Brown Eyed Girl

"Honey, we're going on a cruise. Pack your bags, we'll be gone for 10 days. It's in the Caribbean, so pack for warm weather."

Who knew that one phrase would change my life forever?

Let's start with introductions. My name is Claire Ryan. I'm sixteen, with brown hair and brown eyes. Not very pretty, at least, not in my eyes. I love sports. All of them. So, yeah.

I'm also madly in love with music of all kinds. Singing is my passion, but nobody will ever know that. I could never tell anyone that I love singing because I'm not that good, and I have horrible stage fright. So don't expect to ever hear my name on the radio. It's just not going to happen.

Anyways, I'm from this little bitty town in central Illinois that no one has ever heard of so I'm not going to name it. My best friend in the whole wide world is Sam McCarty, and we're both slightly insane. Not really but we like to pretend, so keep it on the down low. This cruise is going to be the death of me because I'm going to have to be without Sam for 10 whole days. No one will understand my awkwardness! Now I'll have to actually make new friends. I haven't had to do that in years! My mother doesn't understand that I will fail.

Apparently, we leave for this cruise in two days. Thanks for the heads up, mom.

So, now I have to pack clothes so that I look presentable to people my age. Great. Usually I only have to worry about that during the school year, but now I have to try to look good in shorts and tank tops. My body is nothing special, so this will be a challenge. Also, hair and makeup have to be done, and I'm terrible at doing both. Awesome. Well, here goes nothing.

***

Today is the day we fly down to Florida to actually get on the boat. Woo. Please note my sarcasm.

"Why are you so grumpy, Claire?' I don't know mom. Maybe it's the fact that I DON'T WANT TO GO ON THIS CRUISE.

"I'm not a morning person." I could barely keep my eyes open, so it wasn't a total lie. I just didn't tell the whole story.

"You can sleep on the plane, honey. It's a three hour flight."

Great. I hate flying.

My mom finally got the hint that I don't want to talk to anyone, and left me alone.

"FLIGHT 209 TO ORLANDO IS NOW BOARDING."

"Well, that's our flight. Let's go."

We made our way to the counter where we handed the flight attendant lady our boarding passes. Luckily, my whole family made it onto the plane with no problems. I think I wouldv'e freaked out on everyone, saying it was an oman or something, just so I would have an excuse to stay off the plane.

When we got to our seats, I immediatly sat down and closed my eyes, hoping I would be asleep for take-off. Luck was really on my side, because as soon as I closed my eyes, I slipped off into a wonderful dreamland.