The next day was a normal day. Mike was only excited about getting to practice and crushing it again. He got out of bed to a chilly morning. Before he could react how cold it was, a cool breeze somehow opened his window and flew at him. He was hit with a cold sensation that instantly gave him the chills. He quickly ran over to the bathroom and turned the shower to full heat. Mike quickly jumped in after he took his pajamas off. He sat in the shower for the next five minutes. Mike finally turned off the shower and got out to dry himself off. Luckily, the temperature of his apartment was warmer than 7 minutes before.
Mike went back to his room and put on some workout clothes. He also put on a jacket because he knew it would be cold as soon as he stepped outside. Mike went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He opened up the bag of bagels from the fridge and popped two into the toaster. While his bagels were cooking, Mike made some coffee to go along with his bagel. He started to make his coffee when he heard a pop! He placed the coffee on the counter and went to put cream cheese on his bagel, when he realized there was no cream cheese. Mike decided he was going to run to the supermarket really quickly to get some more. So far the day wasn’t looking good.
Mike put on his running shoes and left his apartment to get more cream cheese. After the first five minutes of his run, he realized it was extremely cold outside. He didn’t want to turn back now so he pushed through the freezing weather. Mike started to pull into the supermarket’s parking lot when he realized he forgot his wallet. How stupid could he be? Mike got ready to turn around and head back when he heard someone yell his name, “Mike! Mike!” Mike looked back to see who it was. It happened to be Christina.
Mike walked over to her and said, “Hey! How is it going?” Christina replied, “Oh it is good. What are you doing running around like a crazy monkey?” Mike answered, “Oh. I forgot I was out of cream cheese so I decided to run down he to get more, but right when I got here, I realized I forgot my wallet so I am ready to head back and get it.” Christina responded, “Well I do owe you for the ride home, so, I could help you out and buy you some while you are here.” Mike replied, “Really? That would be great. I would pay you back!” Christina countered, “No. You do not need to. This is on me.” Mike said,, “Thank You” They walked back in the direction of the supermarket.
Mike and Christina finished making the transaction of the cream cheese and started to head back to the car. Mike said, “Thank You again!” Christina replied, “Don’t worry about it. Oh, Do you need a ride?” Mike answered, “No. Thank you though. I already ran here. Might as well run back.” Christina responded, “Alright. See you later today!”
Mike jogged back home to his apartment to finish cooking his bagel. He got back inside and was hit with a nice blast of warmth. He walked over to the toaster and put the bagel back in it to reheat it up. Mike finally made his bagel and coffee, so he sat down to enjoy them. He finished everything and decided to get back in the shower again. Mike took a quick 3 minute shower to get warm again. He got out and looked at the time to see he had thirty minutes until class started.
Mike quickly got dressed and grabbed his keys, phone, wallet, and books as he walked out the door. He hopped into his car and drove to class. His class was boring because not many people were there so the professor didn’t teach as much as he would if there was a large turnout. Mike went to his other classes and then back home before sailing. Mike got changed into his gear and sat on the couch to watch some tv. While watching tv, he wondered if he was going to do good or not. He went with his gut and was determined to good.
He did exactly that. He killed it. Mike was lights out fast. He was as fast as the Flash. Mike won race day and every drill. Mike was the first one in of the water and the first one derigged. Mike thanked Samantha again for doing such a good job at another great practice. Then he got changed and went to help out the other sailors so they could have a longer debrief. The debrief was longer because they went over video. The video’s showed the starts, upwind beats, and downwind beats of Mike and Samantha.
John also talked about the upcoming regatta, College Nationals. He talked about how he is starting to choose the two teams that will represent their college well. Although most of the sailors on the team knew, Mike still thought it could be anyone’s game for the top spot. John finished the debrief by having the team vote for team captains.
Each year two members of the team could be nominated for the team captains role. This year’s nominees include; Mike, Christina, Samantha, Julia, and David. Each member of the team got a slip of paper and wrote down who they think would be great team captains. John tallied up the votes on the whiteboard and confirmed that Mike and Christina where going to be this years team captains. They both stood up and thanked everyone who voted for them. Mike winked at Christina because they both knew they would win.
After the debrief John called Mike and Christina over and asked, “How would it feel if I sent you two to College Nationals in New York?” Mike and Christina both looked at each other and smiled while saying yes! They couldn’t believe that John had asked that. John walked away and Mike asked Christina, “Did that really just happen?” Christina replied, “Yes. Yes that just did. Wow” Jack said goodbye to Christina and left to go to his apartment.
As soon as Mike got back to his apartment, he called his dad and told him the news. Mike’s dad was super happy and congratulated him for being that good. After the long conversation with his dad, Mike got an email from a certain someone he wanted to forget, bobby.johnson7@ that said “Congratulations. I will see you there.” Mike immediately froze in his tracks and stopped smiling as he just realized his childhood bully somehow found out that he was going to be sailing in the College Nationals.

The next 2 practices would forever haunt Mike. The only good part of the practices was when Mike got a phone call from John. John was asking who Mike wanted to sail with. Mike could choose any crew that he wanted, from the best to the worst. Mike chose Samantha again because they crushed the last couple of practices.
