Moonlight pours through the broad skylights above the Kepler High School pool and onto

the back of Calvin Owens, captain of the Kepler High Swim Team.

He cuts quiet laps through the water, training vigorously for the Pocahontas County swim

meet just four days away.

A window over the stacked up bleachers is propped open by a duffel bag containing a change

of clothes, evidence of Calvin's trespassing in pursuit of a few dozen more practice laps.

He breaches the surface and clings to the edge of the pool panting.

He reaches up with trembling, tired fingers, and peels off his goggles and cap, then lays

his head down on crossed arms, attempting to catch his breath before pushing his luck

for one last set.

And for a moment, he is surrounded with silence, floating in the waters that would be his proving

grounds in just a few short days.

He pushes his nerves aside and granting himself a moment of weightless serenity, Calvin Owens

exhales a long, contented sigh.

And then he is pulled violently below the surface of the water.

And now the silence of the gym is nearly absolute.

There's just the soft rustling of the pine trees outside and the small ripples that remain

on the surface of the pool which lap lazily against its edges.

And then a splash as Calvin resurfaces, gulping air into his burning lungs as he lunges toward

the ladder out of the pool.

He leaps onto the edge and scrambles up the side of the bleachers, his body aching with

exhaustion, and yanks his bag out of the propped open window, swinging his leg over its

...