Trolled

by Steven Sandor

  FUNDS PLEDGED: $305

  Supporters: 45

  In the last 48 hours, I’ve only gone from 300 bucks to 305 bucks, thought Andy. Well, better than nothing. Might pay for part of a plane ticket.

  As he left the men’s change room and walked out onto the pool deck, he saw a new lifeguard patrolling the perimeter of the pool, a neon-green whistle-chain around her neck.

  Enalyn.

  Her eyes met Andy’s, and then she looked away.

  Andy approached her. “Enalyn? You work here now?”

  “Andy, we’re not talking.”

  “I’m a swimmer. And it looks like you’re a lifeguard now. So if I ask you something, you have to talk to me.”

  Enalyn pointed to the wall. “The life jackets are over there. There’s a life preserver on the other wall. Call out if you realize you’re drowning. I’ll come to help you, eventually.”

  “When did you get this job?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. That’s not a life-saving question. That’s a personal question.”

  “C’mon Enalyn.” Andy waited for Enalyn to respond. She didn’t. She was looking over Andy’s shoulder toward the pool.

  “Um, I think, well, I think I might have bombed that math exam,” Andy mumbled.

  Enalyn didn’t move her head, but her eyes moved toward Andy, and then rolled. “That’s a surprise,” she said drily.

  “I could have used your help.”

  “So I guess you really want to have this conversation, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Andy nodded.

  “Okay, I’ll break my vow of silence about talking to you. You say you could have used my help? You sure didn’t act like it. You were too busy talking about yourself and your times and your swimming. Anything but what you needed to focus on.”

  “Yeah, well . . .”

  Enalyn raised her hand. “I wasn’t finished. You wanted me to talk to you? Well I’m talking now. And you’ve got to listen. You just used the study session as an excuse to rail on me about my times, even though I told you over and over not to. You’re supposed to be my friend, and all you did was make me feel even worse about myself. And to think I had a huge crush on you, once.”

  Enalyn walked away and climbed up the ladder to the high lifeguard chair.

  Crush? Andy thought. What?

  “I decided I wasn’t going to let anyone ruin the fact that, deep down inside, I like being at the pool. So I dropped out of the team and finished the lifesaver courses. Here I am. Summer job. But why are you here during public swim?”

  “I’ve been slow. I need to get it back. Putting the time in to do some extra work . . . And, um, a crush?”

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said. “And as for the crush thing, I was speaking in past tense.”

  “You could have done some extra laps, too,” Andy said. “And maybe got your times down . . .”

  “Andy! Maybe you should get in the pool. And really, don’t get into any trouble out there, because I’m no longer undecided if I would jump in and rescue you. I wouldn’t.”

  ***

  Andy sat at the dinner table across from his parents.

  “Dad?” Andy asked, as he scooped out another spoonful of yellow bean soup and shovelled it into his mouth. “When you get in trouble with Mom, what’s the best way to apologize?”

  His mother laughed. “Your father doesn’t know how to apologize.”

  “Not true,” said Mr. Kovacs. “You have to pick your spot. Sometimes, even if you know exactly what you want to say, you need to know that the other person is going to listen to you.”

  “Your father waits to pick his spots, all right. Maybe in a couple of years or so, he’ll apologize for mixing the colours and whites in the laundry. All the rainbow colours on the white sheets and shirts!”

  Andy shook his head. “You know, neither of you are being much help.”

  “Okay,” his mother laughed. “I will help. Don’t ask your father. Ask me instead.”

  “Well?” Andy’s voice trailed off.

  “Chances are, the person is hoping you’ll come back and want to talk to them.”

  “What if that person keeps telling you to go away?”

  “Well, maybe you’re not sending the right message. Maybe that person needs to see that you actually feel bad about whatever’s gone on between you. Maybe you should just tell Enalyn three words. I and am and sorry.”

  “Why do you think it’s Enalyn?”

  “Oh, Andy, your parents might be getting older, but we’re not senile yet.”

