LEXI

“Look there! In the water!”

I stood on tiptoes to peer in the direction of the swimming pool. Everyone was clustered around, all jostling for a view. Sometimes, being short came in handy—it let me blend in. But in moments like this, it was just a pain.

Finally, the crowd parted enough for me to see what everyone was staring at. A body. Floating in the water. Face down.

Shit.

“Out of the way!” Christos, one of the luxury yacht’s crew members, dove into the water headfirst. The throngs of college kids around me murmured to one another in shock. I watched as Christos carried the limp body out of the pool, the lights of the ship illuminating his muscular torso in the dark night. He looked like a hero out of a Hollywood movie.

“Are they… dead?”

“There’s no way!”

“Nah, maybe they’re faking it.”

“Why would someone fake drown, you freak?”

The murmuring of the college kids around me became more panicked. I wriggled my way further into the crowd, desperately trying to figure out who the body in the water was. As I got closer, I saw Christos bent over the figure, performing CPR. Thank god Christos had rushed back to the boat earlier that night. If he wasn’t here, taking action, none of us would have had a clue what to do. Most of the people around me seemed to be frozen in shock.

“Who is it?” was the question I was hearing again and again around me, followed by “What happened?” I didn’t know the answer to either question. I moved closer and closer to Christos and the unmoving body sprawled on the ground until—

“It’s too late. I can’t get a heartbeat.” Christos straightened up as he spoke, stopping the CPR.

This had to be a joke. We were on a college cruise. A semester at sea. People didn’t die on things like this.

But the tortured expression on Christos’ face left no doubt.

Someone on this boat had just died—right in front of us.

How had a night that had started out so normal turned into such a nightmare?

One week earlier.

This was my chance. I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the boat, my entire body shivering with anticipation. As soon as my feet hit the deck and I felt the rocking of the ship, a wave of nausea ran over me. It couldn’t be sea sickness—we were still docked—so I knew it had to be nerves. I pushed the anxious feeling aside.

Cool kids don’t get nervous, I reminded myself. Or seasick. And for the next three months, I was determined to be one of the cool kids. Or at least, to not be the biggest dork on the boat—which is what I was back home. I’d worked hard to earn a spot on the prestigious Shipboard Studies program, and I wanted to make the most of it. I was going to be studying under renowned marine biologist Dr. Amelia Gill as the ship made its way through the crystal waters of the Mediterranean, and I was determined to get straight A’s. Here, far from my judgmental parents, I could throw myself into my studies without them worrying about my chosen career path.

“May I help you with your luggage, Miss…?”

I was drawn out of my reverie by the deep rumbling of a male voice. Looking up, I saw a tanned guy with an impossibly chiseled jaw and a dazzling smile holding his hand out. He was clad in all white, and a tiny nametag on his chest read Christos.

“Uh, Alexandra!” I replied, realizing that he was still looking at me expectantly.

“Very good, Miss Alexandra!” Christos took my giant duffel bag from my hand, lifting it as if it didn’t weigh a thing. “I’ll show you to your room.”

“Thank you so much for your help.” My eyes lingered on Christos’ sculpted arms as I spoke. Shoot, did he just catch me staring?

“It’s my pleasure.” He gave me a wink. Ugh, yes, he definitely saw me staring. I averted my gaze and turned my attention to the boat, towering above us, dazzling white in the sun.

“This is a gorgeous boat,” I said lamely, wishing I could think of something cooler to say. “So big.”

I half expected Christos to immediately hand back my bag and make me carry it myself, but he took my lame attempt at small talk in stride.

“Yes, she’s a beauty.” His eyes rested for a second on my face as he spoke, and I felt myself flush. “It’s her inaugural voyage, you know?”

“I had no idea.” I followed Christos.

“You’ll have a wonderful time here, Miss Alexandra. There’s a lot to do on board. A waterslide. A nightclub. Many restaurants…” Christos went on, telling me all about the boat’s features, but I was barely listening. I knew I’d be studying too much to take advantage of most of the perks he was talking about.

