Entry 9
I need to learn to stop forcing things!
Okay, I suppose I should explain. Sonic was out today when I went to his room. I cleaned it and did the usual stuff. I needed to go along with my own life, so I went out shopping.
On my way back, I passed by the Marriott of Station Square. Now, I remembered that Sonic had some kind of arrangement with the owners where he could use their pool whenever he wanted to. On a hunch, I walked around to where I could see the pool.
Sure enough, there he was! He was out there in a lounge chair near the diving board, laying back and letting the sun soak into his fur.
I nearly dropped my groceries when I thought about what to do.
I rushed back to my apartment, put away the stuff that would melt or rot, then hurried into my drawers. After several agonizing seconds I pulled a swimsuit, a nice blue two-piece. The blue color contrasted with my fur and would show off both where it was and where it wasn't.
I changed in a flash and hurried back to the Marriott. He was still there. Only one tricky thing—the pool was for guests only. I had to get through the front office and over the pool fence in a hurry, without getting seen.
Or I could do it the other way. I could walk in as if I owned the place. If I walked with enough confidence, who'd check me? They'd just assume I was supposed to be there.
I had enough smarts to know I'd never pull it off. I would either burst into giggles or break down and start running. That'd get me caught for sure. I'm just not a very good liar.
Running it was, then.
I waited until all the clerks were occupied. Two or three even had their backs turned. Then, I went for it!
I'm not nearly as fast as Sonic, but I can move when I want to. I was through the lobby in no time. I couldn't tell if anyone saw me, but I didn't hear anything.
Out the rear doors, into the rear area… with a jump I got my hands on the top of the chain-link fence, pushed myself over, and did a neat three point landing.
I hadn't counted on the lifeguard.
He whistled at me the instant I landed. "No running!" was his instinctive first shout.
I'd managed to land near Sonic. At the whistle, he jerked in my direction, then jumped from his lounge chair. "Amy!" he shouted.
I couldn't resist. I giggled. "Yep," I said, happiness to see him filling me up.
I didn't have time for more. The lifeguard was up to us. "Uh, miss, do you have a room in this hotel?"
I couldn't very well lie. I hesitated a second (wishing Sonic would say something!) before smiling sweetly and saying, "No, I'm just here to see Sonic."
The lifeguard turned to Sonic, as if expecting me to say something. Sonic looked like a kid trying to explain a bad grade to his parents. Every time he looked at me, he'd blush a little more and look back to the lifeguard, who was staring at him which made him uncomfortable, making him look back at…
"Don't ask me!" were the words he left us with.
"Miss," said the lifeguard, "if you don't have a room here, I'll have to ask you to leave."
I let them escort me out. If Sonic wasn't there, what was the point?
I walked back to my room, thinking about how flustered I'd made Sonic. I wasn't exactly sure why he'd reacted like that, but I had some good guesses. Most of those guesses were enough to make me smile.
When I think about it, I feel… a little guilty. I mean, I did embarrass him enough for him to run away. But isn't that supposed to mean something?
One thing was for sure: he wasn't 'down' the way he was on Wednesday. As long as he's not like that, I think I can deal with him.
Well, I still felt guilty, so I decided to apologize to him. Now that I think about it, I probably should have waited until we both calmed down. And wasn't I still wearing my swimsuit? It didn't cross my mind.
I walked to his door, knocked. He came to the door. I apologized for embarrassing him. I think he believed me. (Remember how I told you about forcing things? This is it.)
I said to him, "I think the lifeguard was waiting for you to say something."
"What?" he said, getting a little cautious.
"Anything," I said, giggling. "I mean, you didn't do anything!"
"Well, I suppose," he said.
"You could have said, "It's okay", or, "She's with me"," I said, losing my good sense as my giggles grew.
His discomfort grew at the same rate as my giggles. "Yeah, that would have worked," he said, trying to look away from me.
I worked up my courage and said, casually as I could through my giggles, "Or you could have just kissed me."
That did it. He gaped at me, mouth open like some fish, before slamming the door on me.
Sigh…
I blew it, didn't I, diary?
I mean, sometimes I think I could have him kiss me if I would just stop trying to make him kiss me. But I don't know how to do that! I mean, if it was that easy, I would've already married him, right? Right.
I hope Sonic grades on effort. I mean, he's gotta realize I'm trying with everything I've got. I'm just clumsy. Oh, when am I going to be able to keep my head around that… that… beloved hedgehog.
Probably never.
I hope Sonic grades on effort.