It came up fast enough that neither of them were sure just how to treat it. Society says give her a gift, Spencer's mind says what in the world would that be?
So he kissed her, for the first time, on her birthday. And that's a story for another day.
The day after her birthday, he invited her to go sailing with his family. So on Monday, March 4th, 2013, Aria ran out of class and to her apartment where she slapped on a suit and sunscreen, and jumped in a strange white van with people she didn't know very well.
And this is the family that she met. We went with a ward member and good friend, who has a 42ft sailboat. Late afternoon, in a slightly windy Kaneohe Bay, most of the people there were new to sailing. Spencer showed off his strength. Aria showcased her class as she was mistaken, for the first time, as Spencer's wife.
Well, we've been dating for about 3 weeks now, and we're not making any promises.
In the middle of what seems like a vast expanse, there is a raised platform of sand. When the tide is low, the sandbar is exposed. Ferries full of Korean tourists venture out during midday, and the herd gets out of the boat, splashes around for a bit, and is shepherded back in.
On this trip, we went to this submerged sandbar, and decided to play tag.
Do you know how hard it is to chase someone in 2ft of slightly wavy water? It is exhausting.
As the sun went down, we journeyed back to port. Very few things need to align to make a woman cold, and a wet, windy boat at dusk provides quite the opportunity to "warm up" a potential object of Spencer's affections. What Spencer didn't foresee, was that his 2 younger sisters would also be in need of warming. So there we were. Sitting on the boat as it motored back to the marina. Spencer's left arm around Aria and his right arm around his sister Megan, his sister Melanie between his knees, and his brother Eric's head on Aria's lap. So many conflicting emotions for the girl he kinda liked, and the sisters that he adored and the brother lounging in the space that he almost coveted.
Aria very first ate dinner with the Orr family at Panda Express, on the way home from a very long, very cold, absolutely exhilarating day.
