The area around the pool was bustling as people lined up at the end of each lane. Penelope took her stance, waiting for the race to start. It was her third and final event of the day and she felt just as energized as she had when the day began.
"On your mark. Get set. Go!"
Penelope put power into her leap off the starting mark, flying a half a meter ahead of the girls in the other lanes. 1500 meters. That was 15 laps down and back. It didn't matter how many laps she had to swim. As long as she got there. The power in the other swimmers was comparable to hers. Several pulled ahead of her quickly, but Penelope paid no attention to them. She was in her own zone. Had tuned out everything around her, including the crowd that cheered the competition on.
She touched the end of the pool, flipped, and started back, keeping a steady pace all the way through. Two more girls pulled in front of her. She was falling behind. Her teammates all called out for her. "You can do it, Pennie! Lets go! You got this!" She touched the end of the pool, finishing her first lap.
14
Her mind went through everything she had worked for up to this moment. Everything she had done was for herself. For this goal right here. To compete with others who were better than she was.
13
Penelope had fallen to last place, other women continually gaining an edge over her. It didn't matter. She didn't make it this far just to quit.
12, 11, 10
She thought about all the people who supported her up to this point. Her dad. Dan. Lilly. Jezz. Derek. Oh, Derek. Work may have kept him busy, but he was her biggest fan. He was watching her from the stands. She keyed in on his voice, continuing to ignore the others. "Come on, Little Mouse! Catch up! You got this!"
9, 8, 7
Penelope kept her pace. She was halfway there, and she felt like she could go for miles. She began to catch up to the other women, but continued to focus on what was in front of her, and that was the end of the pool.
6, 5, 4
She flipped, finding that she was suddenly ahead of several other swimmers. Still, she maintained her focus, not allowing herself to become psyched out by those that were still ahead of her. She could hardly see them anyways.
3
Her family and friends were screaming louder at her. "Come on, Penelope! You're almost there! Don't give up!" She wasn't giving up, though.
2
Her teammates and her coach were screaming loudly at her. Jeff was holding his clipboard so tightly that it snapped in half. "LETS GO, MARKS! YOU BETTER NOT FINISH LAST!"
1
Time slowed. Penelopie gave it her all as she pushed off the side of the pool to start that final lap. She was so far into her element that she had no concept of where anyone else was. Every stroke, the feel of the water as her body glided almost effortlessly through it, the tension.
.5
Another power kick sent her flying in slow motion. Penelope kicked with all her might, propelling herself as hard and fast as she could as her arms pumped with them. The only thing that she saw now was the other end of the pool. The finish line. Her team and coach standing behind it. She reached for it as she saw several fists reaching towards the sky. Her coach holding the two pieces of broken clipboard and waving them as if that could make her fly faster.
0
A horn bellowed loudly. Penelope gripped the side of the pool, catching her breath as the water dripped down her face. The crowd was cheering loudly. Other swimmers touched their own finish lines. Jeff ran to the edge of the pool, offering his hand to help Penelope out of it. "You did it, Kiddo! You freaking did it!" He exclaimed.
Penelope grinned. Jeff was a tough coach. Very critical and slow to give compliments. "I did it? I finished?" She grinned. "I finished!"
"Girl you didn't just finish. You won!" Her friend and teammate Elizabeth chimed.
"I won?" Penelope asked.
"You won!" She affirmed.
"Oh my gosh I can't believe I won!" Penelope squealed, running up to her friend and wrapping her in a tight hug. The two jumped up and down in a circle while they celebrated Penelope's victory. Her third victory of the day.
There were a few more events left before the awards ceremony, so Penelope stayed to continue cheering on her teammates before those who received their medals were called up. When they were getting ready to go up to the stage, Jeff walked up to Penelope and said to her quietly. "Now when you get up to that podium to claim your medals, you make sure to wave to that crowd, smile, and show those scouts how badly you wanted all those wins."
"Scouts?" Penelope asked.
"Yeah, Down in the front row, to the sides of the judges. Every single last one of them has watched you and taken notes this entire time. Better get ready to start figuring out which of their hearts you're going to break when they start offering you all of those scholarships."
Penelope stood there in shock as they began to call up the winners from each event. At the sound of her name for Freestyle, the room erupted in applause in cheer that was louder than anyone else. She went out with a smile on her face, waving to them all and bowing gracefully as she claimed her prize. She did the same thing when she accepted her medal for IM, and again for the 1500 meters she had just finished swimming. The energy in the room was incredible, and she couldn't believe that the cheers were all for her.
Her family and friends were there to meet her after she had showered and changed. They then met with the team in one of the school's classrooms. The Filmore family had provided catering to everyone after the swim meat was over. A table full of food stretched across the room as friends and family entered to celebrate all the wins that their team had made that day. Penelope was hungry, and ran straight to the table. Stacked on it as a pile of sandwiches from Sub Haven. She picked one up that had a box checked next to the words "Penny's Pizzaz." Her sandwich had been accepted and added to the menu, and people loved it!
She sat down at a cluster of desks with her food, her family joining her. "Penelope! Oh my gosh you did so good! We're all so proud of you!" Lilly exclaimed.
"You did so good!" Kent expressed. Everyone around the table did so as well.
"Thanks." Penelope blushed, unwrapping her sandwich to take a bite. "That was such a rush! I had so much fun!"
Derek, who was sitting next to her, wrapped his arm around Penelope's shoulder, pulling her in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "You were amazing, Little Mouse."
Penelope smiled. Her world was so different now. She had made friends at her new school. Nobody there picked on her. Instead, she had become a person that everyone loved to be around. She helped other students who were struggling with their homework, and volunteered for various events that took place around the school. People followed her because she was now willing to lead instead of blend into the background, hoping to not be seen by anyone anymore. She was still wearing extensions, as her natural hair was not a length that she had liked yet, but it was finally grown out enough that Jezz had managed to even it out.
Sure, she was comfortable with showing her natural length, but Penelope had found that she enjoyed doing fun things with it, and she even had some colorful pink highlights and silvery purple hair tinsel in. She was also learning how to do her own makeup, and enjoyed getting her nails done. Doing normal "girly" things made her excited, and she especially enjoyed doing them with her friends.
Jezz had also finally introduced her to Katheline, the model she had talked about the first time that she had done Penelope's hair. Katherine was extremely busy with her career, and thus was sparsely around. But she and Penelope had become fast friends. She had taken a tour of several fashion studios and had even gotten to try on some expensive fashions, though she was nowhere near model material. Katherine was currently getting ready for a show in Paris, and there were seats with Jezz and Penelope's names on it. She couldn't wait to go.
And Derek? Well, the two of them had stayed together ever since they had started dating. There wasn't a rock on her finger yet, but Penelope suspected that he was planning something because Lilly had taken her to a jewelry store to try things up for her upcoming prom and had made her try on rings "to match" a necklace that they didn't end up buying to go with her dress.
Penelope wasn't in a rush to get married yet, though. Her therapist had pointed out that she didn't know what she wanted in a relationship, and she was still trying to learn what those things were. She knew that she wouldn't say no if Derek Filmore asked her. She wasn't going to rush into getting married, either. Still, the thoughts at when and how he might propose gave Penelope goosebumps.
Overall, her life had changed for the better. Penelope felt fulfilled, knowing that she finally had a good future ahead of her. She was going to continue reaching for the things that she wanted, and nobody was going to stop her.