The Fear Trials by Lindsay Cummings

Author:Lindsay Cummings
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

When I’m beneath the waves, nothing else matters.

I am a part of the water and it’s all around me, and here I feel safe.

It’s only an illusion. I have to come up for air eventually, and when I do, my father is watching me. He and Koi are sitting in the dinghy. It bobs up and down in the waves. “How long can you swim for?” my father asks me.

I kick my legs to stay afloat. “I don’t know. An hour, maybe.”

“That’s good,” Koi says, nodding. He looks at my father before he speaks. “I can go for two without stopping.”

I am tired of him acting like this, like his whole world revolves around my father’s approval.

“Oh yeah?” I splash him. “I think you’re lying.” He doesn’t smile, so I splash him again. “Lighten up, Koi.”

“Stop it, Meadow.”

“Stop it, Meadow,” I mimic him, and finally, he smiles.

He dives into the waves, tackling me. We sink under, and it’s like we are little kids again.

When we come back up, my father almost looks like he used to. Calm and gentle, without a care in the world.

“You should come for a swim,” I say. “It’s hot out.”

Koi nods, running his hands through his hair. “Yeah, Dad. Come on. You could use a day off. We can relax a little.”

Our father almost looks like he wants to say yes. But then, as always, his smile goes away. “I want you both to swim until you can’t anymore. No stopping to rest. Meadow, you will win.”

I think of all the times Koi and I used to play games as kids. We used to see who could hold their breath the longest. Who could jump the farthest, dive the deepest. I never won. “What if I can’t beat him? He’s bigger than me. Stronger.”

“You are the stronger one now,” my father says.

And just like that, Koi’s good mood is gone. He turns and swims away.

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