Ocean
~~
We all slept in a little on Thursday morning. None of us could really be blamed for it though. I mean, by the time that Makai and I got to sleep, it was like three thirty in the morning. It had been a really long day for us.
OK, that was three thirty in the morning Florida time, so it was about twelve thirty back in California. Still, we had that long day of traveling so that made things a lot worse on us. Also, when we got up around noon, that was also in Florida's time. It was three hours earlier back home. So, according to our systems, we didn't sleep in all that much.
Anyway, the day was ours to do what we wanted to. We were able to go sightseeing or out to eat, or just about anything. As long as we didn't get into trouble, we were free agents. Oh, and we had to have a friend with us at all times. That was the main reason why the coach brought an even number of swimmers on the trip.
Well, Ben and Ryan were one pair. Me and Makai were another. Toby and Charles. Jenell and Faith. Katie and Alexis. Cassie and Whitney. We were all paired off pretty quickly. The girls all wanted to go shopping. So, the six of them left for the mall to see what it was that they could buy here. Charles and Toby wanted to check out Disney, but they didn't have enough time to go there so they decided to just go to the beach instead.
As for the other four of us, me, Makai, Ben and Ryan, we wanted to take a look around the city. And Makai was going to show us where his family lived when they were here in Orlando. We were, in all senses of the term, going sightseeing.
There was a lot to see in the city, if you knew how to navigate it, that is. Of course, tourists all wanted to sightsee when they came here, but according to Makai they tended to go to what the media told them they needed to see. He was going to take us to see the Orlando that only he could show us.
And the first stop on that Orlando tour was his previous favorite restaurant. This was a place that he apparently went to all the time after school and on the weekends. It was called Little Nicky's Family Dining. It was a family style restaurant that Makai loved because they gave large portions with every meal.
He was alone a lot and didn't always want to eat at the house all by himself. He said that this was his alternative when he was growing up. He would come here and look at all the families that were eating and feel like he was sharing something special with all of them.
"Wow, Kai, you must have been a really lonely kid. I feel so bad." Ryan seemed saddened by Makai's words as we sat down at the table in the restaurant.
"It was fine. My parents love me. I always knew that. They weren't away because they wanted to be, but because they had to be. I learned to deal with it. And it just made the time that I did spend with my parents growing up, all the more special to me."
"Aww, dude, that is so sweet." Ryan clapped him on the back. "I guess I am in that situation with you now, since I am your brother now and all." He laughed at him.
"Yeah, where were you when I was a kid?" Makai laughed. "I would have loved to have a brother then."
"Sorry, Mommy and Daddy didn't want me then." This conversation was delving into something a lot more funny than I ever thought it was going to be.
At that moment, a waitress walked over to take our order. I could tell that she wasn't really looking at us when she came over. She had been busy because the restaurant was packed and they were short staffed.
"Hi, my name is Cecilia and I will be your waitress today. Can I start you out with something to drink?"
"Hey Silly." Makai called out to her in a friendly tone. He apparently knew the girl.
"Huh?" She finally looked up and actually paid attention to us properly. Of course, me, Ben and Ryan were strangers to her. However, Makai seemed to be someone that she recognized. I saw that her eyes went wide with shock at the sight of him. "Oh my God! Kai! You're back! What are you doing here? We all missed you. How have you been?"
"I'm good, Silly. No issues at all. I'm actually just here visiting, I'm not here for good."
"Oh, well that sucks. I know everyone would love it if you came back for good. Everyone misses you so much. Why are you here anyway?"
"Just for the competition that starts tomorrow. You know the one that I am talking about."
"Oh yeah, I know." Her eyes went wide like she was surprised by all of this. "Are these some of your new teammates?"
"Yeah, this is Ben and Ryan, they're a couple and Ryan has been unofficially adopted by my parents. And this is Ocean, he is my fiancé and Ben has been unofficially adopted by his parents. So, we are a group of teammates, two couples, and two sets of brothers all at the same time." Makai was not holding anything back at all.
"Oh, wow, that is awesome. I am so happy for you. It's so nice to meet you all. As I said before, my name is Cecilia, but because the middle of the name sounds like 'silly', that is what everyone calls me. I used to go to school with Kai before he moved away. He was always such a good friend. And congrats to you Kai, and you Ocean. I didn't think that you would be getting married so young. But you know what, it makes sense. You were always so passionate. I knew that when you found the one, you wouldn't want to let them get away." I could tell that this girl was really nice, and she seemed to know my boyfriend pretty well. I wonder if they dated at one point in time. I had to ask to find out though, and I didn't know if I had it in me to ask that question of someone.
