PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

18. The Cruise

I take the pillow and press it against my face, letting out a silent scream. 

I sit up, throw away the pillow and murderously glare at Tony snoring loudly at the other bed in the room. 

It all started four days ago. The whole country was looking forward to a series of holidays that fell on the same week. 

People started to make plans. 

My parents, including. They told me we were going on a week long Euro Cruise for the upcoming holidays. 

I didn't believe them. 

They repeated it. 

I shook my head. 

The next day they showed me the tickets and I was stunned. And overjoyed. 

I called Tess and Becca, bragged to them about it. I researched online about cruise travel and the places we'll be stopping by in the tour. All the usual things. 

My parents happily watched their child bounce around like a ping pong with excitement. 

On the day we were going to leave, I pulled my luggage out with a wide smile on my face that's been there since I woke up. 

That's when I saw the family at the right packing their car. 

Soon the family at the left were packing their car, too. 

What a coincidence, I thought, that all our families were going on a vacation at the same time. 

But then again this must be how every house's front yard must be like that day, I assumed. 

My parents and I got in our car, and dad started to drive. 

But we were not alone. The cars of all the family in our row of houses were with us. Two ahead. One behind. In the same order as our houses. 

What a coincidence, I thought again. 

But by the third turn which, once again, we all took, I was agitated. 

"Are they all going to the airport as well?" I asked. Our ship starts from Barcelona. 

"Yes, of course, honey, we are all going together in the trip," mom said, putting an end to my hopes and dreams. 

Now back to the small room I'm in, forced to share with Tony, I spend my first night in cruise sleepless. 

Next day morning, I yawn like a hippopotamus and blink my eyes. The sun is cruel. Tony comes and sits next to me at the deck. 

"Can't sleep in a ship?" He says. 

"No. I can't sleep with a gorilla snoring next to me!" I say. 

"Hey, I don't snore!" Tony says. 

I crush the empty juice box on the table and throw it at him. 

He crushes a tissue and throws at me. 

I pick another juice box, not empty, and get ready to throw at him when Jeremy stops me. 

Jeremy is the boy from the last house in our row in Mueller Avenue. Although he's an only child he is added to the younger sibling group in our neighborhood since he's an year younger than us. 

Unlike us, he's obedient, studious, generous and kind. Sometimes I wonder if he's really a single child, or maybe he's nice to us because he doesn't have any siblings and hence doesn't know how to act with them. 

"Stop it guys before our parents catch you two," Jeremy says, taking the box from me and sitting down. 

"Easy for you to say. I couldn't sleep a wink last night because of Tony's snores. You swap rooms with him. Or I swap with Raylan," I say. Jeremy is roomed with Raylan. 

"Alright, I'll move tonight," Jeremy says, "but for now drink coffee and wake up fully. We are soon going to reach Athens!" 

At least one of us has still retained their enthusiasm. 

Later in the evening, I'm the first to return to the ship. I couldn't take it anymore. I barely remember what I saw all day. 

I get into my bed and cover myself up to my head with the sheet, engulfing me in a welcoming darkness. 

I fall asleep. 

When I wake up, it's still dark. I look at the direction where the window is. It's pitch black outside. I check the time in my phone — 2 AM. 

That's when I hear it. A sort of hum that gets louder as I concentrate. It... sounds like rain and wind. 

I look at my sleeping roommate. He isn't snoring. To check if Jeremy had kept his promise and swapped places with Tony, I narrow my eyes to take a better look at the sleeping boy. 

To my surprise, it's Raylan. 

These boys can't get a simple thing done without causing me a headache. 

But more than the headache, it's my stomach that hurts. I'm hungry. Dinner calls me. 

I get off the bed and stand up, only to sway. I quickly grab the wall for support. 

It's not me. It's the ship. It's swaying. 

I open the sliding door and step out of the room. The hum from the outside is louder. There seems to be a rainstorm. 

Walking, mostly swaying, I head to the end of the corridor. 

A ship under the bad weather is opposite of a plane in a bad weather. A plane jitters up and down. A ship swings as if you're riding on the back of an elephant. 

I see a vending machine at the corner. That makes me rethink my plan. The kitchen is still far from here. I don't want to go that far while the ship's sway worsens. 

A protein bar will have to do. I operate the machine with one hand on the buttons and one firmly holding its edge. 

A bar drops out of the slot. I pick it up, but lose my balance when I take my hand off the machine. 

I would've fell down if it wasn't for someone having caught me. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Raylan says. 

"I'm hungry," I reply. 

He helps me stand straight. "The weather is rough outside. It's hard to walk. We've to get back to our room," Raylan says everything that I already know. 

Holding his arm, I manage to reach our room with much less rocking. 

When I reach for my bed the ship moves big time. I fall again. This time on top of Raylan who in turn falls on his bed. 

I groan from the pain. Because of his unnecessarily dense muscles, falling on Raylan is like falling on a cement pavement instead of a human body. Any more dense and my nose could've broken. 

Rubbing my face I get off on him, only to hit my forehead on the handle over his bed. 

"The fuck, stop moving," Raylan says, pulling me into the space next to him on his bed. 

My eyes tear up from the pain. I push his hand away and rub the spot that's definitely going to bruise tomorrow. 

Angrily, I tear open the bar and start eating. 

It's everyone else's fault for not waking me up for dinner. 

Eventually I'm done with the bar. As the hunger vanishes and the ship's rocking slows down to a pleasant rhythm, sleep comes back to me. I give into it. 

When I wake up again, it's early morning. I'm still on Raylan's bed with him. 

I wince feeling the sting of the growing bruise on my forehead. Groggily, I leave his bed and reaches for mine. 

I crash over my mattress and spread my limbs, relishing the space. I'm surprised I fell asleep before. Same happened on Raylan's room that day, too. I didn't even realize when he got into the bed. 

Apparently as much as annoying when he's awake, a sleeping Raylan is good company. And with that thought, for the third time, I fall asleep. 

End of chapter