July 29, 2018

Sunday arrived too quickly, and after everything that had happened at the dinner Friday night, I knew that Véro and I had to win the regatta. It was the only way that my family would accept me again. My parents were pretending as if the whole incident had never happened and that Véro and I weren't together, and I knew that Grandpa would never forgive me. I wasn't quite sure what Grandma thought about all of this, but she probably didn't approve either. Everett, of all people, was the only one who didn't seem to care that I was gay. It was still crazy to think that he had kept my secret for all of those years, and I appreciated him for it. Everett could still be a jerk sometimes, but he was at least kind enough to ask how Véro was doing the morning after the dinner. Sometimes, I realized, the best people could come from the most unexpected places.

When Sunday finally arrived, I got up early, barely able to sleep. Clearly, Véro had the same problem. I found her in her hammock at seven o'clock in the morning, and when I came over to her, she said, "I'm so nervous. I can't believe that it's the last race."

"Me neither, and I'm nervous too," I said. "I think we'll win though."

"I hope so," Véro said. "Your grandfather called my parents, by the way."

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He just said that we were together," Véro said. "My parents told me that they're happy that I'm dating you, but I can tell that they would like it even better if I was with a boy or if I wasn't dating yet. They think that I'm too young and don't know what love is."

"You're not too young," I said.

"My parents don't think that," Véro said. "Anyways, I'm really sorry about everything that happened on Friday."

"It's not your fault," I insisted.

"If I hadn't been there, then your family wouldn't have found out about us," Véro said.

"We would have had to tell them eventually," I said.

"We could have waited longer, and I know you wanted to do that," Véro said.

"I did," I said. "There's nothing that we can do now though."

"You're right," Véro said. "It's all over now."

"We should focus on winning the regatta," I said. "Maybe my family will treat me better if we win."

"I hope that we can win," Véro said as she and I headed out to the pier. We spotted a family of ducks swimming next to the pier as both of us entered the boat. Véro and I then set sail toward the starting line, where there were already a handful of boats.

I found Eden's boat and waved to her, and she smiled and waved back. I hadn't yet told her about what had happened on Friday, and now wasn't the time. I would probably have to tell her the next time that I saw her though. Brooke didn't seem to be paying attention to me or Véro - she was too busy steering the boat. By the time the race began, I was focused and ready to go too. I had nothing on my mind but the race, and I was certain that I could win.

I steered toward the starting line and crossed it before anyone else. From the start, Véro and I were in the lead, and we were working in perfect harmony again. We zigzagged across the lake, far ahead of our competition. As the wind rustled through my hair, it felt as if nothing could stop us now.

I looked back for a moment during the second leg of the race and saw that Eden and Brooke weren't that far behind us. Véro pulled in the sail to help us go faster, but I shook my head and said, "Don't worry too much. We're far enough ahead that they won't catch up."

As it turned out, I was right. Another boat passed Eden and Brooke, and it headed straight toward us as we rounded the second buoy. It was the last leg of the final race of the regatta, and it seemed like we could win as long as we stayed ahead of the boat that had passed Eden and Brooke.

I let Véro take the tiller - she deserved a chance to be the skipper for a little while. The two of us had come so far, and it was only fair for Véro to take the lead. She sailed perfectly, zigzagging across the lake so that she was never sailing directly into the wind. Her sailing was beautiful, but there was still the occasional error. "Don't turn quite yet," I told her as she pushed the tiller all the way to the left.

"Why not?" Véro asked.

"It will throw off the other sailors," I said.

Véro moved the tiller back to the center, and as it turned out, I was right. She didn't turn until we were approaching my grandparents' house, letting a boat from Orchard Lake get ahead of us, but she abruptly turned before we hit the shore. The Orchard Lake boat didn't even see us coming as we glided past them, and we were back in the lead.

Véro headed straight toward the finish line, but the Orchard Lake boat was right behind us. I pulled the sail in, and our boat went even faster, racing toward the finish. However, the other boat was right behind us, with Eden and Brooke in third, and I hoped that they wouldn't pass us before we made it to the finish line.

I heard Grandma cheer as we sailed past the judges' boat, followed by the Orchard Lake boat. "We did it!" Véro shouted, making me smile.

I looked back and waited for Eden and Brooke to sail past the finish line. Then, I turned the boat around and sailed home. Mom and Dad were both waiting on the pier, ready to congratulate Véro and I. "You two sailed so well," Mom said as we climbed out of the boat.

"Thanks, Mom," I said as I tied the boat to the pier.

"I'm going to go back home," Véro said.

"You're welcome to stay here for a while, Véro," Mom offered.

"My parents wanted me back in time for lunch," Véro said.

"You should at least come to the yacht club party today," I said. "Everyone will be talking about the regatta, and I don't want to be alone there."

Véro thought about it and then said, "I'll come, but I'd like to talk to my parents first. I will be there though."

