Lifeboat Lighthouse

Chapter 16

Cruise Day 13 - Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea (Becky's POV)

"What exactly should we do?" Nam asked as I led her and Irin to the staff dorms.

It was 11:30pm and Freen had texted me about ten minutes earlier, letting me know that everyone was in Charlotte's room in case we wanted to go. It took me a while to convince Nam and Irin to come with me, but they quickly changed their minds once I told them that Heng would be there.

I shrugged. "I don't know, just chill and see how it goes, I guess." I was a little anxious. It was already risky wandering around the staff dormitories alone, let alone three of us.

"And Freen won't be mad that we're here too?" Irin asked uncertainly.

"No, she invited you. I know you got off on the wrong foot but she's actually very sweet."

Even though they had helped Freen get ready that day, I knew that both girls hadn't completely gotten over their first encounter with her. I hoped that by spending more time together, they would see in her what I saw. Well, maybe not exactly what I saw, but I was pretty sure that they couldn't help but fall in love with her too. In fact, I couldn't understand how every person who had met the brown eyed girl hadn't fallen completely in love with her; they had to be but, for some reason, she had chosen me anyway. It didn't make sense.

"I think it's this way." I said, turning left and walking down another corridor.

"You seem to know your way around the staff sleeping quarters pretty well." Nam smirked, raising her eyebrows playfully.

"No, not really, I've only been in Freen's room before." I replied, not understanding what she really meant.

"So, you were in her room?" Irin asked in a slightly surprised tone.

"Maybe..." I blushed. "Same as you two." I added, trying to deflect the question.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't for the same reason," Irin giggled.

I frowned, trying to look confused. "So, you didn't play Scrabble?"

"Scrabble? Is that what the rich kids call it nowadays?" Nam joked, nudging me playfully as we walked.

We finally arrived in front of Charlotte's room, which was in the same corridor as Freen's, just a little further down. I knocked on the door and waited for Charlotte to respond. We had only met once so I hoped it wasn't too awkward. To my surprise, when the door opened, we were greeted by Freen. She had her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and was wearing a pair of green pants with a loose fitting top that showed the sides of her bra. I didn't know if it was the way she looked or the nervous smile she had on her face, but she was incredibly sweet in that moment.

"Hey." I said, smiling like an idiot.

Freen's smile widened. "I'm glad you were able to come."

"Thanks for the invitation." Nam said, nodding in her direction. She was a little cold, but at least she was polite.

Freen looked at her and held the door open, inviting us to enter.

"You guys remember Becky, right? These are her friends, Nam and Irin." she announced, before turning to my friends. "This is Heng, Mind, and that sweet lady over there is Charlotte. Maybe you've met them on the ship."

I chuckled; Freen didn't know that the girls had been sitting in the pool for hours in order to admire Heng, and had even thought of pretending to drown as an excuse to get his attention.

"You're just in time!" Mind said, kindly. "We were about to play Cards Against Humanity. I hope none of you are easily offended."

"I love that game!" Nam announced, as she happily sauntered over and sat down between Heng and Mind. I watched Irin with interest as she gave her friend an obvious look, prompting the older girl, who rolled her eyes, to make room for her to sit down.