“Wow, what a sunset,” I whispered to myself. I stood at the rail of the large cruise ship. I was watching the golden sun slip under the horizon formed only by the still ocean. The resulting color was a shocking red. I smiled to myself. Red was my favorite color. I even had red hair. Not the bright orange-red color you’re always hearing about, but a dark red-brown.
I took a deep breath of the fresh sea air. I would have to thank my parents for taking my brothers and I on this cruise. This was ten times better than staying home in Mayton, Massachusetts, a small town just outside of Boston. This cruise to Hawaii was a Christmas present for the whole family. When I had first heard of the trip, I was reluctant to go. I didn’t want to have to leave my friends or abandon my figure skating practice. Then, my parents found out that the cruise people were putting on a Christmas Eve ice show. That meant there would be an ice rink available to practice on. In fact, my parents even called the cruise linke before we left. They asked if they could rent out the rink to me for an hour each morning so I could practice. The cruise line agreed and I agreed to go along on the cruise, though Ralph, my coach, wouldn’t be there. Now, I was glad I decided to come.
I noticed some dark clouds forming quickly, marring the beautiful sky. A storm was coming. How quickly the weather changed out here on the ocean! In a way, it reminded me of myself. My mood was often quick to change. I could go from pleasant and sweet to irrational and hot-headed in an instant. I had a terrible temper. It went well with my red hair and Irish background.
My name was Hillary Elena Jamison. I was sixteen yeras old and a junior in high school. I had a twin brother whose name was Ryan Peter. He was a real doll, though he looked nothing like me and his personality was a direct opposite of mine. He had dark brown, wavy hair that he kpt short and neat. He also had blue eyes and was relatively tall. My dark, red, wavy hair fell down to about the middle of my back in soft curls. I had large green eyes fringed with thick eyelashes. I was also very short, between 5′3 and 5′4. While Ryan was soft-spoken, gentle and sweet, I was excitable, outgoing, quick-tempered and aggressive. I had my moments, though. I could be as agreeable as Ryan, when I wanted to be. And while Ryan had little or no interests or hobbies, I certainly did and it was figure skating.
I had been skating most all of my life. As soon as I was old enough to walk, my skating career began. Since then, I’d been struggling to become famous. I’d been in several competitions, including local and regional championships. I’d been to Nationals and won several medals and just last year I went to the the World FIgure Skating Championships for the first time. I placed very low, to my discouragement. This year, I was staying out of competitions to get in some more practice. Actually, my loss at the World Championships had really taken me down a notch. My confidence in my skating had fallen apart. Of course, I would never tell that to anyone. I had far too much pride for that.
I also had an older brother, Scott. He was 18 and a senior in high school. He had auburn hair, like my mom, and grey eyes. He was very tall and on the school’s basketball team. He was really good at sports and a great older brother. He was always looking out fo rme.
A cold wind blew up, interrupting my thoughts. Goose bumps rose on my arms. I didn’t have a coat with me or anthing so I decided to head back to my cabin. I had one all to myself, thanks to my parents and their money. They are really loaded. As I hurried along the empty deck, I glanced down at my gold watch with it’s leather band. 5:45? I was supposed to meet my family at 6:00 for dinner! I’d never have enough time to change my outfit. I began to run.
I dodge past passengers and turned several sharp corners. I began to run faster as I heard thunder rolling in the distance. I turned one corner very quickly and smacked right into someone, knocking them over.
“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry!” I gushed, trying to help my victim up. “I shouldn’t have been running so fast.”
The person took my hand and got to their feet. It was a young man, around my age. And he was gorgeous. He was tall, like Scott, and very well built. I could see his muscles on his arms from under his cotton polo shirt. He had dark brown hair that curled softly at the ends and brown eyes that were like twin pools of melted chocolate. And his smile! When he smiled at me, I instantly felt my knees go weak. It was the type of smile that completely blew a person away. I stood there, still holding his hand, numb with shock.
“You’re lucky I don’t sue,” he said. For a minute, I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Then he shook my hand. “Hi, I’m sorry I got in your way. My name’s Eric Peters. I’m glad to have met you, even under the circumstances.”
When I came to, I realized I was staring and I snatched my hand back. I was blushing nervously. “I’m Hillary Jamsion and I feel truly sorry. I was just in a hurry.” I looked at him more closely. He looked familiar, in a way, but I couldn’t place him.