  ***

  Andy texted.

  I. Am. Sorry.

  Then, for good measure.

  Really, I am. No jokes.

  You were right. I needed help in math.

  And I shouldn’t have bugged you about your swim times.

  Andy waited ten minutes. Then a half hour. The phone didn’t buzz. After an hour, he put it down.

  Well so much for your advice, Mom, he thought.

  Andy got up and went downstairs. He flipped the TV on to one of his favourite superhero shows, The Invisible Spy. During one of the ad breaks, there was a trailer for the new Galaxy Queen movie. Andy noticed how much the moviemakers had changed Galaxy Queen’s costume. In the comic, the character wore a body suit, but the Hollywood actress was dressed only in a tiny black bikini. The only thing they’d kept from the comic was the blue cape.

  Andy’s gawking was interrupted by a collection of buzzing and beeping sounds.

  My phone! he thought. I left it in my room!

  Andy raced upstairs to get to the phone before the call went to voice mail. He dashed into his room and snatched the phone so fast, he didn’t have time to check the caller display.

  “Hello?” he said.

  “You really are a moron,” came Enalyn’s voice.

  “What?”

  “If you’re going to apologize to someone, don’t do it over text message. Call them. Say it in person.”

  “Oh.”

  “So, Andy, is there something you wanted to tell me?”

  “Well, yeah, well . . . um . . .”

  “Spit it out or I’m hanging up.”

  “Okay . . . Okay! I am sorry. Enalyn, really.”

  “Now was that so hard?”

  “No, and I just wanted to say . . .”

  “Andy, wait, don’t say anything. I just want to savour this apology. I’m replaying it in my head, you saying ‘I am sorry’ in that sorta pathetic tone of voice.”

  “Aw, En . . .”

  “Do you admit that sometimes you need help?”

  “Yes!”

  “Okay, I’ve been watching your laps. Your entries are all wrong there. They’re way too deep.”

  “I know. Like the coach says, ‘pretend you’re diving into a puddle.’ Coach has been giving me crap about it.”

  “I can see you’re so worried about your entries. You’re like a robot out there. Don’t be so tense.”

  “Well, it’s hard not to be tense when you’re being watched by some lifeguard who hates you.”

  “Oh, Andy, I don’t hate you. Wait. That’s a lie. I did hate you just a little bit. Okay, a lot.”

  “And . . .”

  “There’s an old song that my mom has on her iPad. It has a line where the singer jokes about smashing someone in the head. By some band called The Smiths. They’re sorta good but I can never tell my mom that.”

  “Never heard of them. But do you want to smash my mouth?”

  “I did. But now, I’m going to try to help you. Again. And this is the part where you tell me you’d really like it if I would go to Hamilton to watch you swim at the summer championships.”

  “Um, yeah.”

  “You’re really bad at this, aren’t you?”

  “Ye
ah.”

  10

  Provincials

  The van that Coach Ocampo rented stuttered, stopped, started, stuttered, started, slowed, sped up and slowed again in the thick traffic.

  “Coach, it’s a good thing we got off to such an early start from Brampton,” said the Eel, “because we were able to squeeze in this nice little tour of Hamilton from all your wrong turns.”

  The van finally pulled off the street and into a driveway that led to the McMaster University campus. Coach Ocampo had his phone perched on the dash.

  “I think the parking lot closest to the pool is . . . hang a left, a right . . . there!” he said.

  “Or you could just follow those other two vans coming in from that other street,” said the Eel, who sat right in front of Andy. “Looks like they’re going to the same place we are.”

  “Right!” said the coach. “We’re almost there! Ontario Summer Long-Course Championships! Are we ready?”

  Andy looked out the window. He knew he was ready. Over the last week, his form had returned. His entries were shallow and quick. His shoulders were rotating. His strokes were even. He was gliding through the water.

  As they got out of the van and walked through the parking lot, Andy knew that his teammates and coach were still talking, but he couldn’t hear them. All he could think about was getting off the blocks and into the pool — about swimming the race of his life.

