The ship itself, mostly on the inside, was rather impressive. The dining hall had floors like red velvet cake, crystal chandeliers hung low above the white tablecloths that blanketed the mahogany wood beneath, and the buffet was decked with vanilla cakes with whipped buttercream frosting and glasses of the clearest mountain water one had ever seen.
Yet as incredible as the scene was, it wasn’t anything new to Bernadette. The daughter of an oil mogul, she had seen her fair share of beautiful locations. She’d been to France, India, and New Zealand; all within the span of five years. She was never interested in luxury cruises or expensive getaways, however. All she wanted was to experience new cultures and observe various ways of life.
“Stop staring, ladies,” Harvey said, his plump and stocky frame standing ahead of the girls. There were about five of them in his little group: Bernadette, Elvira, Prudence, Ginnie, and Faye.
The girls tried averting their eyes away from a man and his wife who had just had their ticket supposedly stolen. Nobody saw any sign of theft— perhaps it was just a con to get a free cruise. Bernadette was never very observant, but she knew the tall blonde woman had to have done something. Needless to say, she was intrigued. And when she was intrigued, she stopped at nothing to fuel that inner desire to learn.
“Harvey,” Ginnie whined. “Birdie’s gross thing is showing!” Harvey took not even a moment to grab Bernadette by the shoulders.
“Bernadette!” he yelled, but not loud enough to attract any attention from onlookers. “How many times do we have to go over this? Cover that damn thing up or you’re outta the group.”
“Sorry, Harvey,” Bernadette mumbled. Her eyes never met his.
“You’d better be sorry, woman,” he grunted. “I don’t pay you to look like an eye-sore on my stage. Keep that thing under wraps.”
“Yes, Harvey.”
Bernadette took large strands of her curled hair, gently placing them in front of the right side of her face. He sighed, shook his head, mumbled something incoherent under his gruff breath, then moved up in the line. They weren’t too far back, but they probably had to wait a few minutes- maybe longer if the businessman and his wife kept throwing fits.
Ginnie and Prudence snickered to each other, casting glances at Bernadette. The rest of the group didn’t like Birdie. Not just because of the thing on her face, but because of her parents. After all, they were the only reason she was in the group. She didn’t have to work her way in.
“What a grump,” Elvira, the only one Berndatte ever had to confide in, said. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but it’s quite brave of you to show that burn. So… unique.”
Bernadette never knew if Elvira was throwing backhanded compliments or if she was being genuine. Sheltered from most social situations, she did her best to pick up on things and hope for the best.
“Thanks, Elvira,” she said, despite being almost certain that it was an insult. Regardless, Bernadette liked being unique. Even in generally bad ways. Insecure yet so confident, she was. Definitely a girl of contradictions.
Elvira looked Raphael over, taking in all the details. “Dear,” she hummed, “you have dirt-- or maybe grease-- all over your clothes.” Raphael looked himself over, chuckling and nodding.
“Sorry ‘bout that, ma’am,” he said with a goofy smile. “Wiley had me clean some harder to reach areas on the ship a few hours back.”
Elvira scrunched her nose in disgust, along with Ginnie and Prudence. Faye merely frowned and tugged on her white glove.
Bernadette did not react. She didn’t feel pity for him, nor disgust. To her, he was another hard-working man mistreated by the big city. It happened too often.
The girls unpacked once in their shared room. Ginnie and Elvira argued about who stole each others’ makeup, while Faye pulled out a book bigger than her torso. The cover had suffered slight dilapidation, but aside from a few dark streaks staining the cover, it could have passed as fairly new.
"A book?" Bernadette said. Faye hugged it tightly to her small chest, her tightly wound curls bouncing when she nodded her head.
"It has a lot of different languages," she explained. "I'm trying to learn French and Spanish-- oh, and Italian." Ginnie and Elvira's quarrel came to an abrupt end.
"Why?" Elvira said. "It's not like our little group will have enough money to travel abroad."
Faye awkwardly turned her head at that. She wanted to say something, Bernadette could vaguely tell, but she didn't. Faye normally kept to herself but stuck around Ginnie when she could. Just like Bernadette, however, she was another black-sheep in the world.
"Wait," Ginnie said, "are you planning on leaving us?" Faye's entire face flushed with a deep crimson.
"You can't be serious," Elvira scoffed. "You've been in the group for almost ten years. You can't seriously think you'll make it to France or Italy, right?"
Faye frowned. "I mean... I've been saving up money, and--"
"That's not enough, Faye!" Ginnie said. "Why do you want to leave America, anyway? What's so much better there?"
"My... My distant relatives live in Italy, and I figured if I could get there then they'd let me stay with them. I hate dancing. I hate being on stage and having men touching my hips all the time-- it's gross."
Nobody could really argue with that. Not even Ginnie, who felt as if she were losing one of her only friends.
"I think it's a great idea," Bernadette said. "Are you learning French and Spanish for any particular reason?"
"No," said Faye, "I just want to be a more well-rounded person." Bernadette nodded. She was the same way, but languages didn't interest her as much as it did Faye. She was more inclined to research historical events and poetry.
“I think that’s admirable,” she said. “Personally, I don’t care if you stay or go. But you have a goal, and I admire that.”
Faye’s face began to glow. “I’ve known you for five years, you know,” she said with a newly formed smile, “and that’s the first time you’ve complimented me.”
“Or any of us for that matter,” Elvira added with a laugh.
It’s not like Bernadette wanted to give people the cold shoulder. Unfortunately, life kicked her around far too much for her to have an optimistic view of the human race. Not very many people were worthy of praise, she thought. To be fair, it’s not like people complimented her like they used to, either. Not since she had gotten that damned burn on her face. The skin was splotchy and uneven, her eye drooping slightly. It wasn’t only on her face, of course, but that was the most noticeable part. Her arm and torso suffered the same fate.
“Thinking about it again?” Elvira hummed. Bernadette snapped her head up.
“About what?”
Elvira walked over and flipped Bernadette’s hair out of her face. “Your scars,” she said. “You always have the same look on your face when you think about them. Kinda sad, ya know?”
Bernadette’s face flushed. Was she that pitiful?
“They really don’t bother me,” she said. “The only problem I have is how people treat me.”
“Don’t be so dishonest,” Elvira frowned. “It’s hard not to pity you. Every time you look in the mirror you must be horrified!”
Bernadette knew that was an insult. But she was unsure if it was intentional or not. The other girls in the room nodded in agreement. Except for Faye, who simply minded her own business. She still bore a half-smile from Bernadette’s earlier comment.
“I’m gonna take a walk,” Bernadette said. She’d rather avoid conflict whenever possible. “I’ll be back an hour before showtime.”
“Stay safe!” Elvira chirped, giving her a big hug. Her grip practically squeezed the life out of Bernadette, who wriggled out of the physical contact as quickly as possible. “Never a touchy person, huh?” Elvira giggled.
“Guess not,” Bernadette flashed a small, fake smile before leaving the room.
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