Page 133 of Finding Us

“Yeah, it was great,” Garret answers.

“Good. Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt your breakfast. I just wanted to come over and see if we could set up a time to meet over at the pool. I’d like to watch you swim and see if we can get you on the team this fall.”

Garret hesitates, then says, “Yeah, sounds good. I’ll give you a call.”

“Can we just set a time? Are you free tomorrow? It wouldn’t take long.”

“I don’t know.” Garret looks at me. “I think we’re busy tomorrow. We’re going to the bookstore and then my dad’s coming into town Thursday so—”

“That’s great. I’d love to meet him. I always like to meet the parents and explain how the season runs. See if they have any questions.”

“My dad doesn’t have much time so that probably won’t work.” Garret acts like he’s annoyed. I don’t know why. Keith seems like a nice guy.

“Garret, you can go to the pool tomorrow,” I tell him. “We’ll just go to the bookstore after you swim.”

Now Garret seems annoyed withme. He’s giving me this look like I shouldn’t be butting in. But I didn’t know Iwas. I was just trying to be helpful.

He turns to Keith and forces out a smile. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe around 11?”

“Yes, that’s perfect. I’m looking forward to watching you swim. I think you’ll be a great addition to the team. See you then.”

He leaves and Garret quickly exits the booth.

I follow him to the car. “What’s going on with you? You don’t want to swim tomorrow?”

“No. I don’t. I’m not ready to. I haven’t even practiced.” He gets in the car, closing the door a little too hard.

“You swam in the ocean all summer. You’re in great shape.”

“I didn’t swim. I surfed.” He backs the car up, then stops. “Put your seatbelt on.” He waits until it’s on, then continues backing out of the parking space.

“I saw you swim in the ocean at least a few times.”

“It’s not the same as swimming in a pool. I need to practice before I swim for that guy. And now I can’t. I’m gonna suck tomorrow and he won’t want me on the team.”

“Are you mad at me?”

He sighs. “Yeah, kind of. But I’ll get over it.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know you weren’t ready to try out.”

“Just forget it. I need to find a grocery store. Do you remember seeing one around here?” He picks up his phone and hands it to me. “See if you can find one.”

“Garret, why won’t you talk to me about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Just find a store, okay?”

He’s mad and I can’t figure out why. He loves swimming and I know he wants to be on the team so what’s the deal? He’s in better shape now than he was last year. And even though he hasn’t been swimming in a pool all summer, it’s not like he forgot how to swim.

He turns down a road and off to the right is a large grocery store. We stop and go inside.

As we’re shopping, I notice that Garret’s in a total daze. He usually takes the lead in the store but today he’s straggling behind.

“Do you want to pick out some meat?” I ask him as we stand in front of the meat case. He always picks it out. I know nothing about cuts of meat and I have no interest to learn. I don’t like handling raw meat or cooking it. Seeing the bloody juice in the package makes me not want to eat it. I also don’t like touching raw chicken. The slippery texture and the bones make me ill, which is why Garret always cooks it for me.

“Garret? Are you going to get anything?”

“Yeah.” He tosses some packages in the cart. I don’t think he even knows what he’s putting in there.

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