Chlorine Zombie

My alarm went off at 4:45 AM and I literally felt like a zombie rising from the dead. Third day of championship week and my entire body was screaming. But swim team didn't care about my feelings.

I dragged myself to the bathroom and caught my reflection in the mirror. My hair had officially surrendered to the chlorine—what started as balayage highlights had morphed into this weird greenish-tinted mess that no amount of deep conditioner could fix. Mom called it "character." I called it a disaster.

"You need to take your vitamin!" she yelled from somewhere downstairs. Because apparently gummy vitamins were gonna fix my entire life.

The water in the pool was already swirling with motion when I arrived. Coach Miller stood on deck, stopwatch around his neck like it was permanently attached.

"Lane 4, let's go!"

I slid into the cool water, feeling that familiar moment of peace before the chaos. Swimming was the only thing that made sense lately. School felt like a performance—trying to look like I had it together while my GPA was definitely not having it. My friends were all obsessed with college applications and prom drama, and I was just trying to survive junior year without having a complete meltdown.

"GO!"

I pushed off the wall, water rushing past my ears, everything disappearing into the rhythm. Stroke, breathe, kick. Stroke, breathe, kick. In the water, nobody could see the bags under my eyes or the fact that my hair looked like I'd stuck my finger in an electrical socket.

My arms burned. My lungs screamed. But somehow, I kept going.

Touching the wall, I gasped for air, seeing Coach nod approvingly. Maybe I wasn't completely dead inside.

After practice, Sarah caught up to me in the locker room. "Your hair looks actually kind of cool now, like, edgy."

I laughed. "That's one way to put it."

"Seriously though," she said, "you've been crushing it this week. We're gonna kill it at sectionals."

Walking home, the sun finally up, I didn't feel like a zombie anymore. My hair was still a disaster, and I had a calculus test I wasn't ready for, but for the first time all week, I felt okay with that. Some things you can't control. But how fast you swim? That's all you.