Mike thought he would crush the 2 practices but instead found himself fighting a war between himself and his conscious. His conscious believed Bobby would hurt Mike. This affected Mike in a bad way.  So many things went on in his mind like; How did he find out? Why does he even care about me anymore? Rumor had it he quit sailing but yet here he is now? All of those questions filled Mike’s brain the whole entire practice forcing him to not think straight.
The first practice Mike did ok but not as good as the weeks before. He would lose to Christina and Julia in almost every race. After practice John came up to him and asked if everything was ok. Mike shrugged him off by saying,” It’s ok. I was just having one of those days” John walked away accepting that answer. Mike hoped John could believe that.
Mike walked back to his car trying to forget what just happened. He just went from the best anyone has ever seen to being third or fourth in every drill. This wasn’t the real Mike. He has done better than that while sailing without a rudder.
The 2nd practice, on Wednesday, Mike went out and had the same practice as before. He didn’t do too well in the drills or the races. Again John came up after practice and asked if he was ok. Mike again shrugged him off telling him that he was just a little tired from his classes earlier in the week. John was a little suspicious but then walked away hoping that Mike was right.
Mike didn’t know how much longer he could keep the secret inside of him. He felt as if he needed to scream because the thoughts overtook his life for the past week. Mike tried to find someone to talk to but no one would really pay attention to him.
That’s when Christina pulled Mike aside to talk in private and asked him if he was ok. Mike finally revealed his “secret” to someone. He told Christina everything, from Bobby bullying him in elementary school, up until he got the email from him saying congratulations on sailing. Christina already knew this was going to be a problem because Mike was having nightmares about Bobby returning to hurt him even more.  Until then Mike has forgotten about Bobby but then he got freaked out because Bobby remembered him. This put a lot of pressure on Mike and that was why he wasn’t doing well in the last 2 practices. Christina said, “ It will be ok because we still have a week until we leave for New York.”
After she said it, Mike looked into Christina’s eyes and said, “Thank you for being so understanding.” Then came a moment that would change everything forever. It would give Mike the confidence he needed for the regatta. They moved in closer and closer until they kissed. After a good amount of time they pulled away and blushed. Mike then said bye and walked away quickly because he was embarrassed, this time with his gear.

Mike returned back to his apartment and fell onto his bed remembering what just happened. He couldn’t believe what a goof he was for leaving so quickly. He regretted everything, other than the kiss. Mike took a shower and then went to bed waiting to see what the next day brought him.
    Mike woke up, showered, and went to the gym as he always does. He then returned home to make breakfast. While he was eating breakfast he checked his phone and saw he had a voicemail from John. John said, “Just a reminder. We still have one week of practice Mike. Do what you have been doing before this week and sail fast. I know you can do that. Alright, I have to go. See you later.” Mike put down the phone and took a couple deep breaths to try and calm him down. He was stressed out because his coach had just told him to stop doing whatever he was doing this week and go back to the Mike from a week ago.
    Mike finished his cereal and left to go to his classes. He only had two classes that day so it would be a quick day. He was also excited because he was hosting a “get together” for the team. The day went by as usual. Mike’s professors didn’t assign homework for the weekend which was good. Mike returned home and took a nap for 2 hours.
    Mike woke up and checked the time to see he only had 2 hours until the party, and he wasn’t even ready. He quickly got dressed and ran down to the supermarket to get supplies. He grabbed the party supplies and started to walk home rapidly. He got home and laid the groceries on the table. Mike went to work as he rapidly cleaned up the apartment.
    Mike finished cleaning the apartment and setting the supplies. He looked around the living room and saw he had done a good job. He looked at his watch and realized he had an hour until the first guest would show up. Mike put on his running shoes and ran around town again. He liked to do this because it let him clear his mind and realize the beauty of nature.
    He finished his run and took another shower, the 4th of the day. He then put on some nice clothes and waited until the first guest would show up. The first guest was Christina, of course. They hugged and sat down to talk about their day. The party went by smoothly. It wasn’t loud or crowded. The team came over and at dinner and dessert, then left.
    Christina was the last to leave. Before she left she asked Mike, “I know that kiss was sort of awkward, but are we still good? No awkwardness between us?” Mike replied, “We are good. I didn’t mind it that much.” Christina said, “Good. I didn’t really mind either.” Christina left Mike alone in his apartment but Mike still felt as if she was there.

The next week at practice Mike crushed it again. It seemed as if he was back to himself. Everytime he sailed past Christina they both blushed. Both of them did a really good job at practice on Monday and Wednesday.
They realized they were going to be sent to Nationals in 2 days. Mike, Christina, Samantha, Julia and John met up at a coffee shop on campus to discuss the final plans for Nationals. John discussed that Mike was the ‘A’ skipper with Samantha. Christina was the ‘B’ skipper with Julia.

    The team flew over to New York on Friday. They were expecting to get there at noon so they would have time to practice on the venue. They finished practice and went to the hotel which was nearby. They had a team dinner and a local Diner. Thats where Mike got another email from bobby.johnson7@. He looked up to Christina with a scared face. She immediately knew what he was talking about and told him to wait. They finished dinner and were back at the hotel hanging out.
