Two

The first day of the cruise was not spent entirely on the cruise. Most of the time we were stuck in lines at the baggage drop off. This line was outside, in the hot Brazilian weather, and I pitied the people who came in trousers or joggers, but soon it'd make no difference as I too started feeling extremely hot. The lines were long, and taxis kept coming up the driveway, nearly missing careless or entitled parents that just crossed without looking, which resulted in horns being blasted constantly. The silver lining that this had was that I saw most of the teens there, and started having an idea on what I'd have to go against to find myself with one of them at night, and the possibilities were really low from what I could see. Most were tall and slim, with haircuts that spiked my curiosity. Add that to their sunglasses, and I found myself staring too much without my sunglasses on, so some might've seen me. I was amazed to see how many natural blonde teens there were, and most of them seemed as if they'd just woke up, and that was quite possibly true. It was about nine in the morning, and we had been in line for a while.

After waiting and sightseeing in the line for what seemed like a good hour and a half, we made it to the actual drop off, and I understood nothing of what was said to us. All I retained was that we were in room thirteen-two-hundred-and-ten, and only because it was drawn in such a manner that it couldn't be missed, and some sort of blue sticker on our boarding passes. And we were free to go to reception, where we'd from more lines to board the cruise. It was in these lines that two teen faces caught my attention: one was clearly from a family that had come to perform a wedding ceremony on board the ship. They were about ten in total, mostly adults, all in light blue shirts which depicted champagne glasses and rings. While inspecting the party from afar, I saw the second teen that caught my attention. He was no older than me from what I could make out, and had a permanent confused expression. Not one that stood out, but his eyes were wide open and his eyebrows lifted, as if he had taken several cups of coffee and the effect was setting in gradually. I don't precisely know what attracted me to him, but I'd guess it was his expression. A few days later the wedding took place, and he wore a total black suit with a red tie. That was a delight to see.

The second face that caught my eye was another teen while we were sitting down and waiting for our number to be called to be able to start boarding. He was about my age as well, travelling with his parents. A slim build, with pale skin and black hair, which made him quite handsome. With sharp features along his face, it was easy to look at him with envy, especially from me with my overall round face. He wore a grey shirt with blue jeans that did not make him stand out, but his face drew all my attention, and since we were about two seats away from him, I had to properly time when I'd look at him so that we wouldn't find each other's gaze. Now that I think of it, he must’ve been able to see me in peripheral vision.

Our number was called eventually, after we had figured out the colour scheme to form the line, we went. While in this line I looked for the first teen, to see his eyes again before losing him on the ship, but no such luck. He had gone a few minutes ago, and those minutes were precious in lines like these. But the second teen had the same group number as us, and he was exactly one line behind me, so we'd cross every so often and the effort it took to not look was a big one.

Not nearly as hard as not looking at Him that night, but still a considerable effort.

The line was pretty long, I believe it went from one wall to another about nine times, and was always packed. My phone was pretty much useless since roaming data wasn't working, and there were no internet hotspots nearby, so I started reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Started it isn't quite true, I had been reading it for a few days but one day interest was lost and went to my phone instead. Didn't lose the context of the story, however, and managed to retain memory of most of the characters. The more I read, I rediscovered my need for books. None were appealing to me anymore, the genres seemed to dull or stupid, and reading the entirety of the available Game of Thrones books left me thinking I'd only ever like that genre again. Absolutely false. To kill a Mockingbird was written in a spectacular way, the characters were amazingly portrayed with the values that each held clearly seen, and the way the story unfolded and the main plot happened was astounding. It was easily one of the best books I read. Anyways.

We crossed paths every time the line moved, but at that point I was way into the book. Time passed faster and there were the many reception desks. It looked as if one cleared every ten seconds, and that seemed more than likely. As soon as we reached the end of the line, a lady at a desk called out to us and we went. From there it was the usual paper checking, ID requesting people that were everywhere. The only different thing was that our birth dates were mixed up: I had my mom's and she had mine, so the lady went to her supervisor and after a lengthy conversation we were free to go to the inspection section. At this point I saw the third teen that caught my sight. He was tall. Like really tall, maybe near six feet two, but we caught each other's gaze several times, and I didn't know how to feel. He was cute and handsome, but he looked older than me, maybe nineteen, so I didn't want him to get any ideas. I have to say though, if he had been up for it, I wouldn't have said no.

