The Pantheon by Amy Leigh Strickland

varsity team dissolved and left Zach and June alone.
    Teddy, frustrated at the loss of a good show, headed toward the beach. Perched on the lifeguard post, Teddy recognized Nick Morrisey. Nick had once been the best swimmer on the Olympia Heights swim team. On account of the fact that he told the coach of the team that she was a cold, heartless banshee, he swam for a local club rather than the school team. It was his goal in life to make the Olympic Swim Team and shatter some of Michael Phelps’ records. He’d recently gotten serious about it and now he was constantly training. As a result he had a body that made him very popular with the ladies. His dark hair, cute freckled mug, and clear blue eyes didn’t hurt either.
    Teddy nodded a greeting to Nick as he passed. Nick was a frequent flier of Teddy Wexler’s legendary bashes. They got along all right, but where Teddy was about having fun, Nick was about conquest. The two ideals didn’t quite mesh.
    Nick glanced back from the direction where Teddy came, peering over his sunglasses. “Someone said there was a fight?” he asked Teddy.
    “ Yeah, Livingstone busted it up.”
    “ Lame,” Nick sang. “Who was fighting?”
    “ Zach was almost fighting the Miami football douche.”
    “ I’d have paid to see that.”
    “ Me too.”
    Nick nodded to Teddy, a dismissal. Teddy wandered down the beach, his eyes trained on the sand for a skipping stone, his drink still firmly clutched in his hand, an agreeable buzz starting to make his lips tingle.
    Nick was about ready to die of boredom when a pleasant sight passed. Devon Valentine crossed in from of him in a pink string bikini and bunny ears. Jackpot.
    “ Hey!” He waved. She turned and gave him a flirtatious smile. Devon came up the beach to Nick’s seat and leaned against the ladder. “What’s your costume?” he asked.
    “ Costume?” She winked. “Oops.”
    Nick laughed. He noticed Teddy had stopped his rock hunt down by an old dock and commenced staring at Devon from the distance. Nick’s smile grew wider, knowing he was getting attention that someone else, anyone else, could be jealous of.
    “ You hear about the fight?” he asked with the air of someone who knew far more than he did.
    “ Oh, yeah, I saw. Some Titan idiot trying to get with June.”
    “ Yeah, I heard Jacobs took personal offense.”
    “ So did the rest of the team,” Devon replied. “You know, they have to go with the group brain no matter who’s using it at the moment.”
    Nick laughed. “All over June, though? What’s wrong with them. Didn’t they see you there?” He was a shameless flirt.
    “ I guess not.” She leaned closer to him.
    Teddy tore his eyes away from the bikini clad form of Devon Valentine. He wondered if she was cold. Teddy picked up a smooth rock from under the dock and chucked it into the ocean. He stared out into the horizon as the sun set and focused on a floating log.
    No. It wasn’t a log.
    “ Hey!” he dropped his plastic cup of slushy in the sand and ran toward the water. “Hey, someone’s out there!” Teddy wasn’t very good at swimming, but he tried anyway. The time for apathy had passed.
    Nick looked up to see Teddy in his alien antenna running into the water. This was a perfect chance to look heroic, saving lives in front of a beautiful girl.
    “ Excuse me,” he said to Devon and jumped off the chair. He landed hard on the sand, grabbed a life-preserver, and ran down the beach.
    Nick ran into the water until he was waist deep and then dove forward. The surf caught his leg and he fell forward faster than he had anticipated. His sunglasses were knocked off his face. His mouth was open to take one last gush of air and his lungs filled with water. He could still breathe!
    Nick surfaced, panicked. He breathed out water. What the hell had just happened? He often had dreams where he could breathe water, but this was really happening.
    He dove back under and drew in more water. He wasn’t choking.