Chapter 26 #2
Is it too soon to say this campus won’t be the same without you? I know I’ve only been moved back in for a grand total of like three hours, but I can feel it already.
Did you have class today with that professor who likes to start each lesson with an awful marine biology pun? I could use a pick-me-up. I’m feeling a little crabby.
See what I did there?
Don’t give me that look. I don’t want to be anemones.
I’m head over eels for you.
September 19
From: [email protected]
Aww, I can’t believe Coach asked how I was doing. See? I told you he was a big softie, even if he never bought you a birthday cake. Which, honestly, the jury is still out on.
You can tell him I’m doing great!
Sand-sational, really.
Is it weird that I don’t miss home? I miss my friends.
I miss Swiftmore. I miss you. But it’s like you said a few weeks ago about the lake house—after everything that happened with Mabel, my home feels heavy now.
Everything here is so new and exciting. Everyone is on the same wavelength.
I don’t have to explain why I gasped when I got to sit inside an actual deep-sea submersible and see the spherical pressure hull with my own two eyes.
The other students did, too. We all geeked out together about the thought of actually sitting in one someday.
Can you even imagine being able to dive 10,000 feet below sea level?
20,000? 30,000? I mean, I don’t think I’d want to go that far.
I’d be too scared. With that amount of pressure, one thing goes wrong and you’re nothing but dust particles being swallowed by the dark.
But even just getting to 100 feet would be magical.
I’ve heard the blue color is unlike anything else on this earth.
Red light fades first, at around 20 feet.
Then orange, then yellow, then green at around 70 feet.
By the time you reach 100 feet, it’s just blue and violet wavelengths, the most intense indigo you’ve ever seen.
Doesn’t that sound incredible? And okay, maybe, just maybe, if the opportunity ever presented itself, I’d dive into the twilight zone.
That starts at around 200 meters. Most of the creatures are bioluminescent.
I think witnessing that might be as close to magic as human beings will ever get.
Maybe I’m braver than I thought.
Anyway, all this to say, I’ve decided not to come home for Christmas.
A few of the other exchange students are making the trek back, but it’s right in the middle of our summer break here (trippy, right?
Christmas in the summer!) and I only get eight weeks at the campus in Tasmania to study polar marine biology. I don’t want to waste them traveling.
Still, I have no idea how I’m going to tell my mother. She’s going to kill me. But I have to grow up sometime, right? Might as well start now.
Ugh.
How did you tell your mom you were going to stay in LA with your dad back in high school? I can’t imagine that was easy.
Maybe I’ll ask them to celebrate with me here instead…
HELP.
November 1
From: [email protected]
I’m so insanely jealous you didn’t have to deal with Halloween.
You have no idea. Logan of course dragged me out.
We ran into Nova with the new boyfriend, who I hate, by the way.
Have I mentioned that? He’s a complete douche.
I don’t care what she says. She’s only dating him to piss Logan off.
Why? Who the hell knows, but it’s working.
He got wasted. It was a complete shitshow.
I had to call one of his teammates to help me get him home.
And all of this happened while we were wearing inflatable dinosaur costumes because he had the genius idea to make everyone dress up as Jurassic Park this year.
I really don’t know how I always let him talk me into these things.
You know what he said as I was leaving? In ten years, we’ll laugh about this. I really fucking hope so.
Right now, I’m still pissed off.
You’re already laughing about this, aren’t you? You are. I know you are.
Wait a second.
Yep. Okay. There are videos. You’ve probably seen them. Objectively, the costumes were pretty hilarious…
I feel better.
Do emails count as therapy? I’m sort of thinking they do.
Oh, did I mention I’m flying back to LA for Christmas?
It’s my dad’s year again. Nova said she’s not coming.
And she doesn’t have to anymore. He lost his court-mandated visitation rights the second we turned eighteen.
But I still hope she changes her mind. I have to go.
Not to be with my dad, but Coach wants to get out there to see his extended family.
I feel guilty sometimes that my mom suckered him out here just to bring me closer.
I mean, yes, he’s getting paid a shit-ton of money to revitalize the swimming program at Swiftmore and it’s only a four-year contract, but he had a life back in LA.
He still does. So if he wants to spend a week with his brother and visit his mom and let his kids have time with their cousins, who am I to say no?
My old swim club said they’re happy to host us for the holiday.
I’m excited to see some of the guys. My friend Nick, you remember him, right?
He’s the one who originated the surprise birthday water balloon war tradition I told you about.
Anyway, he’s been kicking ass at meets this year.
If he pushes himself, I really think he can snag the number two spot for freestyle at trials, maybe even make the team medley relay since I’ll do the butterfly leg.
It’ll be tight with Australia, and the team from China was looking really good over the summer, but I think we’ve got them.
And I’d love to win gold with him. We’ve been swimming together since we were seven.
Not a lot of people get it, get me, but he does, you know?
Anyway, it’ll be great to swim with him again outside of a competition.
Shrimp-ly amazing.
You didn’t think I’d forget to sneak one in, did you?
November 27
From: [email protected]
Okay, enough with the puns! Do I need to stage an intervention? It’s been three months. I vastly underestimated your stamina. And to be honest, I am o-fish-aly over it…
Happy Thanksgiving! This must be your favorite holiday of the year. So much food!
Want to know how I’m celebrating? The other six American students and I made a turkey and boxed stuffing and mashed potatoes, which we are all sharing while we host one final study session for our last final tomorrow.
Is that not the most pathetic thing you’ve ever heard?
Halloween was different here. Not so crazy.
I thankfully didn’t have to dress up, as you know.
But the mood was still a little festive. This is just sad.