She looks at the time on her pretty phone, trying not to hyperventilate. Just because she's never done anything so reckless before doesn't mean she can freak out.
Right?
She stumbles and trips over her own two feet as she boards the big boat, wanting nothing more than to check in and be given her dorm and make sure that her parents won't find her until it's already too late.
"Hello, Miss. I assume you're a student? My name is Mr. Moseby. And you are?" A bald, rather short ('Oh, please. He's an elf.' she thinks) African American man asks her calmly, though cheerfully, and she gives him a mega-watt smile, exposing her pretty dimples.
"Geni Tate. I'm your newest senior." She says smoothly in her light Australian accent, eyes alight in awe of this beautiful ship.
"Well, Ms. Tate, welcome aboard the S. S. Tipton. Would you like me to show you to your room?" The man asks her kindly, and she shakes her head, still smiling.
"You're busy, sir. Just tell me where it is, and I'll find it on my own." She says kindly, and he smiles at her in silent thanks.
He gives her the directions to the place where she'll be living for the rest of her senior year of high school, and she thanks him.
"You're welcome, Ms. Tate. I hope everything is to your liking." He tells her, and she nods.
"Please, Mr. Moseby, call me 'Geni'. 'Ms. Tate' is my sister." She tells him, waving a flippant hand as though to say her sister was far too long ago removed from her life to hold any meaning whatsoever anymore.
At least, that's what she wants to say.
"Alright, Geni. I look forward to sailing with you." Moseby tells her with a kind smile, which she graciously returns.
"As do I, Mr. Moseby." She says with a wave goodbye, clutching her things as she embarks to her cabin.
She looks up at the sky, the sun's warmth making her feel more whole than she has in a while.
"Stupid Mom and Dad. It's their fault I'm even doing this in the first place." She mutters darkly, walking about the sky deck, not wanting to go to her cabin just yet. She's so entranced by the whole idea of living on a ship, of going to school on a ship, that she doesn't pay attention to anything but the glorious feeling of freedom surging through her veins.
That is, until she crashes into someone.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart! I wasn't paying any attention!" She exclaims, helping the boy pick up the empty smoothie cups, biting her bottom lip nervously.
"It's fine, beautiful. Don't worry. They were empty, anyway." He chuckles to her, flipping his hair from his eyes.
"Still, I feel like I should repay you somehow." She says, and he smirks.
So many dirty thoughts just popping into his head.
But then he mentally hits himself because hello, he has a girlfriend!
"Hey, sweetheart, want to know your horoscope? You're a Taurus, right? You look like a Taurus. Please tell me you're a Taurus so I don't look like an ass for guessing." She says, and he looks at her funny.
"Yea, beautiful. I'm Taurus." He replies, making her smile.
Whoa, he thinks, she's really pretty. Like, really pretty.
Stunning sapphire eyes and silky chestnut hair and the cutest dimples and pouty lips and delicate curves and legs that go on for absolute days.
