<b>Chapter One</b>

 

<i>well it’s a lonely road that you have chosen

morning comes and you don’t want to know me anymore</i>

 

 

“Do you think we’ll get in line for a ride at the same time?”

 

“As who?”

 

“<i>Michael</i>.  Duh.”  Adriana rolled her eyes as she and her best friend Taegan strolled through the Magic Kingdom.  They’d taken a special trip to the Swim with the Stars to see their favorite swimmers.

 

“I can’t imagine we would.  I’d think they’d let them skip ahead of everyone else,” Taegan said.

 

“Ooh, do you think He Who Must Not Be Named will be here?”

 

“I don’t know.  And I don’t know why you sound so curious.”

 

Adriana cleared her throat and looked sheepish.  “I’m not.  Just making conversation.”

 

“Sure,” Taegan said sarcastically.  “Even if he is here, I’m sure he will be fully clothed this time.  We are in a family oriented theme park after all.”

 

“Damn.”  There was a beat.  “I mean, that’s very good news.”

 

“I don’t think he’s supposed to be here.  But maybe he decided to take a vacation.  Not that I care.”

 

“Yeah, me either.”  The girls kept walking, heading towards Splash Mountain, their all time favorite theme park ride.  “Do you think <i>Ian</i> took a vacation?  Maybe the Thorpedo’s here!”

 

“To do what?  Visit his lover Michael?”

 

Adriana glared at Taegan.  “Don’t you say that to me.  I’ll get all excited and then disappointed.  You know how I am with the slash.”

 

Taegan laughed.  “I know,” she said.  “Come on, let’s get in line.”  They jogged over to the Splash Mountain line and were surprised, but relieved, to see that it wasn’t too long.  They fell in behind a group of relatively tall men wearing sunglasses.

 

Adriana narrowed her eyes at them.  They looked strangely familiar.  Her eyes widened a moment later, after careful scrutinization.  During which one of the guys happened to look back at her and started to elbow his friends.

 

Adriana clapped her hands over her mouth to hold in a squeal and whirled around to face Taegan, who was staring off into space.

 

“Taeg!” Adriana whispered.  “Those guys!  It’s them!”

 

“What?” Taegan asked, focusing on her friend.

 

Adriana leaned forward to whisper in Taegan’s ear.  “The guys in front of us.  It’s <i>them</i>!  All of them!  Even Thorpie and Aaron!  I mean Peirsol!  I mean Voldemort!”

 

Taegan gasped and glanced up, where the five guys were trying not to make it obvious that they were watching the girls.  Her eyes widened in recognition and she looked back at Adriana.  “Jesus Christ,” she said.

 

Both girls turned their backs to the guys and leaned in conspiratorially.  “What should we do?” Adriana squealed.

 

“First we calm down.  And we remember that they are just normal guys who want to have a good time.”

 

Adriana stood up with her hands on her hips and gave Taegan a look.  “Addy, I’m serious!”  She grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her back where she could whisper.  “We can’t get all fangirly.  As difficult as this is, we can’t do it.  That would be terrible.  And the poor guys.”

 

“Poor guys my ass,” Adriana said.  “I’m so jumping Michael.”  She glanced up and behind her, to where the guys were watching them curiously.  Curiously, but amused.  She squeaked and turned around again.

 

“Oh God, Taeg, they’re watching us.”

 

“We are a couple of insane squealing fangirls.  They’re watching us so they can find out when they have to start running,” Taegan said matter-of-factly.  “We’re going to stand up now, Addy, so be calm and don’t let them know that the only thing we want to do is molest them right here in front of all these children.”

 

“Taegan!” Adriana squealed very loudly.  All the people around them turned to look, including and especially the five swimmers in front of them in line, who were having a lot of difficulty keeping straight faces.  Adriana smiled weakly and blushed, covering her face with her hands.

 

Taegan put a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh too hard at her best friend.  She looked around and saw that everyone had stopped watching them.  Except the swimmers.  They were still watching, smiles forming across all five faces.

 

“Excuse me,” Lenny Krayzelburg said, approaching the girls cautiously.  They both looked up at him with wide eyes.  "Hi."  He smiled.  "I'm Lenny."

 

Adriana elbowed Taegan.  Taegan grunted.  "Taegan," she said.  Then she pointed next to her.  "Adriana."

 

"Nice to meet you guys."  He began to gesture to the four rather amused young men standing behind him.  "Ian, Aaron, Ian, Michael."

 

Adriana had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out in giggles.  It was Taegan's turn to do the elbowing.

 

"Nice-" Taegan's voice cracked, and it was all Adriana could to not to crack up.  Taegan cleared her throat.  "Nice to meet you," she said, repeatedly trying to tuck the same piece of hair behind her ear.  Adriana was having a nervous breakdown about six inches behind her.

 

Lenny looked at Adriana, concerned.  "Is she alright?"

