~ Take On The World ~
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Flora Johnson stood in the lobby of the S.S Tipton with her parents, and they were greeted by the familiar smile of Marion Moseby. "Welcome to the S.S Tipton." He said as his smile grew when he noticed his childhood best friend and his family.
"Richard, I didn't know you were planning on ever going on a cruise." Mr Moseby said and Richard Johnson laughed. "I'm not, I'm even surprised I'm standing here." He said jokingly, only getting a nudge by his wife, Mary Johnson.
"We sighed Flora up for the ships new school." Mary informed Mr Moseby with a smile and the man returned the smile as he looked at the young teenage girl that stood in front of her parents. "Yeah, things weren't going that great at her old school, and she's always wanted to travel the world." Richard explained and Mr Moseby nodded.
"Well, she'll definitely enjoy Seven Seas High." He said and Flora nodded as her mom turned her around. "You be safe, ok. And call home as often as you can." Mary listed and Flora nodded. "I will, don't worry mom." She smiled.
Richard stood beside Mr Moseby. "Please keep an eye on her." He said to his best friend who automatically understood what he meant. "She'll be ok." Mr Moseby reassured.
Mary took her daughter in for a hug, followed by Richard. The three said their goodbyes before the two adults left, both containing their tears. Flora turned back to Mr Moseby with her backpack and suitcase. "You're really gonna love it here, trust me." Mr Moseby said to the girl.
"Gangway! London Tipton coming through!" A girl called out as she sat on the top of two massive chests that one of the ships crew members were pushing, before Flora could respond to Mr Moseby. "Ow!" Mr Moseby yelled as the chests ran over his foot
"Wow, bumpy seas." London said as she got off the chests and stood beside Flora as Mr Moseby limped towards the two. "That was my foot." He said and London looked at him.
"Well, what was it doing under my trunk?" She asked as the crew member wheeled the two chests away. "Throbbing." Mr Moseby said as the pain was shown in his face expression.
"Moseby, enough of your problems. I'm now on vacation! Yay me!" London said with a smile and clapped her hands together. "Well, actually, "yay you" is on the boat to attend Seven Seas High School." Mr Moseby said and London's face fell.
"While it may be on a cruise ship, this is not a vacation." Mr Moseby said and London sighed. "Your dad put you on this boat so you can't use your private jet a fly off to Paris for lunch and miss your afternoon classes."
"I had afternoon classes? What's next? Classes in the morning?" London asked and Flora silently laughed. "It's ok, London. You know, the older I get, the more I realise you have to look adversity in the eye and say: you don't scare me." Mr Moseby said.
Two twin boys and their mom walked in. "Hey, Mr Moseby!" They both greeted happily and Mr Moseby turned around and let out a scream. "Moseby, your shaking like a chihuahua." The women said.
"Oh, it's the evening breeze." Mr Moseby said as he was still shaking. "Then you probably shouldn't of left your pants in the dryer for so long." The women said, looking at the man's shorts.
"Hello Carey, boys." Mr Moseby said as he put his hand out. "Did you miss us, Mr Moseby?" The taller twin asked as he shook Mr Moseby's hand.
"Oh, yes. I mean without you, the last three months of this floating paradise have been sheer torture." Mr Moseby said and Flora couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Well, you're sufferings now over." The shorter twin said with a smile.
"Huh?" Mr Moseby asked as he looked at the boys. "We're going to be attending Seven Seas High." The taller twin said and Mr Moseby looked at him again. "Huh?"
London dragged Flora with her to stand in front of Mr Moseby. She looked at the shorter girl and nodded and Flora knew what she was doing. "They said they're going to be attending Seven Seas High!" London and Flora said. One was shouting it, the other was more like a whisper.
"He's getting old." London said to the two boys and Flora smiled.
"Believe me, it was not an easy decision, but it's such an amazing opportunity. And I can afford it with my employee discount, so I couldn't say no." Carey explained and Mr Moseby shrugged.
"Well, you could've by doing this: no!" He yelled before he ran out of the lobby and jumped over the railing and into the water. Flora's eyes widened when they heard a splash. "He took that better than I thought." Carey said and Flora looked at her. "Really?" She asked quietly and the shorter twin nodded and smiled softly at the brunette, but that only caused her to shrink down into herself.