"Thank you." That was all that I said instead. I wouldn't be able to learn the answer to my question now.
"Ha ha ha. I can read that look in your eyes, Ocean. You think that I dated Kai at one time, don't you? Well, don't worry, we were always just friends. Though he did have his fair share of people that wanted to date him, and a couple of people that he did date."
"O..oh." That wasn't very comforting. She might have thought that it was, but it wasn't. Now I had to wonder who it was here in Orlando that he might have dated. Who was it that I needed to be wary of?
Actually, I didn't need to be wary at all. I knew that Makai was never going to leave me. However, that didn't stop his ex-lovers from trying to come onto him and to win him back. That would, and probably will, be literal hell for me. I didn't want to see these people that my man was with before he was with me.
"Oh shoot, I need to hurry back. Do you know what you want to order?" Silly got back into work mode.
"Yeah, I think we do." Makai answered her and we all gave her our orders. I got four chili dogs, chili cheese fries, onion rings and a burger. Makai got the exact same thing. And Ben and Ryan got almost the same, but they only got two chili dogs each. Of course, we also got some sodas to drink as well.
"Look at that, Kai. You got someone that eats just as much as you and doesn't seem to gain an ounce. You lucky boys."
Our food came out pretty quickly, which was good. We were all pretty much starving at the time. The food was good too. We had decided to be total teenagers and just pig out on junk food, but I saw that they had a wide array of options that we could have chosen from. We just didn't want them at the time.
We sat there for a long time eating the food. I noticed a sort of wistful look in Makai's eyes as he enjoyed the food that he was having. I don't know if it was the food that he was eating or if it had more to do with him being back somewhere that he hadn't been in a long time.
I knew that Makai was happy in California. Or, at least, I thought that he was. I hoped that he wouldn't want to come back here and throw away the plans that we had set together. I didn't know what I would do if we ended up separating or anything like that.
Come on, Makai, don't leave me.
I tried to not let these fears and worries overshadow me as I spent my time with the man that I loved. I tried to not let him see how much I was worrying about all of these things. But I admit that it was very hard to keep it all under wraps.. I would have to talk to him about all of this soon.
Ocean
~~
We all slept in a little on Thursday morning. None of us could really be blamed for it though. I mean, by the time that Makai and I got to sleep, it was like three thirty in the morning. It had been a really long day for us.
OK, that was three thirty in the morning Florida time, so it was about twelve thirty back in California. Still, we had that long day of traveling so that made things a lot worse on us. Also, when we got up around noon, that was also in Florida's time. It was three hours earlier back home. So, according to our systems, we didn't sleep in all that much.
Anyway, the day was ours to do what we wanted to. We were able to go sightseeing or out to eat, or just about anything. As long as we didn't get into trouble, we were free agents. Oh, and we had to have a friend with us at all times. That was the main reason why the coach brought an even number of swimmers on the trip.
Well, Ben and Ryan were one pair. Me and Makai were another. Toby and Charles. Jenell and Faith. Katie and Alexis. Cassie and Whitney. We were all paired off pretty quickly. The girls all wanted to go shopping. So, the six of them left for the mall to see what it was that they could buy here. Charles and Toby wanted to check out Disney, but they didn't have enough time to go there so they decided to just go to the beach instead.
As for the other four of us, me, Makai, Ben and Ryan, we wanted to take a look around the city. And Makai was going to show us where his family lived when they were here in Orlando. We were, in all senses of the term, going sightseeing.
There was a lot to see in the city, if you knew how to navigate it, that is. Of course, tourists all wanted to sightsee when they came here, but according to Makai they tended to go to what the media told them they needed to see. He was going to take us to see the Orlando that only he could show us.
And the first stop on that Orlando tour was his previous favorite restaurant. This was a place that he apparently went to all the time after school and on the weekends. It was called Little Nicky's Family Dining. It was a family style restaurant that Makai loved because they gave large portions with every meal.
He was alone a lot and didn't always want to eat at the house all by himself. He said that this was his alternative when he was growing up. He would come here and look at all the families that were eating and feel like he was sharing something special with all of them.
"Wow, Kai, you must have been a really lonely kid. I feel so bad." Ryan seemed saddened by Makai's words as we sat down at the table in the restaurant.
"It was fine. My parents love me. I always knew that. They weren't away because they wanted to be, but because they had to be. I learned to deal with it. And it just made the time that I did spend with my parents growing up, all the more special to me."
