My Bestfriend's Brother is my Coach and he's Off-Limits!

The water once felt like her home. Now it feels like the depth of an ocean waiting to suck her in.

Mia stood by the pool, her toes curled tightly, her eyes staring blankly at the blue surface below. 

It was the same pool she'd trained in for three years where she had gained focus, recognition, and confidence. But now it just meant fear and anxiety to her.

"Come on, Mckenzy. We don't have all day."

Coach Harris's voice disrupted her thoughts.

She glanced up to see him where he stood at the opposite end of the pool, his clipboard in his hand, chewing as usual, a bubble gum during practice.

His expression, a mixture of impatience and disappointment. 

That look used to be reserved for other swimmers. The amateurs. The ones who showed up late to swim practice. The ones who didn't put in the work. Not her

But now, it was reserved for her. 

Mia drew in her breath and finally…dived in.

The water closed over her head, and for one brief, blissful second, her body seemed to remember the ease it once had in the water. Her arms stroked like they were meant to, and her legs followed suit. The rhythm which her body seemed to have forgotten was suddenly back again. 

Just then…

The panic hit. It came without warning, like it always did. 

The water seemed to gather in from all sides, and suddenly she wasn't in the pool anymore. 

She was in the ocean; a dark, cold and engulfing one. And once more, she saw it. Her mother's hand slipped slowly away from hers. Her father's voice, faint – swallowed by the sound of the storm.

She broke out forcefully back on the surface of the pool, gasping for breath, and holding tightly at the lane rope.

"Mckenzy!" Coach Harris's voice rose. Not disappointed, but angry this time.

Mia held on to the rope, her heart pounding greatly, and the pool water streaming down her face. 

Around her, her teammates kept swimming…having been used to her episodes already, they went on – showing off their impressive techniques. The same things she easily did without thinking, and without failing just a few months back.

A few glanced her way with a look of concern…a few others – pity, but most had stopped noticing or looking, weeks ago. 

She was no longer the star they remembered. She was now just the teammate who couldn't get through practice.

Coach Harris walked across with angry steps, until he stood above her. He didn't offer her a hand or bother asking if she was okay. He just looked at her with frustration and said, 

"Just come on out. We'll try again tomorrow."

There was no hope or belief in his voice  that tomorrow would be any different.

Mia pulled herself out of the pool, wet from the water. She grabbed her towel and walked over to the seats in the corner, wrapping herself in it even though she wasn't cold. She just wanted to leave already.

Across the pool, her teammates finished their set. A few of them had been freshmen when she was a junior, looking up to her like she was their unbeatable star. Now they didn't even look at her.

However, she couldn't blame them.

Practice ended twenty minutes later. Mia gathered her things slowly, hoping everyone would clear out before she had to face the locker room. 

But as she turned toward the exit, ten minutes later, someone was already waiting for her.

Ashley leaned against the doorframe, her outfit looking like it belonged on the cover of vogue, rather than a college campus. She studied Mia curiously as she walked along.

"Rough practice day?" Ashley asked.

Mia sighed, pulling her bag higher onto her shoulder. "Same as every...what’s new?"

Ashley pushed the door open, and they walked out into the warm evening air. The sun was setting beautifully.

"You can't keep going on like this," Ashley said with concern.

Mia tensed up a bit. She knew this day was coming when Ashley would bring up the dreaded conversation. It had been hovering between them for weeks, as an unspoken and heavy truth. 

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Ashley's voice was gentle but unwavering. "You're drowning, bestie. And this i mean…literally and figuratively ... .both as a swimmer, and a human. The worst part is, Coach Harris has checked out. I saw the way he looked at you today…not in any way encouraging, at all!"

Mia didn't answer. What was there to say? Ashley wasn't wrong. She’d simply stated the truth…as always.

They walked in silence for a moment, cutting right into the lane that led to their dorms. Students went about their business around them– laughing, walking, and chatting away.

But Mia felt overstimulated by it all. She wished she could somehow teleport to her bed already.

"So I have a plan," Ashley blurted out.