Mike motioned for Christina to come outside with him. Mike explained and showed her the email, which read,” Hello Mike, Nice Job on qualifying to be sent to this regatta. Never thought you could pipsqueak. Anyway, I thought I would tell you now, but I am sailing in A also and can’t wait until I beat you. Haha. Have fun coming in second place, Loser.” Mike looked away scared as he thought Bobby was actually there. Christina gave him a hug and said it would be ok as long as he forgot out about it. All Mike had to do was go out and sail. They again locked eyes and kissed for the second time. This regatta was starting to mean more than racing at this point.
After day one, Mike was in the lead over Bobby by 5 points. Mike totally forgot about him during the racing because he won every race. Christina also did very good winning every race but 2 in her division. The morning of the 2nd and final day, the team showed up early to scope out the conditions. Mike and Christina went to get coffee and accidently met up with Bobby. Mike stood in shock as Bobby walked over and picked him up laughing. What was happening wasn’t a laughing matter. Bobby talked to Mike telling him he would regret coming to sail today. All Mike could do was stand straight and zone him out. Bobby then turned and left.
Christina looked at Mike and said everything would be ok as long as you forget about him. Mike sailed out to the racecourse only to experience one of the craziest days on the water. Bobby was always next to Mike trying to mess him up. Mike would only sail around him because he was faster. It came down to the last race as Mike was winning by only one point. Mike rounded the leeward mark in third as Bobby round in first.
Mike sailed upwind like no one has ever seen before. He was lights out fast and eventually passed Bobby right at the finish to secure his victory. Mike thanked the race committee and his crew Samantha for what they had done that weekend.

Mike then looked at Bobby only to see that he was crying because he lost the whole regatta. Mike could only say, “Nice Job.” Bobby looked up and said, “If only you knew what I am going through.” Mike sailed in to greet his team who were jumping up and down. Mike smiled and hugged everyone while saying congrats to all the other sailors.
    The trophy ceremony was large. People everywhere walking around, eating, and having a good time. That’s when a larger gentleman name Bill Clementine walked up to the stage and tapped the mic, “Hello everyone. Thank you to all of the teams who came and participated in this event. I would like to thank all of the volunteers for donating their time to help run this regatta. It was close throughout the whole regatta. We are going 10 trophies deep.”
    Mike started to talk to Christina, “Well. We did it. I can’t believe it but we did it. I am very proud of you. Thank You”
Christina looked and smurked, “Thank me? You did almost all of the work. I should be saying thank you to you.”
Mike smiled as he heard it, “And in first place. Winning this years College Nationals, Georgetown University!” Mike, Christina, Samantha, Julia, and John all walked up to the stage and smiled to all the cameras that were taking pictures of them.

    Mike grabbed the mic and stated, “I am very proud of my whole team. And I would like to thank New York Yacht Club for running such an amazing event. Thank you very much and everyone, have a safe trip home.” Mike walked off the stage along with the whole team.
    They returned to their table to listen to the rest of the presentation. It was mainly about saying thank you’s and we wouldn’t be here without you’s. Finally, the trophies were over and everyone started to leave.

Chapter 7
After the trophy presentation Mike walked up to Bobby and shook his hand saying congratulations. Mike also asked him what was going on and if he could help. Bobby looked at him and said “No pipsqueak, you can’t. I have cancer ok! It’s pretty serious. I only have 10 months left of my life according to the doctor’s.” Mike almost fell to the floor as he heard this because he never knew about Bobby’s condition. Mike said, “ I am so sorry. I never knew. I feel so bad. If you need anything, just ask. I know there is a cure for you though.” Bobby started tearing up and said thank you while leaving to catch his flight back to his college. Mike sat down on the floor thinking about what just happened when he felt a warm hug from Christina.
He looked at her and smiled. She said, “Congrats Mike . You earned every bit of the trophy. Im so proud of you.” Mike replied, “I couldn’t have done it without you.” She then realized he was very sad and asked him what was wrong. Mike explained the conversation with Bobby and how he didn’t know. Christina looked at Mike and said everything would be fine. as they kissed for the third time, but they knew this one was the most important one. They finally stopped and went to go meet up with the team and fly back to school.
Mike sat on the flight looking out the window trying to remember his whole life from when he was born to that moment. He remembered how far he came from being bullied by Bobby to feeling sorry for him. Mike also realised how many people had impacted his life in the sailing, social, and educational world. From all his teachers, to his parents, to his coaches he remembered how they all made him who he is today. Mike then looked at Christina and smiled as he grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

    They returned back to Georgetown and went straight from the airport to each other’s apartment. Everyone was too tired to hang out after the flight. Mike got dropped off and said thank you. He then walked upstairs, quickly undressed, then fell onto his bed and instantly fell asleep.
