Chlorine Lies and Vitamin Gummies

I am officially dog. Not the animal. The verb. As in, I have been dog-tired, dog-paddling, and thoroughly dogged by life since June 1st.

"Jordan, you're spacing out again!" Mia's voice cut through my daydream. She waved her phone in my face, displaying a screenshot of some random TikTok.

"Sorry. Swim practice fried my brain." I adjusted my goggles on the pool deck, trying to look like I had my life together. Meanwhile, my stomach did that nervous flip thing it always did when HE walked by.

Max. The swim team captain. The guy whose backstroke made everyone forget how to breathe correctly.

"You need these." Mia dumped a handful of glittery orange gummies into my hand. "My mom got them at this weird wellness store. They're, like, magic vitamins for energy."

"Vitamins that look like candy?"

"Exactly." She winked. "Don't question the glow-up, Jordan. Just embrace it."

Coach Torres's whistle cut through the air before I could respond. "Alright team, today's the day we see what you're made of! Twenty laps, NOW!"

Twenty laps. I'd been swimming competitively since seventh grade, but Coach's practices hit different this summer. Maybe because Max kept watching me during lane breaks. Maybe because Mia and her vitamin gummies had somehow convinced half the team that we needed pre-practice rituals involving weird breathing exercises.

Maybe because I was suddenly hyper-aware that my one-piece had gotten tighter since last season, and the thought of Max seeing me in it was both terrifying and low-key thrilling.

"Go Jordan!" Mia shouted as I pushed off the wall.

The water swallowed me. Chlorine stung my eyes, my arms burned, but there was something peaceful about the rhythm. Stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe. The world narrowed down to this.

Until I saw Max swimming in the lane next to me.

He kept pace perfectly, like he was matching my rhythm on purpose. When we both touched the wall at the same time, gasping, he grinned.

"You're getting faster, Jordan."

My heart did something genuinely concerning. "Thanks. Your backstroke still makes everyone else look like they're drowning, though."

"Smooth." He laughed. "Hey, some of us are getting food after practice. You should come."

Me? Come? To food? With MAX?

"I..."

"Bring your vitamin gummies," he added, gesturing toward Mia. "We might need the extra energy."

Later, as we walked out of the pool, damp hair and chlorine perfume, I realized something. Being dog tired? Totally worth it. Because for the first time all summer, I wasn't swimming in circles anymore.

I was swimming toward something real.