This article is not part of Vekllei canon. It may be old, obsolete or just a bit of fun.
Each year, Lola 6th School traveled to the base of the Thanveler Glacier for its swimming carnival. There was a big thermal pool there, heated by the Earth, and students competed in races for prizes and ribbons.
Tzipora told people she couldnât swim. That was true â she sank like a stone. But she didnât tell them the other part â that she never wanted to learn how.
There is a very tragic and pathetic self-consciousness that afflicts kids around her age. Boys and girls went to school together here, but they werenât the same thing, were they? She saw girls usually clothed in capes and knee skirts showing skin sheâd never seen before. There was this one girl, Cherrie, who was on the heavy side, and Tzipora marvelled unconsciously at how much bigger she looked without her uniform. She realised what she was doing, and was struck with shame â and relief it wasnât her in that stupid one-piece.
âOh my God,â Tzipora thought to herself, âThatâd be me. What Iâm doing now.â
Tzipora hadnât worn a swimsuit since she was a kid in Colombia, and she wasnât going to strip off in front of all these people who already judged her. In her mind, she was ugly-skinny, with scars on her shoulders and no figure to speak of. She didnât think about these things usually, because all her clothes were a size too big, but a change room changed things.
No; she wouldnât wear a swimsuit. She wouldnât even take her shoes off. Theyâd think she was weird for sitting out, but they thought she was weird anyway. Every swimming carnival from here to graduation sheâd suffer from the poolside â reading her books, eating her packed lunch and lying about how well she did to Baron when she got home.