where the water meets the moon | e.d.

four

ethan

"so what happens if the boat starts to sink?" addison asks, tilting her head a little.

i roll my eyes. "why the hell would you jinx it?"

she turns to me, a little red. "sorry," she mumbles.

evan shoots me a narrowed look, and then turns back to captain avery. "actually, i'd like to know as well. it's a very good question, ethan."

the captain only grins, per usual. "i hope you guys know how to swim."

our eyes widen, sending him into a knee slapping, raspy laughing fit.

this guy is the definition of a sailer.

"kidding," he wheezes out a little, and it turns into a cough. "we have rafts on the back deck."

addison lets out a relived breath, slightly startled by his humor. i kind of find it funny.

evan seems nice. addison seems prissy.

we'll see how this goes.

"women and children first, if this beauty starts to go down," captain avery says, slapping the railing of the observation deck.

evan raises his hand. "can i be included in either of those?" i can't help but laugh a little, as well as addison.

"sure, why not," the old guys shrugs and moves slowly to the door leading to the small inside quarters.

we all stay put.

he turns around with an eye roll. "well? you coming?"

i scramble to get up and grab my two suitcases full of clothes that i could possibly need, and follow him through the small space. it'll definitely be a small living quarters type of thing.

there's a small area with a built in tv and a couch, along with a small kitchen and bathroom. he keeps walking and i turn around to see evan behind me. he motions with his head for me to keep going.

"each of you have a room," captain avery says and points at three doors.

i take the one on the far right, evan in the middle, and addison on the left.

it's the size of a small coat closet, but it's better to have my own space than none at all. a twin cot sits against the wall, along with a floor lamp and a shelf for clothes.

"this boat looked bigger from outside!" i hear evan yell from his room, and the captain laugh.

"it's all saved for the research room, you sissies."

the research room— where we'll
be setting up data charts, findings, samples, and discoveries.

i hope that at least has natural lighting.

after all our stuff is dumped into the tight quarters, we're back to touring. turns out, the rest of the boat is pretty boring.

we see the rooms we're not allowed in, the top deck of the boat, and the fun little watch chair that sits high on a pole above the boat.

i notice addison not paying attention to it much, but rather staring longingly at the water.

and i totally get it. the ocean is beautiful,
even when we're still docked in the marina.

"how will we get food out here?" evan asks, wrinkling his nose.

"all the boats meet in a middle circle once a week and a crew ship comes and drops off groceries. there's an island not too far where we'll be exploring, and that's where we get fresh food. but mostly we'll stick to granola bars and beef jerky."

"and showers?" i pipe up.

captain avery grunts in disapproval, motioning his head behind him. "the smallest, coldest showers you'll ever endure. good luck."

"fantastic," i mutter under my breath and place my hands on my hips.

"how will we contact our families?" addison asks.

"each week with the groceries, the mail comes in and out. other than that, no form of communication. just an old staticky phone that sometimes works," he laughs out, deep and raspy.

"amazing," addison utters, crossing her arms and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"when do we—"

"attention," a loud voice from the marina projects. we all hurry out to the front deck and see dr. cornell standing with a megaphone. "we will be setting sail shortly. may you all have fair winds and following seas," he smirks at the sailer's lingo.

i can't believe this is actually happening.

what was supposed to be a fun, romantic summer with kendall is now filled with a jaunty old man, a quiet rule-follower, and an unfairly funny guy with interesting sandals.

lord help us all.