Page 61 of Buzzer Beater

“I’m sorry. What?”

Colin laughed. “The whale sharks.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Like from Finding Dory?”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

How’d he know I loved that movie? Whale sharks weren’t scary. They weren’t full of rows of teeth like their demon cousins.

“So, this is happening?” I asked.

Each of them nodded.

“We can’t just see them from up here?”

Sara shook her head. “No, unlike whales they don’t come up for air.”

Great. So, I was going under to join them. I looked at Colin, but he just stood there smiling.

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

He shook his head. “You’ll love it. Trust me.”

The unfortunate thing was that I already did. He knew me. He knew what I could and couldn't handle. If he thought I’d like it, I probably would.

“Fine.”

I accepted the wetsuit from Sara and went to the room she directed me to. Sure enough, my bathing suit was waiting for me.

After we were both changed, and Samuel gave us the shortest instruction on scuba diving in history, we were walking the plank. I mean, to the back of the boat.

“Are you ready?” Colin asked me.

I shook my head but got a laugh in response.

“We won’t be going deep. Just stay close.”

I nodded, and he stepped backward into the water. I looked to Samuel and Sara who both smiled and waved me on. Sure, jump, stupid girl, it will be fun. If you survive.

I looked at the water, then after counting to five stepped backward too.

Breathing underwater in scuba gear was a strange sensation. It’s like your mind knows this is wrong, but your body is still living.

I looked around for Colin and spotted him just a few yards from me. I swam toward him and froze when I realized what was behind him. The whale shark was bigger than I expected. It made Colin look tiny. Another one appeared and opened its mouth. I pointed to it, and Colin turned around. They weren’t as cute as in the movies, but they were pretty incredible. I swam forward and reached out a hand. My fingertips grazed the rough skin and I pulled back. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I almost laughed but another swam toward me and I rolled onto my back to watch it glide past.

They were magical. Their polka dots looked like someone painted them on. They seemed odd on whales, but adorable.

I looked around to find Colin and waved.

He seemed just as entranced as I was.

We swam around until he pointed to the surface. I checked my oxygen and realized time was almost up.

When my head hit the air, I pulled off my mask. “That was amazing!”

Colin’s smile was contagious. “Yeah, it was. I can’t believe how close they got! They didn’t care about us at all.”

“We swam with sharks.”