LEXI

“This boat is ridiculously huge,” Vivian giggled as we stumbled down another long corridor. We’d been trying to find the party for like 20 minutes. But the ship was so big, we were running in circles.

“Is that the same hair and nail salon we already passed, or does the boat have two?” I wondered, perplexed.

“Who knows, it’s not like this stuff is for us. It’s for the rich kids,” Vivian said with a grin, nodding to an expensive-looking boutique. “Check out the price tags.”

“$300 for a bikini!?” I gasped. I was impressed by how luxurious the boat was, but I had to admit that there was a stark contrast between our stateroom, deep in the belly of the ship, and what we’d seen on the upper floors as we’d been exploring. It was giving me Titanic vibes, with the poor down below and the rich up top.

“Finally!” Vivian exclaimed as strains of thumping music wafted toward us. “That has to be it!”

We scurried after the sound and emerged into a massive nightclub.

“Whoa. How did it take us so long to find this place?” I breathed out the words, unable to believe the huge venue in front of me. The nightclub spanned two levels. On the lower level was a dance floor, an enormous semi-circle bar, and a jacuzzi. A waterfall from the upper level streamed into the jacuzzi below. The upper level had yet another bar. Lights illuminated the room, flickering in different colors, and a giant chandelier in the center bedazzled the entire atmosphere.

“This looks like something out of a movie,” Vivian, equally impressed, murmured next to me. She was right. This nightclub rivaled what you might find in Miami or Ibiza—or what I imagined you’d find there, since I’d never been to either place.

Hundreds of students were already there, sipping drinks, eating food, and dancing. My jaw dropped as I saw two people making out on the dance floor.

“They can’t have known each other more than a couple of hours!?” I said to Vivian. We’d all just boarded the boat that day.

“Casual hook-ups aren’t unusual for college parties,” she shrugged. “Yet another reason I’m not into the scene. I don’t need to spend my nights sucking face with some frat boy.”

I nodded.

“Have you never been to a kegger before?” she asked. “You look like you’ve landed on an alien planet.”

“Between schoolwork and work, I don’t have much free time,” I said quickly, doing my best to wipe the shocked expression off my face. The truth was the only parties I’d been to were game nights and ice cream socials—but I couldn’t bring myself to admit that to Vivian. It was just too lame. Luckily, I was saved from further questioning as the music shut off—to boos from the crowd—and a gorgeous woman, 40ish, took the stage.

“Good evening, scholars! I’m Elaine Choy, Dean of Shipboard Studies. I’m pleased to welcome you aboard tonight. Our program promises a life-changing experience, with some of the best professors in the world right here on this ship.” I felt the room’s attention already shifting away from the dean; clearly, everybody was just here to party. “We have a few of your teachers in the crowd with us,” said the dean, ignoring the boredom around her. “Toward the front here is Professor Gill, our head of marine biology, along with Professor Morrison, our Pulitzer Prize-winning English professor.” I looked past the tweedy Professor Morrison to spy my idol, Professor Gill. “In addition to learning from the best scholars of the world, you’ll also have the chance to learn from the many rich cultural experiences we have planned for you,” the dean went on. “As you know, the ship will be stopping in numerous cities along the Mediterranean, giving you all a chance to explore new cultures.”

This is perfect. As Dean Choy continued her speech, my excitement rose. This was exactly the experience I’d been dreaming of—above all, the part where I’d get to study under Professor Gill. As the Dean’s speech concluded, I hurried over to the professor, eager to introduce myself. But I’d barely made it two steps across the expansive dance floor when…

“EEK!” I yelped as I tripped over something and stumbled, careening into a cluster of girls who were in the midst of a well-rehearsed dance routine.

“Honey, you better learn to walk straight or I’ll straighten you out myself.” A perfectly coiffed blonde with a slight Southern drawl shoved me off of her—not touching me but using her fancy pink jeweled phone case, as if she was worried I might have some contagious disease. She turned to a gaggle of girls behind her. “Come on, we’ll have to do it again!”

“Yes, Delilah!” one of them chirped up quickly.

