31 Makai - Ocean At School Part 3

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Makai

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As the day progressed I started to really wonder if it was all a dream or not. I had a feeling that I had either truly died this morning or I had just never woken up and I was still asleep. There were just so many things that made me pause.

In our first class of the day, advanced calculus, I usually spent most of the lecture watching Ocean as he took notes. Today though, I was hardly able to watch him because almost every time I tried to look at him he was looking at me.

I had known that he was aware of me watching him. He had turned to see me watching him on multiple occasions so I wasn't all that surprised that he was curious as to why I was watching him every day since I moved here. I just didn't expect him to be watching me so intently now.

On the way to our second class, which we were also in together, Ocean didn't run ahead like he usually did. Instead, he actually paced alongside me and we basically walked to class together. Neither of us said anything the entire time we just walked side by side until we got to the next classroom.

This actually happened all day long. Every time that we switched classes, Ocean walked next to me without saying anything. It was nice to actually have him so close to me without him thinking that I was trying to do something to sabotage or hurt him. This day was really turning out to be my personal heaven.

When we made it to the cafeteria for lunch we had once again walked silently together. This was going to be a day for me to remember, I just knew it. Especially when I went to the table and Ocean followed, he ended up sitting right next to me.

During lunch, Ocean finally talked. It was the first time that I had heard him say anything since practice this morning. We were talking and joking with our teammates at the same time.

"Ryan, are you doing anything special for training before this weekend?" Ben started the conversation with us all.

"Nah, just the usual." Ryan answered right away. "But if I know Ocean, he will probably go training at the beach. He likes to swim there a lot." I saw Ocean blush then, maybe he remembered that night after all.

"No, I plan on practicing in the gym, I need to make up for the time that I was gone." He rejected Ryan's suggestion. Too bad, I would have gone with him to the beach to train.

"I can train with you." I offered. I saw the surprise fill his eyes when he heard me but he didn't show it to the others.

"N..n..no that's fine." He stuttered a little but nothing too bad. The others noticed though.

"When did you start stuttering?" Ryan immediately jumped on the issue.

"Yeah, you never used to stutter." Ben added.

"O...oh w...well it started after I hit my head. It happens from time to time." I had to wonder if that was true. Was it really from the accident? It was possible. I had hoped it was because he liked me and was nervous around me. I guess I would never truly know the answer to that one.

"Man, that sucks."Ryan shook his head.

Lunch didn't have much else besides the talking about practice and some very inappropriate joking from Justin. All in all it was a good lunch and the rest of the day just followed the same pattern as the beginning of the day.

At practice after school Ocean was just as quiet when it came to me but he didn't try to push me away either. I would still count that as a victory. I even noticed that once when I was climbing out of the pool he had been watching me. He had probably been watching my swim before that and not me getting out of the water specifically, but hey a guy can dream.

I noticed that ocean was staying at school after practice was over. He was swimming alone. And even though he said that he didn't want me to practice with him I stayed behind. I didn't want something happening to him again. After about an hour he seemed to be done but that was also when he noticed me.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me, a little bit of anger in his voice.

"I noticed you were still training, so I stayed behind." I didn't hide it from him.

"Why?" He looked confused.

"I didn't want to see something bad happen to you again. I was worried, after you hit your head before." I looked down at the floor, afraid that he was going to yell or scream or accuse me again.

"Oh." He sounded shocked, not what I expected. "Well, thank you. Not just for today. I mean, thank you for, you know, saving me that day." He was the one looking down now as my head shot up in surprise.

"Don't mention it. I wouldn't have let you drown."

"Yeah, well, uh, I got to go. Bye." He hurried off to the locker room then.

I think that was the most civil conversation we had ever had, and it had made me smile so much. I was so happy that I knew I was pathetic.

The rest of the week went basically the same way. Practices were better with Ocean not being hostile. We walked to classes together. Ocean still stared at me as often as I stared at him. We sat next to each other at lunch. It was all getting better little by little. I was beginning to think that I might have a shot here. Just maybe. If things kept going along the way they have been then who could possibly know, it might happen in the end.