"Can I come up?" I asked Hazel as he climbed up into the crow's nest. Hazel and I had a habit of meeting every Wednesday for a lunch in their old hangout.

"Of course Sawyer!" Hazel responded, blushing a little. I had asked her officially to be my girlfriend two weeks ago. And Hazel was still not use to this label, even though it was something that she had wanted since they had first met.

My head peered over the edge of the crow's nest. "What's for lunch today?" I asked.

"I only had time to make ham and cheese sandwiches. I've been really busy with the new turtle."

"That sounds amazing!" I smiled, sitting down next to her. "I'm starving!"

As we sat down and enjoyed their sandwiches, I questioned Hazel about the new turtle that they had rescued the afternoon before. "I named her Serendipity. She's a really old turtle. It's so sad but she just got stuck in a fisherman's net and is pretty cut up." She explained all the injuries and rehab that the turtle had to have. I wasn't really listening though. I was just thinking about how pretty she was when she talking about new animal.

After an hour of talking about Serendipity, Hazel and I parted ways and returned to the hospital. Hazel went back to the rehab pool with the turtle. I returned to the dolphin pools that housed the resident dolphins Winter and Hope. For hours I worked with Winter and Hope, trying out a new trick for the shows at the aquarium.

"How's Winter doing today?" Clay asked as he walked into the arena.

"She's doing really well; I think she is going to need a new tail soon. The old one is getting pretty tight on her."

"Really? We only got her a new one like five months ago. Doctor McCarthy is not coming by for almost another month."

"I guess I can figure something out. She has been really active lately. Hope is such a great thing for Winter."

"I'm so glad that she is doing so well. You should head home soon. I don't want you to be late for dinner."

"I'll see you tomorrow Clay!" I replied as I gathered all the training equipment around the tanks. Once that was done, I walked back to the employees' workroom and changed out of my wetsuit and into regular clothes. As I walked out to my car, I waved goodbye to Hazel and headed home for the night.

When I arrived home, I noticed that Dr. Nathan Halliburton's car was parked in front of the house. Crap, I thought, I forgot that he was coming over for dinner tonight. I really like Dr. Halliburton, but it was definitely a little awkward for my mom to be dating again.

"Sawyer, you're late!" my mom called from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Mom! Let me take a quick shower and I'll be right down."

"Ok! But hurry! Your dinner is getting cold."

I took a quick shower, trying to make myself smell a little less fishy, and went down to the kitchen. "Hey, Dr. Halliburton." I said as I sat down at the table.

"Please, Sawyer. I told you to call me Nathan."

"Sorry. How was your day, Mom?"

Throughout dinner, we went around making small talk. Don't get me wrong. I really like Nathan, but it is just a little awkward still. I dismissed myself from the table as soon as I was done eating, saying that I had a lot of homework to do, which was not a lie. I hid in my room until ten o'clock when I heard the front door open and close, telling me that Nathan had finally left. After that, I went to bed, knowing that it was just me and my mom in the house, safe and sound.