Chapter 23

Ruthanne's Point of View. <3>
Nothing has been better than the time I've gotten to spend with Kris. And I feel like I could never spend enough time with him.
It's almost 3:00, we've just been hanging out. I haven't convinced him to go swimming with me yet. But I don't really want to get a sun burn anyways.
"Let's go for a walk." I say.
"Let's go swimming," he says back. I lean back on the couch, surprised.
"Didn't you just...?" I look at him.
He shrugs. "Let's go. Hup hup hup!" He says, jumping up and running to his suitcase. I go to the dresser where I stuck my favorite blue bikini in the top drawer. He hasn't organized anything yet, still living out of that ugly brown leather suitcase.
We walk down the side, looking at the water. There' not much to see, but water, but the weather's nice and we're enjoying ourselves. I keep a towel wrapped around me and Kris just carries his, showing off his super hot body. I try not to stare as we make our way around the people (not only girls) who can't stop staring.
I laugh when we're out of earshot.
"Huh?" He looks at me.
"They're just funny. They didn't even try to look inconspicuous." I laugh again.
"Oh." He makes a show of looking down at his "gut" which is really some hot rock solid abs. I laugh at him again and we throw our towels down by a lounge chair.
"You go in first." I say.
"Why?" He asks, stepping in.
"So you can tell me if it's cold!" I say, sticking my toes in the water, knowing it'll be warm, but so used to being in Pittsburgh.
"Come on, Ruthanne," he grabs my hand and I follow him in. He wraps his arms around me when we get in and I wrap my legs around him as he walks backwards through the pool. We only bump into everyone that's there. It's sooo crowded.
We have fun lounging and talking. There's really no room to swim, the pool's just crawling with huge fat people and their kids.
After maybe half an hour I say, "My fingers are getting all wrinkly, let's get out." He grabs my hands and walks backwards through all the people again. We head back to the suite, dripping wet. Kris hangs the towel over his shoulders, masking most of his chest, so no one stares. When we get back and in the room I wrap my arms around him--barely able to get them all the way around-- and kiss him.
He kisses me back. "You're the best, love." He says when we pull apart. I just smile and walk over to the dresser, dropping my towel on the way. I grab another pair of shorts and a cute tank I've never worn before.
He gets some shorts and a shirt out of his ugly brown suitcase. "You really should unpack. Or at least get a new suitcase." I say.
He laughs. "Why?"
"I don't know.. It's just, ugly." I say, scrunching up my nose and regretting momentarily that I said it.
He scrunches up his nose and says "I like it." Then laughs. I run to the bathroom so he can change in the main room. I fix my hair a little bit, putting some gel in it, and change into the outfit. He's sitting on the couch fiddling with his phone, his hair wet and beautiful, falling around his face. I sit by him.
"Hey." I say.
"Huh?" He says, putting his phone back in his pocket after pressing the SEND button. I kiss him on the cheek. He's expressionless when I look at him. I can't understand why I'm so happy and he's not.
"What's wrong?" I ask him.

Caitlin's Point of View ;)

