The sun beat down on the Oak Creek Community Pool, turning the concrete into a frying pan. Leo shifted from one foot to the other, trying to keep his toes from scorching. The air smelled of chlorine and sunscreen, a scent that always meant summer had truly arrived. In the water, kids splashed and shouted, their voices echoing off the tall brick walls of the locker rooms.
"Are you coming or what?" Maya called out. She was already treading water near the deep end, her goggles pushed up onto her forehead. She pointed toward the far corner of the pool where the high dive towered like a giant metal stork. Leo swallowed hard. He had been coming to this pool since he was five, but he had always stayed in the shallow end or used the low board. The high dive was different. From the ground, it looked like it reached the clouds.
"I am coming," he shouted back, though his legs felt like they were made of lead. He walked toward the ladder, his heart thumping against his ribs like a trapped bird. A line of three other kids waited behind him. He could not turn back now without everyone seeing. One step at a time, he climbed. The metal rungs were cool and wet under his hands. When he reached the top, the world looked much smaller. He could see the tops of the umbrellas and the lifeguardâs whistle glinting in the sun.
Maya was watching from below, cheering him on. Leo took a deep breath, walked to the very edge of the board, and looked down at the shimmering blue rectangle. The water looked so far away, but he remembered what his coach had said: "Trust your body." Closing his eyes for a split second, Leo took a leap. For a moment, he felt weightless, suspended in the warm summer air. Thenâsplash! He cut through the surface of the water, the bubbles rushing past his ears. When he surfaced, he shook the water from his hair and grinned. He had not just survived the high dive; he was already ready to do it again.
