Free Juked by M.E. Carter

little girl, probably five or six, is giggling after being splashed. “I was planning to study them.”
    “You wanted to study stingrays?”
    “Among other things,” I admit, not taking my eyes off the creatures in the water. “I wanted to major in marine biology. Travel the world and do research on the breeding patterns of certain animals.” I look over at him. “Then I discovered I hate the ocean.”
    He crinkles his brow like that’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard. “You hate the ocean?”
    “Scared to death of it.” I take my hand out of the water. “Have you seen the kind of things that live in the water?”
    We walk over to the handwashing station so I can clean up. “It’s hard to be a marine biologist if you’re afraid of the things you’re studying.”
    “It’s not like I ended up going to college for long, so I didn’t waste a bunch of years studying for something I didn’t end up doing. Besides, it’s more fun to come here.” We look at the pool, and one of the stingrays glide straight up the wall so a patron can rub between his eyes. “Aw, man. That’s what I was hoping to do.”
    “Wanna go back over?” Daniel offers.
    I shake my head. “That’s okay. I can come back a different day. Where do you want to go now?”
    “I’m starving,” he says. “Wanna get something to eat? I hear the restaurant is amazing.”
    “Sure.” We slowly make our way over to the hostess stand, stopping a few times to look at various displays. Fortunately for us, there’s not a wait to be seated. That’s probably due to the fact it’s a Monday afternoon and most people are at work and school. That also seems to have kept the fans away from Daniel. Very few people have even noticed him, let alone recognized him. I’d like to say it’s been a relief, but I’ve never seen the fandom, so I honestly don’t know how crazy it can get.
    We make our way up the staircase that wraps around a cylindrical floor-to-ceiling aquarium. There are dozens of colorful fish in it. The biggest and brightest creature of them all is the eight-foot-long yellow eel. He’s winding in and out of the coral, doing his best to hide. If you didn’t know he was in the tank, you probably would never even notice him.
    We follow the hostess to a table and sit down. She tells us our waiter will be with us soon. The large room is broken up by another massive fish tank, this one housing sharks and giant stingrays. I could stare at them all day.
    “If it wasn’t marine biology, what would it have been?” Daniel asks me, leaning on the table.
    “You mean my major?” I ask. He nods. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I hadn’t really gotten that far. It wasn’t until a couple years ago, when some friends wanted to go swimming at the beach, that I realized how scared I really am.”
    “So no beach dates for you then?” he teases.
    “Actually, I love the beach. Just don’t make me swim in the water.”
    Our waiter approaches, giving each of us a glass of water. After introducing himself and taking our drink orders, he walks away, leaving us to our menus and conversation.
    “How did you end up playing soccer for a living?” I ask, taking a sip of my water. “It’s quite an accomplishment.”
    “I started playing when I was a kid at the local YMCA. Every single season I would beg my mom to let me sign up.” He picks up his roll of silverware and unwraps everything, placing his napkin on his lap. “By the time I got to high school, I had played on every league in the area. Having a high school team was a relief for my dad. He didn’t have to help coach anymore at that point.” He smiled at the memory. “I had some really great coaches in high school who helped me get a scholarship to college, and the figurative ball kept rolling.”
    “Sounds like it was a lot of hard work.”
    “It was, and not just for me. My parents sacrificed a lot of their time, too, and not because they wanted me to play professionally.