Chapter 248 - Ocean - Giving It My All

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Ocean

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Every single person that was watching the heat between me and Makai was looking at me like I had done something really weird. I don't know what it was that was happening right now. What was this? Why did I feel like I had just become a spectacle in the zoo?

For a moment, I thought that maybe I did shift. I thought that maybe I did fuck up by coming back to the team too soon. Maybe I was showing that I was a Siren to them all and Dr. Malachi was going to be really, really mad at me.

I didn't want to look at myself to check and see if I had scales, that would have definitely given me away instantly. So, instead, I brushed my hand at my shoulders to see if my hair was longer or silkier. It wasn't.

I wasn't in my other form. So, why on earth were all of them looking at me like that? I didn't get it at all. That is, not until Makai finished the heat at least eight seconds after I had.

I hadn't just beaten him, I had really beaten him. He was so far behind me that I was sure that he had deliberately gone slower just to make me look good. But I knew that Makai wasn't like that. He would never intentionally let me win. He would never throw a match in my favor. He had swum at him best just the same as I had

After Makai was done with his final lap, it was like the coach had finally thawed out. I mean, it was like he was frozen up until that point. Now though, he was able to move, and able to talk.

"What the hell was that, Ocean?!" He was looking at me intensely. It was like he was in a full state of shock.

"Uhm, Coach, did I do something wrong? I..I just swam in the heat like I usually did. That was all."

"Uh uh, don't give me that. I have never seen a match like that from you. This is ridiculous. When did you get so fast? You shaved seven and a half seconds off of your best time ever. Where have these times been? What have you been doing, anchoring yourself down?"

"When did you learn to swim like that, Ocean?" Another voice called out to me.

"That was impressive!" That came from Katie.

"I think Ocean has what it takes to go to the next Olympics." Alexis added, making me feel a little uncomfortable in the process.

"Yeah, Ocean, go to the Olympics and go for gold."

"I hear the next one is in Paris, that will be cool. Take me with you."

"I want to see Ocean in the Olympics."

The shouts and supportive comments were not stopping at all. They just kept coming. I didn't know what to do so I turned to look at Makai to see if he had any advice for me.

"It looks to me like Ocean is definitely doing better. I think it's the fact that he has all that stress gone. No more Brittney giving him a hard time. And no more butting heads with Justin."

Damn, after all that had happened with Justin lately, I had nearly forgotten about all the hassle that he used to give me when we were at practice. He used to piss me off all of the time. And before I met Makai, I was always wondering what Brittney thought about me. Actually, even after I met him until I started to date him. Then I was always worrying about her giving me a hard time at school like Justin. This was the first time that I had actually been calm and clear minded when swimming. And I have to say that it felt amazing.

"Yeah, you're right, Kai."

"With no worries weighing him down, the man turned into a fucking fish!"

"He definitely swims like one."

"We so have that national's title in the bag."

"Yeah, fuck the Olympics, I want Ocean to win nationals."

"Hey, language."

"Why Coach? You swore."

"Yeah, well, that was, I'm a, ah fuck it, I don't give a shit right now. We've all had an amazing thing happen right in front of us."

"Uhm, C..Coach, do you mind if we move on with practice?" With everyone staring at me, I was starting to feel a little nervous. I didn't want to have this many eyes boring into me so intently, it was nerve wracking. I could handle crowds at a match, but this was something else entirely. And it was getting to me.

"Yeah, you're right. Alright everyone, I'm splitting you up into your groups. Swim when it's your turn, run your drills in between. Alright, come on, let's go."

After that, practice went back to what it was supposed to be. And by that, I mean that everyone wasn't staring at me anymore. However, Makai, Ben and Ryan came up to me and whispered at me.

"Hey, what was that?" Makai was just as shocked as everyone else. "You've never been that fast before."

"Yeah man, have you been holding back? Or is this because you're a.." Ryan asked me before trailing off at the end.

"What happened to you, Ocean? You just seemed to be so in the zone." Ben was smiling at me.

"Well, I was in the zone. And well, I think Makai was right. I haven't been feeling as burdened and upset lately. I used to feel so scared all the time. It was like, I need to be the best to keep my girl. Then it changed to, I need to be the best to beat Makai. Later it was, I need to hide myself from everyone else. I need to hide what I really am. And now, all of a sudden, I don't feel worried any more at all. I just feel like I was able to be me and me alone. I was happy just being in the water and nothing else. Nothing else at all, just that." I tried my best to explain what I was feeling and what had happened. I don't think that there was anything else to what happened besides that.

"That's amazing, Ocean. I am glad that you are feeling so free for the first time ever. And it's true that life's problems can slow you down when you swim. They end up weighing you down like an anchor and stopping you from moving as fast as you normally would. Now though, you seem to be doing so much better. I am proud of you, Ocean. This is an amazing day for you." Makai hugged me again at that moment. It was an innocent hug that was not at all intimate, but it still made me feel so much better. I was feeling a sense of relief wash over me at the moment and I knew that I would be able to continue swimming like that from now on. There was no doubt about it in my mind.

Everyone else in practice was doing their best. They were inspired by me to just let go of their problems and swim better than they ever have before. For a couple of them, it actually worked. Seeing that made me happy too. I was glad that they were all doing so much better than they had been before. It was amazing and it proved that we all had that potential in us.

Well, I might already be faster because I am a Siren and therefore meant to swim faster than a human, but I still believed that my team could get better if they all felt better about their lives. At least a little bit better.

Before practice was over, the coach came to us and talked about the room arrangements for the national event. He was specifically coming to talk to me, Makai, Ben and Ryan about it all. I think that after that one special away weekend, he wanted to make sure that everything was good to go.

"Hey, do I need to put you four in different rooms or are you all going to behave yourselves." He was giving us stern looks but there was a smile on his face like he thought that we were going to be trouble no matter what.

"Nah, we'll be good on the trip, Coach." Makai assured him.

"Yeah, besides we can all do whatever we want at home instead of waiting for the hotel. There is no reason to cause issues then." Ryan grinned at him and added.

"I don't even know if I want to ask what you mean by that, Ryan."

"Ha ha. It's fine, coach. It's just that Ben and I live at Kai's house with him and Ocean. Ben and I share a room and Ocean and Kai share a room. There is nothing at all stopping us from doing what we want at home. It's simple, I don't know why it was hard to understand." Ryan shrugged like he didn't get the fear that had just ended up in the coach's eyes.

"You really have no filter sometimes, do you, Ryan?" The coach was laughing at him. He may still look horrified, but he was laughing nonetheless.

"I'm just the cool one. That's all it is, Coach."

"I doubt that, Ryan. I truly doubt that." With a lot of laughter, the practice came to an end and it was time for us to get ready for class. I was in such a good mood that I almost wanted to sing. Almost! I knew that I wasn't allowed to. Not here anyway.. Still, it made me that happy.