“I think I’ll be pretty busy with my schoolwork,” I finally managed to interject, as Christos was enthusiastically telling me about the spa area.

“Really?” He turned to stare at me, one eyebrow raised. “I’m impressed. Most of the kids on this boat are here to party. They view Shipboard Studies as a vacation.”

“It’s not a vacation for me,” I laughed. “I’m here to learn. But I hope to make some new friends too,” I added hurriedly. He must have thought I was the biggest dork.

“I have no doubt you’ll make many new friends,” Christos replied simply. “Now, if you follow me downstairs, your stateroom is there and—”

“Yo! Bro! You work on this hunk of junk or what? I need help with my trunks.”

I suppressed an eyeroll as a preppy looking frat guy, a human Ken doll, interrupted us, waving his hand aggressively in Christos’s face. Christos seemed unbothered. He must be used to pricks like this one, I thought to myself.

“I am just showing this young woman to her room and then I’m happy to—”

“Come on, bro, I’ll pay you. Kyle’s the name. You might as well learn it now.” Kyle was already digging in his khakis to fish out a wad of bills.

“It’s okay, I can find my room myself,” I said hurriedly. I grabbed my duffel from Christos and headed down the stairs he’d indicated moments before. From behind me, I could hear the guy snapping at Christos: “Careful, man, those trunks are Louis Vuitton.”

Ugh. I felt a pang of sympathy for Christos. Kyle wouldn’t be the only kid who treated him like a personal servant. I pushed my way into the small windowless stateroom where I’d be sleeping for the next three months. The tiny cabin had a small bunk bed. Opposite it sat a girl with long dark hair and oversized glasses with giant black frames.

“You must be my roommate,” she said as I entered, looking up from the sketchpad in her hands.

“Yep, I’m Alexandra.”

“Vivian.” She flashed me a smile before returning her eyes to her sketchpad. A glance showed me that she was drawing our bunkbed—a perfect replica.

“Wow, that’s really good.”

“Thanks. But I’m looking forward to painting infinitely more interesting sights than this on our travels.”

“Art student?”

“Yep. You?”

“Marine biology.”

“Nice. Safe to say you’re a scholarship student like me—or else you wouldn’t be stuck in one of these tiny state rooms.”

“Correct.”

“Cool. I’ll take a small room with a fellow plebe over one of the big rooms with one of the entitled rich kids any day.”

“I know what you mean.” I thought Kyle. I was also glad to see that my roommate was studious. “It’s good to see someone else on the boat wants to do more than party.”

“I’m not here to work on my tan,” Vivian said with a smirk, gesturing to her ivory skin. She was so pale, she was practically translucent. “If it weren’t mandatory, I wouldn’t even go to that opening reception tonight.”

“Yeah, it’ll be a good chance to meet people though,” I said, as I slipped out of my jeans and into a lighter dress, appropriate for the warm weather. “Including the professors.”

“True. Cute dress.”

“Thanks,” I looked down at the flouncy floral number. “I could only afford it because I got a part-time job at the boutique near campus. Employee discount.”

“Hey, us poor students need to make things work however we can.” Vivian was staring at my face as if it were a portrait. “Mind if I do your makeup?”

Fifteen minutes later, Vivian’s artistry had transformed my everyday look to understated glamazon.

“My best work yet,” Vivian proclaimed. “A masterpiece. You should post a selfie. Share my genius with the world,” she teased.

“Happy to give credit where it’s due,” I replied with a giggle. “But first…” I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my Insta, before finding my mom and dad’s profiles—and blocking them. “My parents tend to be overprotective, and I don’t want them asking about every little thing I post for the next three months,” I explained to Vivian.

“Fair enough. You wouldn’t be the first college kid to block their parents on socials.”

I nodded as I surveyed myself in the mirror. My heart ticked a beat faster with excitement. Everything started tonight. Tonight, I could shake off lame Lexi and unveil a cool, new persona: Alexandra. Tonight, I wouldn’t be held back by what my parents thought of me. Tonight, I’d reboot my entire life.