"Kidding, I was kidding," Grace protested through her laughter as she found herself hoisted out of the water, then sent backward into the shallow depths. She took in water but before she could orient herself, she was pulled back up to the surface.
"Easy now," Carey said, holding her upright as Grace coughed out the lake water. "You're supposed to keep your mouth shut when you go underwater."
"I do when I know I'm going under," Grace said, very aware of the warm body pressed against her own. Oh, dunk me anytime if it means I get this afterward. "I didn't think you'd catch me."
"You all right now?"
"Yeah," Grace said reluctantly, moving away from Carey but not before she managed to brush her calf against the outside of the older woman's thigh. Soft. The water lapped at her breastbone as she stood up and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair.
"I can't believe you thought you could outrun me," Carey said.
"You got lucky," Grace taunted, slapping a little water at her mentor.
"Bet you couldn't do it again." Please, do it again.
"Oh no?" Carey approached with comical menace, arms raised and fingers curled like talons. "Get ready to kiss the fishies, Waters."
Closer, closer. Grace dipped her hands under the water and waited until Carey was almost on top of her before scooping up a wave right into the older woman's face. "Hah! Gotcha," she said as she made a halfhearted attempt to escape. Carey caught her easily, sending Grace underwater. This time the teen was prepared, moving quickly to plant her
feet and hook her arms around Carey's leg. Oh yes, very soft. One good tug sent the instructor off balance, then a retaliatory move put Grace in the same position. When they surfaced, it was only to start a flurry of splashes at each other that continued until Grace held up her hands and surrendered. "I give up," she said, putting up with several more spatters of water before Carey stopped and grinned victoriously.
"Wuss," Carey said. "I was just getting warmed up." She wiped the water from her face, then combed her hair with her fingers. "Try not to float off anywhere. It'll be time to go back soon."
"Are you getting out now?"
Carey nodded. "I want to dry out a bit."
"Yeah, it's a good time to head in," Grace agreed and together they sloshed through the water toward the shore. "So what's next?"
"It's getting close to dinner time so we'll be letting everyone go get dried off and changed," Carey said. "Then it's free time until lights out."
"What do you want me to do with my wet clothes?" Grace asked. "I can hang them in the shower or over the porch rail to dry."
"I don't want you to do that," Carey said. "I suppose you'll never get near the dryers with all the other girls trying to take care of their clothes. Use my dryer."
"Yes, ma'am," Grace said, realizing they were now within earshot of others.
"And clean the lint trap."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Run your clothes through the washer first."
"Yes, ma'am." Grace looked straight ahead to keep from rolling her eyes.
"And don't use too much detergent."
"I won't, ma'am."
"Make sure you balance the load or the washer will shake."
Yes, Mother Hen. "Yes, ma'am. I'll do everything right, ma'am."
"All right," Carey said. "I'll trust you." They had almost reached the shore when Instructor Donaldson approached.
"Instructor Carey, may I speak with you for a minute?"
"Sure," Carey said
Grace took the cue. "Um, I have to get my sneakers, ma'am."
"Make sure you wear them," Carey said. "I don't want you getting any splinters."
"Yes, ma'am." Grace quickly walked away, hoping to avoid another list of dos and don'ts. Her mild annoyance was rapidly replaced by quite a different feeling. She played with me. Unable to contain it, the teen smiled happily as she sat down and pulled on her sneakers. I bet she didn't spend time like that with anyone else. The smile remained with her throughout the walk back to the cabin.
"Your favorite time of the day," Carey said as she unlocked her office. "So what should we talk about for forty-five minutes?"
"I aced my paper for English, ma'am," Grace said.
"Good," Carey said as she tossed her cap on the hook and took her usual seat behind the desk. "I knew you would. Let's see, that took ten seconds. What else do you want to talk about?"
Grace shrugged. "I don't know, ma'am."
Carey leaned back in her chair. "One of these days you're going to surprise me and actually want to talk about something," she said. "I just hope I don't have a heart attack from the shock." She picked up an envelope from the top of her desk. "Here. You have mail," she said, handing Grace the envelope. "I thought you would want to open it."
"Is it my test scores?" Grace asked, tearing it open at the perforation.
"I would think so," Carey said, ignoring the slip. "Come on, let's see how you did."
Once the three sides of the envelope were tom off, Grace hesitated. "What if I didn't do good, ma'am?"
"Do well," Carey corrected. "I've told you before, as long as you do your best, that's all that matters. You can always take it again." She rose from her seat and walked around the desk, leaning against it so she was facing the teen. "Open it."
Grace looked at the scores. "Seven twenty on the verbal, seven sixty on the math, ma'am."
"You're kidding," Carey said, taking the paper to look at it. "A fourteen eighty combined? That's fantastic."
"Is it, ma'am?"
Carey smiled and handed back the paper. "Yes," she said. “That and your GED will get you into college."
"If I passed the GED," Grace said. "Ma'am."
"You passed it," Carey said confidently, pushing off the desk to return to her chair. "You're too smart not to, and you told me yourself that it was an easy test. Right now it's just a matter of waiting for the diploma to arrive."
"Diploma?"
"Three, two..."
"Ma'am."
Carey smiled. "Yes, Grace. A diploma. It is called the General Equivalency Diploma, after all." She took a piece of paper and folded it in half, using it as an example. "The top half is the score and your certificate number and the bottom half is your official diploma from the state." She scribbled a quick note to herself on the paper. "You really didn't know that?"
Grace shook her head. "I didn't think about it. I figured I'd get something like this." She held up the SAT scores. "Does it look like a real diploma?"
"A little smaller, but yes, it looks like a real diploma because it is one," Carey said. "I'll tell your father what size frame to get." She circled the note she had made. "You should be proud of yourself for those SAT scores, Grace. By the way, what happened to ma'am?" She chuckled at the panicked look in the teen's blue eyes. "I suppose getting a fourteen eighty on the SAT earns you a free pass today. Relax." Opening the bottom drawer of her desk, she pulled out Grace's folder. "I need to make a copy of those scores before you can keep them," she said. "I want to put it in your record."
Grace set the paper on the desk. "Thanks. So it's really a good score?"
"Yes," Carey said. "You can thump your chest all you want." She leaned back, resting her left ankle on her right knee. "Are you going to tell your mother about the SAT?" She watched as the light left Grace's face, replaced with the stony tough-girl look the teen got whenever she was trying to protect herself from some inner pain.
"Why bother? She doesn't care."
"I don't think that's true, Grace," she said. "You're her only child."
"So?" The teen crossed her arms. "I'm almost eighteen. I will be by the time I get out of Crestwood. I'm never going back there." Blue eyes focused hard on the paperweight. "Never."