    Mike woke up and took a shower. Boy did that feel good. He then called Christina and asked “Hey. Would you want to go and get some breakfast before our classes?” Christina replied, “Sure give me fifteen minutes. I will meet you at…” Mike filled in the blanks by saying, “Denny’s.” Mike combed his hair and then left to go to his car. He drove over to Christina’s apartment and picked her up. They drove over to Denny’s while talking about how tired they were the night before.
    They ate their breakfast and talked about the next regatta. Mike simply replied, “Team Race nationals.” Christina nodded but questioned, “Who would be the third person on the team?” Mike replied, “Probably Harry. He is pretty good. Or Justin. Justin is also pretty good. I wouldn’t ask me though.” “Well whoever it is. We need to practice. Team Race Nationals qualifier is only 2 months away.” Christina told Mike. They finished their breakfast, payed the bill, and then started to leave when Mike got a phone call from John. John asked, “Hey. Sorry for calling so early, but Team Race Nationals qualifier is coming up soon. How does practice tomorrow sound?” Mike replied, “It sounds good. I am with Christina, let me ask her too. (Voices in the background) Hey Christina, are you ok for practice tomorrow for team racing? Yeah, ok. John she is in and so am I. You want me to tell the others?” John stated, “No I already told them. Thank you. See you tomorrow.”  Mike put away his phone and told Christina, “Looks like we are sailing tomorrow. Team Racing!” Christina smiled and said, “Yes! Finally!”
    They drove back to Mike’s apartment to hang out and study together. They did have the same Economics class so they were able to prepare for the midterm at the end of the month. Together they studied and studied for 3 hours. The professor luckily put an example midterm on his website, so Mike and Christina printed it out and completed 75 problems.
    Once they finished the study session, they decided they were feeling weird. So they went to the campus gym to work out for over an hour or two. Mike kept to himself trying to work on his legs. While Christina was on the treadmill running wild. Mike finished his workout by going to the grinder to work on his arms. Before Mike asked Christina if she was ready to go, Christina held up a long durable rope and said that they were going to work on their arms outside.
They took the rope down onto the grass and wrapped it once around the flagpole. Mike went first and tried to keep the rope moving at all times for as long as he could go. This workout was extremely good and bad. The good was it helped a lot with trimming the sails, but the bad news was it hurt, alot. After Mike had enough of it, he let Christina go for it. Christina went long but stopped earlier than Mike because she was getting sore. She asked Mike, “Are you done? Or do you want to keep working out?” Mike replied, “It is up to you. I am done with all my workouts. It is your decision.” Christina again asked, “Are you hungry then?” Mike replied, “Yeah. Want to go to Rocket Jonny’s?” Christina said, “I thought you would never ask.”
They made their way down to Rocket Jonny’s. By the time they got to the restaurant, they realized it was crowded. Not the five minute wait crowded, it was the forty minute wait type of crowded. Mike asked Christina if she was wanting to eat their. Christina said she really wanted one of their renown burgers with french fries and a chocolate shake. Mike’s stomach started to grumble when he heard her say it, it sounded so good. They waited and waited for around 15 minutes before a waiter asked, “Anyone here a party of two?” Mike quickly raised his hand and said, “We are!” The waiter gave a motion for Mike and Christina to follow her to their table. They each sat down across from each other when the waiter said, “Donna will be here shortly to take your order. Phillip is bringing your water as we speak. Let us know if you need anything!” With that the waiter left the table. Mike started to look through the menu when Christina asked, “Well this is nice isn’t it?” Mike nodded and then returned to the menu. They sat waiting for the waitress named Donna. It took a full nine minutes before Donna showed up. Luckily they had their water delivered earlier. So far the service wasn’t that good, but they knew it was better. Donna got their and asked, “Sorry for the wait, Do you want anything to drink?” Mike started talking, “Yes please. Ladies first.” Christina blushed and said, “I would like a chocolate milkshake please.” Mike laughed and responded, “Make that another one please. Oh, and with mine, can I get no whip cream?” Donna replied, “Sure thing kiddos. Two chocolate milkshakes. One with no whip cream. Are you guys wanting to order right now?” Mike and Christina nodded simultaneously. Mike said, “Can I get a cheeseburger plain, cheese, meat, bun, only please. With a side of french fries and ranch.” Donna nodded and then asked Christina. Christina asked, “Can I also get that. The exact same thing, please.” Donna repeated the order and then walked back to the kitchen to give it to the chefs.
Mike and Christina waited about ten minutes when they saw Donna come with the order. She gave them their burgers and shakes and left to help out the other guests. Mike was the first to bite into his juicy cheeseburger. As soon as his teeth sunk into the bun, cheese, and meat, he knew he had come to the right place for lunch. Each bite he took was better and better than the one before.
Mike finally put down his half eaten burger and grabbed his shake to drink. When the red, white striped straw made contact with his mouth, he started to suck in. When the mushy liquid touched his mouth, he almost moaned. The chocolate shake was the best he has ever had. Either that or when you are hungry everything seems to taste better.
