Fish Out Of Water

 I sat on the pale white sheets contrasting drastically with the dark wood.

Running my hand over the smooth fabric, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, feeling the ship I was in sway with the waves. I could just feel the camera trained on me. In a few short months, this would be broadcasted everywhere in the United States.

I seem sad, I know. I am. I don't really want to be here. I didn't want to waste my prepping for college summer vacation on a cruise ship with no friends.

Heres how I got here...

 I was flipping through the newspaper, admiring the way my blue, shiny nails looked while flipping through the dark pages. My attention drifted towards a huge ad in the center of the page for a new reality TV show.

Good, I needed something to watch this winter. My favorite reality TV show's last season was this summer, and this show would premiere in the winter.

It read:

   6 kids.

One cruise ship.

And many, many eyes trained right on them.

The show was called Fish Out Of Water.

         It sounded good enough. I skimmed the page for more details, and in small print at the bottom it said:

2 contestants still needed.

         Huh, I guess missing this summer to meet people you didn't know on a cruise wasn't on high demand.

         It sounded kinda fun to me. A fancy cruise ship, people waiting on the contestants, a hot tub.

         But that didn't mean I wanted to give up my summer for it. I had friends and plans.

My mom wandered into the kitchen and I sighed, closing the newspaper.

"What were you looking at?" she asked nosily. I shook my head.

"Nothing," I told her. "Just some show I want to watch," I added after seeing her expression of disbelief.

 She walked over and opened to the page I was on. She scanned it for details, like if it was "inappropriate" or something like that.

  "Oohhh, Lucy, look! They want contestants!" she said happily. She's been dying for me to get out of this town for years. We lived in a pretty boring place, and because my mom didn't get out, she wanted me to. She wanted me to "see the world" or something. When I was a little kid, this was great and amazing. But now, all I needed were my friends, a few magazines, and soda and I was all set.

 "Mom, I don't really want to-"

 "No, you at least have to try for it! They'll probably take anyone," she reassured me, as if I was nervous but eager to do it.

I pressed my lips together and started again, when my dad walked in.

"Dad," I said, appealing to him. "Mom wants me to try for this reality show, and I really, really don't want to," I said. My dad usually agreed with me, unless he thought my mom was really serious about something. He glanced at her and saw her face.

   "I think it's a good idea," he told me and I jerked back. What? I was so not going on a reality show. I tried to seem responsible, like I knew what I was talking about.

 "Mom, Dad, you really can't expect me to want to do this. I'll be exposed to the world as someone these people want me to be. I'll be exploited, and our family will get too much attention." My mother shook her head.