Unafraid

something nasty and pick a fight. Michael had no intention of doing that. He really wasn’t sure why he was reconnecting with Nakano; he just felt it was the right thing to do. So right that Michael’s applause led the group and soon the clapping turned into whoops and cheers. Those closest to Nakano were patting him on the shoulder and welcoming him back to where he was obviously missed.

Jostled by the crowd, Nakano turned and found himself staring at Michael, who was about to extend a hand to Kano as an olive branch of sorts. But before Michael could open his mouth to speak, Kano issued a promise. “Say one word, Howard, and I’ll quit all over again.”

Stunned, Michael telepathically confided in Ronan. “I was just going to say that I was glad to see him back.”

Ronan just nodded and smiled at Nakano and then responded to his boyfriend. “I think he already knows that.”

After making one complete lap around the circumference of the pool, Blakeley finally stopped.

“Good!” he bellowed. “That’s what I wanted to hear!”

In his hand he swung the metal chain with the whistle on it that he usually wore around his neck.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, it flipped in the air, swinging round and round as he surveyed the group. He eyed the students and knew that they were just that, kids, nothing more, but after the past year, after dealing with Dr. MacCleery’s murder and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it, he didn’t trust what he saw any longer.

He caught Ronan and Michael eyeing him, and for a second he lost his rhythm. The chain slipped and floundered in the air, the whistle bouncing off his knuckles and falling limp against the back of his hand. Blakeley knew that those two were at the center of all the chaos and disruption that had visited the school recently. He didn’t know if they were the cause or if they would wind up being their salvation, but he did know that whatever had happened—and whatever would happen—they were and would be involved.

Look away, he told himself. You’re stronger than they are, whatever they are. He whipped the whistle around in his hand with even more force. Whatever they are?! Where the hell did that come from? And what the hell was that supposed to mean? Blakeley had no idea what he was thinking; he had no idea where his mind was going. Damn, if everything was subject to question, then obviously, so too was his own sanity.

When he heard Alexei cough, he was pulled out of his thoughts and back to the present. He was a coach, not a philosopher, and he had a motley bunch of students to turn into ace swimmers. He might be going through his own private purgatory, but he also had a reputation to uphold. And he planned to do just that, as gruffly as possible. “Ya look like a bunch of pasty duffers, you do!” Looking into the group he looked for someone to pick on. “Especially you, Fuente!” he yelled. “Ya look like you spent the summer hiding under your bed.”

Once again Diego displayed his ability to remain unflustered when berated by a teacher. “You know, it really is a fallacy that all Spaniards are dark skinned, sir,” he replied. “Besides, my family’s from the north.”

Finally, things were getting back to normal. “I don’t care where your bloody family’s from! Ya look like a polar bear!”

The boys laughed so hard that Diego was unable to inform Blakeley that polar bears were expert swimmers and therefore he took his comment as a compliment. His thanks, however, would have to wait as Blakeley had more announcements to make.

“As you all know, we have a new school doctor,” he said, his voice not as harsh as before, “who’s got some new school rules.”

Michael cringed at the mention of Dr. Sutton, but cringed even more when someone responded to Blakeley’s comment by crying out from the crowd, “Coed swim team?!”

Smirking unprofessionally, Blakeley replied, “You yobs don’t know what to do with girls on land.

How the bloody hell do you think you’d know what to do with them in the pool!?”

“Some of us know,” Michael whispered to Ronan. “We just don’t care.”

Smirking just as wickedly as Blakeley, Ronan responded by bumping his hip into Michael’s butt.

“And one of those new rules is that the new doc is enforcing mandatory physicals for each student athlete,” Blakeley continued. “I think it’s a bloomin’ foolish idea, but I’m just the daft gym teacher, not some medical expert.”

Another cold tingle sprinkled down Michael’s spine. “Ronan, this means we’ll be exposed!”

Another smirk graced Ronan’s face. “And so will the good doctor.”

The cold tingle was replaced with the warm sensation of relief. “Oh yeah ... I forgot about that.”

One thing Blakeley didn’t forget was to save the best announcement for last. “Awright, shut it! I got one more thing, and it’s the biggest of ’em all.”

Like any good leader, Blakeley waited until the murmur in the crowd subsided, until he could feel the tension grow in the gym, until he had everyone’s full attention before he spoke again. “This year the National Swim Team Competition is going to be held right here at Double A.”

As he expected, that’s all he had to say. Everyone knew what an honor it was to host the competition and that teams from schools all over the United Kingdom would come here for a weekend to vie for the title of the best in the country. There were prizes given for each discipline—backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, relay—and to the best all-around athlete, and the most coveted Team of the Year award was given to the team that displayed the best athletic skills as well as superior sportsmanship.

The guys went wild, screaming, jumping up and down, pumping the air with their fists. Alexei got so excited he did a flip into the deep end of the pool. Equally carried away, but less agile, Diego tried to imitate Alexei’s move, but only wound up performing an elite-level belly flop. Blakeley was so satisfied with the amount of excitement his announcement created that he didn’t even scream when he was sprayed with a wave of water following Diego’s plunge. He just made a mental note to bench Fuente so he wouldn’t be able to participate in any of the races.

“The competition will take place during the Tri-Centennial Celebration,” Blakeley shouted, unzipping and taking off his now-wet track jacket and tossing it to the floor. “And since we’re hosting I expect us to win Team of the Year!”

An even louder roar engulfed the gym and even more guys jumped into the pool, splashing around, dunking each other, and shouting incoherently. It was no wonder that when Fritz ran in from the locker room he thought he was missing a fight.

Slapping Ciaran on the shoulder, he asked, “Who threw the first punch?”

Under the din of the crowd, Ciaran filled Fritz in on what was happening, then wanted to know why he was so late for practice. “We left the library at the same time,” Ciaran said. “What happened to you?” It was the same thing Blakeley wanted to know.

“I was helping Ruby Poltke get to the library, Coach,” Fritz announced proudly, completely unaware that Ciaran looked utterly confused by his statement.

“You too?” Blakeley replied. “Eaves already told me he was helping her, and he was able to make it to practice on time.”

Fritz’s bronze skin turned a shade closer to red. “Well, I rushed out to help Ruby so quickly after class, I forgot my swimsuit and had to run back to my dorm to get it,” he confessed, his voice smaller than usual. It only took him a moment to return to his usual brassy self. “You didn’t want me to show up here starkers, did you?”

The crowd was split. Half of the guys grimaced loudly at the prospect of seeing Fritz naked, while the other half let out a collective “a www w” to make fun of Fritz and his obvious crush on the girl. He laughed along with them, taking the ribbing in stride, what did he care? Despite Ciaran’s showing up at the last minute and literally crashing into their private outing, he was the one who got to hold her arm and waltz her around school like she was his girlfriend, which he hoped very soon she would be. It didn’t even matter to him that she was blind. He had thought it would at first, but when he was around her, she never acted like she had a disability. She was almost more self-assured than he was.

“Did you know that she reads Braille?” he informed the group.

“Yes!” Ciaran cried. “I was the one who found the book for God’s sake!”