Mike put down the shake and asked Christina, “How is your burger?” Christina’s mouth was full but she gave a reassuring nod of enjoyment. Mike smiled. They resumed eating their food and finished off the whole meal with a chocolate sundae. Both Mike and Christina shared the tasty treat. Debby came up once they were finished and gave them the bill. Christina was about to pay but Mike cut her off and said, “I got this.” He gave Debby thirty dollars for the bill and told her to keep the change. Mike and Christina got up to leave for Mike’s car.
They both got into Mike’s car and Christina asked, “How come you paid for me?” Mike said, “I thought it would be an act of kindness.” Christina smiled and said, “Thank you. That was very sweet and kind of you.” They drove back to Christina’s apartment. Christina ran inside and got changed for sailing practice. She ran out with all of her gear. They then drove to Mike’s apartment so he could get all of his gear.
Mike ran inside and grabbed his gear. He threw on his dry shirt and boardshorts. Mike then grabbed his lifejacket, bag, a towel, and then ran back to the car. He hopped in and they drove to the sailing center. Once they got to the sailing center, Julia and Samantha had already rigged boats for them. Mike said hello to Samantha and went to talk to John.
He got to John and said, “Hey John. How is it going?” John replied, “Its good. Nice to see you. Hey, Who do you think will be a good option for the third person on the team?” MIke started to say, “I think-” John cut him short because he needed to start the meeting. After five minutes of John talking, MIke told him, “I think that Harry would be a good fit for the spot.” John nodded in agreement.
Mike walked to his boat and launched it to go sailing. He got out to the venue and started off by doing some tacks and gybes.The practice went by smoothly, no one got injured. Mike and Christina practiced with Harry. It went well. Harry was looking like he was going to be the third member of the team. Practice went by really quick and MIke drove back to his apartment. Mike got out some top ramen and put it in the microwave. He gathered the food after the microwave stopped beeping. He sat in front of his window so he could eat while looking out the window. Mike finished his meal and jumped into the shower. After the shower, Mike went straight to bed. He didn’t care that it was seven forty five. He was tired.
The next couple of days went by really fast for Mike. Each day had the same routine; wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go to  class, eat lunch, go to one more class, go to practice, come home, eat dinner, then sleep. This was his routine for six days. On the seventh day, a week of the same routine, Mike got a call from Christina.
Mike answered the phone and heard Christina say, “Hey. Where have you been? We need to hang out. I have been so bored lately.” Mike replied, “Oh, hey. I have just been at home. I haven’t really done anything lately. I am just getting ready for team race nationals in two weeks.” Christina replied, “Alright. Well I am coming over right now, so leave your door unlocked.” Mike said, “Alright. See you soon.” Mike hung up and walked to the door to unlock it. He then ran into the bathroom to shower. Midway through the shower he heard a familiar, “Hello?”
Mike got out of the shower and quickly dried off. He then put on his clothes and went to greet his guest. He walked into the living room to see Christina sitting there watching tv. She smiled and said, “Their you are! I am glad to see you are well!” Mike laughed and said, “Haha. Thanks. So, whats up?” Christina replied, “Oh nothing much. Hanging out by myself because you were isolated for the longest time.” Mike smiled. They sat down and watched a little tv. Mike and Christina sat there for about 2 hours before they moved. Mike asked, “Do you want anything to eat?” Christina nodded and said, “Yeah. Do you have top ramen?” Mike said, “Yes.”
Mike went and made some top ramen for the two. He made the ramen and returned to his seat. They sat there for another hour and a half. Finally, Christina said, “Look at the time! We have a sailing team party right now at Samantha's apartment!” Mike said, “What? I wasn’t told about this.” Christina replied, “It’s because we thought you were sick. Sorry. You wanna come though?” Mike said, “No thanks. I am going to go study in the library.” Christina asked, “You sure?” Mike nodded and got up ready to leave. Christina gave him a hug and then left to go the party.
After Christina left, Mike sat down and asked himself, Why would they assume that? He felt really left out. After five minutes of sitting down he gathered his school supplies and put on his running shoes. He walked out of his apartment and started jogging. He realized his route to the library went right by Samantha’s apartment. He decided to just jog by and not worry about it. He caught his first glimpse of the party. They were all on the balcony. He pushed the thought out of his mind and just jogged by.
Christina was the only person to catch him. She yelled, “Mike!” Everyone turned to look at Mike as he ran by. Mike just gave everyone a nod as he ran by. He ran all the way until the library front doors. He stopped and caught his breath. Finally, he walked in. Mike stayed there for three hours. Those three hours where probably the best amount of time Mike had while studying. When he got up to leave he felt as if he was a new human. He felt like he had learned a lot more than before. He was glad he went to the library.
He jogged back to his apartment at one in the morning. He passed Samantha’s house to see the party still going. Mike thought to himself, should I go up there for a little while? He disregarded the temptation and continued jogging until he got to his apartment, Mike entered his apartment and went straight to the shower. After the shower, Mike layed in bed until he fell asleep.
The next week of Mike’s life went by painfully slow. The only thing that went by fast was the practices. Each practice they did team racing. Mike felt like the team was getting better, but he felt as if something was wrong.
