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Twenty inches. It isn’t a lot of room to maneuver, especially when I have all eyes on me and this is my first dive in five years in front of anyone other than my sister.

I’m not afraid of heights. If only. It’s drowning that has me soaked in cold sweat and feeling all the non-slip bumps of the board as I walk out. There’s a natural bounce not unlike the sway of a ship or the canter of a horse, a dependable give and take that I remember well.

It reminds me to breathe through the panic.

In and out. There were plenty of witnesses and the coach would pull me out in an emergency. No way they would all watch me drown, even if I was supposed to be my twin that had been bullied so badly in this exact pool.

Whale.

That is what they had written on Jen’s swimsuit with body heat sensitive ink, using the connection to Jordan Walsh to plant the doctored suit for Jen’s regulation white one-piece with the school’s red and gold colours on the right shoulder strap. Jen had stood up here, humiliated in front of everyone, looking down to see what her suit revealed only once the pointing started.

Then Jen had dived a perfect back somersault and twist combination into pike that had gotten her the gold medal for the competition. She hadn’t waited around to collect her award.

I found the medal in the bottom of her backpack after I cleaned her room with her. I made Jen take it with her when she moved to take my place with mom. My friend James would help her find the confidence to finish her season.

The school had been devastated to lose her over what they viewed as a poorly timed prank. Jen wasn’t what anyone would consider fat, so they hadn’t even mentioned it to my father, figuring it was more a reference to her making too much splash in her dives.

Also, not true. Jen was way better than me, the top of this school, which is why she had already gotten a full scholarship to university with the diving program of her choice.

Now, I was stuck back on the diving board because I told the school I enjoyed diving too, so it would be easier for Jen to leave. Her teammates were depending on her. They just had no idea that I was washed up at diving and less than eager to get back in the pool.

“Gen? You doing okay up there, sweetie?” The coach called up. I didn’t like him. Jen had warned me to keep my distance, saying he gave her bad vibes. Now that I had met him, I wanted to question my twin further.

“I’m fine,” I shouted down and walked the plank. Turning myself about, I prepared for a simple back somersault, half twist and pike. I didn’t have to face the water right away.

Jen had made me work hard to catch up. I could do this.

“Watch out, a cannonball is coming,” somebody shouted.

I ignored it easily. My twin’s reaction to this ongoing bullying, if she had still been in my place, might have caused her to slip and crack her head on the board, a moment’s broken focus all it took for an accident. I had done something similar one time I was goofing off, nearly drowning myself since I had foolishly decided to show off my diving with friends that could barely dog paddle.

It was a decent dive. I was a little better than average, nowhere near Jen’s skill. It was my entry that was the worse. I couldn’t stop the panic when the water touched my body, and then I was already trying to get back to the surface before the rest of me fully entered

“What the hell was that?” The coach said. He didn’t add sweetie this time.

I swam with long, hard strokes to reach the side and hauled myself out of the pool like it was full of sharks. My breathing wasn’t quite slow enough to speak yet.

“Jen? Are you okay?” asked a girl’s voice. Her name was Rebecca, identity confirmed as I looked over. Jen had warned me that Rebecca wanted her spot and had been the reason for most of the bullying, doing anything to overtake Jen in diving.

Dirty and innocent, those devious blue eyes were hiding the smirk that Rebecca kept off her lips.

“I have to make it challenging for the rest of you,” I said, looking those lying blue eyes straight on.

Her little mouth pursed, skinny lips almost disappearing as she sucked them into her sour hole.

“You know how to make a splash,” said another guy behind me.

“Bite my lard ass,” I said, standing up on the pool deck and not even bothering to look behind for my newest tormentor.

All I could think of when I heard these trite comments was how my sister had taken them seriously enough to start skipping meals. I had seen how much weight she lost, how weak and pathetic these jerks had all made her turn herself. Even the hair changes had all been a desperate attempt to change. Jen deserved me to force feed each and every insult back.

Oh, they were all going to get their just deserts.

“Lard? Guess she’s admitting she’s a whale, Jordan,” Rebecca said.

I turned around after all so I could get my first look at twin enemy number three: Jordan Walsh. He was the definition of dark and handsome, although he was in the pool, so I couldn’t judge if he was tall to go with it. His darkly tanned skin was dusky enough to be natural with only a hint of deeper bronzing on his shoulders and forearms where the sun had darkened his ethnicity to smouldering hot Spanish boy. Yeah, the nearly black eyes and long lashes that swept over my body with a slow perusal spoke of a long-ago aristocrat that could sit on a veranda sipping wine while the rest of us peasants did the gruelling work out in the vineyard.

Ironically, Jen had told me Jordan wasn’t the usual rich kid at this school. Maybe he was on scholarship? We hadn’t really gotten into it. In fact, Jen had hardly wanted to talk about Jordan at all, obviously traumatized by even the mention of his name.

He had been the one dating Rebecca at the time Jen was bullied, although my sister said those two had soon broken it off after the swimsuit switch fiasco. It hadn’t been that long before winter break. Jen stayed away from the school, completing her exams with a private invigilator after the observed one in art. Anything to avoid facing her tormentors once they ruined the one thing Jen loved most, her diving.

I was going to win it all back for her and ruin them for trying to steal Jen’s victory.

I stuck my tongue out at Jordan, amused as his eyes both shot up to express surprise with dark, well-defined brows that would be the jealousy of any girl and sharply bladed cheekbones, prominent as he smiled.

I gave him my behind, feeling myself blush at the whistle.

These bullies were acting like a bunch of flirts. Jordan might be easy to screw with if he still had a weakness for Rebecca. I could consider it a two-for-one deal because she was owed as much payback as the boys for what happened to my sister.

Who didn’t like a good deal?