  He walked through the doors and into the aquatic centre. He ambled down the staircase that bisected the stands and strode onto the pool deck. He took a right turn into the change room. There were dozens of other swimmers in there, and they stopped when he walked in.

  He knew many of them from earlier races. He’d beaten them before. He knew that if he swam as fast as he could, there was no way anyone there could beat him in his event — 100-metre freestyle.

  I am the Tiger Shark, he thought.

  He changed and went to the warm-up pool. It felt as if he could leave his body and look down on himself as he swam in the lane. He could see that his pace was perfect, that his strokes were true. The water parted for him. His kicks were strong, but not violent.

  He paused only to look up toward the stands. And he saw lots of swimmers in the seats, talking with their coaches, talking with their parents. A man, though, sat alone in the top row. His head was shaved. He wore a red Swim Canada jacket. Andy recognized him. Travis Holloway! Canadian gold medalist at the Olympics — now the head coach of the Canadian swim program.

  There was a din coming from the stands. But somehow, out of the chorus of voices, Andy could hear his named being called out. He looked toward the far end of the seats, and there was Enalyn, sitting next to his parents.

  “You, Andy! I see you!” called Enalyn. “Now do what you’ve been doing all week!”

  Andy got out of the pool. His event would come soon. His race was near the start of the schedule.

  There were swimmers gathered on the deck. On their swim caps, Andy saw the names of many of the best swim clubs in the province: Toronto Swim Club, Whitby Dolphins, Etobicoke Swim Club and the Ottawa Kingfish.

  Ottawa Kingfish! Andy thought. That meant she was here. Miriam Said must be nearby.

  A small crowd had gathered around a TV camera in the far corner of the deck. Andy pushed through the arms, heads and shoulders. In the middle of the hubbub was Miriam Said. Her eyes were deep brown, shining brightly. Her perfect teeth were as white as the smiles in toothpaste commercials. A few strands of her curly black hair strayed from underneath a bright orange swim cap; on it, the Kingfish logo was featured in blue script. She wore a long robe that covered her swimsuit.

  That cap kinda makes her head look like a can of orange juice, Andy thought. And what’s with the robe? It looked strange in the middle of all the almost-naked bodies of the other swimmers.

  The air was full of questions coming from the kids who surrounded the province’s most famous swimmer.

  “Miriam, are you gonna set another record today?”

  “Do you think you’ll be the best in the world one day?”

  “Shut up! You’re crowding her!”

  Andy dashed back to the men’s change room. He went to his stall and unlocked the door. He reached into his pants pocket and fished out his phone. He opened the Twitter app.

  @TigerShark

  Just saw @TheREALMiriamSaid on deck at OSLCC!

  It only took about a minute before a response appeared.

  @MarkLi

  Did @TigerShark tell @TheREALMiriamSaid about how he’s a douche?

  Eight girls lined up on the blocks. They were ready for the first preliminary race for fourteen-year-old girls. Andy looked up at Enalyn in the stands. How could she stand watching? If she were only a couple of seconds faster, she would have been in this event.

  The beep went off and the girls went into the pool. There were splashes and waves as the eight racers dashed to the other end, hit the wall and then turned back in the direction they’d come from. The first girl hit the wall to finish the race.

  On the board came the winner’s time: 59.67 seconds!

  A boy next to Andy nudged him. “Holy crap, that’s slow.”

  Andy knew it didn’t matter who actually won the preliminary heats. A swimmer just needed to post one of the eight quickest heat times to earn a spot in tomorrow’s final — that was the race for all the marbles.

  “Aw, give it a break,” Andy said to the swimmer next to him. “Look at Miriam Said. She’s swimming later today, and she’s the biggest attraction here.”

  “Darn right, she’s a big attraction,” said the boy, who had LESLIEVILLE emblazoned on his swim cap. As he spoke, another Leslieville swimmer joined them.