Kind of like a turtle going back into it's shell.
☆☆☆
Flora followed the twins and their mom to a place called the Sky Deck. She left them at the top and went down stairs where a cue of students was forming to get their student manual and the three followed after her. As they were going down the stairs, Mr Mosey was being taken back on the boat with a lifebuoy.
"Put me down!" Mr Moseby yelled up to the person steering the crane. Mr Moseby then fell to the ground and landed with a thud. The two boys went down to talk to him and Flora went and joined the cue.
As Flora was standing in the cue, looking around, London came barging past everyone. "Excuse me." She said as she walked to the front of the line. "Is this where we get our suite assignments?" London asked the woman who was handing out the manuals.
The woman nodded. "Yes, but as you can see, there's a line." She said and London smiled sweetly. "As you can see, I don't care." She said and the woman looked at her weirdly. "I'm London Tipton." London said and the woman nodded in realisation.
"But let's not make a big deal that my daddy owns this boat." London said to the other students and Flora smiled at their faces of confusion.
"Deal, I will treat you the same as everyone else. Back of the line!" The woman said and London looked at her weirdly. "I mean, if that's ok with you." The woman added and London shook her head.
"It's not." She said and the woman nodded. "And that's ok with me." She said and gave London a manual. London smiled before she walked away and the rest of the students were able to get their student manual.
After Flora got her student manual, she went on a hunt to find her cabin. It only took her about twenty minutes as she dragged her suitcase behind her. Once she found it, she opened the door to find a girl her age with long, wavy brown hair dancing to Our Time Now by The Plain White T's.
When the girl noticed Flora, she smiled at her made her way over and dragged Flora to the middle of the room and started dancing again, and Flora couldn't help but start dancing as well.
Once the song ended, the girl turned her radio off and smiled to Flora. "Hey, I'm Alexa." She said as she put her hand out for the brunette to shake. "I'm Flora." Flora smiled softly.
"Well, nice to meet you, Flora. Which bed would you like." Alexa asked and Flora shrugged. "I don't really mind. You can choose." She said and Alexa nodded. "Ok, I can take this one." She smiled as she pointed to the bed nearest the bathroom.
Flora nodded and walked over the other bed and started unpacking her clothes and putting it into her closet. While the two girls unpacked their belongings, they talked to get to know each other.
Alexa did more of the talking, and she was quick to notice that the Johnson girl was shy, and she was ok with that. She just knew that by the time they graduate, she's gonna make sure Flora is more confident in herself, and even though they just became friends, Alexa knew that was gonna help Flora in any way that she can.
☆☆☆
The next morning, Flora got up like any normal day and got ready. Once she was dressed and her was hair was done, she left her cabin with Alexa to go down where her student manual said to meet their teacher and then they'd go on a tour of the school part of the ship.
"Why do they call him a purser?" London asked the teacher, Miss Tutweiller. "I don't know." She answered as the group of students followed her into the biology lab. "But I do know that it is not his job to carry your purse."
"Fine, you hold it." London said as she handed Miss Tutweiller the purse. "Good grief! What do you have in this?" She asked London who shrugged. "My allowance." London answered as Flora stood behind one of the desks and Zack stood beside her.
"This is the state-of-the-art marine biology lab." Miss Tutweiller announced to the class and London raised her hand. "Which my daddy paid for." She said and turned to Miss Tutweiller. "Can I go now?" She asked and Miss Tutweiller shook her head. "No."
"Now, if you'll all follow me, we'll go up one deck to the planetarium." Miss Tutweiller said as she went towards the door and London followed. "I have no idea what that is but my daddy paid for it!" London announced. "Can I go now?" She asked again.
Miss Tutweiller turned to face her. "No. Though at this point, nothing would make me happier." She said as she turned to walk out the door with most of the class following.
"Wanna feed the octopus?" Zack asked another student, Woody. "Yeah!" Woody said with a massive smile while Flora stood beside the two, looking at them weirdly. "I don't think that's a good idea." She said quietly but Zack still heard her and he shrugged.