“Jamison,” he repeated thoughtfully. “Well, do you mind me asking where the fire is?” He smiled at me. I got the feeling that he was making fun of me. And if there was one thing I hated, it was people making fun of me.
“There’s a storm coming, plus I have to get ready for dinner,” I told him, my voice guarded. I was surprised when he laughed.
“Well, okay. Don’t let me keep you, Carrot,” he replied, amused at my wariness. “You don’t mind me calling you ‘Carrot’, do you?”
I flared angrily and I could have sworn I felt my blood start to boil. He went one step too far by making fun of my hair. That was it. This guy was a jerk.
“Yes, I do mind, Jerk,” I tossed back. “You don’t mind me calling you ‘Jerk’, do you?” Then I turned on my heel and marched as fast as I could while still trying to look cool towards my cabin. The nerve of that guy! Why did all the cute ones have to be so arrogant? I hoped I wouldn’t be seeing him too often on this trip. However, considering that it was the first day of the cruise, it was a smallish ship and he looked so familiar, I felt that I would be meeting him again. Soon.
***
“Are you almost ready, Hill?” Ryan asked, stepping through the door that adjoined the boys’ cabin to mine.
“Thanks for knocking first, Ryan,” I said, “and yes, I’m ready.”
I had had barely enough time to change my outfit when I got back to my cabin. Still, I managed it and was wearing a billowing white sundress that I had purchased especially for the cruise. I had pulled my thick hair back with a banana clip and put white sandles on my feet.
Ryan let out a low whistle. “Looking good, Hill.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself. You just wait, Ryan. In no time, you’re going to have some poor, innocent girl lusting after you and you’ll forget all about your lonely sister,” I told him, grinning.
“What about you? I’ll bet that by the time this cruise is over, some gorgeous guy will knock you off your feet,” he said.
“Or the other way around,” I mumbled, remembering Eric.
“What?” Ryan asked.
“Nothing. Now, don’t we have a dinner to get to?”
Together, we met our parents and Scott in the narrow hallway outside our cabins.
“Hey, is it okay if a friend of mine joins us for dinner?” Scott asked our parents. I boggled at this.
“How is it that we’ve been on this ship for one day and you already have a friend?” I demanded.
“Actually, it’s a friend from back home. Don’t you remember me mentioning that a teammate of mine was going on a cruise too?” he replied.
I didn’t remember. Our parents said he was more than welcome to join us and Scott ran off to find his friend at his cabin.
The restaurant was located on one of the upper decks and looked rather plush and fancy. We sat at a table next to a large picture window overlooking the deck below. The sun had fully set by now and it was getting dark. I could barely make out the dark clouds that covered the sky and saw the wind whipping at the flags on the deck below. The storm was getting closer. This reminded me of my run-in with Eric Peters. Even now, the memory made my face turn red.
I tore my eyes way from the window to pay more attention to my family who were busy discussing their first day on the ship. Ryan sat next to me on my left. On my right were two empty seats, reserved for Scott and his friend. Next was my father and then my mother who sat next to Ryan. My parents were a handsome couple, and looked rather young for their ages. My mother, Samantha, had auburn colored hair sleeked back into a stylish French braid. Her aqua colored eyes sparkled just like a teenager’s as she studied the menu in front of her. Often when we were out shopping, people would mistake her for my older sister which I knew tickled her to no end. I always felt like I could talk to her about anything, which was so nice. Especially since I didn’t know any friends who had that sort of relationship with their own mothers. However, it was also from her that I got my temper and sometimes we butted heads. The hot-headedness came from her side of the family, where Irish roots abound.
My father, Peter, sat next to her, scanning his own menu. He had thick brown hair, cut in a neat style. His green eyes, much like my own, were intense like a cat’s. Dad was very tall also, like my brothers. I was clearly the runt of the family as even my mother was taller than I was.
Right then, Scott returned to us and I turned my attention to him and his friend. And that was when I about choked. His friend was Eric! (ed note: NO! Really???)
“Eric, this is my family,” Scott introduced. “Mom, Dad and the twins, Ryan and Hillary. Family, this is Eric Peters. He’s on my basketball team back at Mayton High.”
This explained why he looked familiar. He went to my school! In my defense, the seniors pretty much stuck to their own side of the school and I only attended in the afternoon since my mornings were spent at the rink.