"Aww, dude, that is so sweet." Ryan clapped him on the back. "I guess I am in that situation with you now, since I am your brother now and all." He laughed at him.
"Yeah, where were you when I was a kid?" Makai laughed. "I would have loved to have a brother then."
"Sorry, Mommy and Daddy didn't want me then." This conversation was delving into something a lot more funny than I ever thought it was going to be.
At that moment, a waitress walked over to take our order. I could tell that she wasn't really looking at us when she came over. She had been busy because the restaurant was packed and they were short staffed.
"Hi, my name is Cecilia and I will be your waitress today. Can I start you out with something to drink?"
"Hey Silly." Makai called out to her in a friendly tone. He apparently knew the girl.
"Huh?" She finally looked up and actually paid attention to us properly. Of course, me, Ben and Ryan were strangers to her. However, Makai seemed to be someone that she recognized. I saw that her eyes went wide with shock at the sight of him. "Oh my God! Kai! You're back! What are you doing here? We all missed you. How have you been?"
"I'm good, Silly. No issues at all. I'm actually just here visiting, I'm not here for good."
"Oh, well that sucks. I know everyone would love it if you came back for good. Everyone misses you so much. Why are you here anyway?"
"Just for the competition that starts tomorrow. You know the one that I am talking about."
"Oh yeah, I know." Her eyes went wide like she was surprised by all of this. "Are these some of your new teammates?"
"Yeah, this is Ben and Ryan, they're a couple and Ryan has been unofficially adopted by my parents. And this is Ocean, he is my fiancé and Ben has been unofficially adopted by his parents. So, we are a group of teammates, two couples, and two sets of brothers all at the same time." Makai was not holding anything back at all.
"Oh, wow, that is awesome. I am so happy for you. It's so nice to meet you all. As I said before, my name is Cecilia, but because the middle of the name sounds like 'silly', that is what everyone calls me. I used to go to school with Kai before he moved away. He was always such a good friend. And congrats to you Kai, and you Ocean. I didn't think that you would be getting married so young. But you know what, it makes sense. You were always so passionate. I knew that when you found the one, you wouldn't want to let them get away." I could tell that this girl was really nice, and she seemed to know my boyfriend pretty well. I wonder if they dated at one point in time. I had to ask to find out though, and I didn't know if I had it in me to ask that question of someone.
"Thank you." That was all that I said instead. I wouldn't be able to learn the answer to my question now.
"Ha ha ha. I can read that look in your eyes, Ocean. You think that I dated Kai at one time, don't you? Well, don't worry, we were always just friends. Though he did have his fair share of people that wanted to date him, and a couple of people that he did date."
"O..oh." That wasn't very comforting. She might have thought that it was, but it wasn't. Now I had to wonder who it was here in Orlando that he might have dated. Who was it that I needed to be wary of?
Actually, I didn't need to be wary at all. I knew that Makai was never going to leave me. However, that didn't stop his ex-lovers from trying to come onto him and to win him back. That would, and probably will, be literal hell for me. I didn't want to see these people that my man was with before he was with me.
"Oh shoot, I need to hurry back. Do you know what you want to order?" Silly got back into work mode.
"Yeah, I think we do." Makai answered her and we all gave her our orders. I got four chili dogs, chili cheese fries, onion rings and a burger. Makai got the exact same thing. And Ben and Ryan got almost the same, but they only got two chili dogs each. Of course, we also got some sodas to drink as well.
"Look at that, Kai. You got someone that eats just as much as you and doesn't seem to gain an ounce. You lucky boys."
Our food came out pretty quickly, which was good. We were all pretty much starving at the time. The food was good too. We had decided to be total teenagers and just pig out on junk food, but I saw that they had a wide array of options that we could have chosen from. We just didn't want them at the time.
We sat there for a long time eating the food. I noticed a sort of wistful look in Makai's eyes as he enjoyed the food that he was having. I don't know if it was the food that he was eating or if it had more to do with him being back somewhere that he hadn't been in a long time.
I knew that Makai was happy in California. Or, at least, I thought that he was. I hoped that he wouldn't want to come back here and throw away the plans that we had set together. I didn't know what I would do if we ended up separating or anything like that.
Come on, Makai, don't leave me.
I tried to not let these fears and worries overshadow me as I spent my time with the man that I loved. I tried to not let him see how much I was worrying about all of these things. But I admit that it was very hard to keep it all under wraps.. I would have to talk to him about all of this soon.