Sidney and I slept for almost 2 hours. It's like 5 when I wake up, phone in hand like right before I fell asleep. I look at it, the screen's blinking.
3 texts.
Where are you? we're hunggggry!!!! From Ruthanne a few minutes ago
What are you guy's doing tonight? Mind if I join? From Max like half an hour ago. My heart skips a beat, half from nervousness and half from the happiness that he sent me a text.
went swimming... had fun. Hunggry... call me or something, let's go! From Ruthanne. I laugh, that was 45 minutes ago. I wonder if they're gonna go without us. I roll over and see that Sidney's still asleep. The huge couch makes for lots of room to move, so I get up without disturbing him.
I sit on the bed and text Ruthanne back. Sorry just took a nap.. waking Sidney up now.
I go back to the Max text and hit reply. I have no idea what to say, but I have to say something. Going to dinner soon.. text me. Idk what we're doing tonight. There's something going on at the theatre. Caitlin
I figure something like that will be safe, so I hit send. "Sidney." I say. He groans and rolls over. I throw my phone on the bed and lean over the back of the couch. when he opens his eyes he almost screams. "Good evening sleepyhead." I come around the side and sit on the arm as he sits up. "Ruthanne and Kris want to go to dinner soon." I leave out the little part about inviting Max. My phone goes off.
Well LET'S GO!!! I'M STARVING! Ruthanne replies.
Sidney's up.. no worries. I invited Max, soooo, yeah, he'll be there. I say, just so somebody knows why he'll be there. I don't want to tell Sidney because of that little convo. we had earlier. The phone goes off again as I'm about to put it down.
K... what hall? I want to talk to you
Max replied. I sigh, setting it down as Sidney walks by into the bathroom. He's still so zombie-ish.
idk what it is.. just the one close to our suites. Going at like 5:45. See you there. I say back sighing. I really don't want it to be so hard and awkward to be around Max. He's so much fun. Sidney comes out of the bathroom and sits by me. It's five minutes til we need to be there, so I run to the bathroom to check my hair.
It looks kinda scary, since I just slept. I find a little drool on the top of my head, where Sidney's chin was laying. I grab some toilet paper, trying to get it out. I fail miserably, only getting some. So I just try to blow dry it. That spot on my head ends up being kinda poofy, but at least it doesn't have anymore drool on it. I brush it out and everything looks ok again.
I come out with a couple minutes to spare. Sidney's playing with his phone, but I think it's mine for a second. I'm paranoid when I don't tell the whole truth. "Ready?" I ask him.
"Sure." He says, standing up. I grab my phone off the bed and stick it in my pocket.
"What'do you need that for?" He looks at me funny.
"Nothing?" I look at him funny.
"Then why are you taking it?"
"Habit." I say, and touch it from the outside of my pocket. Sidney laughs and we round the corner to the dining hall. I see Ruthanne and Kris and Max already at a table, laughing at something. I guess we're a few minutes late, but I didn't expect them to be on time.
"Heyy!" Ruthanne says, pointing the seat next across from her, next to Max. I don't know if she did it on purpose, but I sit down not wanting to make a scene. Sidney looks at me funny, probably wondering why I didn't sit by Ruthanne, but I just shrug.
I'm tired of eating out every day already, but I guess that's basically the only choice we have. I get some kind of Enchilada thing. Our feminine waiter recommended it so I guess it must be good.
I'm feeling pretty tired, even after that nap. Sidney looks at me, since I'm the only one not really talking. He touches the poofy piece of hair on top of my head. "That's from your spit you know." I say. I feel Max flinch behind me and feel bad for a second.
"what?" He looks at me.
"that piece of hair.." I say, "you drooled on it." I smile sillily and Ruthanne laughs.
"Sorry." He says, and grabs my hand, holding it under the table. I kick his foot and grin at him, feeling happy all over again. I sit up straight when the waiter comes back. I can feel Max looking at me and glance over at Sidney to make sure he doesn't see. I look back at Max and give him a half smile. He touches my foot with his making a tingle run up my leg--an unusual feeling. I don't want to feel that way about Max right now. I'm with Sidney. I look away and at my enchilada which is absolutely gigantic. I'll never be able to eat it all.
I find that it's absolutely delicious too. Sidney makes me eat a bite of his fish, which is good, in a weird way.
For dessert we all have some kind of sundae. I stuck with my favorite Mexican sundae, even though it's sooo bad for me. We had all decided on the show at the theatre at 7:30, so we were basically burning time right now.

The show at the theatre is some kind of musical. Whatever it is, I can't concentrate on it. I'm sitting between Max and Sidney and I've got tingles all over partially because I am cold, and then there's Sidney and Max. I sigh. Max and Sidney both look at me. "What?" They both say at the same time, and then laugh together. I laugh too, but it's fake.
"Nothing." I put my head in my hands. "I'm just really tired." I explain, which is truly half of it. I don't know what's going on with me. It's like I'm never happy when I should be. Max touches my hand when Sidney looks away, and that makes everything worse. And better.
The show ends sometime around 9:00 and we all decide to hang in one of the giant jacuzzis on the top deck. We run back to our suites and change, going to meet there.
I'm half awake, sitting beside Sidney and Max, Sidney's arm around me. Everyone leaves at around 10:00 and we have the whole thing to ourselves, laughing and carrying on. I wake up a little bit more, just because everyone's being so loud. I'm so lucky just to be here right now and I've hardly been living it up. I make a secret vow to myself to do so.
After a long time in the jacuzzi, it's about 11:30, we all decide to head in. My head's been nodding for the longest time and Ruthanne used that as her excuse to want to leave. "She needs to go to sleep." To tell the truth, I actually feel a little sick. I'm probably just overtired.
We head back to the suite and I plop down on the bed after changing into pajamas. Sidney lays beside me. "Did you at least have fun?" He whispers, his lips touching my cheek, then my eyebrow.
"Yeah," I say, eyes closed. "I'm just tired." Again, I don't tell the whole truth. I'm feeling even sicker now, and I'm hoping it's just exhaustion. I'm asleep in his arms before I know it.

