Off the Map

Chapter Four

THURSDAY MORNING

Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep. My alarm clock went off once again for the fourth time this week. Today was my last day of school. Yay! But my last day with my friends... I really don't know what to think about this cruise thing.

"What am I supposed to do on this cruise?" I ask yesterday at breakfast.

My mother's head dropped down and she groaned. "Seriously? The ship has its own mall inside. There are millions of arcade games you can play." I gave her a 'Really?' look. "Okay, then you can watch movies in the theatre all day."

That didn't sound too bad, but movies can only keep you busy for so long. We were going for a week. "That's it?"

"There is Wi-Fi. Free Wi-Fi. So you can Facebook, Twitter and Instagram the whole week... None stop."

"Nothing you just said made any sense. And it still won't keep me busy for a week."

My mother burst out, "I don't care! You can figure that when you get there! Just be positive for once in your life." And she stormed to her room.

That was an argument I totally lost. I apologized later that night and explained that this just wasn't something I 'm interested in. I'm not the most popular person, but after this cruise, I will be. It makes us sound rich. And I don't want that type of status... I don't need it... It just messes up your whole life. And I like my life as it is right now.

I got out of bed, washed my face and got dressed. I decided on a denim dress that stretches out just above my knees. The dress has a beautiful, white lace on the shoulders and I buttoned it up straight to the top. I stood in front of the mirror trying to decide whether or not to wear something like a bow tie or just a tie. I couldn't decide, so I called Jane. There must always be a 'call a friend' option when it comes to getting dressed.

Ring-Ring. Ring-Ring.

"Hey, this is Jane."

"Hey, it's me, Claire. Uhm, bow or tie, or no tie?"

"What a difficult decision... I guess that if I say bow or tie, your gonna wanna know that too, right?"

"Yup."

I could hear her thinking. "Bowtie." And the line went dead.

I opened my closet and grabbed my white bow tie with colourful dots on. I actually wasn't the only one with this bow tie. There were about six people in my grade with the same one. When I had it on, I didn't quite like it, so I put on my black and blue one. It was black with paint blobs all over. The paint blobs were an aqua blue. I slipped into my flat black pumps. I added a tiny bit of mascara to my eyelids and hurried to the kitchen. I was starving.

My mother had started breakfast and cold toast waited on the table. I added some jam and took a few bites. I gulped my coffee and went to brush my teeth. Then we headed for the car.

The day flew by in a whirlwind. My mother was waiting in the parking lot when school came out. I said my last goodbyes and we were on our way home. We packed the rest of the afternoon. Checking to see that we had what we need.

The next morning at 5 am, we flew to the nearest harbour. Our flight was delayed twice. So Dylan regularly texted me, telling me that this was the best part. Waiting at the airport can actually be fun! I really embarrassed myself... Our flight was finally ready and before I knew it, we were on the ship.