“Stacy, this time, try to look less like a sad robot. Your motions aren’t fluid enough,” Delilah sniped at the cheery girl. “And you,” Delilah turned her ire on the other two girls. “Ashley. Midge. You’re totally off the rhythm. I want to go viral because we look good, not because people are making fun of us!”
“Yes, Delilah!” The girl named Midge—the only brunette of the group—said quickly.

“I can’t have our sorority making a mockery of the Tri-Delt name!” Delilah went on, her voice scathing as she barked at her three minions.

“Yes, Delilah!” all three replied in unison. It was like watching a bunch of soldiers. I was so intrigued by the power their Queen Bee Delilah wielded over them, I didn’t even notice that she’s settled her icy blue gaze on me.

“And YOU!” Her sharp voice cut into my thoughts. “Don’t you know who I am?”

I stared at her blankly. Is she famous?

“I have 775,000 followers on TikTok, all of whom expect me to post new content daily, at very specific times of day. We’ve been working on this choreography for hours. Now, because of YOU, we have to start all over, and I might miss my deadline to post.” She glared at me so intently, I instinctively felt guilty—like a kid who’d been caught doing something wrong.

“Oh, I uh, I’m sorry, I just tripped and… Is there anything I can do to help?” I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. Delilah gave me a smirk, as if to say Yeah right, how could YOU possibly help ME?

“You can keep your clumsy self away from me.” She turned her back on me and addressed her minions, who, having taken a cue from their Queen Bee, were now staring angrily at me. “This is why we’re in the Greek system, girls,” she said. “I’m sure you can appreciate the exclusivity of it now. On campus, we’d never cross paths with someone like her—someone we have nothing in common with.”

“She’s wearing the same dress as you, though,” Stacy said with a giggle, pointing from me to Delilah. “So you have something in common.” Delilah’s face went so pale, for a second I thought she might faint.

“You look great,” I said hurriedly, “And I love that you’ve attached your sorority pin to yours. It’s a great dress, isn’t it?”

After shooting Stacy a death stare, Delilah looked me up and down. A slow smile spread over her face as she said pointedly: “Actually, what you’ve got on is a knock-off. See, how cheap the stitching is?” She yanked on the strap of my dress as she spoke. “And the zipper is totally misaligned here,” she added, prodding the zip at my side. “So, we are most definitely not wearing the same dress.”

“At least she’s wearing it well,” a male voice spoke up from behind me. A familiar male voice. Was that….? No, no there’s no way. It couldn’t possibly be…

I turned, my stomach sinking in slow motion, to discover Blaine Astor—the preppy, son-of-a-billionaire jerk who’d made my high school years a living hell.

“I’m Blaine,” he said, stepping forward and extending his hand. I took it dumbly. He didn’t even recognize me. “You look great in that dress,” he went on, oblivious. “But I’d bet you’d look even better if you took it off.”

Ew. I snapped out of my shock immediately: “You are such a troglodyte, Blaine!” I hissed. At my words, a look of recognition dawned on Blaine’s face—troglodyte had been my favorite insult for him in high school.

“Lexi!?” His eyes went wide with shock.

“I go by Alexandra now.”

“I didn’t recognize you!” Blaine stepped back to size me up. “What happened to your frizzy hair? The acne? The big glasses? The braces?”

From behind me, I could hear Delilah and her minions snickering. Oh my God! My entire plan for this trip had been to leave the old Lexi behind and become a new, cooler, better version of myself. Alexandra. Blaine was going to blow my plan on night one.

“I grew up,” I said primly, keeping my voice icy. “You ought to try it. Because you haven’t changed a bit from high school. You’re still the same arrogant, lecherous jerk as before. And you haven’t gotten much smarter either, apparently, since you didn’t even recognize me. You’re the same guy who needed to pay an underclassman to tutor him and who couldn’t even get into an Ivy League, despite being a legacy!” I finished my take-down of Blaine triumphantly. But my moment of victory was short-lived, because Blaine—after staring at me in shock for a second—stepped back and proclaimed loudly enough for all to hear:
“You might look different now, but you’re still the same freak you always were. And you can’t just slap a new name on yourself and change overnight, Alexandra. Everybody on the boat should call you Lexi. That’s who you really are. Lexi the loser.”