“Hello, everyone,” Eric returned. Then, to my utter and abject horror, he turned to me. “Hillary, didn’t I run into you earlier today?” His eyes were laughing, but his mouth only held a polite smile. All I could see was him mocking me, yet again.
I clenched my teeth and glared at the tablecloth. “Yes,” I growled in reply.
Eric sat down in the chair next to me and I resisted the urge to scoot my seat away from his. I realized how rude that would look and caught myself just in time. I ignored Eric throughout dinner, only chatting with Ryan, my parents or Scott. I think the only people who noticed this were Eric, who kept trying to get my attention, and my mom. She kept giving me pointed looks that told me she did not approve of my rudeness. I felt bad, but still I could not forget how rude Eric had been to me earlier. The guy was a creep. Only, no one else seemed to see that. My parents obviously adored him and hung on his every word. He was snowing them over. It made me sick.
I had absolutely no appetiete by this point. I was sure Eric was to blame. Not only could I not eat, but I was beginning to feel warm and dizzy. The air was heady and I wish they would open a window or turn up the air conditioning. I wanted fresh air. I felt sweat trickling down the back of my neck. I glanced at the rest of the group but they were all laughing and talking and oblivious to the rise in temperature. My breath came quickly and everyone’s voices swam in my ears until their words made no sense. Their faces blurred before my eyes and all I could hear around me was my own heart beating rapidly in my ears.
Finally, I could stand it no longer. There was no way I could eat my dinner with the nausea rising in my throat. I had to get away from that table and from Eric. I was certain there was something he was doing to make me feel this way. I felt like I was going to pass out, or worse, if I stayed any longer.
I stood up quickly, my chair almost falling over. Everyone looked at me bewildered while I mumbled a quick excuse and apology. I think someone said something, maybe my name? I couldn’t hear them. Feeling embarassed and ill, I just turned and hurried out of the restaurant. Then I ran all the way to the deck.
I held onto the white rail for support. The cold wind on my face felt great. I breathed in the fresh air and closed my eyes. Gradulaly, my wits came back to me. I realized I must have made a fool out of myself, but I didn’t care. Not really. I heaved a shaky sigh.
I was so caught up in myself that I didn’t hear someone approach and join me at the rail. When they spoke, they startled me.
“Hillary? Are you okay?” I nearly jumped a foot in the air. I knew without looking that it was Eric.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I told him. I kept my face turned to the sea. Periodically, the moon would escape from behind the clouds and the reflection would dance playfully on the choppy waves. “It was just getting a little stuffy in there, that’s all.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” he asked. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he sounded concerned. But I did know better. I knew him for the jerk he was.
“Yes, what else would it be?” I said, annoyed. I felt the need to be cold towards him. I wished he’d go away and leave me alone.
There was a pause. Rain began to fall and I stepped back from the rail to a covered section of the deck. Eric followed, watching me. I still refused to look at him.
“Hillary, look at me at least,” Eric said, his voice forceful. Despite my better judgement, I turned and looked. I wanted to prove to him that I could and that he couldn’t affect me. It wasn’t exactly working. “I’m sorry if I made you mad earlier today. I’m sorry I teased you.”
“Is that why you came out here? To apologize?” I asked, now unable to take my eyes off of him.
“Yes. That, and to see if you were okay,” he answered.
“Well, I am okay and I accept your apology so you’re off the hook.”
“You’re still mad.”
“So?”
“So, I’m not going to leave if you’re still mad at me,” he said.
I shook my head. “You’re going to be waiting for a long time, then.”
“I didn’t know it would make you so upset,” he said. “I’d like to make it up to you. Let me take you on a date.”
“When hell freezes over,” I told him.
He sighed. “Hillary, I said I was sorry. Can’t you just let it go?”
My eyes snapped angrily. “Let it go? You insulted me! You called me a name! I can’t just ‘let it go’!”
He touched my arm then. I stared down at his hand in horror. What was worse, was the reaction his touch had on me. I jumped away from him.
“Please, Hillary, give me a chance.” He stepped closer to me. Soon, he was standing so close that I had to look up to see his face. He was looking down at me, an earnest expression on his face. “Please?” he repeated softly. He brushed the side of my face with the back of his hand. I realized exactly what was happening here. He was going to kiss me! Horrified, I was unable to move for a minute. Then, at the last minute, I backed away quickly.
“Hillary,” he began.
“No,” I said. “I… can’t-” I turned and ran off towards my cabin.
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