One day until my 200 freestyle. I was a nervous wreck. It wasn't my best event of all time, and I didn't have all that much stamina for a 200. And it was the one race I refused to do. But now I had no choice. If I scratched from the race I wouldn't make the team, and if I did it, I'd have a nervous breakdown. Ava and I were in the stands at the second to last day of the Trials. Sammy was swimming his 800 freestyle today so we were here to support him. In two days, my name would either appear on the wall announcing the Olympic team, and I would spend the rest of my summer in Brazil, or it wouldn't, and I'd spend the rest of my summer back in Manhattan dealing with the everyday struggles of a 'normal' 16 year old. I took a deep breath, calming myself. I could worry about the 200 when it happened. As they announced the names of the boys going up, the first one was Sammy Johnson from Manhattan, New York. As the men stepped up to the blocks I tensed up. This was Sammy's last race. He screwed this up it was all over for him.
"Swimmers Take your marks..."
Come on Sammy...
"Go!"
I sat back in my seat as he started swimming smooth even strokes. Ava looked at me, "you think a the sabotage will strike here?" "No," I said, "they can't, they wouldn't risk it. The officials are already super paranoid." I was more trying to convince myself than anyone. Sammy was doing really well as he flipped at the 400 meter mark. Halfway there. I looked at the scoreboard, the boy in the lane next to Sammy had a name that seemed oddly familiar to me. Was he from before? I strained my thoughts, trying to remember where I'd seen that name before. I shook my head, banishing the thought. I could go up to him after the race or something. Sammy was almost done. He was neck and neck with the boy next to him. I looked at his time as he hit the wall. 7:50.17 I grinned, the cut time was 7:50.20. He'd made it, he'd really made it. I screamed his name and Ava whooped and cheered. We ran down to meet him as we walked off deck. "Hey hey hey!" Ava said as we approached him. "How bout that time!" He grinned, "I think it's very good," He said as he turned to me. "Now, how about a hug from my girlfriend?" Before I could protest he grabbed me in a big bear hug. "Sammy! This shirt is new! It's the one thing I have that isn't permanently infused with the scent of chlorine!" He let go and gave me a kiss. I pushed him away. "No kisses for you! You got my new shirt wet! Now go get dry!" He kissed me on the forehead and walked off to warm down. I rolled my eyes at Ava's barely contained laughter. "You may laugh now my dear friend." She shook her head as we walked out of the building. "He is the peanut butter to your jelly." She replied simply. "Oh really?" I said, "well I'm glad you're here to give us that thoughtful insight on our relationship." She grinned at me, "well I'm here to help." I rolled my eyes again as we approached Emma and Jackson. "So," Emma said, "where's this alleged 'boyfriend' of yours?" Jackson cut in, "make sure he knows your dad used to be a football player and a wrestler." I gave him a one armed hug, "ok dad I'll make sure Sammy knows." "Make sure Sammy knows what?" Sammy walked up next to me, "ah so these must be the parents. I've heard so much about you!" "Oh really?" Emma said raising an eyebrow at me as Sammy shook both their hands. "No not really," Sammy said, "she refused to mention you and she begged me on hands and knees not to come to lunch with you guys." I decided to go die in a corner. No actually I decided to get into the rental car and as soon as Sammy got in and my parents weren't looking, I punched him hard in the stomach. It didn't effect him in the least. He gave me an annoyingly cute yet devilish grin in response. "So Sammy," Jackson started, "how did you get into swimming?" I tensed up, and I felt Sammy grip my hand. "Oh someone just suggested it to me. It seemed like a fun thing to do so a kept with it." I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "So you only swim freestyle correct?" "Yes." I think he was going to cut off the circulation to my hand. "Now why is that?" "Dad?" I asked, my voice coming out higher than intended. "Yeah?" I looked out the window and thanked God that we had made it to the restaurant. As we sat down a waiter came up to us and asked us what we wanted to drink. Sammy ordered plain water, I got a Sprite, Ava got a coke, and Emma and Jackson got waters. As waiter left Emma spoke, "so, we know Rowen has been talking about this for a very long time, and we decided that we're ready. We're adopting another child." I couldn't believe my ears. I buried my face in Sammy shirt to keep myself from screaming. "This is a new shirt you know." He commented. I looked up and slapped him lightly. "I can't believe this!" I said excitedly, "Are we getting a boy or a girl?" Jackson smiled warmly at my enthusiasm, "in two weeks we're getting a two year old boy who was abandoned at a gas station." I felt a pang of sadness at the cruelty of this world. A/N -_- "does he have a name?" Ava asked as our drinks came. "Well, he didn't have one when they found him, and they found him about a day ago, so we get to name him." Ava looked like Christmas had come early as she grabbed my Sprite and took a big drink from it. I rolled my eyes, "Ava whatever you're thinking can't be good for any of us." She smiled then started choking. "Ava!" I exclaimed, "are you ok?!" She glared at me, "ok stupid question, she coughed weakly and passed out on the floor. Sammy was already on the phone and everyone in the restaurant was staring at us. I spotted our waiter, and I saw him standing in the corner, only halfway visible. He was smiling. He couldn't see me either. I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick photo of him. I could hear the ambulance sirens approaching us rapidly. "Ava come on wake up!" I begged as tears sprang to my eyes. The paramedics burst into the restaurant and carried her up on a stretcher. I gripped her hand and refused to leave her side. I rode in the ambulance with her but we were separated when we got to the hospital. I stood dejectedly in the waiting room as they took my best friend away. Sammy and my parents had finally caught up with me. Sammy wrapped his arm around me and I totally broke down. He guided me to a chair and and cried into his shoulder. I could hear Emma and Jackson on the phone with Ava's parents. I didn't think I could survive in a world without my best friend. I thought of a quote from one of my favorite books. "Life is an awful, ugly place not to have a best friend." ~Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You. Bestest book ever read it. It truly was a horrible place to be without a best friend.

I'm sorry my lovelies!! I was away in the middle of nowhere on a camping trip but I've been working on this chapter a lot (it took forever to finish) because I started it and then it realized it was stupid and had to rewrite the plot line a little bit. Anyways, this was a nice long chapter for you guys and I promise I'll try to update tomorrow. I love you all!!❣ Stay beautiful my unicorns!!!😘💖🦄🏊🏼