The other girls were already chatting and gossiping by the time they entered the locker room. Most of them were bleached blonde, expensively clothed upperclasswomen who failed to so much as notice Mamta Amani as she filed in after them. Mamta wondered again if this was the wrong sport for her. She had swam at her old school, but her old school had been a whole let less cliquish and a whole lot more ethnically diverse, and the swim team here seemed to be the "popular girl" sport.
"So," said one of the blondes as Mamta picked out a locker and began undoing her jacket, "I just decided who my favorite actor is."
Mamta looked up at her teammate, hoping this was a conversation she could get in on.
"Oh?" Asked another blonde. "Who?"
The first one moved her slim body in a way that indicated Mamta. "Tim
Curry
."
It actually took Mamta a few seconds to get it, while the girls around her were chortling away. Was that really the best they could do? Really? She felt like she should be offended or something, but that was too stupid to even count. She sucked a slow breath into her petite mouth and thought for a moment.
"I liked him in
It,"
Mamta offered slowly, wondering if perhaps this could be salvaged, "and the voice acting in cartoons."
"That's very interesting, darling," said Blonde #2, making eye contact with Mamta for a fraction of a second before turning back to her friend. "Anyway, I SO can't wait to see the second part of
New Moon
!"
"I KNOW! I'm rereading the whole series just to get ready!"
Mamta looked around for a sympathetic face, but every head was pointed away. Classes would start in two weeks' time. Were they also going to be like this?
Well, socializing wasn't the reason she was here anyway. Mamta pulled off her shirt and skirt and began digging her swimsuit out of her backpack. To do this, she had to bend over the bench that her pack was resting on, with her back to Blonde #1.
"Heh," Mamta heard a chuckle, "here's a fun fact about swimming. If you're tall and slim, you go through the water faster. If you're short and have...um, what's the civilized term...
very generous hindquarters,
then you just might be out of luck."
"WHAT?" Blonde #2 looked up in shock, "Are you calling me fa-"
She saw what her friend was smirking at, and her expression changed.
"Oh. Hahahahahaha!"
Mamta's eyes widened indignantly, and she quickly sat down. Her peers continued to titter.
"Oh god, its actually spilling over the side of the bench! Too much pilaf, huh? Lot of carbs in all that rice!"
She felt a sting at the corners of her eyes. What had she done to invite this? How could she make it stop?
"Check out her back," said #2 as she pulled off her bra, proudly exposing a pair of breasts that made Mamta's flat chest all the more depressing, "I'll bet you can see her blowhole! MAN THE HARPOONS!"
She just barely prevented herself from making a sound. She couldn't let herself give them that satisfaction. Mamta awkwardly slid out of her undergarments and - still sitting on the bench, worked on her swimsuit. She really didn't think she was overweight. Her stomach was actually very slim, her breasts were small, and she had a very smooth, almost cherubic Indian face that was absent of chubby cheeks or neck fat. The only thing about her that wasn't thin was her bottom, but that made up for everything else. For a petite woman, Mamta had quite expansive hips, and each of them supported a soft, head-sized globe that pointed straight out behind her. It really didn't match her frame at all.
"Speaking of ginormous asses," said #2, "I can't believe Cheryl is on Team Jacob. What a stupid whore."
As they slipped back into their Twilight discussion, Mamta took the opportunity to stand up and quickly pull her suit the rest of the way on. She stole a glance at the mirror. Her tan, bright-eyed face stared morosely back at her. That suit didn't cover nearly enough of her derriere; her cheeks were almost bulging out at the bottom. Unfortunately, it was the closest fit she could find.
...
Coach Bartelli was an overweight, mustached man with an all too apparent coat of black body hair. "Welcome back," his voice echoed across the pool as he glared up at this year's girls' swimming team. "Great to see all your young, idealistic faces, however long they last. Welcome to swimming. Obviously."
The girls lined up by the pool, as was customary. Bartelli frowned at them.
"So, warmups. So that you don't pull your muscles, drop off the team, get fed up with sports, and grow up to be a bunch of inanimate lardasses like me. Jumping jacks! Make like you're being electrocuted!"
Mamta went through the stretches and exercises, carefully avoiding looking at the other girls. Fortunately, she was soon given something much more pleasant to look at in the form of the lifeguard, who strode out of the office. Like the rest of the team, Mamta had already met Andy. Andy was a freshman at the community college across the street. Tan, rugged, with smooth muscles that clung to his tall frame like a tight jacket. When Mamta had visited the pool before, Andy's topless presence at the side of the pool had kept her attention, and probably that of most of the other ladies present. It took a good deal of concentration to remain focused on her situps.