Lost at Sea || Niall Horan (In Editing)

Chapter 1

Erica's POV

The cold, salty wind whipped my light brown curls around my face, the smell of the sea fresh in my nose. I closed my eyes and inhaled the unfamiliar scent and smiled. This was my new life, on this ship. I had been sent to live with my father after my mother had been killed in a car accident 1 month earlier.

I remember sitting my chemistry exam and the police knocking on the door asking for me. The memory was still fresh and burned within me.

She has just broken up with her boyfriend so I decided to cheer her up. We'd had a sleepover; I slept in her bed and watched romantic comedies for hours. She woke me up by slapping me across the face with a pillow. Her childish grin burned in my mind. She was giggling like a teenager and ran out of the room, down the stairs and into the lounge.

I chased her with a pillow and we had a massive pillow fight. That was the last time I saw her laugh. It had just been my Mum and I since my dad left when I was 6, to Captain a ship. We saw each other often enough, enough to say that people believed I had salt water in my veins. I was the only child so my father is the only family I had to turn to after my mother died.

That's how I ended up on this ship, The Carolina. The Carolina is a rather large British cruise liner, the place where I spent many school holidays running a muck with passenger's children and stealing food from the galley. I now live here, not that I'm complaining. I was expecting many nostalgic moments during my first month or so.

The sound of waves crashing against the bow broke my thoughts. I looked down towards the port where passengers were beginning to arrive to board. I recognized a few faces as celebrities. The ship is known for its 5 star VIP rooms. Being the captain's daughter I get the privilege of having a first class room as my own living quarters. This brings an advantage of milling around with the celebrities that are on board.

"Erica, Erica what have I told you about standing near the edge?!"

I heard the voice of the activities coordinator, Patricia, cry as she walked over to me from within the ship and looked me straight in the eyes.

I smirked and looked her straight in the eye. We stood there for amount 2 minutes in an intense staring contest, when she finally caved and blinked.

"I won!" I announced at the top of my lungs, sending Pat into hysterics. She maybe 50 but she acts like she's 18. I've known this woman for 3 weeks; I met her at my mother's funeral when she came with my father.

She gave me a hug,

"But seriously Erica stay away from the edge. We can't have you falling overboard before we have left the dock. You haven't even been here a week." I laughed and gave her a hug.

Patricia had been assigned to make sure I settled in alright when I arrived on the ship merely 3 days ago.

We walked through first class, where I now got to call my home, until I reached my bedroom door. I unlocked the door and let it swing open, the sheer size of the room overwhelming me every time.

As you walked in there was a large chest of drawers to the right and the left was an huge walk in wardrobe. In the far corner a king size double bed sat with curtain surrounding it.

Across the room from the bed was a 32 inch LCD TV with a bluray player and surround sound. Off to the left I had my own private balcony, it reminded me of the one Rose had on Titanic.

In the center of my room there was a large grand piano, my mothers old piano which she used to teach me. To the right there was a large ensuite with a large window looking out across the ocean.

At the moment the view was filled with buildings and people trying to board the ship. I opened the bathroom window and leant on the window sill forgetting that Patricia was with me. I pulled out my ipod and put my earphones in.

I pressed play, A Team by Ed Sheeran started playing. I silently sung along and looked out at the faces walked past.

I saw a flash of red, white and blue as a guy ran past with a blackberry phone clutched in his hand, he seemed as if he was running for his life. I saw another guy run after him, his black hair was being tousled by the wind as he ran.

The pair were soon lost again in the crowds, there were literally hundreds of people collecting keys and collecting luggage.

I was more than glad I had moved in before the rush had begun.

~~~

Patricia took me to see my dad, in the captain's lodge. He was leaning over a table looking at a map with the navigator as I walked in. He looked up at me and smiled.

He whispered into the man's ear and he left leaving my dad, Patricia and I. He sat down behind his desk and gestured for me to sit. He nodded to Patricia who nodded and left, leaving me and my dad.

"So have you settled in alright?" he asked genuinely, his voice laced with a smooth Cheshire accent. I smiled,

"Yes I have. It is totally amazing!" He laughed at me and smiled.

"You've been here nearly a week and I've hardly seen you." He said with a sad smile, reaching over a taking my hands. He looked me in the eyes,

"So, how are you Erica?" I knew he was talking about my mother's death.

I sighed,

"I'm alright I guess." I gave him a weak smile.

"I'm going to go and relax for a while while we leave dock." I mumbled standing up and walking to the door.

I was hit with the strong salty winds once more as the door closed behind me. Fortunately we had already left the dock; Morten Bay was still close but slowly slipping further away.

I walked back to my room and crawled into my massive bed. I sunk into the mattress and sighed. I could easily get used to this. I kicked off my white converse, pulled off my t shirt leaving me in my jeans and a bra; I pulled the doona over me falling into an uneasy sleep.

~~~

There was a loud thud, crashing and muffled yells coming from the hallway, followed by screaming. I groaned and put my earphones in, The 1975 playing loudly through my ears. I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to block out all other noise apart from my music.

The screaming got louder and closer to my room. I gave up and threw my doona off of my body and walked over to the door. I opened it and took one step before being bowled over.

"Dammit Niall watch out!" a voice from my left growled. I groaned and tried to get up. The weight of several bodies on top of me prevented me from moving.

"Sorry darling, Niall here must be blind." A guy with long, curly hair said offering me his hand. I gladly accepted.

When I managed to get to my feet, there were 5 pairs of eyes staring at me. I looked down and realised I had no shirt on.

"Dammit," I groaned and slid back into my room. I was followed by the sound of 5 guys laughing. I grabbed my shirt, pulled it over my head and walked back to the door. They better have an explanation for disturbing my sleep.

~~~

Originally I wrote this imagining them a fetus boys! Cause that's what I wrote this chapter... But yeah I'm trying to incorporate real like tour events into the story but at the moment I'm just ignoring them. If that makes any sense at all...

The picture on the side is how I picture Erica to look :)