"What's the worst that can happen?" He asked before he tried to open the jar. "Stupid jar!" He yelled angrily as he was struggling to open the jar.
"We should find a hammer." Woody suggested and Zack looked at him. "Yes!"
Woody went to find a hammer and Zack went over to talk to his brother. Flora went over to look at the octopus. Woody came over to her and a boy called Bailey and picked up the octopus from the tank. "What are you doing?" Bailey asked him.
"Ooh, it's mushy." Woody said, ignoring Bailey's question. "And delicate." Bailey said just as the octopus squirted ink all over Woody's face. Flora jumped back as Zack and Cody started laughing.
Woody then tossed it to Zack who also got squirted with ink. Zack then tossed it to Cody, who tossed it to Flora, and she tossed it Bailey and they all ended up covered in ink. Bailey then accidentally tossed it out the port hole.
Everyone quickly ran over and Cody jumped up so half of his body was outside. "Can you see it?" Bailey asked.
"Yeah! It's stuck to the side of the wall." Cody called out. "Hold my legs, I think I might be able to reach him." He said and the group did what they were told.
"Ok! I got him!" Cody called out again before they heard seagulls squawking. "Seagulls attacking! Seagulls attacking!" Cody yelled.
"Don't hurt the octopus!" Bailey called out to Cody. "You're right, it's cool. I'll just let them peck my eyes out!" Cody yelled and Flora couldn't help but laugh. "Pull me in!" Cody yelled.
Zack tried to pull Cody in through the port hole, but instead took down his pants. "Are those Share Bears?" Woody asked with a smile, referring to Cody's underwear.
"This is a nightmare!" Cody yelled as Bailey and Flora laughed. "It's not too pretty from this side either." Zack said as he shook his head before he helped Cody in.
"Maybe they're still in the lab." The group heard Miss Tutweiller say from the hall. The group quickly put the octopus back in the tank and Cody pulled his pants back up.
Miss Tutweiller walked through the door. "What in the world is going on here?" She asked.
"Nothing." The group said in sync and Cody's pants fell down again. Cody looked down and back up as Miss Tutweiller laughed. "Are those Share Bears?" She asked and Cody sighed in annoyance.
☆☆☆
Later that day, Alexa and Flora walked into the arcade room the ship had. The two started playing a Pokémon game they had and she looked up to see Zack teaching Bailey how to play pool and she looked at them weirdly as London came in the room. "I hate this stupid sea school, and I hate this stupid boat." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Hey, Galaxy Raider is open." Zack called out and London nodded. "I love this stupid boat." She said before she went over and picked up a pair of headphones along with Zack, Cody and Bailey. "Dibs on the gold headphones! They match my outfit." London said and did a little dance.
Alexa left for the bathroom and Flora looked down at the game she held and back up at Galaxy Raiders and got up from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to Zack. She tapped his shoulder lightly and he turned to her and smiled when he saw who it was. "Can I play?" She asked quietly and looked down.
Zack looked down as well to see if there was anything interesting, but there wasn't. Just Flora's white sneakers that had little doodles drawn on them. He looked back and wondered why she was so shy with him but didn't want to question it. "Sure." He nodded and Flora looked up and a soft smile came across her face.
Zack couldn't help but smile back, thinking that Flora's little smile was adorable. Flora picked up a pair of headphones and put them over her head.
The group of five couldn't hear the three chimes and the woman on the speakers say they were holding a lifeboat drill. And the group didn't see everyone leave the room. But they did hear a loud alarm that went off three times.
"That's a loud alarm." London said as the group took off their headphones. "I can barely hear myself not think." She added.
"What does three consecutive alarms mean?" Bailey asked. "I don't know, let me check."Cody said before he took a piece of paper from his pocket.
"One bell, breakfast. Two bells, lunch. Three bells, sinking ship." Cody read out and Flora's eyes widened. "Sinking ship!" Cody yelled and the group started panicking.
"Which way?" Zack asked his brother. "Port!"
The group ran out the room and found some life jackets. "The boats already tipping over!" London called out.
