Secrets at Sea

Chapter 2

I finally landed in SFO after the longest two hour flight of my life. The Uber that I had taken to airport was late picking me up, so I in turn I was late to the airport, then getting through TSA was a nightmare in itself. On the actual flight, I was surrounded by the loudest family in existence. All the adults abandoned the children so that they could enjoy first class, which left the oldest (who was only about thirteen) in charge of six kids. The one year old was screaming in my ear the entire flight, the blonde twins in the row behind me were kicking the back of my chair, and the thirteen year old who was supposedly in charge had moved up two rows to sit next to a boy she thought was cute. The airline should have paid me to take that flight.

The drive from SFO to the pier wasn't more than half an hour. I get out of the Uber and look up at the massive cruise ships neatly docked in the pier. The Uber driver, Sean, pops the rusty trunk of his rundown two door sedan he calls Jenny. Jenny has only added to the long, uncomfortable day I've been having; halfway to the pier she stalled coming down one of the extremely steep hills, needless to say it was an unwanted and unexpected roller coaster ride for both Sean and me.

"Sorry about Jenny," Sean starts as he pulls my suitcase from the truck. "She's been in a mood lately and I just can't figure out what she wants."

"How old is your car?" I ask, taking my suitcase from him. He starts counting on his fingers and crinkles his nose and closes his eyes as he continues to count.

"Umm...I think we're the same age? Twenty-five." He says slowly. He looks at me as if he wants me to verify that information for him.

"Okay, well it sounds like Jenny is really old then," I tell him and his eyes get big and start to water. I hesitate a little before I continue talking, "She might be on her last leg and you should maybe try and find a new car." Big fat tears well up in Sean's eyes as he looks back between Jenny and me. He puts his arms out and grabs me in a bear hug as he starts crying onto my shoulder.

"What am---what am I going to do *hick* without her?" He wails and I try desperately to break free of this man's embrace. Sean is built like a bear; he's tall and a bit on the bigger side in his stomach area, but I notice he's got some hidden muscles because he's seriously strong.

"Well," I say while smashed against his chest, "Maybe you find a newer car that doesn't break down as much and bring a piece of Jenny into the new car so she'll still be there with you?" He lets go of me and a huge grin emerges on his face.

Sean starts jumping up and down in excitement. "It's perfect!" He exclaims. At this point we have caught the attention of on lookers heading towards the cruise ship. It must be a sight to see, a lumberjack bouncing around talking to his car and a concerned petite girl slowly backing away. Sean turns to me with his arms out again for another, but I quickly grab his hand and shake it. "Thank you so much for the help Ms. Chelsea!" He says and keeps a tight grip on my hand as he continues to shake it.

"It's no problem." I reply. It's really not a problem, dude. He finally lets go of my hand and waves to me until he gets into Jenny and speeds away. I really hope that's the weirdest thing that happens on this trip. I turn around towards the towering ships and sigh. I really want this to be a trip that I'll remember; a way to celebrate graduation with my friends.