The Duet

Chapter 26: Bon Voyage!

Chase gasped in amazement. The ship was enormous.

"Whoa! Fancy-schmancy!" Alicia exclaimed.

Ashley start to taking pictures as their dad's unloaded the car.

Chase had thought that the trip would be a embarrassing disaster, but so far it had been going great. The car ride was smooth with him and Alicia complaining about how they had to leave their dogs with Ren.

"She's probably going to kill our dogs..." Chase said as they drove away from Ren's house.

"And eat them..." groaned Alicia.

"Don't worry!" Ashley reassured. "Even if you guys don't see the dogs ever again, you guys still have each other!"

Chase snapped back into the real world when the cruise horn blared.

"We are now ready to board!" the intercom announced.

Chase grabbed his backpack and walked on board. Everyone was given a wristband for admission into activities and a keycard for their rooms.

"Make sure to keep the cards away from your devices!" reminded Mrs. Park, "It might deactivate, and you won't be able to get back to your room."

Chase stepped into the Atrium of the ship.

"Whoa..."

The Atrium looked liked the inside of an extravagant hotel with a bunch of restaurants and mini shops. It was three floors tall with spiraling staircases to each floor. In the middle there was open space with an enormous chandelier. To the back, there were elevators that were busy ferrying guests to their desired floors.

"This ship has 18 floors!" exclaimed Ashley.

"We should explore them all." added Alicia.

"Alright kids, in an hour there is a mandatory safety demonstration." Mr. Kim reminded, "Be back in rooms in 45 minutes."

"What do you guys want to do in the meanwhile?" Chase muttered as he gazed around.

"Lets save the exploring for later. We need a lot of time for that." Alicia decided.

"Alright. Should we go to the Lido deck?" Ashley suggested.

What the heck is a Lido deck...

Chase was soon answered as he stepped to the outdoor part of the ship.

"Whoa!" Chase exclaimed as he surveyed the vast pools that surrounded him. In the far right side, there was area filled with a variety of games, including life-size chess and Jenga. Chase didn't feel like lugging the huge pieces around, so he continued to look around.

"Let's play ping pong!" Alicia said, tossing a paddle to Chase. Chase smiled. He has never been beaten by anyone in ping pong, except his dad, the one who taught him.

I'll go easy on her.

"First to 11! Let's go!" Chase said. "Winner gets to..."

"Slap the other with the paddle!" Alicia said with a mischievous smile.

"Not in the face, right?" Chase said nervously.

"Right."

Alicia served, and Chase hit a medium-speed return. Alicia crushed the ball immediately. Chase was surprised, so to check it wasn't a fluke, he did the same shot again, with the same result.

"2-0! Mr. Park said you were good, Chase." taunted Alicia.

Chase gripped his paddle tighter. He won the next two points, but only by a small margin. Ashley watched in amazement as the ball flew back and forth.