"Okay, Véro," I said. "See you soon."

When I went inside, even Everett finally showed some interest in the regatta. "So who won?" he asked me, looking up from his video game.

"Véro and I won the regatta," I answered.

"Congratulations," Everett said, and he went back to his video game.

I changed into a set of dry clothes, and once I was ready, Dad drove Mom, Everett, and I to the Holloways' house. I suggested sailing there, but Everett objected, so we ended up driving instead, but I ultimately didn't mind too much. I had sailed enough that day.

As soon as I got there, I got a can of soda from the cooler and sat down to drink it. As I was sipping on my drink, Eden approached me. "Congratulations, Sylvie," Eden said.

"Thanks," I said. "Congratulations to you too."

"There's no need to congratulate me," Eden said. "I only placed in second."

"That's still pretty good," I insisted.

"I could have done better, but I think that you and Véro deserve to win more than I do," Eden said.

"I disagree," I said.

"You two worked so hard," Eden said. "Where is Véro, by the way?"

"She's coming," I said.

All of a sudden, Véro arrived at the party and sat down next to me. "Hello," she said as she wrapped her arms around me. "How are you two?"

"I'm fine," Eden said. "You and Sylvie make such a cute couple."

"Thank you," Véro said. "I still can't believe that we won the regatta."

"Me neither," I said.

"Congratulations on winning the regatta, Sylvie and Véro!" Mrs. Reinhart said as she walked by. "Also, I agree with Eden. You two are an adorable couple."

When I gave Eden a confused look, she said, "I may have told my parents that you two were together. I promise that I didn't tell anyone else though."

"It's okay, Eden," I said.

"Her whole family knows now," Véro said.

"Really?" Eden said. "Even your grandparents?"

"Yes," I said. I still wished that they didn't know, but I couldn't undo my mistakes.

"That must be tough," Eden said. "How did they find out?"

"It's kind of a long story," I said. "I'll tell you later."

"I want to hear about it now!" Eden exclaimed.

"I'll tell you about it later," I insisted.

Eden frowned, but she stopped asking me about it. Instead, she drank some soda and then asked, "How did your grandfather react when he found out?"

"Not well," I said. "Eden, I'd really rather not talk about this."

Eden paused and then said, "I understand. This conversation must be dampening your mood. You just won the Clearwater Lake Junior Regatta - I still can't believe that!"

"It's what I've been waiting for all summer," I said, smiling. "I'm kind of hungry. Why don't we go get some food?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Eden said. Véro, Eden, and I all got up and stood in line for pizza. Almost as soon as I got in line, Grandma and Grandpa decided to get in line behind me. I said hello just to be polite, but Grandpa refused to respond.

"Edward, Sylvie's our granddaughter," Grandma said to Grandpa. "You need to talk to her."

"She's no granddaughter of mine," Grandpa said.

I ignored Grandpa, but his words still stung. As I took a slice of cheese pizza, I realized that my relationship with Grandpa had been completed destroyed, and there was nothing that I could do to fix it. Even winning the regatta wasn't enough.

As I headed back to the table, Grandma said, "Congratulations on winning the regatta, Sylvie." She grinned at me, making it clear that she was, in fact, being genuine and not just trying to be nice to me out of pity.

"Thank you," I said, but I still felt lost as I sat down next to Véro with my pizza. I didn't know what to do when Grandpa wouldn't even speak to me. Maybe it was a lost cause. Maybe there was nothing that I could do to save my relationship with my grandfather - I couldn't be myself and be his granddaughter at the same time.

"Sylvie, what's wrong?" Véro asked.

"Nothing," I said, but Véro didn't seem convinced.

"If it's about your grandfather, I'm sure that he will forgive you eventually," Véro said.

"I don't think that he will," I said. "Besides, how could you know? You barely know him."

"You're still his family," Véro said. "My parents still aren't totally comfortable with my bisexuality, but they've accepted it. I think that it will be the same with you."

"Grandpa is also way more homophobic than your parents," I said.

"I just have a feeling that everything will work out," Véro said, but I didn't believe her.

I finished off my pizza, still not certain that I could repair my relationship with Grandpa. I wished that he could just pretend as if nothing had happened like the rest of my family, but Grandpa wasn't like that. By the time I finished my pizza, I was ready to just go home and cry into my pillow in frustration.

After I finished my lunch, Dad gave a speech, keeping it short as usual. He announced that Véro and I had won the Clearwater Lake Junior Regatta and Eden and Brooke had placed in second, and the whole yacht club applauded. However, I couldn't bring myself to care. I hardly listened to the rest of Dad's speech, and once he was done, I didn't even bother to get up to get ice cream.

I was glad that I had won the regatta; however, my victory felt meaningless without a family to share it with. I had to find a way to change Grandpa's mind, but I didn't know how I could do that. Everything had gone right and wrong at the same time, and as the yacht club party came to a close, I felt like I was losing control.