Royals

Chapter 43

REMEMBER: ASHLYNN IS EMILY'S FRIEND FROM SCHOOL AND IS DATING BRANDON.

"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine; she'll have to be," Lillia whispered to Jake, who nodded in acknowledgement.

"Who?" I asked as I walked onto the main deck. After our excruciatingly long day, we rented a boat and explored the Boston Harbor Islands. Based on Jake's research, there were thirty-four islands altogether, and we had drifted among only a select few of them.

The ones we landed and walked around on were: Little Brewster Island, which had a tall, simple, and lovely lighthouse; Grape Island, which was littered in foliage; and Moon Island, which held Boston's Fire Department Training Academy and Police Shooting range. The last island we headed to was Spinnaker Island, which was home to many gorgeously extravagant houses.

In between our island hopping adventures, we snuggled beside the heater. Even though there wasn't any snow near us, it was only about thirty-five degrees. Our multiple layers of jeans, boots, coats, scarves, mittens, and hats sufficed enough, but the extra bit of warmth didn't hurt.

Joey, on the other hand, spent the breaks sleeping inside the ship. When we were nearing our next destination, I was sent to wake him up. Then, he would arise sans any grogginess, which was truly quite remarkable.

"Huh?" Jake asked; at the same Lillia answered with, "What?"

"Who will have to be fine?" I asked, feeling annoyance sprouting within me.

"No one," Jake shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lillia rolled her eyes as she further explained, "He's talking about Marietta. She's meeting us in Virginia tomorrow, and she's worried, but she'll have to be fine."

"Oh," I replied, settling down beside them. "What's she worried about?"

"Nothing, it's no big deal," Jake dismissed, pressing his lips together in a straight line.

"Did you wake up Joey?" Lillia questioned, throwing a bag over her shoulder.

"Yep," Joey answered from behind her, popping the 'p' sound.

From there, we waited as the ship's captain landed and tied the boat to a wooden post. We made our way to the land, thanking and tipping him abundantly. Seeing as it was both winter and well into the evening, the sky had adopted a dusky, inky color.

We hailed a cab, heading to a restaurant and then the Hatch Memorial Shell.

"Do we have to go to this orchestra concert?" Lillia whined, trying for the hundredth time to get Jake to back out.

"Yes, so stop complaining," he scolded. "You're going to go, and you're going to like it."

"It's going to be a long night," I murmured inaudibly to Joey, who simply shook his head in agreement.

"Wait, it says here that today's their last show," Jake excitedly announced, cradling his phone.

"Wow, we made it just in time; go us," Lillia deadpanned with an eye roll.

"Do you know what that means?" Jake asked, ignoring Lillia's comment. Without waiting for a response, he continued enthusiastically, "It means that they're going to have an extra-long concert!"

Oh God.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The orchestra last night was terrible, but listening to Joey talk on the phone all night with Abby was awful was even worse. To top off my night, the three hour long flight to Virginia Beach was dreadful. Somehow, each unpleasant event seemed to outdo the former.