 

"She'll be fine.  Anyway.  Nice to meet you again," she said, smiling, slightly strained, before turning to try and calm her friend.

 

"Taegan," Adriana said.  "I'm going to have to marry him now!"

 

"What?"

 

"He Who Must Not Be Named!"

 

"You do know Voldemort is not real, right?"

 

"Not <i>him</i>.  Aaron!  I'm going to have to marry Aaron Peirsol!  It's not 2009!" she exclaimed, her voice going higher with every word.  Taegan's eyes grew wide and she glanced behind her.  Michael, Lenny, and the Ians were laughing.  Aaron looked scared.

 

"She's insane," Taegan said by way of explanation.  She slapped Adriana.

 

Adriana gasped.  "Thanks.  Tell me I didn't just say that out loud."

 

Taegan merely gestured to the swimmers.  Adriana turned bright red and groaned.  "Earth, please open up and swallow me whole," she begged.

 

"Hey," Ian Thorpe said.  "Would you ladies like to join us?  We can't all fit in one of those log things," he asked impulsively.

 

Taegan and Adriana turned very slowly.

 

"Dude, what are you doing?" Aaron hissed.  Ian just waved him off and walked over to the girls.  He slung an arm around each of them and led them to where the rest of the guys were.  "How old are you?" he asked pleasantly.

 

The girls opened their mouths but no sound came out.  "Your arms," Michael said, rolling his eyes.  Ian always had this effect on girls.  Ian removed his arms from their shoulders and apologized.

 

Taegan cleared her throat and spoke.  "Twenty-one.  We both are."

 

"Does she speak?" Crocker wanted to know.

 

"Yes But only not in the presence of greatness and only in ridiculous sentences.  And especially not after a) saying what she said about Peirsol, b) Ian Thorpe has had an arm around her, and c) Michael Phelps has spoken.  I'm the sane one."

 

The guys all laughed.  Aaron spoke up nervously.  "Why is she marrying me?  And why wouldn't she want to?" he added with a grin.

 

"It’s a stupid online quiz she took.  'Which Olympic Male Hottie Will You Marry?'  She cheated, trying to get Michael.  Instead she got you.  And Mr. Crocker as well.  I got Michael," she said, chuckling.  "And Thorpie."

 

They all chuckled and then Aaron frowned.  "Why is this a bad thing?"

 

"Oh.  We don't like you," she said, turning to make sure Adriana was still alive.  "What?" she asked them as they approached the gate to be seated on the ride.  "Right.  We really do, it's just that, well, we liked Michael first and we felt bad.  And we only really became obsessed with you because of this really bad-"

 

"You'll have to finish this later," Crocker said.  They were being seated.  Taegan and Adriana climbed in first, Adriana in the front and Taegan in the back.  Aaron climbed in next to Adriana (who had barely begun to recover), and Michael sat next to Taegan.  They waved at the others as the boat began to leave.

 

"Can you finish?" Aaron asked, rather anxiously.

 

Taegan chuckled.  "As long as I'm not screaming," she promised.  She looked thoughtful for a second.  "Oh yeah.  So we really only started to like you because of this picture I stumbled upon during a search for pictures of…someone else."  She flushed and glanced at Michael, who was listening, but not looking at her.  She coughed.  "It was really just a picture of you stretching.  Only you…" she faltered and flushed deeper.

 

"You were hanging out everywhere," Adriana said bluntly, the first word she'd spoken in quite some time.

 

Aaron turned almost as red as Taegan was, but Michael snorted in a pathetic attempt to hold in a laugh.  "You're <i>kidding</i>!" he said.

 

Taegan shook her head.  "I really think maybe you ought to try a larger size Speedo," she told Aaron.

"So we sort of felt guilty about our loyalties wavering due to… Mini Aaron, so we've been pretending we don't like you," Adriana finished, shifting slightly so she could comfortably look at Aaron.

 

"Is that why you call me 'He Who Must Not Be Named'?" he asked, his face still bright red.  The girls nodded.  "Can… can I see it?" he asked.  Adriana turned and looked at Taegan.  "Sure," she said.  "I've got my laptop in our hotel."

 

"You saved it?" Aaron asked worriedly.

 

"Thought about it," the girls muttered.

 

"Wireless internet," Adriana said simply.

 

Aaron nodded and turned around, unsure of how he should be reacting.  Taegan glanced at Michael again.  Her eyes went wide when she saw that he was hysterically laughing.  "Um…Michael?" she asked, touching his arm tentatively.  "Are you ok?"

 

He nodded.  "Yes.  That was just so funny."  Taegan smiled.  "Oh hey," he said a few seconds later.  "You've got something on your shirt."

 

Taegan looked down and took a piece of fuzz off the front of her shirt.  She looked up and at the scenery as they neared the drop.  "Oh God!" she cried a second later.  "Addy!"