Depth of the Heart

"Alright!" the teacher called. "We've finished the tour. You can now go anywhere else, but stay in pairs!"

As my classmates began to leave the dimly-lit room, I stayed behind before the glass that separated me from the water.

Our biology class was visiting the aquarium for our study on marine life, and we had finished the tour at the aquarium's main tank.

The tank was the size of a gymnasium, and was like a box of glass. On the bottom of the tank was a large amount of sand, simulating an ocean floor.

A majestic kingdom teemed with life within the crystals waters. Soaring like birds were small, silver mackerel, while goliath groupers floated slowly, their bodies still. Although they slid along the tank's sandy floor, the smooth-skinned angel sharks and eagle spread manta rays seemed divine.

Most beautiful of all was the whale shark, with its great length, spotted pattern and wide mouth. It gracefully swam in a circle through the tank, surrounded by smaller reef fish of several colors - red, blue, yellow - as if it were a king with its envoy.

My awe of the creature was broken as the teacher lightly tapped me on the head with her clipboard. "Do you have a partner? C'mon, you need to stay in pairs!"

As some of my classmates passed by, one of them sniggered. "Who'd want to be with fish-brains? All he ever talks about is the ocean!"

I ignored the cynical statement and continued to stare at the world within the glass, hoping the teacher would leave. It was always like this. I had no friends because others thought my head was full of water and fish.

It was always like this.

"I'll be his partner," a voice declared, prompting us to turn around.

She was a girl I hardly knew, who never even spoke to me. Yet here she stood, eyes filled with determination as she demanded to be my partner.

"Okay," the teacher agreed, before walking off to supervise the other students.

The girl and I stood in silence for a moment before I turned to stare into the crystal waters again, watching the various creatures of the waves.

"Are you angry?" she asked timidly.

"Not angry," I answered. "Just confused. Why partner up with me?"

She hesitated before asking, "You like the ocean, right?"

I was surprised at the tangent, but nodded. "Look here," I said raising my arms to the ecosystem before us. "This tank is teeming with life, full of so many beautiful creatures. Mantas, whale sharks, and even those small mackerel. They're all amazing creatures."

Then I smiled widely. "And less than five percent of the ocean has been explored!" I marveled at the statistic as I said. "I want to go into that ocean and find as many of these marvelous creatures as I can. I want to go into the depths of the ocean. I don't care if it's dangerous, I want to experience the world in the waters of the Earth!"

As I continued to think of the endless ocean, the girl spoke.

"That's why I partnered up with you," she said.

"The way you speak of the ocean, even though it's such an unknown realm…you speak so courageously," she continued nervously. "I admire you for your bravery. So I'd like to be your friend..." she trailed off, looking down at her clasped hands.

As I stared in awe at the girl who recognized the best within me - not my flaws, but my bravery - I felt loved for once.

I reached forwards and pulled my new friend into an embrace.

"What?" she was surprised, but I kept her close as my emotions began to overflow within me - and for the first time in a while, I was overjoyed.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you so much."

We heard a pong on the glass behind us, and turned around to an incredible sight.

Before the glass wall, a whole host of creatures had gathered. The mantas lay on the sand before the glass, while flanked by the angel sharks. The mackerel had tagged along, circling around the whale shark that floated before the wall. It was like they had come to celebrate our new friendship with us.

As the two of us humans witnessed the spectacle by the creatures of the oceans, we smiled in this moment where our friendship was forged.

And I swear that the whale shark winked.

-Fin