Mia stopped walking. "A plan?...for what?"

Ashley turned to face her, hopeful and smiley. It was the look that came to her eyes when she was about to pull something big.

Mia had seen that look a hundred times before. It usually ended with something amazing, or something disastrous. Sometimes both.

"First, guess whattt?” Mia rolled her eyes, she was not about to. 

“Coach Harris is leaving!" Ashley revealed with excitement. "...meant to be at the end of the month. He got an offer from a ‘better paying college’. And hasn't announced it yet, but I heard from someone in the athletics department. You know I've got my sources."

Mia stayed shocked. "He's leaving?"

"Which means the team needs a new coach." Ashley's smile widened. "And I happen to know someone who needs that position."

Mia frowned, trying to follow. "Uhmmm…who if i may ask?"

Ashley's smile turned almost smug. "My brother…yayy!"

Mia stared at her, surprised. "Liam?"

"The one and only."

She hadn't met Liam. He'd been out of the country for the past three years, according to Ashley– working with some international swim team, building a reputation that apparently made him qualified enough.

She had to listen to Ashley talk about him constantly–his talent, both with the camera, and the water,  his patience, and his popularity over there. Mia had concentrated less sometimes, when she began, as she was more focused on her own crumbling reality.

"He's coming back okay," Ashley continued. “And he would need a job. The swim team needs a coach. You need a more considerate coach, It's perfect…" She sang.

Mia shook her head slowly. "I don't… look, Ashley, I can't even finish a lap. A new coach isn't going to fix that."

Ashley stepped closer, her voice, sincere enough. 

"My brother is different, Mia. He's not like Harris. He actually knows how to work with people who are struggling. He's patient…he's calm. He's exactly what you, my friend, most definitely need."

Mia wanted to believe her. God, she wanted to believe that someone could fix her and fix her issues with the water. That there was a version of herself – an athletic star, still buried somewhere beneath all her fear and grief.

"There's something else," Ashley said, and now her voice had a different sound to it. A familiar one. The one that meant there was a but. Another angle to the plan.

Mia waited for it.

Ashley tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her expression now different from earlier. 

"Sooo…” she started, “You do know the campus famous Chloe Cassidy. We take broadcasting class together.  She's a model. I’m talking big names…several connections, back to back gigs ... .Honestly,  she's exactly the kind of person I need to be friends with if I want to make it as a model after graduation. It's hard being her friend out of the blue, trust me I tried. She just has her people."

Mia suddenly clicked it. "You want to use your brother to get to her."

"Hmmm…mm lets just say, I want to introduce them both," Ashley corrected smoothly. 

"They'd be perfect together. He's a photographer on the side, She's a model. And if they hit it off, well..." She claimed. "She'll want to spend time with me as his baby sister. Her friends become my friends. Her connections become my connections. You see, it's a 1+1 type of equation…"

Mia should have been bothered by the calculation in it. A year ago, she might have said something. But Ashley had been her rock through the worst months of her life. She'd sat with Mia in the dark when the grief of losing her parents hit. She'd held her hands when she cried, and she'd never once made Mia feel like a burden.

If Ashley needed something in return, Mia wasn't going to be the one to deny her or discourage her.

"So what do you need me to do?" Mia asked instead.

Ashley's smile returned, more confident. "Just help me convince the Sports department office that Liam is the right choice. You're their star swimmer. Your opinion matters…it should. When Coach Harris announces he's leaving, you assist me in recommending Liam. Tell them he's exactly what your team needs."

Mia looked down at her hands. They were still trembling slightly, from her panic in the pool. 

She thought at that moment she was the star swimmer in name only. She was about to see if that name still carried some weight to the management.

"Okay," she said quietly. "I'll do it."

Ashley pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tight. "I promise you, Mia. Everything is going to get better. You're going to get back in that water, confident like you never slacked. And I…I am going to get everything I need to kick-start my career. We just have to help each other."

Mia hugged her back, letting herself believe it for one possible moment.

Everything is going to get better. She had to believe that.