"No, you just broke your heel." Flora said quietly and London looked down at her shoes. "Worse!" She yelled.
"Look! Life jackets." Zack said and the group quickly started picking up a life jacket. "Are they all orange? I need to go change." London said and she was about to turn around but Cody dragged her back.
"Look, an exit! Let's get outta here!" Zack said and he held onto Flora's hand on instinct and the group ran over opened the door and the tumbled into water. Flora furrowed her eyebrows when she felt the floor and the water being hot. She opened her eyes to see they were in the hot tub on the Sky Deck.
"We fell overboard!" Cody yelled. "Why is the ocean so hot?" London asked.
"Probably because it's a hot tub." Mr Moseby said. "Why is there a hot tub in the middle of the ocean?" London asked and Mr Moseby rolled his eyes.
Flora sat up and Zack followed, neither of them realising they were still holding hands. "Are you ok?" Zack asked the brunette and she nodded. "Yeah. Are you?" She asked and Zack nodded.
"Here's your hat Bailey." Cody said and handed Bailey his hat, only to realise that Baileys hair was out and that he was actually a she. "Dude, you're a girl!" He said.
Miss Tutweiller dropped her clipboard and it landed on Mr Moseby's foot. "I am? That explains so much!" Bailey said and looked around nervously.
☆☆☆
Mr Moseby got the group of kids towels and each of them had one wrapped around their shoulders to keep them warm. "Miss Pickett, why on Earth would you masquerade as a boy?" Miss Tutweiller asked Bailey.
"Well I- I don't know." Bailey said and looked down at the ground. "Yes, you do." Zack stepped forward. "It was her only way to get outta Popcorn, Kansas." He said to Miss Tutweiller. Flora looked at him confused.
"Kettlecorn." Bailey corrected. "Whatever." Zack shrugged. "What? This girl was meant for bigger things than to shuck hogs." He said.
"No, you shuck corn. If you try and shuck a hog, it'll bite you." Bailey explained and Flora's eyes widened.
"Work with me." Zack said to the Pickett girl who nodded. "Anyways, Seven Seas High was her only chance to get off the farm, which she's dreamed of doing her whole life." Zack said to Miss Tutweiller. "You can't send her back to Caramel Corn."
"Kettlecorn!" Mr Moseby yelled in annoyance from behind Flora, causing her to jump a little. "If you've even been to Kettlepot, you've driven right through it." He said and Bailey nodded.
"What's with Kansas and naming towns after a kettle?" Flora asked quietly but Cody heard her and laughed.
"Well, Bailey your application was by far the most impressive." Miss Tutweiller said and Cody stood up from the bar stool he was sitting on. "Wait, what?" He asked. "What about my essay on barnacle reproduction? I had pictures." He said and everyone looked at him weirdly.
"Can I see them?" Woody asked and everyone turned to him.
"Bailey I would let you stay but there's isn't a cabin left." Miss Tutweiller said. "She can stay in my room. I can take one for the team." Zack offered and Mr Moseby slapped him in the chest with Baileys hat.
"I meant a girls cabin. Every girl has a roommate." Miss Tutweiller said and London raised her hand. "Except for me!" She said with a smile.
Bailey gasped. "London, thank you!" Bailey said as she went over and hugged London who looked up at her confused. "Huh?"
"London, so nice of you to offer to share a room with Bailey." Mr Moseby said and London stood up. "I wasn't offering, I was gloating. There's a difference." She said before she took off her necklace. "Here's a diamond necklace. Drop out." She said as she handed the necklace to Bailey.
"I wouldn't drop out for all the money in the world." Bailey said as she held a massive smile. "I can get that." London said and Flora looked at her confused. "How?" She asked quietly and no one heard her.
"No, I wanna stay here and be your BFF!" Bailey said before she hugged London. "Get O-F-F." London said and Bailey let go.
London sighed. "I will not share a room." She said. "Well, you have too if you want to stay in this school." Mr Moseby said.
"I don't! Has no one been listening to anything I've said? Stupid Sea School!" London shouted. "It's just a big pain in the butt!" She said before she took off her towel and stroked off, leaving the group laughing at the octopus stuck on her butt.