At the security checkpoint we lost each other, and my mother totally missed the plastic trays for the metal detectors, so I had to take them with me to her. Then I found out I had kept food from the Gold room at the airport in my backpack, which seemed to make the x-ray machine fuss a little but we were clear to go since it was still sealed. At that point we weren't done yet: some cruise staff wanted to take a picture for the trip, but did so with such haste that I'm pretty sure I looked awful. Then we were able to leave that building and get on the bus that would take us to our cruise, where my emotions would go crazy.

**

There were two cruises that day on the harbour: the MSC Seaview and the Costa Fascinosa. We had booked a room on the Seaview, and I told my mom several times to make sure our room had a window looking out to the sea. These rooms were more comfortable compared to the ones that were inside the ship with no openings except for the door, and you could wake up to the sea every day, which in my opinion was the best way to start a day at sea.

We walked up to the gangway of the ship and the air in was immediately cool. The blistering hot sun had no effect inside this ship, and I was extremely happy for that. Up the stairs to the main staircase were two stewardesses, which took the picture that would be associated with our cards, which they subsequently gave us. My picture was off to the left, with the brightness of the sun nearly blinding the stewardess, and also anyone that saw my picture in any of the screens on the ship.

Going inside the ship was breath-taking. The first rooms were hallways covered with wooden walls and silver railings, each with a design more engaging than the other. These hallways lead to a smaller room with two lifts on either side, which had a set of a letter and a number. Between these was a small touchscreen which activated when one came in proximity to it, and it displayed all the floors that particular lift could go to. Since our room started with thirteen, that was the floor where our room was, and we pressed it. The touchscreen lit up, and the set ‘G4' with an arrow pointing to the bottom left lit. At that point I had no idea what it meant, so I'll save you the trouble of deciphering it. It meant that the bottom left lift, from looking directly at the touchscreen, would take you to your floor. It did not mean that your floor was behind you to your left, or in the floors below, but hey, we all had a first time at everything.

**

The day had passed boringly: there wasn't anything particularly new or exciting about it, apart from the discourse I had with my mom which ultimately changed this trip for me.

The card that we had been given had a restaurant name, the deck it was on, seating time, and table number. Ours was like this: Golden Sand, deck seven, twenty-three o'clock, and three-eight-six. My mother had not seen any of these things, and decided to change it all three hours before the seating. I said I did not want it changed, that I found the time and place irrelevant as long as there was food. Hell broke loose. The usual ‘you don't want to be with me, why did we come here' started pouring out, so I had to loosen up and say that I will go with her.

Dinner took place regularly at eighteen o'clock, after the first show had finished at the ship's theatre. These were shows just under half an hour, with marvellous acting, singing, and choreographed dancing, which always amazed me. I found something in choreography that completely took my attention: so many people doing the same thing at the exact same time. Everyone doing their best to get a simple applause from strangers they'd never meet or know in depth. The total devotion these people gave was impressive, and the same could be said for any group in the like. But these people, performing a cover of Tina Turner's You're Simply the Best caught me. I almost cried at the end, and that spoke deeply to me. The fact that complete strangers saying ‘You're Simply the Best' had warmed my heart, for no one had ever said that to me. Not with the emotion, the true-heartedness, and as much as people can say it wasn't true-hearted, I'll give it to you. They didn't speak to me personally, but it felt like that. And if that doesn't provoke emotions within you, then be happy that you have not been hurt as bad as you think you have been.

The show had ended, and the cheering and clapping was followed by standing. This was the most definite proof of success: your audience standing and cheering for you, the fact that you've made these people so happy, so fulfilled in their expectations, even surpassed them. But now was the time I had been wanting to not happen just a few hours ago. We went down to the wrong restaurant, and my mother was completely sure it was right one, and it took three different people to convince her otherwise. This happened at the middle of the restaurant and not many people looked, but I was embarrassed nonetheless. So we headed down to the Golden Sand, and we went right in. At the very entry of it was the table that our card had set, table three-eight-six. Empty, but since my mother had changed hers, I went along. It was a two-seat table, between another of two with two women, a mother and daughter, and a three-seat table. I was already dreading the noise that would emanate, but those thoughts were destroyed when I saw the people coming.

When I saw Him coming.