Be My Anchor

Chapter Two

Luke woke me up early the next morning by jumping on the bed we shared. "You have to get ready," he complained. "I want to explore the boat more!"

"Great," I said, rolling over to turn my back to him. "Explore the boat. You don't need me for that." Luke swatted at me and I shooed him away.

Mom stood a few feet away. "Mar, come on."

"What?" I groaned, sitting up in bed exasperatedly.

She gave me a stern look. "Don't treat your brother like a pest."

He is a pest. I was about to say as much when Dad said, "Luke wants you to come. We're all going. You should too."

A twinge of guilt struck my cold heart. I sighed. A full week of vacation and I probably won't get any rest.

"Fine," I conceded and got up to get ready.

When I checked my phone, Nora had texted back: Tough call but I think I'd rather you not die?

**

We were walking up the stairs when Mom turned to me. "How was the Teens Club? Was it fun?" she asked.

Well, within the first minute of being there, I set off an alarm, embarrassing myself in front of everyone. A boy laughed at me. And when I asked for his name, he wouldn't tell me.

"It was better than I expected," I replied.

Mom smiled genuinely and, for a brief second, I reveled in the approval.

"Ow!" Luke interrupted. He'd tripped on a stair and fallen flat on his face.

I busted out laughing while Mom tried to shush me and Dad hauled Luke back up to his feet.

"Shut up!" he snapped at me.

I put my hands up in surrender. "It's not my fault. Don't be so eager and maybe you won't trip next time."

He ran up ahead of us just to spite me.

Once we got up to the deck, my parents strayed to the railing where Luke was. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air after being stuffed below deck. The breeze held a twinge of salt and I winced, remembering we were on the water.

I desperately looked around at everything but the ocean, but it was kind of hard to miss. Even when I wasn't staring at it, I knew it was there.

Maybe it was better to keep an eye on it?

Still trying to decide this, my eyes landed on familiar dark hair.

I stopped in my tracks, momentarily losing all thought of the ocean. Instead, my focus latched onto the boy standing a mere thirty feet away from me.

His last words to me echoed in my head.

We're not.

The audacity he had to make me feel stupid for asking for something as simple as his name.

He probably doesn't have any friends.

Yes, definitely, he's the one with no friends.

Luke sidled up next to me and shot me a weird look. "What are you staring at?"

I snapped my gaze to him. "Nothing," I said as casually as I could. My brother, naturally devious, would do anything to mess with me, so I didn't dare tell him the truth.

Still, he eyed me suspiciously. "Who are you looking at?" he tried again.

I waved my hand dismissively. "No one, honestly." I instinctively glanced at the boy, then mentally cursed myself for doing so.