Erin raised her chin. “I am fine. Perfect. Except for my swimming prospects and personal life, everything is perfect.”
Arms linked, she and Lalitha headed toward the locker room.
EIGHTEEN
Half the team had disappeared while Erin was talking to Percy. The other half had adjourned to the hot tub.
If she were going to be an outcast here, too, she needed to know immediately. Into the fire.
“Mind if I join you?” Erin asked.
“Our pleasure! Welcome to the spa!” Lily slid to make room.
Summer said, “Did everyone meet Erin?”
Air-in. She was trying.
A chorus of hellos greeted her: Ruby, Nala, Marama, Gemma, Ryan, Indiana, Tavé.
“What was the relay team before I got here?”
Summer said, “I swam fly. Marama, free. Ruby, breast. Gemma, back.”
What could she say to that? Erin didn’t want to break up their party. Had Claudia Quigley felt any guilt when she replaced Erin on the relay team at Wheaton?
To Summer, she said, “I didn’t think about how my being here would affect your season. I’m so sorry.”
Summer was cheery. “Why? Because with you, the relay has a fighting chance at Nationals? Last year no one in our school qualified, and this year we could qualify four? That’s awesome.”
Erin hadn’t considered that. “I’m … happy to help.”
“Sweet as.”
“How are you finding New Zealand?” Marama asked.
“It’s only my second full day. Still jet-lagged, so I haven’t seen much.”
“What kind of stuff do you like?”
Here it was again. For all her bragging about confidence and self-sufficiency, Erin had few ideas about her own passions. “I like variety.”
Summer said, “Do you prefer the tourist route—bungee off a bridge and tour boats—or the native route?”
The word bungee struck terror in her heart. “Definitely the native route.”
Marama laughed. “Correct choice.” Her skin was a beautiful, flawless brown. Ma-ori.
“Where to first, you think?” Summer asked.
A flurry of suggestions filled the hot tub: Hanmer, Castle Hill, Akaroa, Hokitika, Hell Pizza, Winnie Bagoes, Antarctic Center, Franz Glacier.
Marama said, “How about bouldering Saturday? It’s rock climbing, but nearer the ground.”
Erin stared at the water. She couldn’t imagine spending an entire day hopping over rocks. “I probably can’t Saturday. It’s my host mother’s birthday.”
“Sunday, then,” Marama said.
“I’m not sure.”
Marama pointed a finger. “You owe me, after kicking my very best friend off my relay team!”
Erin’s eyes widened, but Marama was grinning.
Erin grinned back. “Sounds great.”
“I’m out,” Summer said. “Family day.”
“Same,” Ruby and Ryan said.
“Minding my little brother.” Nala rolled her eyes.
“Sunday. I’ll find someone who’s game,” Marama said before changing the subject. “So, Nala. Out with it. You and Zane.”
Nala’s crimson cheeks told at least half the story. “He’s sweet,” she said.
“Looked more savory to me,” Marama teased.
Erin relaxed against the hot tub for a half hour while conversation volleyed between old friends. One by one, swimmers left the spa until only Summer and Erin remained.
Erin said, “So, was this a typical practice?”
“Pretty much.”
They hadn’t gotten into the pool until 3:30, or half-three, and they’d adjourned to the hot tub shortly after 5:00.
Erin said, “Is there somewhere we can lift weights and do some extra training?”
On the dry concrete, Summer dribbled a floor plan and directed Erin toward the weight room. “And we can use it any time we want. I’m off now. See you tomorrow?”
“Same place, same time.”
With forty minutes to kill, Erin headed to the weight room for conditioning.
NINETEEN
Felicity sang along to U2 as they sped home. The warm side of the house wasn’t quite warm yet when they arrived, but it warmed slightly as Erin catnapped under piles of blankets. When the family of four sat for mince stew at 6:40, just ten minutes late, the dining room was toasty.
Before Erin was in the chair, Hamish asked, “How did you feel about your first day, Erin?”
Erin retreated to the same phrase she’d used on Felicity: “I’m still digesting.”
Hamish prodded, “What courses have you chosen?”
Unsatisfied with a recap, Hamish asked Erin’s opinion about everything: Was she pleased with her courses? Was she excited about the relay team? How starkly did Ilam and Wheaton High contrast?
Finished with the interrogation, Hamish handed Erin a credit card. “I finally got you a Metrocard today. It will refill automatically, so don’t lose it.”
Erin’s brow furrowed. “What’s that for?”
Hamish chuckled. “Felicity can’t knock off work every day to drive you around! Metrostar will get you to school and back. I should have brought you a map.”
She looked at Felicity. “I thought I’d be driving. On the 81, you said?”
“The 81 is a city bus. Metrostar, too,” Pippa said. “I like to alternate.”
“And Foreign Study Network prohibits driving in your host country,” Hamish said.
Erin winced. “No.”
“Yes,” Felicity said. “It’s in all their paperwork.”
In May, Claire had handled all the paperwork and made Erin sign on six different lines.
She struggled to speak. After a full year with her own Fiat, Christchurch was relegating her to the bus? She had never taken a bus to high school. They were for freshmen who had no upperclassmen friends, enormously unpopular sophomores, and anyone else who had no sense of social order or survival.
Thanks to swim team, Erin had always ridden with upperclassmen. When she got her license—and the Fiat—on her sixteenth birthday, she helped the social order by driving others.
But here she was—seventeen—riding the bus. The city bus.
Pippa said, “I’ll show you the way tomorrow. As long as we catch one of them before 7:24, we’ll be on time.”
Erin’s head spun. She rubbed her chilly arms. She just wanted to crawl back to Pippa’s room and put on all the clothes she’d brought with her. “So, when does it really start to feel like spring in Christchurch?”
Hamish said, “It’s already starting to warm up a bit, I think.”
Erin grabbed her mug with both hands. It was almost too hot, but she’d take what she could get.
Hamish said, “Put on a sweater.”
She snapped, “I have on a sweater.”
Hamish spoke through a mouthful of food. “Pu. on. Anuvah. Sweater.”
“I am inside a house!”
The table fell silent. Pippa studied her plate.
