The dock was teeming with life. Seagulls squawked as they soared over the heads of million so laughing, crying, and chattering people. Stray dogs trotted along the rotting planks, sniffing at dropped delicacies and gobbling them up. The seals in the harbor wailed raucously as merchants threw scraps of fish to them.

Among the buzzing, noisy crowd was Mackenzie Thompson. Her beloved black fedora rested neatly on her head. A single trunk lay on the ground next to her three-inch black boots. She was dressed in black from her chic black ivy hat, to her turtleneck to her shiny, black leather pants.

“Would you like me to take this for you ma’am?” a husky man about in his twenties in blue suit asked as he ambled up to her.

“Sure. I’d like it in room 136,” she said coolly, running her fingers through her shiny, cropped hair. “Please.”

“Ok. Will do.” He lifted the trunk up onto his shoulder heftily.

“Mackenzie? Honey, is that you?” shrilled a tall, lanky red haired woman as she scurried through the mob of people.

“Oh, no,” Mackenzie muttered and rubbed her forehead. She rolled her eyes at her mother, who was weeping uncontrollably.

“Oh my goodness! I’m going to miss you so much! Now remember what I told you. Don’t eat anything that hasn’t been cleaned first. And be sure to boil your water before you drink it, because the water down there isn’t sanitary. It’s just crawling with germs…” she rambled on and on about safari safety. Mackenzie was wondering what was worse- going on some corny safari trip across the Atlantic, or staying home all summer.

“Mother! I’ll be fine. I’ll remember what you said. I have to get on the boat, now. Goodbye,” she hugged and kissed her mother on the cheek, and hurried to get on the monstrous cruise liner.

From out of nowhere, a boy with blonde hair crashed into her. Mackenzie toppled over onto the fungus-covered planks.

“Oh, of course! I haven’t even left the dock and I’ve already proven myself a complete moron. Here, let me help you,” he reached his hand down. Mackenzie was awestruck by the face that was talking to her. She dumbly took hold of his outstretched hand.

The strange hand pulled her up on her feet.

“Sorry about that,” he smiled at her. “My name’s Luke. Luke Riley.”

“Mackenzie Thompson,” she said shyly. She’d never felt so awkward around a boy.

“Hello beautiful,” a tall, lean young man sauntered over coolly. He looked about seventeen or eighteen and he, too, was completely dressed in black.

“Sean!” Mackenzie immediately grew uncomfortable.

“Who’s this?” he looked disgustedly at Luke.

“This is Luke riley. We just met. Luke, this is my…boyfriend, Sean.” She dropped her gaze to the ground and would not look up.

Sean didn’t seem to notice. He made himself welcome to her, grabbed her around the middle, and kissed her. She halfheartedly tried to pull away. He ignored her feeble attempts to stop and pulled her closer. To prove to any by passers of his power over her, he parted her lips with his tongue and kissed her roughly. Mackenzie couldn’t stand it.

She yanked herself out of his arms. “Sean, stop,” she said meekly. Her gray eyes looked embarrassed as she looked around nervously for her mother.

“What’s with that? I won’t be seeing for a whole summer, and you won’t even let me kiss you goodbye!”

Mackenzie shrank back and fearfully looked for an excuse for pulling away. “Sean, my mother’s here. She’s watching me.”

“So, what?”

“So, you know how she feels about…y’know, us.”

He rolled his eyes hautily at her. “Oh, please! Who cares? I don’t.”

“I do. You don’t have to live with her.”

“You never cared before and I don’t care right now. Now if you want to be a slutty little tease go ahead and push me away... Is that what you want to do?”

“No,” she said quietly and hung her head, defeated.

“Good.” She let him kiss her, and she unwillingly let him part her lips. She was extremely embarrassed, but she didn’t dare say so.

Luke slipped away down the dock and boarded the ship. A loud, deep whistle bellowed across the pier.

“I have to go, Sean. Goodbye.” She started to leave. He grabbed her arm. “Ouch! Sean let go. You’re hurting me!”

“Remember, I’m your boyfriend. So, go ahead and cheat on me with that little, goody-goody, rich blondie over there. Just keep in mind that I can dump your sorry ass any time.” He let go and walked away.

***

Margo Witt and Brooklyn Johnson bobbed down the corridors, singing and dancing as they went. Each wore a headset and danced to the music.

“Here it is! Room 136,” Margo said yanking off her headphones.

“Cool,” Brooklyn skipped through the door.

Inside there were two bunk beds, one along each wall. There was a limited amount of drawer space for their suitcases underneath the beds. Sitting on the bottom of one was a girl dressed in black. A dark green trunk sat in the middle of the floor.

“Hi,” Margo waved. Mackenzie stared blankly at her for a second.

“Oh, hi,” she said glumly. Her eyes were a little swollen and red. It looked like she had been crying.

“Are you ok?” Brooklyn inquired, concerned. The girl nodded.

“Just feeling homesick already,” she sniffled.

“Oh, I see. Well, my name is Brooklyn Johnson. You can call me Brooke,” Brooke smiled and offered her hand.

Mackenzie smiled and took it appreciatively. “Mackenzie Thompson.”

“This is my friend Margo Witt. I guess you’re stuck with us for room mates.” Brooke smiled and started unpacking things out of her backpack. Margo did the same.

“Where are you guys from?” Mackenzie asked.

“I’m from Chicago and Brooke is from Boston,” Margo piped up. “Where are you from?”

“Portland. It’s in Maine.”

“Never been there. Is it nice?”

“I guess so.”

“Cool.”

There were already two girls inside, one on each side of the room. Both were sitting on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed lined up against the two walls. One was tuning a guitar and the other had on a pair of headphones.

The girl with the guitar looked up from what she was doing. “Hi!” she said cheerfully. “I’m Phoebe.”

Alexi stared expressionlessly at her. Phoebe looked back down at her instrument, a little embarrassed. The other girl did not look up at all. Alexi strode over to the bunk and tossed her bag on the top bunk. She pulled her long, slender body up and pulled a stuffed teddy bear out of her backpack. The bear was placed neatly and carefully on her pillow.

The second girl, listening to the headphones, just seemed to notice that there was someone else in the room. She stood up and peeked at Alexi, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“My name’s Ashley. I guess you’re going to be my roommate for the next three weeks. Cool.” Alexi noticed a little bit of some accent in her voice.

Then Ashley popped back down and put her headsets back on. Alexi listened to Phoebe strum on her guitar.

“Do you know any songs?” she said suddenly.

Phoebe looked up startled. “Yes.”

“Can I play it?”

“Sure,” Phoebe handed her guitar to the mysterious girl, quizzically.

Alexi plunked out a few cords, then launched into song. Her fingers flew across the strings and up and down the cords. Phoebe was stunned. She had never seen anyone play a guitar like that! When Alexi finished, she handed the guitar back to Phoebe.