Michael Phelps
I talked on the phone with my mom, talking about how training was going, when she decided to bring up Valencia.
“So are you going to ask her out?” Mom asked me, I could almost hear the smile in her voice. “She is quite the looker.”
“Maaaa!” I whined, “I’m focusing on swimming. Okay?”
She just laughed before telling me she’d be watching me in the opening ceremonies and said good bye. I tossed my phone off to the side and dragged myself to get ready for the opening ceremonies.
“Hey V,” I said, catching up to her as we walked out into the opening ceremony. The rest of the ceremony was silent, as we occasionally shared smiles when we bumped into each other. Each time we touched I felt electricity tingle inside me.
Prelims and semifinals were all a blur for every event that I was in. Valencia was at every event that I was in, cheering me on, and I returned the favor, cheering her on in every event that she was in. I was watching her compete in the 200 m butterfly, my specialty event, and screaming as she pounded the wall, finishing first and getting her first gold. I jumped up and met her as she pulled herself from the pool, catching her in a hug as she cried, completely overwhelmed.
“You did it!” I yelled, jumping up and down with her, seeing that we were both being beckoned over to do an interview with a reporter. I pulled Valencia over to the reporter, standing behind her, trying to stay out of the frame.
“Valencia, how did that feel?” the reporter asked, allowing V to answer a few of the standard questions before she dropped a bombshell question on both of us.
“So Michael, Valencia, are you two in a romantic relationship?” she asked, holding the microphone out to both of us, waiting for an answer. We both froze before we managed to choke out that we were just friends. Denying any feelings towards each other hurt me for some reason. I just wanted to yell ‘I love her’ over and over again.
Finally we were released from questioning and I got ready for my last semifinal round, watching her medal ceremony before stepping up to the block. After barely scrapping by in my semifinal, I saw Bob coming over to talk to me.
“You have to talk to her. You have to do it soon Mike.” Bob said, referring to Valencia, “You cannot deny that your mind was more on her than it was on your race.”
I sighed, knowing that what he said was true. I nodded and told him I’d talk to her after my first final, which was starting in less than an hour. I slapped my headphones back onto my head and forced myself to zone back into swimming. I prepped myself to dive back in, seeing that I had zoned completely out and now had to get set for my first race in Beijing for a gold.
During the last 25 m I tried pushing myself, trying to prevent myself from looking around, knowing that would only hinder me. I heard Valencia screaming, cheering me on and pushed myself even harder, pounding the wall as I reached it in record time. After my first medal ceremony, I met up with Valencia, knowing that she had another final coming up and would want me to finish talking with her so she could get back into the zone.
“Hey,” Valencia said, smiling up at me.
“Hey, I need to talk to you.” I said, nervously playing with my hands. “I…” I started, I couldn’t even find the word to describe what I was feeling, so I just leaned down and kissed her. I smiled into the kiss when I felt her arms wrap around my neck and her start to kiss back. After I pulled away we were both smiling like fools. “I like you. I know that now isn’t the best time to bring this up, but I can’t focus on anything else except you and if you felt the same.”
In answer to my question, Valencia smiled and pulled me into another kiss, pulling away only when she was being called to get set for her next final. I stood by the pool to cheer her on, a huge smile gracing my face. I watched her hit the wall, coming in for yet another gold, the expression on her face when she emerged from the pool, however, made my heart sink. I immediately knew that she had reinjured her wrist. I rushed to the side of the pool, along with Bob and Jeff, helping her out of the pool.
“Let me see.” Jeff said, pulling the wrist she was clinging to her body. After examining it, Jeff let out a breath, “It looks like you just tweaked it, ice it tonight, it should be fine.” After releasing her to go relax for the rest of the day, she dragged me back to her hotel room.
I helped her wrap her wrist with some ice. Curling up on her bed we flicked on the TV, barely paying attention to it. I smiled and played with Valencia’s hair as she leaned back against my chest, her body between my legs.
“So, how does it feel, three golds and one more to go.” I asked, smiling down at her.
She smiled up at me, “How does it feel, three finals tomorrow to finish off your race for eight gold medals?”
“Stressful, but I’ll be fine, as long as you’re there cheering me on.” I said, stealing the chance to kiss her quickly on the lips.
“Of course I will be!” She said, her face bright red, “I’m sitting with Whitney and Hilary for the first two. I’ll be by the pool side for the last one though.”
“I don’t remember giving you permission to get so close with my sisters.” I teased, poking her nose. Her response was to simply stick her tongue out at me and laugh. We spent the rest of the night curled around each other just talking. It was perfect.
