The Cruise Ship Chronicles

Chapter 2 - The Dolphin Lounge

March 2007

"Seth! Rachel!" my mom shouted while waving at the Millers. She set down the bags and went to hug Rachel. "I am so glad we got this worked out!"

Mom had begun to chat with Rachel, and Dad was shaking hands with Seth. I sort of felt awkward just standing there, so I turned to walk towards the elevator. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder so I spun around quickly and smashed into someone. "Ow!" The person screeched. I rubbed my forehead and looked at the person in front of me. His chocolate-brown eyes were the same, but his hair was just slightly longer, making him look much older than when I had seen him last.

"Brandon?" I said, dropping my hand to my side.

"Yup. That really hurt, I guess it's what I get for trying to scare you," he laughed while rubbing his nose.

I couldn't believe it, the kid I hated one year ago had actually made me laugh. Suddenly, I couldn't remember what exactly it was that made me hate him so much in the first place. I think it was because we were ten. Now that we were eleven, we were big kids; pre-teens, actually. More mature than little ten year olds. 

"Wanna play air hockey?" I said, gesturing to the arcade a few yards away.

"Sure!" He said, grinning widely.

"But," I said, lowering my voice to a whisper. "You have to promise you won't punch me in the face if I win this time."

"Promise." He said, shaking my hand.

Game on.

---

It was Thursday night, the second to last night on the cruise and I was wandering the boat with Brandon like I did every night. The night before we had gone to see a movie (it was PG-13, but we didn't bother to tell our parents all of the details.) and two nights before, we had jumped into the adult pool with our clothes on at almost midnight. That stunt earned us each one night in. It was totally worth it, though. Brandon even tried to take the blame like a champ, but I wouldn't let the kid take credit for my evil mastermind. But tonight we had not pulled any sort of stunt yet. It was about 8:22 and all we had done was eat pizza.

"Don't you want to do something more fun?" I asked.

"This is fun." He said, swirling his straw around in his Dr Pepper. 

"No, real fun."

"Hmmm..." He leaned his head against his palm. "Let's go to the Dolphin lounge!"

The Dolphin lounge was the teen club on the ship. Since we were both 12 now, we both felt we had graduated the Super Swimmers club. Kids as old as 17 were allowed at the lounge, and we weren't even the required 13. 

"Okay," I said with uncertainty. I really didn't want to let Brandon down, but I didn't want to make a bad impression on the older kids. "Let's go."

The Dolphin lounge was a giant, white room with big port holes for windows. The place was filled with round, multi-colored couches and had some current music blaring out of the speakers. 

"Hey guys! Come on in! We're just about to play Dance-Dancer Revolution!" A counselor with a long, blonde ponytail exclaimed. The flat screen TV was all geared up and a group of kids who looked about my age were fighting over who got the first turn. It looked like fun to me, but I looked over at Brandon, and he seemed to be looking for something better to do.

In the back of the room, I saw a hallway that wrapped behind the lounge itself. I followed it curiously and soon gestured for Brandon to come over. 

"Hey, who are you?" A boy who looked around 15 said.

"Oh, I am Victoria," I pointed to myself. "And the slacker back there is Brandon." I pointed to Brandon who was trailing behind me, obviously having missed my cue. The older kids laughed. This is a good sign, I told myself. They like me.

"Well I am Anthony," The boy said. "And thatis Emily, James, D, and Marissa." D? What kind of a name was that? I guess the cool kids all had nicknames for themselves if they didn't like their given name. The cool I had gained a few seconds before by making them all laugh was gone now. Should I have come up with a better name than just 'Victoria'?

"So how old are you two?" James asked.

"13," I blurted out before shooting a look to Brandon. Don't tell them, I mentally begged. "Almost 14."

"Oh, cool. We were just about to play Truth and Dare," Marissa said. "It's like Truth or Dare, except you do both."

"Sounds fun!" Brandon said, cheery as usual. He plopped down on the carpet and I sat beside him.

After a few rounds of licking people's noses, smelling arm pits and revealing celebrity crushes, it was Brandon's turn once again.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" D asked him, grinning.

Brandon turned pink and looked down. "Uh...no." He whispered to no one in particular.

Emily started to laugh loudly. "And you're almost 14? Wow. Kiss VIctoria! That's your dare!"

I didn't want to be kissed. I was only 12! And by the look on Brandon's face, he didn't want to either. Kissing is so gross. Like I really wanted his germs all over me. 

Let's run, I could hear him saying as he gave me this scared look I had never seen before. And with that, we were off, never to be seen in the Dolphin Lounge again.

---

"Hey! Wait! Do you have a phone?" Brandon called after me as I was exiting the ship. 

"Uh, yeah?"

"Well, we should text. I just got mine and I only have four numbers."

"Oh." I said, kind of shocked. I gave him my phone, and took his. I added my contact name as "Victoria :)" and put in my number. When my phone was back in my pocket, I looked to Brandon.

"Well," He said. "Have fun in California."

After a few moments of awkward silence, I leaned over and gave him a quick hug. I faintly heard our parents giggling and making comments, but I chose to ignore them.

"Have fun in Michigan." I replied.

---

Author's note: Sorry it took so long, guys! I have been grounded for a week! I had half of a chapter of this already written, so I wanted to finish it so you all had something to read. New chapters of my other stories will be coming soon. Thanks for your patience! <3