The day before the regatta, John held a meeting for everyone that was going. Mike, Samantha, Christina, Julia, Harry, and Liz all showed up for the meeting. They discussed the schedule of events leading up to the racing. The plan was to leave that afternoon and get their at night. Then they would check in to the hotel and go straight to bed.
After the little meeting, Mike went back to his apartment to get packed.Mike finished packing and then drove to Christina’s house because the team was going to meet there. Once everyone got to Christina’s house, they called a cab to take them to the airport. The team got to the airport and quickly passed through security.
They boarded the flight and started to take off. The whole process of arriving at the airport until taking off took fifteen minutes. Mike asked Christina, “So, how are you feeling?”
Christina responded, “Good. I had a little argument with my mom again, but nothing too serious.”
Mike replied, “Are you sure you are alright?”
Christina nodded and said, “Yeah it is alright. I am working it out with my mom but it has been going on since the beginning of the year.”
Eight hours later the captain said, “We are approaching the landing zone. Thank you for flying with us,” Five minutes later the whole team was collecting their bags. John went ahead to catch a cab while the team got the rest of their bags. The team got their bags and met up with John in the front of the airport. He ended up getting a rental car for the team to use throughout the weekend.
John drove the team to the hotel. Once John got the room keys, he gave the room situation. The three girls in one room, and the boys in the other. When Mike walked into the room, he was glad to see three beds. They wouldn’t have to share beds afterall. John told the team, “Meet outside this door in two hours. That is when we are going to eat dinner.” After that the team dispatched throughout the hotels.
Mike immediately met up with Christina. They went to the breakfast hall to see if they had food there. Mike said, “Well this is nice, isn’t it?” Christina replied, “Yup. This is nice.” They smiled and laughed as they realized they had made it.
The rest of the night went by quickly. Dinner was nice, they went to a nearby diner. After dinner everyone went straight to bed. They were all too tired to do anything.

The team woke up in the morning and dispersed at different times to the breakfast hall. Mike and Christina went at the same time. Mike asked, “How did you sleep?” Christina replied, “Well. You?” Mike said, “Well.” They sat down with their breakfast and began to eat,
    After breakfast, Mike told Christina, “Alright. That was good. Well, I am going to get changed for the day.” Christina replied, “Alright. I am going to do the same thing. See you in a few.” Mike nodded and walked into his room. He continued until he got to his bag and got the clothes he would wear for the day.
    Mike got changed and met in front of his room with the rest of the team. John counted heads and told the team, “Lets go. All we have to do today, is be conservative. Enforce fouls but be careful about receiving them. If you do foul, spin. That is why we practice them so many times at practice. In fact, think if this was practice. Do not think about the “National” part of the  regatta. Anyway, lets get to the venue. We are starting in boats four, five, and six. I am pretty sure that the juniors from this club will help you rig and derig during the whole regatta.”
    The team got into the car and began to drive to the venue. Mike told Christina, “It is pretty cool that we have juniors helping out. Remember when we did that for or club?” Christina nodded and smiled as she put her headphones back in. John announced, “We are here!” The team quietly cheered. 
    When Mike got out of the car, he was greeted by a junior holding a sign that read, “Mike Phillips.” He smiled and greeted the child, “Hello! Who might you be?” The kid smiled and said, “My name is Jack! You must be Mike. Let me tell you it is an honor to meet you! I wanna go to school at Georgetown and I want to win Fleet Race Nationals.You are my role model!” Mike told the Jack, “Thank you. My advice to you if you want to go to Georgetown is: study. Study alot. Get good grades.” Jack smiled and led Mike to his boat. The two of them rigged the boat.
Samantha walked up after going to the bathroom and said, “He looks kind of like you Mike.” MIke and Jack both smiled and said, “No way.” Samantha laughed at that. The three of them finished rigging the boat and walked to the skippers meeting with the team. After the skippers meeting, John held a meeting for the team. All he said was to relax and represent the school well.
The team dispersed to launch the boats. Mike, Christina, and Harry were the first start against a small college in the outskirts of Chicago. The team went out and got a one, two, three. An easy win for the team. The scoring of team racing is weird, it is the team who gets a combined score of ten or under wins. Three boats against three boats, going at it trying to win. In team racing, it doesn’t matter if you are the first, you have to worry about the rest of your team.
The next race the team sailed was against Bobby Johnson’s college, but Bobby wasn’t there. Mike became worried but pushed it aside as the team went out and got another one, two, three. The team was two and zero, undefeated. The third race was against Boston College. They were pretty good but not good enough to beat Georgetown. After the first round robin, Georgetown was in the lead with a record of six and zero. Still undefeated.
There were two more round robins in the day. The top six teams would advance to tomorrow. After the second round robin, Georgetown was still winning with a record of eleven and one. They lost to Yale. Then the third round robin came. Georgetown lost the first two races but won the last four. After the racing, there  was no change in the top two. Georgetown still winning with a record of fifteen and three. Yale was in second with a record of thirteen and five. Georgetown had a nice lead. The team sailed in to derig.