  “I’ve heard of you,” the other Leslieville swimmer said to Andy. “You have that video on YouTube.”

  “Yeah, I recognize you now!” the first Leslieville kid said. “You call yourself Tiger Shark. Ha! You’ve never been to nationals, and you think you’re some kinda shark? Are you that dangerous in the pool? That’s cocky!”

  Andy felt like jumping into the water and not coming up again. He recognized this pair — they were both from Leslieville’s U-16 relay team that had won several meets this year. Andy thought that either one of them could pick him up and throw him across the length of the pool. Their shoulders were as wide as the body building ads Andy saw in the comics.

  The first swimmer continued. “You may have some big reputation, but you’re still a newbie. Maybe you’re a big deal with COBRA, whatever the hell club that is, but you’re new meat here. And if you want anyone to take you — and that nickname, what a joke — seriously, well we all know rookies gotta do their initiations. And I’m not talking about something stupid like hair remover in a swim cap. After all, your head is already shaved. What’s the point?”

  Andy thought that he could simply walk away. He didn’t need to listen to these guys. He could go swim a few laps in the practice pool. But he didn’t do that. He stayed in the same spot — after all, what was the point of running from two Hulk look-alikes?

  The first Leslieville swimmer said, “Yo, Tiger Shark, you were talking about how awesome Miriam Said is?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, we all know later tonight she’s gonna win her heat, easy. And, well, not only is she fast, but she is, well . . .”

  “Hot,” Andy finished the thought.

  “Right. And I bet you aren’t man enough to go up there and be the first to run out there and plant a big kiss on her when she gets out of the pool.”

  “That’s it?” Andy shrugged. “That’s all you want me to do? To kiss Miriam Said?”

  “Yup,” said the Leslieville swimmer. “She’s the biggest name here. She’s the hottest girl here. And I bet when you get anywhere near her, you’ll choke. You’ll look like an idiot and we’ll all get a laugh. Initiation done.”<
br />
  “What? Not man enough?” The second Leslieville swimmer jabbed his finger into Andy’s chest. “We saw you talking to that girl up in the stands. Is she your girlfriend? Worried what she might say?”

  Andy looked up to the stands where Enalyn was sitting. She wasn’t looking in his direction.

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” Andy mumbled.

  Andy thought about the times Enalyn had told him about how Miriam Said had inspired her. He remembered how Enalyn bookmarked all the articles about Miriam Said — about how she’d come to Canada with her family from Egypt. About how she steadily rose up the swim rankings. Why shouldn’t he let her know he was a fan?

  “I’ll do it,” Andy said. “Just you watch.”

  11

  Mark on the Mark

  @MarkLi

  You’re going down, @TigerShark.

  @TigerShark

  @MarkLi dude do you really have to tweet at me? We’re both here at provincials. Say it to my face.

  @MarkLi

  @TigerShark see you in the pool.

  @Branko_Stimac

  @TigerShark @MarkLi You two are the lamest twitterfighters in history.

  @JoeXinEssex

  @TigerShark @MarkLi @Branko_Stimac I’ve been following this twitterfight for weeks.

  @ShelleyJ

  @TigerShark @MarkLi @Branko_Stimac @JoeXinEssex Me too. I think those two can’t live without each other!

  Finally it was time for the boys’ 100-metre freestyle heats for 14-year-olds. Andy was in Heat 2. Ahead of him, getting ready for Heat 1, was Mark Li.

  Andy stood on the deck as Mark got on the blocks. Mark saw Andy and drew his finger across his neck.

  An announcer told the swimmers to get on their marks. Then the sound of the starting beep echoed off the walls.

  The eight swimmers leapt off the blocks and hit the pool, swimming furiously. Li hit the wall at the other side two body-lengths ahead of the field. As Li turned, Andy didn’t need to look at the clock to see that he was flying.

  What the heck? thought Andy.

  Li hit the wall to finish long before anyone else.

  The clock read 54.95.