I could see a pair of legs kicking in the water above me. I swam toward them. I’d need Emily’s help to tie the straps on once I reached the surface.

As I got close, I held the suit to my body, trying to re-position it as best I could. I was concentrating on this and not on Emily’s legs, which is why I didn’t notice that they weren’t Emily’s legs until I surfaced.

And then I was face-to-face with Tristan. I let out a short, startled scream.

Tristan spun around as though I must have seen something frightening behind him. He checked to see what, you know, just in case a giant squid was about to attack.

I searched for Emily. Which was useless since I couldn’t see. In the pressure of the moment, I couldn’t even remember what color swimsuit she had on.

Tristan returned his attention to me, still looking for the cause of my panic. “What’s wrong?” 54/431

“Um, nothing. You just startled me. I thought you were Emily.”

This seemed to add to his confusion so I said, “I don’t have my contacts in and I can’t see very well. Sorry about screaming.” I waited for him to swim away, but he didn’t. I wondered if he noticed that my bikini straps were floating untied around my shoulders, and if he would mention it. How does one casually explain to passing swimmers that you are half naked?

Instead of paying attention to my straps he looked in my eyes intently. “I didn’t know you wore contacts.”

“Yep, I do.”

He still didn’t swim away. Oh no. He wanted to make small talk in the deep end while both of us treaded water and I was clutching my swimsuit to my body. I let myself drift away from him but he followed.

“I’ve always had twenty-twenty vision,” he said.

“That’s great.”

I wondered if he’d ask me to prom right here. I suddenly had the urge to tell him that I knew Hunter was trying to set us up and I didn’t want any pity dates. But that would have encouraged him to say something along the lines of, “No, I really do want to ask you out,” even if he didn’t.

55/431

The lifeguard blew his whistle and called out, “You need to leave the diving area so the next person can dive.”

Tristan took several strokes toward the ladder, effortlessly pulling himself to the side of the pool. I followed after him, in what I’m sure looked like a failed attempt to walk on water. I still wouldn’t use my arms so only my legs propelled me slowly toward the side.

Tristan turned back and watched as I attempted to march through twelve feet of water. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

It was then I noticed Emily at the side of the pool holding my towel for me. As I got closer she said, “Sorry.

The lifeguard made me leave. But I thought it might be best if I brought you a towel anyway, you know, just in case you couldn’t find your . . .” She looked at Tristan and her sentence drifted off.

Tristan’s gaze flickered between the two of us and then zeroed in on my straps, which, now that I’d stopped

marching

forward,

hovered

beside

my

shoulders like turquoise tentacles.

A flash of understanding went through his eyes and then he snapped his gaze back up to mine. “Um, do you want me to help you with that?” I held the suit tighter to my body. “No.” 56/431

He tried to hide his smirk. “No, really, I was a Boy Scout. I know how to tie knots that stay put.” I didn’t move. “I can handle this myself.”

“Okay.” He pulled himself up the ladder and looked back down at me. “Suit yourself. Although the next time you do it in that one, you might want to try a square knot.”

He and Emily both laughed. I glared up at them, then looked at the ladder.

The thing about ladders is that you really need, oh, a minimum of one hand to climb up them. And there was no way I was moving either of my hands.

I felt stupid to have to say it, but I didn’t have a choice. “Okay, I can’t handle this myself. Will one of you please get back in the pool and help me?” Emily handed Tristan my towel. “It’s a girl thing. I’ll do it.”

She climbed down the ladder, but as soon as she got back in the water, the lifeguard blew his whistle at us again. “Clear the diving area!” he called.

I turned so my back faced Emily. She held onto the side of the pool with one hand and tried to tie my straps with the other. She didn’t have a lot of luck with this method. I should have stuck with the Boy Scout’s offer.

“Please hurry,” I told her.

57/431

She let go of the side of the pool and, treading water, tied the top straps. It was loose, but at least it was attached. She moved to the one that went across my back.

The lifeguard blew his whistle again, sending a shrill reprimand in our direction. “You need to exit the pool now!”

Really, lifeguards are way too uptight.

“She’ll just be a second,” Tristan called back. “Her bikini top came off!”

Let me say right now that if you’re planning to ask a girl to prom there are several things you don’t want to do. Yelling “Her bikini top came off!” in front of an entire pool full of her peers is on the top of that list.

I gasped, and then shrank into the water. A chorus of hoots and applause went off around me.

Emily gave my straps one final tug. “It’s not perfect but it will at least hold until you can get to the dressing room to fix it.”

As if I was going to come back out here after I’d just become the poolside entertainment. I hauled myself up the ladder. More clapping followed my ascent. Tristan held my towel open for me and I wrapped it around my shoulders tightly. “Did you have to announce that to everyone?”

“I didn’t want the lifeguard to yell at you again,” he said.

58/431

Even though I couldn’t see them, I could feel Hunter’s and Jane’s gaze on me. I could feel everyone’s gaze on me. In a low voice I said, “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.” Then I made a beeline toward the dressing room.

I heard footsteps behind me, then Tristan called out,

“Savannah, wait a second!”

I didn’t. I hurried faster. The dressing-room door was in sight. “Savannah, don’t—,” he called.

I ignored him and dashed through the door, but I figured out the rest of his sentence as soon as I set foot inside. It was, “Savannah, don’t go in there; that’s the men’s dressing room.”

Because, yes it was.

Which just goes to prove you shouldn’t say, “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life,” as that just invites life to outdo itself on your behalf.

I screamed. The guys in the dressing room screamed.

Although their screaming was more of an angry “Hey, you shouldn’t be in here!” scream, whereas mine was a high-pitched, “There’s a bunch of naked guys every-where!” scream.

Blurry vision doesn’t have a lot of benefits, but for a few seconds in the men’s dressing room, I was grateful I couldn’t see well. Because really, there is no one on the track team that I want to know that personally. I turned 59/431

and stumbled back outside, where I was once again greeted with clapping from my peers. In fact, this time some of them gave me a standing ovation. I plunged into the women’s dressing room, grabbed my things, and ran out to the parking lot. I waited in Emily’s car until she came and climbed in beside me.

“Well,” she said as she threw her things on the backseat, “I’ll give you one thing—you know how to get noticed.”

Chapter 3

As soon as I got home, I went inside, changed into an old pair of gray sweats and a T-shirt, then sat in my bedroom. On the plus side, I was no longer so concerned about going to prom.

On the negative side, I was now concerned about going back to school. I was always going to be known as some sort of men’s-room crasher.

Eventually Jane came home. She walked into my bedroom and sat on the end of my bed. “Do you want to talk about it?”