Synchronized Swimming

Chapter 10: Lunchtime

Sang

"What would you like to eat?" the waitress asks with a polite, but disinterested smile. I freeze up and shrink behind my menu, not having decided what to get yet. Victor sees my predicament and asks the waitress to come back in a couple of minutes. I focus again on my menu, but none of the food looks appetizing.

"So what looks good Sang?" Kota asks me. All of the boys are looking at me expectantly.

Pushing a finger to my lip, I hesitate before responding, "I'm not sure. I'm not very hungry, so I think I'll just get something to drink." I look up from the menu and see nine frowning faces looking back at me.

"You have to eat something Ms. Sorenson, it takes a lot of energy to swim and you've had a busy day so far. If you're not very hungry, what about something light like a salad?" Mr. Blackbourne suggests. Nodding, I look at the salad section and see a Caesar salad that seems okay.

The waitress comes back, only this time she starts taking orders from the opposite side of the table, which gives me plenty of time to become nervous at the thought of talking to her. Although she seems nice enough, I get nervous interacting with any strangers, and she is no exception. Now that I think about it, I'm remarkably relaxed around the boys, something that I'm grateful for if I'm spending the next two months with them.

The boys' orders are normal for the most part, except for that Luke orders something called a "Chocolate Blasted Carmel Vanilla Milkshake" to drink, which causes North to grunt with exasperation, and Silas gets two cheeseburgers with a huge side of fries. How he can eat that much after being sick is beyond me.

"Miss, what would you like?" the waitress prompts me for a second time.

"Can I get the Caesar salad please? With water to drink" I mumble. She smiles at me and hurries away to put in our orders and help the other customers.

With the issue of food resolved, I think back to the plane ride to Charleston. After my nightmare issue, we talked about inconsequential things while the boys ate the snacks on the plane. Whoever owns the plane must be loaded because there was a huge assortment of extremely expensive food options, from smoked salmon on handmade crackers to beautiful fruit displays. While talking, I learned that Gabriel's favorite color is orange and that he likes to draw and sing. I made him promise to show me some of his drawings, which he agreed to with a self-conscious blush. Poor Silas spent the whole plane ride in the bathroom and only came out for landing.

We split into two cars to come to the restaurant, and I ended up with Sean, Kota, Nathan, and Silas. The other boys wanted to ride with me to, but Kota quickly stopped any fighting and said they could take me to the house after lunch. I don't think that I've ever laughed as hard as I did in the twenty minutes that it took to get to the restaurant: Sean and Silas were competing to see who could get me to laugh the most, and it got to the point where I started crying. Thankfully, I managed to control myself before meeting up with the other car, or else there would have been an investigation into the cause of my tears.

Kota interrupts my thoughts when he begins to speak. "I think that now would be a good time to go over the official plan for the next few days," he looks to Mr. Blackbourne and Sean, who both nod, before continuing, "Today we will get settled into the house. Any last minute shopping can also be done. I believe that Luke said he would make dinner, so he will need to go to the grocery store and stock up. Who wants to go with him?"

"I'll go." Nathan volunteers. Luke high fives him and they talk about what to get for a minute before Kota resumes the schedule.

"Right, so dinner is covered. We get the whole pool from five until nine pm every day of the week, and on the weekends we also get it from one to three, which is when most of the lifeguards take a break. In addition, we have one lane permanently reserved for our use. Anyone who has a specific issue that they need to work on can go in their free time and practice. Regular practice will start tomorrow. Any questions?"

One question pops into my mind. "So I'm assuming that anytime not spent at the pool will be used for conditioning and flexibility exercises?"

Kota gets a weird look in his eye and shakes his head. "No, that's free time to be used for whatever you wish, be it shopping, studying, or just hanging out."

Just then, the waitress comes out with our drinks. Everyone got water except for Luke, so the people at the end of the table take one and pass it down. Silas passes me mine, and our hands brush in the process. I smile a bit at the contrast in our hand sizes; his hands dwarf mine. Pushing a straw into the cup, I take a sip of water immediately followed by a big gulp when I realize how thirsty I am. Luke starts devouring his milkshake, and I grimace when I think of how much sugar is in it. The thing is made up of vanilla ice cream with chocolate swirls throughout it and a chocolate covered straw. On top of the ice cream sits a mountain of whip cream drenched with caramel. I would be full after two bites of it, but Luke has downed half of it in the last minute with unrelenting gusto.

"Do you have a phone, Sang?" Victor asks me. I shake my head with embarrassment. What kind of teenager doesn't have a cellphone?

"That's okay, we'll get you one. We need to be able to communicate with you when we separate into smaller groups to go places." he says.

As much as I want a phone, I can't let them spend that kind of money. When I tell them that, Mr. Blackbourne says that the camp costs will cover it. I reluctantly agree to get one, and Victor makes plans to buy a phone this afternoon.

The food comes out a few minutes later. My salad actually tastes pretty good, and I finish it without any trouble. All of the boys clean their plates, even Silas, and Luke asks to get dessert. Mr. Blackbourne quickly steps in and says that his milkshake was dessert enough. I hold in a laugh at his sad expression, and pat him consolingly on the shoulder.

"I'm going to the bathroom before we leave." I say. An argument ensues about who should go with me, but I tell them that I can go to the bathroom unescorted and head over to it. After I've finished, I'm walking back to the table when the waitress approaches me.

"Hello Miss, I noticed that you were kind of shy. I have my own daughter who has trouble talking to other people, and one thing that she does that helps her is she takes a moment to compose her thoughts and gather her breath before responding to a question. It really helps her feel more confident in her answer."

I ponder her advice for a moment. I do have a tendency to rush my answers, which leaves me feeling uncertain and underprepared. Taking a deep breath, I say, "Thank you, that is very helpful advice. I'll be sure to keep it in mind when I'm talking with others." The waitress smiles at me- a genuine, heartfelt one- and walks off.

When I get to the table, someone has already paid, and since I don't know who I thank the whole group for the fabulous lunch. They all get happy grins on their faces and make promises of many more lunches in the future. When we leave the restaurant, I'm feeling much more comfortable and relaxed.

Remembering the discussion from earlier, I get in the car with Mr. Blackbourne, Luke, North, Gabriel, and Victor, who holds the door open for me like a true Southern gentleman. The car ride to the house is quiet- everyone is too preoccupied with their thoughts to hold a conversation. I'm excited to see the house and to start practice tomorrow. If it was up to me, we would start this very night!