Royals

Chapter 25

(A/N Just wondering: do any of you even read my authors notes?!)

"Nine...ten. All here," my mother announced, motioning for us to pass through the gates.

One by one, we all boarded the cruise ship and made our way into the overly crowded lobby. We stood by for a while, talking amongst ourselves when the two adults accompanying us on this trip, Mrs. Rambly and my mother, gathered us together.

"Emily, Lillia, and Marietta, you're in room one-oh-two," Mrs. Rambly informed us, handing us each a room key. "Jake, Joey, and Brandon will all share room one-six-two. Ana and Rebecca, you will be rooming with Mrs. Brazki in room one-two-one," she finished, giving away the rest of the room keys.

I had convinced Mrs. Rambly to allow Lillia's sister, Rebecca, to join us, seeing as Ana would have no one to talk to. And despite being a year older than Ana, they had very similar tastes, which was why they got along so great.

"Why don't we meet on the sky deck for lunch?" my mother suggested. "Until then, you can settle in."

I was kind of apprehensive about rooming with Marietta. Firstly, I barely knew the girl. Secondly, she was dating Jake.

Even though I knew I had no right to be bothered by the fact, I was. Jake had most likely told her all about me, so what if she hated me now? What if she was planning on stealing all my clothes while I slept? Pour hair dye in my shampoo bottle? "Accidentally" break my makeup brushes?

The possibilities were endless.

Then again, she looked as innocent as Anastasia. Was she even capable of hurting someone's feelings? From her appearance, I wouldn't think so. Her voice was as sweet as honey and, for crying out loud, she was constantly wearing headbands--which looked a lot like halos when I spared her a quick glance.

But I'm not sure who had it worse: us or the boys.

I couldn't even imagine the level of tension in their room between my boyfriend, ex-crush, and a kid who was currently crushing on me...

Ay caramba.

After Lillia unlocked our temporary home, we piled in, each claiming a bedroom. The room was full of blues and whites, further pursuing the "at sea" vibe.

My favorite part was what lied beyond the furnished living room: a pair of double doors leading to a balcony that overlooked the beautiful water below.

After shoving my clothes in various drawers, I sat out on the balcony watching as the boat pulled away from the land, drifting off into the void of the never-ending cerulean water.

"Everyone's heading down to the buffet area now," Lillia chimed in, ending my meditative state.

Once we met with the others, we piled into two tables. As much as I wanted to shake it, I couldn't felt but feel awkward around Brandon. As sweet and flattering as his crush was, I couldn't ignore the fact that he practically texted me every second of the day, never forgetting a "good morning" or "goodnight" text.

Couldn't he see that I was happy with Joey?

To prove a point, I leaned over and kissed Joey on the cheek. While taking a sip of my Pepsi, I snuck a peek at him over the rim of the glass. As expected, he looked a little angry and extremely jealous.

Good.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rest of the day was spent oversea, so we stayed at the waterpark until close. Afterwards, we shared a pizza and departed to our rooms for the night. Joey caught onto Brandon's hopeless crush on me, and purposely kissed me in front of him, silently cueing him to back off.