~Brian’s point of view~
The four of us were at the pool again.
“Hey, the ship stops off at St. Marteen’s Island tomorrow! Awesome! I want some souvenirs and stuff to buy for everyone,” Michelle was reading a little brochure.
“Ohh! Shopping trip!” Cassie grinned.
“Uh-oh. You know what that means, Bri? We’re going to be dragged to every Caribbean version of Abercrombie&Fitch imaginable. Shoot me now!” Nick said.
Today was so far was shaping up to be just as warm and sunny as the last.
“Is Kevin off any tomorrow?” Michelle asked. “Maybe he could come with us.”
“I don’t know. But I don’t want my brother coming with us!” Cassie whined.
“Aww… does our little Michelle have a crush on someone?” Nick teased, laughing. “He does bear a striking resemblance to Aladdin, and this is a Disney Cruise. So I guess I can see your logic…”
The three of us laughed at the idea. But Michelle looked over at Kevin, “you know, he sorta does look like Aladdin! How cute!”
Cassie groaned. “Please don’t refer to my brother as ‘cute’ or else I think I’m going to lose my lunch.”
“That’ll be hard considering we haven’t had lunch today,” I mentioned. I glanced around the pool. Someone had just come in and sat down at one of the chairs on the other side.
“Isn’t that the girl you were talking to last night?” Michelle asked, following my gaze.
“Yeah.”
“So?” Cassie didn’t see what the big deal was.
“So, Cass, tell me about that hottie you were dancing with last night,” Michelle grabbed her attention.
“Oh? Howie?” Cassie started gushing about him.
Michelle did a hand motion when Cassie wasn’t paying attention. ‘What’s that about?’ I didn’t need to hide from Cassie just cause I was going to talk to some girl.
I hadn’t even said I was going to talk to her.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Nick. Okay, just because I hadn’t said I was going to, didn’t mean I wasn’t going to. Michelle wanted me to after all.
I made my way to the other side of the pool.
“Hi August,” I said.
She looked up from the book she was reading. “Oh, hi.”
“Is this seat taken?” I asked.
“Umm…no, go ahead.”
I sat down. “What are you reading?”
“A book.”
I smiled. “I figured that. More specifically?”
“Words.”
I smiled. “I didn’t know I was dealing with such a comedian,” I told her, dryly. “What’s it called?”
“ ‘Dealing With Dragons.’ It’s a fairytale type thing,” she explained.
Nodding, I noticed she was by herself again. “Did you come on this cruise by yourself?”
“No, my parents are always doing something. And I don’t want to hang out with my brother and his friend, so I’m just trying to figure out what I’m gonna do for the next two weeks.”
“You can always hang out with me and the gang,” I offered.
“Oh, no thanks. Your friend doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“Which one? Cassie.”
“The one who keeps sending me looks,” August pointed.
I glanced over my shoulder. Cassie saw me, smiled and turned back around quickly. “I’m sure its just a misunderstanding… so she’ll seem nicer once you get to know her. And you already met Nick and Michelle.”
“I don’t know…”
“Are you always this shy?”
“Are you always this forward?”
Actually, I wasn’t always. I was usually more like her, and somewhat shy. Well, at first. I was acting totally weird for just meeting someone. And I didn’t usually go start conversations with strangers either. “Not always. Consider this your lucky day,” I told her truthfully. “Come on,” I stood up, and held out my hand.
She slowly took it and grabbed her book.
Howie, I assumed from Cassie’s descriptions, was standing with them when we got back.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Howie winked at Cassie, then left.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Cassie’s going to a movie with Howie tonight,” Nick explained.
I nodded and I turned my attention back to August, who looked like she was feeling out of place. “Guys, this is August. You’ve already met Michelle and Nick…”
“Hello,” they both said.
“And this is Cassie,” I introduced them.
“Hi,” Cassie put on a sweet smile, and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
August looked surprised. “You, too,” she said politely.
“Let’s go get some lunch, I’m starving!” Nick said out of nowhere.
“Good idea. August, do you want to come?” Cassie extended an invitation.
“Um…sure,” she said uneasily. We all grabbed our stuff.
“Where are you from?” Michelle asked her.
“North Carolina,” she responded. “Are you all from Florida?”
“Yeah,” Nick answered.
We grabbed some lunch and then went to Common Grounds, a teen hangout kind of place. I glanced around. Some people were watching TV, some listening to music, and others playing various board games.
“Mich, you wanna play chess?” Cassie asked her.
“Sure, but I must warn you: you’ll lose!” she grinned, mischievously. They went to play. Nick followed.
“Michelle, you couldn’t even win at checkers against my little brother, Aaron, and he’s not even ten!” Nick mentioned, following as he laughed.
August and I sat down on a couch.
“Is Nick your best friend?” she asked.
“Yeah. But all four of us are pretty close.”
“Is he dating Michelle?”
I laughed. “No, they’re just good friends.”
“Hmm…” she got quiet thinking about something. “Well, they seem really nice.”
“I’m glad you think so… and that your getting more talkative.”
She laughed. “Well, I didn’t know you. Not that I do now.”
“Well, what do you want to know?”
“How about a full name?”
“Brian Thomas Littrell. And yours would be?”
“August Trinity McFadden.”
“And how old might you be, Miss McFadden?”
“I just might be almost 16.”
“16 is a very good age to be. Well, it has been for me so far. Whose your favorite band?”
“Umm… BBMak, Westlife, and Boyz 2 Men and some others, I guess.”
“I love Boyz to Men! Have you seen them in concert?”
“No, I wish. Why, have you?”
“Oh, yeah! 5th row center! My dad took me when I was in like middle school.”
“Wow. It must be nice to live in Florida. Every group that goes on tour stops by there. Boyz 2 Men never toured anywhere near me.”
“Well, maybe they’ll have like a reunion tour someday. Then you can see them.”
We talked for awhile longer. In fact, when I looked at my watch, it had been a good hour and a half. Cassie, Michelle, and Nick were now sitting with some others watching TRL on MTV.
“Wow, it’s getting late. I’d better go before I give my parents a heart attack or something,” August got up. “I’m supposed to go with them to dinner.”
“Okay, I’ll walk you to your room. Nick, I’ll meet you back at our room in like a half an hour, okay?”
“Sure.”
We walked back to hers, which was a little nicer than mine.
“Wow, this is spacious!”
“Eh, not when your sharing it with like four other people.”
I nodded. “I guess your right. Well, see ya later.”
“Bye…”
She started to shut the door. “Hey, do you want to hang out with us tomorrow when the ship stops at St. Marteen’s Island?”
“Umm… sure.”
“Meet us on the deck outside Sunset Snacks at 9?”
“I’ll be there.”
Chapter Two
Chapter Four
Drowning
Frick's Fairytales