Chapter 29 - Makai - Ocean At School Part 1

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Makai

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After that night when I watched Ocean sleep on the beach all I could do was think about him. That was definitely not saying much considering that I already thought about him all the time. He was so intriguing and never did what I thought he would or should do.

First he acts like he hates me and doesn't even want to be around me or see me. Then he blames me for trying to steal his girlfriend after I saved his life. When I saw him on the beach he acted like he had been thinking about me and that I was just a hallucination from those thoughts.

All of that wasn't even the biggest surprise of all. Nope, not by a long shot. The thing that surprised me the most had been when he pulled me toward him and kissed me. Granted I was almost laying on top of him at the time. That had only been because he was trying to hit me and we both fell when I tried to stop him.

Still, who would have thought that Ocean would grab my head and kiss me? And not only that he had even gotten aroused from it. He had responded to it physically just as clearly as I had.

Just what was it he truly thought of me? Did he like me and was just denying it to himself. Does he actually hate me even though he is attracted to me? Does he even know what he feels for me?

"GAHH!! Not knowing is going to kill me!" I yelled the words to the ceiling of my bedroom. I had been lying on my bed while I contemplated all of this. I was trying to settle my nerves and my thoughts before I had to go to school this morning.

"Shut up and get downstairs." I heard my dad call out jokingly. "Whatever is going to kill you will do it in time, don't help it out by starving yourself." He was a jokester that usually liked to take my plights and make them into his comedy goldmine, or that's what he always said. I didn't care, I had too much going on to worry about his jokes right now.

Still, I slid out of my bed and pulled a shirt on. I didn't need to change my shorts since I would be changing at the school anyway. I probably looked like a zombie as I trudged down the stairs and to the table but I didn't care. And apparently neither did my parents since they didn't say anything about it.

They were good parents but they were often busy. That's why I had gotten used to being on my own a lot. Analise and Reef Rivers were nice people that had steady yet demanding careers so I had been raised to take care of myself. I liked it that way anyway, I preferred my own company most of the time. Now, though, I found myself wanting to have the company of someone specific.

I hoped that things at school would be better when I got there. Maybe Ocean would remember what happened the other night, even if he had passed out right after he kissed me. He might still remember it and feel something different toward me.

When I was walking into the locker room I felt like I was holding my breath in anticipation. I don't think I have ever been this nervous in my entire life. I wouldn't show it though. I was going to put on a confident smile and pretend like I was just fine. I could do this, I was fine.

Ocean was already there, at his locker. My locker was right next to his so I walked over with false confidence. I wanted to talk to him so bad but I could only muster a single word, hell it was only a single syllable.

"Hi." Gahh! I'm such an idiot.

"U….uh...u….uhm, h…..hi." Ocean seemed to stumble over his words as he tried to answer me. I didn't care, he actually responded and not in a negative way. This was a major thing that I never thought would have been possible.

"How was your weekend?" I tried to sound calm and collected while I asked but I just wanted to keep talking to him.

"I...it was f….fine. I stayed home all weekend." Why did he sound so nervous? Is it possible that he really did remember kissing me? I could only hope that was the case.

"I bet you are glad to be back at practice. You've been away for a whole week." I tried to bring up something that was bound to make him happy, unfortunately all I got was a grunt and a nod of his head. Hey, it was better than any other time that we had come face to face. You know, aside from when we were on the beach.

Is it bad that our time on the beach had very quickly become one of my favorite memories? I hoped not since I couldn't help it.

"Well, let's do our best today. We've got that meet this weekend. I'm glad that you're back in time for it. We need you on the team to win."

I don't know why but for some reason my encouragement caused his face to darken. He just ignored me though and walked out to the pool. That's fine, it would take baby steps. The fact that he hadn't yelled at me meant that we were already leaps and bounds further than we were before.. With a grin and a soaring heart, I finished changing and followed him out to the pool.