As soon as Mike, Christina, and Harry got to the dock, Jack was already there with a dolly for each boat. Jack helped Mike and Samantha derig the boat. The whole time Mike and Samantha were telling jokes to Jack that made him laugh really hard. Mike and Samantha were also laughing the whole time. They finished derigging and thanked Jack for his help. Jack thanked them and ran off to who know’s where. Mike and Samantha walked over to Harry’s and Christina’s boat and congratulated them on the day. They all stood there smiling and having a good time. They both finished derigging their boats right when John walked up. You could tell he was happy. He had a jolly smile and red cheeks.  He congratulated the team and told them they would leave for the hotel in twenty minutes.
Mike went to the bathroom with Harry to get changed. Along the way Harry said, “That was a lot of fun! Congrats dude.” Mike smiled and said, “We could not have done it without you. You killed it. Your passbacks and mark traps were insane. I should be thanking you.” Harry smiled at that. They got changed and walked to the car. They were greeted by the rest of the team.
They all got in the car and began to drive off. Mike said to Christina, “Nice job today. You did really well! Proud to have you on my team.” Christina blushed and told Mike, “Thank you. You did just as well, maybe even better.” Mike replied loudly so Harry could hear, “Yeah, but not as good as Harry.” Harry blushed as the team clapped for him. This was his first regatta, so it was a very special moment for him.
John cut the fun by saying, “So, what sounds good for dinner?” Mike said, “I could go for a burger.” The whole team nodded along with the statement. John said, “Fine. Four Guys it is.” The team cheered.
They drove into the parking lot of the renown burger joint. Mike got out of the car and went to the bathroom. John went along with him and said, “Today went well. Nice job leading the team to all those victories. Smart idea choosing Harry to come along, he killed it. Tomorrow, lets work on better starts alright?” Mike nodded and replied, “Yeah. It went well. Some starts were not as well as the others, but still, I felt good.” Mike and John finished their business and returned to the front waiting area. Christina told the boys, “They said it will be a five minute wait. Is that alright?” John nodded while Mike went and sat down next to Christina.
Five minutes later the hostess walked up and said, “Party of seven?” Mike raised his hand. The hostess continued saying, “Oh. Right this way please.” She led the team to their table. Once everyone sat down, the hostess said, “Bernice will be here shortly to get your orders.” John nodded a thank you to the hostess as she walked away. Mike looked at the menu and saw they had a bacon cheeseburger. When he read that his stomach growled. He thought, wow that sounds good.
Bernice showed up to the table with a large smile and asked, “How are we doing today? My name is Bernice, I will be your server for today. Can I start you guys off with anything to drink?” As she took the orders of the other members of the team, Mike decided on a root beer to drink. Bernice got to him and he said, “A root beer please.” She smiled and said, “Sure thing. Are we ready to order?” John looked around and asked, “Are we?” Everyone nodded. Again, Bernice went around the table asking for orders.
She got to Mike and asked him what he wanted. Mike said, “Can I get a bacon cheeseburger with ketchup only. With french fries please.” Bernice replied, “Yup. Alright guys I will be back with your drinks.” She left the table to get the drinks.
John asked the group, “This is nice, isn’t it?” Christina nodded. Mike asked her, “What did you get?” She replied, “The same thing as you of course.” MIke laughed.
Bernice came back and passed back all the drinks around. Mike got is root beer and took a sip of the marvelous drink. The team waited for another five minutes until Bernice and another waiter brought out the food. The two servers handed out the food and left the team alone.
Mike looked down at his burger and smiled. It looked so good. He lifted it up and took a huge bite out of it. Mike tasted the bacon combined with the glorious meat. He has never tasted anything that good. He finished the burger in no time. It seemed the whole team was hungry because everyone finished their meal in less than ten minutes.
Bernice brought the bill and John quickly gave her the money. He wanted to get back to the hotel because it was getting late. After Bernice returned with John’s card, everyone got up and walked to the car.
The drive home was a quick one. Once they got there, John held a debrief in his room. he talked about how the lights need to be off at nine thirty. That gave the team thirty minutes to hang out. After the meeting Mike motioned for Christina to come with him. They went to the vending machine, breakfast hall, anywhere to get away from the team. Mike asked, “How are you doing?” Christina replied, “Cold. Haha.” Mike responded by giving her his jacket. Christina said, “Aw. Thank you Mike.” Then they kissed. The two got caught in the moment when they heard John say, “Alright. Lights out.” Mike and Christina snapped and quickly walked back to their rooms. Mike said goodnight to Christina as he walked into his door.
He then brushed his teeth, changed into his pajamas, and jumped into bed only to fall asleep ten minutes after.
Mike woke up and texted Christina asking if she wanted to go and get breakfast. She replied instantly saying yes.
Mike walked outside and she was waiting there for him. Together they went and got breakfast. Mike had his usual pre race breakfast which resulted in eggs, toast, and cereal. Christina had a bagel and eggs. They sat down at the table where John, Harry, and Julia were sitting. Mike greeted them and they all said hello. Mike and Christina pulled up two chairs. Mike asked John, “What are the conditions today?” John replied, “Same as yesterday. Nothing different.” Mike nodded.
