’t look down. Were the chlorine fumes making her dizzy?

Unwilling to face the drop, she turned her back to the pool and launched into unrehearsed reverse somersaults. She spun two, three times, then stretched out to enter the water, catching it at a harsh angle that sent her off to the side. She touched bottom meters from the center.

When she surfaced, Tonya imagined all eyes on her as she performed a slow front crawl to the ladder. Head down, she got out and crossed the deck to retrieve her swim bag, too rattled to make a second attempt. On her way to the change room, one person applauded behind her.

“Nice try! Good job.”

Tonya recognized Marta’s voice but didn’t look back.

In the showers, Tonya stretched out her shoulders under the hot spray. She toweled off and retreated to the side of the change room farthest from the girls wearing Varsity swimsuits. Clearly, she would not be joining them. Once dressed, she grabbed her bag and went to the bathroom mirror to brush her hair.

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She was about to leave when she heard retching coming from the toilets behind her. She hoped the girl inside was okay. Tonya looked under the stall door and saw a pair of knees on the floor. Somebody was throwing up. Maybe somebody even more nervous about the tryouts than she was.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” The voice was sharp and harsh.

“Can I help?”

“No.”

The heaving resumed. Tonya stood between the sink and stalls of the cramped bathroom. What was the etiquette for a situation like this? Should she walk away? What if the girl passed out?

“Do you want me to call someone to drive you home?” Tonya was head-down, fumbling in her bag for her phone, when the bathroom stall door flew open, knocking her back. She staggered and grabbed the sink for balance. When she opened her eyes, a slightly green face glared at her. Marta.

“Seriously, can I help?”

“What made you think you can dive?” Marta pushed past Tonya and went back to the change room where the rest of the team was dressing.

Tonya had to walk past them to reach the exit. As she followed Marta, the other girls went quiet.

Marta turned on her. “If you can’t dive, why did you come out?”

“At least I tried.”

“Why? You can barely swim. I mean, look at you.” Marta was staring at Tonya’s plump belly.

“Screw yourself.” Tonya loved swimming and she wasn’t going to let Marta ruin it for her.

“You dive like my granny.”

“I’m a lifeguard. I can save your granny.”

The girls murmured.

Marta laughed. “Lifeguards. You’re so proud you can do two lengths of the pool, towing a rubber dummy.” She looked around at her teammates. Some smiled, but others stared at Marta, which gave Tonya courage.

“Take care of that tummy now, Marta. Wouldn’t want you to miss your next practice.” Tonya rushed for the door, but Marta stepped into her way. Tonya tried to step left, then right, but Marta blocked the doorway like an enraged imp, her chin jutted up at Tonya.

“My stomach is fine. Don’t spread rumors.”

“Why, are you pregnant?”

Marta’s eyes widened, then her face relaxed. “Don’t worry about me, worry about you.” The corners of her mouth curved upwards as she stepped back to let Tonya go.

Outside the Athletic Center, chilly October wind whipped wet hair into Tonya’s face. She hoped nobody noticed her hands were still trembling as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. At the edge of the road, guys from the team were waiting for the girls. She recognized Shin immediately from team photos in the foyer. The tallest in every picture, he usually had his arm around Marta. Tonya thought of telling him Marta was sick, and about the weird way she’d gone after Tonya for noticing, but why? Maybe it didn’t mean anything, except that he had terrible taste in girlfriends.

She wished she had come by bike, so she could leave. Tonya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Priya would get here soon. The move into residence had been so rushed in September that Priya was helping her collect her last boxes.

Tonya’s house was in the new part of town, on the opposite side of Loon Lake as the university. Her parents had put it up for sale the same day Tonya moved into residence. It was weird, and she tried not to feel hurt about it, but it still stung. First, her parents wouldn’t let her go to school out of town “for her own protection,” and now they had left town themselves? They said it was because Aunt Helen would be in and out of hospital for tests in Toronto, and they wanted to get a condo nearby. It would make sense, if they didn’t hate the big city.

Tonya couldn’t imagine Aunt Helen abandoning the Herbal Healing Shop. This illness was serious, no matter how many times her mother downplayed it. Tonya wanted to see for herself, but every time she emailed, asking to visit her aunt in Toronto, her parents refused to tell her which hospital she was in. “You’re safer close to home,” they replied. “Aunt Helen will get better and then she’ll visit you.”

If her parents weren’t so blind, she would be going to U of T and be able to see Aunt Helen any time she liked.

The sound of a car horn startled her out of her reverie. Tonya dashed to her friend’s rusty Toyota and got in.

“Sorry I’m late. Baby didn’t want to start.” Priya patted the old car’s dashboard. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Like a wet cat.”

“How was the tryout?”

“A lot like high school.”

“Boring, stupid, and full of pimples?’

“You must have gone to a good high school.”

“Uh oh. Somebody needs to escape the past, fast.” She cranked the radio and opened the windows as they pulled onto the highway. “Let’s speed dry it outta your hair.”