Floating by

Chapter 7: A Day At A Time

Kayla's had an amazing day with Margaret, she couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun with someone. She was making her way to La Petit Fromage (the small cheese), one of the 5 restaurants on the ship. She figured since she's had such a great day, it would be a waste to end it with eating room service alone in her room. So instead she decided to eat dinner in a fancy restaurant, alone.

She walks up to the hostess and asks for a table for one. As the hostess leads her into the restaurant, she looks around to take in the ambience but stops short when she notices a couple in the direction she's heading. She quickly looks down as she continues to follow the hostess, praying that they don't notice her.

She's about to tell the hostess that she's changed her mind or that she suddenly feels unwell when she hears her name being called out. She doesn't recognize the voice to belong to either Rick or Shannon and risks taking a look at the source.

She's surprised to see Leslie waving at her from her table with Principal Jones and Zach. Not wanting to be rude, she stops the hostess and tells her that she's going to say hi to a table while pointing at it. The hostess then tells her to look for her again or flag down one of the staff when she's ready to sit at her table. Kayla thanks the hostess and makes her way over to Leslie's table.

"Hi Leslie. Hi Principal Jones. Uh, hi Zach."

Zach gives her a small smile and a little wave then looks back down at his menu, trying to hide his blushing cheeks.

"Urm, how are your evenings so far?"

"It's going great! But it'd be better if you joined us." Leslie suggests.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to intrude."

"It's not a big deal Kayla and if I were you, I'd listen to my wife." Principal Jones with a wink.

Kayla smiles and agrees. Before she can pull out her chair, Zach stands and does it for her, making sure to push it in as well before taking his seat once more.

"Uh. Thanks."

"No problem."

The two ladies across look at the teens then back at each other, sharing a knowing look.

"So Kayla, what did you do today?" Leslie asks.

"Oh, uh, nothing much. Just wandered around the ship. Seeing a show here and there."

"Sounds lovely. How about you Zach, honey?"

"Um, I kinda did the same I guess? I saw a couple of musicals, had lunch at the comedy club, caught an acapella show, went for a quick swim and now here I am."

"Ooo. What musicals did you watch?"

Zach coughs a little to clear his throat and also avoids looking at Kayla when he speaks.

"I show The Lion King and Shrek."

"Were they any good?"

"Yeah, they were great. What was interesting though was when I walked into the theatre for The Lion King, there was this really loud laughing. It kinda sounded familiar too."

As Zach says this, he purposely looks over at Kayla and notices that she's starting to blush. Again the two ladies across from them look at each other with confused looks, not knowing what was going on.

"Uh, someone want to explain what's going on to us?" Principal Jones asks.

Zach looks at Kayla with a raise eyebrow, about to start chuckling. Kayla looks across the table at the two ladies.

"I think he's referring to me."

They both look at her still confused.

"I was in the theatre pretty early so Margaret was telling me stories of the dates she used to go on and she happened to tell me a few unfortunate but hilarious ones and I guess I just couldn't contain my laughter."

Kayla looks at them sheepishly then back down at her lap.

"Margaret? The old lady from yesterday?" Principal Jones asks

"That's the one. She's actually really funny."

"You spent the day with her?"

Kayla nods her head.

"Mostly yeah. We saw the musical together then spent a good four hours in the comedy club then went for a little stroll around the cruise ship."

Kayla then turns to look at Zach.

"Come to think of it, you said you were in the comedy club for lunch but I didn't see you."

Zach looks at her and starts chuckling a little.

"Joe must've been so devastated when you told him he was the reason the band broke up."

Kayla looked at him with wide eyes before starting to giggle herself.

"You heard that!??"

"I was there for his whole set. The poor guy didn't stand a chance with you and Margaret in the crowd!"

Now they were both full on laughing together, leaving the other two women stunned and more confused. They only started to calm down when a waiter came over to take their orders.

"Uh, what was that?" Leslie asks them once the waiter leaves.

"Mama, do me a favor and never try to do stand up with Kayla in the room. She'll heckle you right off the stage!"

"Kayla? Really?" Leslie asks as she looks over at Kayla.

"I'm honestly not always like that. I think Margaret just brings it out of me. It was fun though!" They all share a chuckle as the conversation continues.

The rest of their dinner conversation goes smoothly after that, with a few laughs shared here and there. At the end of it Zach says goodnight to his moms and walks Kayla back to her room.

They walk in a comfortable silence, both thinking of the day they've had and the dinner they just left.

As they both reach their room doors, they turn to each other.

"I had a really nice night. Please thank your moms for letting me join you guys again. I don't know what I would've done if I had to eat alone with Rick and Shannon in there too."

"Don't worry about it. It was nice having you with us. I know my moms enjoyed your company too."

"I enjoyed theirs too...and yours."

Zach's cheeks blush a little but Kayla doesn't notice because she's looking at her feet. They stand in an awkward silence for a little before Zach clears his throat.

"I was uh, wondering what you were doing tomorrow afternoon? I figured we should work on our diving sync for the competition?"

"Sorry, I can't tomorrow it's a pretty full day for me. But I'm free on Wednesday?"

"Yeah. Sure. Wednesday at 4?"

"Sounds good. I guess I'll meet you here?"

"Yeah, yeah that works..."

"Okay. See you then. Have a good night Zach." Kayla says as she pushes her door open.

"You too Kayla."

With those words she steps in and closes the room door behind her, smiling a smile she never thought she'd smile again. Now all she has to do is take it one day at a time and maybe, just maybe, she'll be okay.