After breakfast the team packed up and put everything in the rental car. It was the last time they were going to be at the hotel. Once all the bags were loaded John sent Mike to rally everyone so they could leave for the venue. When they pulled into the parking lot of the venue, jack was immediately there with a bagel for Mike and Samantha. Mike and Samantha both thanked Jack for being so nice. Jack led them to their boat.
The boat was the same as when they found it yesterday morning. They rigged the boat,then walked over to help Harry and Christina rig their boats. Once they were rigged, Mike and Samantha went to launch their boat. They got out on the water and practice against Christina and Harry. Their first race was about to come.
Today would be an elimination round robin, 3 races, 1 for each team, if you win you stay, if you lose you are out. Georgetown’s first race was against a small team from the west coast. They easily won.
Since they were in the lead overall, they did haven’t to sail the next race. The winner of that race would race Georgetown for the championship! The race before the final race consisted of Yale versus Roger Williams. Yale ended up winning just by an inch. It came down to the last leg of the race.
Now came the final race. The race that would choose who won and who lost. The winner would win the 2014 Team Race Nationals. Georgetown’s start was extremely good. Yale didn’t have that good of a start. Mike and the team were doing extremely well and finished in a one, two, three! They had won the regatta. When Harry crossed the line in the three Mike and Christina yelled and cheered in excitement. Harry joined them at the dock as they pushed each other in. Even John! MIke and the team were so happy.
MIke also realized the Yale sailors were upset so he ran over and pushed them in. Immediately they became cheerful and fun. In no time everyone was having a good time and celebrating. After the celebrations everyone went and got changed for the trophy ceremony.
Mike walked with Harry and congratulated him for winning his first regatta. They got changed and walked back to the trophy ceremony. The team got called up and received their awards for winning. Mike took the mic and said, “I want to thank everyone who helped run this regatta. Also my coach and teammates. Finally, I want to thank my junior helper, Jack, for helping our team out.” Everyone clapped as the team stepped off podium. Once the awards were over, Mike and Samantha walked over to Jack and said, “Thank you very much. You were so helpful. Anyway, I told John that you are interested in Georgetown. He is excited.” Jack replied, “Thank you. I am happy I got to help you guys. Thank you for telling John. I will work as hard as I can because I really want to go there. Thank you!” Mike smiled and gave him a hi-five. Jack ran off with the largest smile on his face.
John gathered the team because they were going to leave for the airport. Mike walked over to Christina and congratulated her. She smiled and said, “Again, we couldn’t have done it without you.” Mike smiled as they got into the car.
The drive to the airport was thirty minutes. John was talking to them the whole time about how proud he was and how they did so well. They arrived at the airport. Mike, Harry, Christina, Julia, Samantha, and Liz hopped out of the car to go and wait in line while John returned the car.
Waiting through the security line was really quick. Luckily, John returned the rental car fast and got in line with the team.  Once they passed through security, Mike and Christina went to get some snacks for the plane ride. The plane ride took a full eight hours before the captain said, “Hello. This is your captain speaking. We are approaching our landing zone. Please buckle up if you already aren’t. Thank you for flying with us.” The plane landed easily and the team got off.
John called for a cab. The team got in the cab and drove back to Christina’s apartment, Once they got to Christina’s apartment the team congratulated each other one more time. Then they went on their own ways for the night. Mike was the only one who stayed for a little while. He and Christina hung out for a little while. They sat on Christina’s couch and watched a movie. Mike told Christina, “You know that was the last regatta for this year? That is insane. We are done sailing for this year.” Christina looked up right at Mike and said, “Wow. That is crazy. Well, I am proud of you.” She smiled as she said that.
They spent the rest of the night laying down watching movies. Mike finished the year with one of his favorite people.
Then he remembered about Bobby and how he wasn’t even at the regatta. Mike became worried and told Christina how he wasn’t there.
She said, “Huh. That is weird. Why wouldn’t he be there? Do you have his number? Maybe you could call him and see how he is.” Mike agreed with that as he pulled out his phone.
He went through his phone contacts until he got to Bobby Johnson. He tapped on it and it began to ring. Mike put it up to his ear when he heard a familiar, “Hello Mike.”
Mike replied, “Hey Bobby. How is it going?”
Bobby said, “Oh that’s why you are calling. You are worried because I wasn’t at team race nationals. Am I right?”
Mike responded, “Oh, well, yeah. It was weird.”
Bobby replied, “Well the reason is because I am very sick. With cancer.” His voice sounded horrible.
Mike said, “Oh. I am sorry. I forgot about that. Well, what are you doing? Is anyone there to help you out?”
Bobby replied, “Yeah. In fact I am really close to you. I am at the hospital downtown.”
Mike responded quickly, “Really? You are there? Ok. Um. Would you want me to come down and visit you?” MIke soon regretted saying that.
Bobby answered, “Sure. My family is not coming to see me anytime soon.”
Mike said goodbye and hung up the phone. He proceeded to tell Christina that he was going to visit him in the hospital.
Christina replied, “This must be a new year for you two.”
Mike smiled as he walked out the door to go meet up with his bully. He thought, maybe we could be friends.