Sara

                    Sara clenched her eyes shut, and just pictured she was back on  solid ground. No, she's relaxing on a sunny beach, jus... Shit. The thought of a beach only reminded her of water, which reminds her of waves, which reminds her she is not on solid ground but rather a fucking cruise ship! Her eyes spring open and within seconds she’s on her feet, holding onto the railing and sharing the meagre remnant’s of her breakfast with the fishes.

                   She moaned, leaning her forehead against the cool wood of the railing. It felt good, but not good enough to have her forget the reason for her churning stomach. A light breeze flows around her knees as and she wishes she wasn't wearing a knee high dress. It would be cute her mother had told her;  its important to make a good impression her father had chimed in. She just wanted to shut them up so she agreed and was planning to change as soon as she no longer hated life. 

             “Don't do this Sara,” her brother Andrew, pleads with her, sounding more annoyed then concerned over the fact his twin sister was making him look like a loser again. and looking embarrassed to have to be standing next to her puking ass.         

                If she hadn't been currently throwing up into the pacific ocean she would have clawed his eyes out. Instead she had to settle on the image of it, and hoping she could permanently burn it into the back of her eyelids. The thought even seems to settle her stomach a bit. Anger pushes threw her. How dare he blame her! He was the one that had decided to go and have their senior trip on a fucking cruise ship. At that very moment there was no one she hated more then her own twin brother. 

                With a sudden surge of adrenaline, Sara is finally able to straighten up and glares at Andy with every last ounce of strength she had left. They’re not identical- obviously- but people are always saying how much they look alike. But Sara could never see it. Sure they have the same dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes, but to her that’s where it ends. And yes, they do similar body and face structure but Andy had always held himself different, looked different, in a way she never could. She could never put her finger on it, but she’d guess it was maybe happiness.

                “Sar…”

               “Fuck you!"

                “Sa…”

                She doesn’t hear the end of his explanation, as she’s walking-however unsteadily- away. She feels a little silly for her outburst, but not that bad. It’s his fault after all she’s feeling like this. The only reason she is on this ship is because it’s their senior trip. The senior trip that her brother planned for months knowing how much his sister, his TWIN sister no doubt, hated boats.

               “Hey, S! Wait up! I don’t like running!”

               Even though she doesn’t want to, Sara slows down. It’s the only person in the world she calls a friend. Bradley Fisher. She turns just in time to see his tall, lanky form stop beside her, way too out of breath for a healthy eighteen-year-old male.

               “Dude,” Sara says cracking a smile, “you need to exercise more.”

                 Brad puts up his left index finger, his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath, “No. What I need to stop is the weed.”

                Sara can help but laugh, but its only because she knows he’ll never straighten up. Brad has been her best friend since they were thirteen and he was the only person in her art class that wasn't a pretentious ass she wanted to slap. 

               “What?” he asks her, a crooked smile plastered on his face.

                “Nothing,” she says, quickly beginning to walk again. She knows he’ll follow. He always follows her around like a puppy. It’s weird, because guys don’t notice her. No one does really, regardless of the gender but she didn't care. Sara did not like people. She would much rather hang out alone then deal with the nonsense of tik tok, or taking pictures of her food. She can never figure out why Brad wanted to be her friend so long ago, and more still, why he has stayed.

                 “You okay?” he asks pulling on her arm slightly so she has to walk a little slower beside him.

               “Peachy!”

               “Is it your brother?”

              She just shrugs, “Little of column A, a little of column B.”

            Brad frowns, “…what column B?”

             Sara sighs. Brad had always been a little dense sometimes. She blames the weed, but she thought it might just be a part of who he was She smiles despite wanting to be annoyed. “It’s a figure of speech, dufus!”

              “Ah ha, but you see you’re the dufus here young one, as I already knew that.”

                  “Suuuure,” Sara answers with a real laugh. Brad might be weird. He might be the polar opposite of her, but he made her laugh, and when the world around her sinks as it often does, that’s all that keeps her clinging.

                 “Why did you even come?” Brad asked suddenly, bringing her roughly back to reality.

                 “Because I had to.”

                 “No, you didn’t.”

                “Yes, I did,” she says, “If I had stayed home, I would have been forced to listen to my parents bitch about how much I suck for two weeks. Oh, and also how perfect Andy is! Oh, Sara, your brother got into Yale, where are you going again; community college? Andy has a beautiful girlfriend, Sara! Its so nice to see them together, Sara. Are you sure you’re not a lesbian? Sara! Andy got a Nobel Peace Prize! Where’s yours?”

                She sighs, and Brad puts a hand over her shoulder.

               “Sara,” Brad says, pausing slightly, and Sara knows what he’s going to say. ‘It’s going to be okay.’ ‘People suck.’ ‘Blah blah blah.’

               "Think they got a bar on board?”

                 Okay, not what she was expecting but still cannon for Brad. Sara fights off another bout of laughter, and simply shrugs. She’s not a drinker (or a drug user, or a anything of anything really), so Brad’s idea of being cheered up isn’t something she really wanted to do. Still she knows she doesn’t have a choice. All she can do is try and deter him as best she can, and then go along as painlessly as possible when she fails. “Probably, but I doubt they’ll sell to minors.”

                 “Ah, but dear dear Sara,” Brad says, using the tone of voice that always makes Sara cringe because it only means that something stupid is about to follow, “that’s where we get drunks to buy for us.”

                “You’re so going to get kicked off the ship within a week!”

                 Brad extends a hand, an elfish smile on his face. He smoothly, takes the sunglasses that were hanging along the color of his white tee shirt, and places them on his face. his grin growing by the second. “You’re on, Spewie.”

                   Her stomach churns at the mere word ‘spew’ and she has just enough time to reach the railing before her breakfast makes another re occurrence. She’s never going to eat pop tarts again. Urg!