fishy tails and drowning girls {barrie swim team}

[MARLENA CARTWRIGHT]

If Marlena was given the opportunity to choose one thing that she could do for the rest of her life without consequences, it would be swimming. Ever since she learned how, it became her favorite thing to do, much to her brother's discontent, at least after her father was killed. She never understood why he didn't want her to swim. It's not like she was going to drown as soon as she stepped into the water or anything.

Well, maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that, if she could shoose how she died, it would be to drown. That might have been a little too much. The look on his face made her not mention it again to anyone ever.

Of course, seeing as she was an adult now, he couldn't stop her from joining the Barrie swim team. Luckily she had gotten on Varsity, though she definitely wasn't the best swimmer on the team. She didn't know what it was, but compared to her, the others acted like they were fish or something. The way they swam was much more graceful than Marlena could ever hope. Luckily they didn't seem to notice that and befriended her anyways.

It would help if they were here, though. Marlena was always much too early for practice, so she was often alone in the locker room, waiting for the others. It would be a perfect time to think, if she were in the water. Now her thoughts were just disorganized and she had to focus on certain things so her mind wouldn't wander. Currently, that ws her phone. normally she didn't like those stupid little games that people seemed to gush over, but it was kind of a last resort. She had actually gotten pretty good over time, and sort of addicted, though she would never really admit that. Plus, she could stop playing whenever she felt like/needed to, so there.

[CLEO EVERETT]

Cleo was compared to a fish more often than not and she liked it that way. Fish lived in the ocean. The ocean might as well have been her home. Fish died when they weren't in the water. New York might as well have been her concrete coffin. Yep, Cleo was a fish and she knew it and she was proud of it. It wasn't like swim team was a suitable replacement for the sea but she didn't have many other options.

Normally, Cleo showed up insanely early for Varsity swim team at Barrie. Normally, she was the first or second there. However, she didn't waste time in the locker room. No, she went straight for the pool. It had gotten her in trouble a few times; the coach could be strict when need be and there were rules to follow. Some nonsense about always having somebody else with you in case you were to start drowning. Hah! Cleo? Drown?! As if!

Today, she was a bit late and she had things to put in her locker. Pulling the door open, she groaned and wondered why it had to be so heavy. She'd always had trouble with this stupid thing. The locker room sounded quiet enough; she wasn't surprised. It made sense for people to show up to practice on time and not insanely early. Putting in the combination for her lock, Cleo thought she heard a sound from the row on the other side.

Stopping in the middle of what she was doing, Cleo rounded the corner. "Marlee!" she exclaimed, surprised to see the girl there. She knew, of course, that Marlena was on the swim team. She had just never seen her here so early. "What are you doing here?" Cleo asked, settling down on the bench beside her friend. "And what's that your playing?" Cleo eyed the phone curiously, having never downloaded games onto her cell.