Chapter 22

Ruthanne's Point Of View. <3>
I wake up well before Kris does, but he embarrasses me by saying. "Stop staring, I can't sleep." I close my eyes and snuggle up to him, wishing I could sleep like a hockey player. Kris rewraps his arm around me and I fall asleep again, waking up yet again, like an hour later. Kris is still snoring, so I roll out of his arms and off the bed, feeling gross despite my shower last night. I go to the bathroom to clean up.
Kris stumbles in a few minutes later, looking for me. "Ruthanne?" He says sleepily.
"Yeah?" I say, stepping out from behind the wall dividing the sink and toilet from the shower and bath, a toothbrush in my mouth and toothpaste foam all over my face.
"There you are," he says, looking more adorable than ever in his sleepy state. He walks over and wraps his arms around me, looking at us in the mirror. "You're so beautiful," he says, kissing my neck. I smile, then lean over and spit out the toothpaste. He releases me to let me rinse and wipe my face off.
When I'm done, I turn to him, "mmmm," I hum into his ear, hugging him. It's still early, around 8:30. There's no way Caitlin's out of bed yet, but we text them anyways. Hey, breakfast time. :)
After a few minutes of no reply, we just leave, glad to have a meal alone anyways. It's kind of annoying to feel obligated to invite them every time we do something. We always have fun and I'm sure they feel the same way, but, I guess that's life.

Breakfast with Kris is fun. It's easier to get to know him when we're alone. He got some sort of crepes piled really high. And they were delicious. I got some waffles, with pineapples and whipped cream. Sounds and tastes more like a dessert, haha, my favorite.
I feel bad for being happy that Caitlin, Sidney, or Max didn't show up. I wonder briefly why Max is on the cruise with us. Looking for a woman perhaps?
"Hey Kris," I say, "why did Max come again?" I add, even though he's never told me.
"I dunno" he says, "probably to pick some woman up. This is the most down I've ever seen him over a girl. Especially one he doesn't know very well. God I just hope he doesn't make an ass out of himself." Kris says, his brows pulling together.
I nod. "I don't want Caitlin to make any bad decisions either." I say. "Why do we talk about this anyways?" I sigh, "it just makes us worry more."
"Exactly." He says, leaving a tip and standing up, grabbing my hand too. I smile at him, trying to forget about that topic once again. We make our way back to the suite, not liking the show we stopped to check out in the theatre.
"ahh," I sigh, plopping down on our bed. "I can't believe I'm done with high school." I sigh. "I mean, I knew it was coming, but I don't think it's sunk in yet."
"It will," He says softly, sitting next to me, smoothing the hair on my head.
I lean on him, sad for the moment, but looking forward to the next. "I know." I say, knowing it's gonna hit me when I go back home and I'm moving into that apartment instead of getting ready for school in my bathroom every day.

Caitlin's Point of View. ;)

I don't wake up til around 10:00, Sidney still curled around me in a weird position. I try to squirm out, but he holds me tighter. "Don't leave," he laughs, kissing the top of my head. I can feel his smile moving the hair on the back of my head. I laugh and try to roll over. He loosens his grip just enough to let me do that.
"Good morning," I say, kissing him happily. He just kisses me back.
"I'm starving." He says pulling me closer.
"Let's go get something then," I say, trying to sit up. He pulls me back down. I pretend to glare at him, but end up laughing. "What?" I ask.
"Were you cold last night?" He looks at me.
"Nooooo."
"Oh. well I was. Now I'm not. You're warm." I laugh at him and get out of bed to go to the bathroom. He can be so silly. I brush my hair and teeth quickly, pulling my hair up into a messy bun. Sidney's still laying in bed when I walk out to get clothes. I pick a cute halter top and denim shorts. He smiles when I come out to get my straight iron after changing. By now he's actually OUT of bed, but still sluggish, walking in and out of the living room/bedroom area and the bathroom.
When I'm all ready I walk out. "How's this?" I ask him, spinning into his arms.
"Beautiful," he says, smiling before he kisses me.
"Alright. Let's go." I say, pulling on his arm. He follows behind me slowly, resisting a little bit. I can hardly move him anyways. Once we're out the door he grabs my hand and we head to get some food.

After food--it kind of a brunch-- we get our swimsuits and towels from the suite. I felt like swimming. Surprisingly, the first pool we go to isn't full of people so we just stay there. Sidney throws me into the deep end, surprising me and making me scream. I worked hard to straighten my hair too.
"Sidney!" I yell at him when he jumps in after me, splashing me again.
He swims over to me. "What?" He asks, trying to sound innocent and using that pouty face on me.
We mess around in the pool for a while before he makes me get out to try the wave pool. I've never been in a wave pool, so I'm nervous. Sidney goes before me, making everything look so easy. When he comes out I shake my head. "No way." I say.
"Come on. There's like nobody here!"
"I'm still gonna make a fool out of myself!" I complain.
"I'll go with you!" He says, grabbing my hand. "Please!" He begs, which I have to admit, is cute.
I finally give in.
"Ok." I say. He hands me one of those boards.
I cringe when he says "just jump in on the board," he commands.
"I'm scared!" I yelp back.
"Get in the water!" He demands, making me think of The Notebook. I finally just plunge in, holding on for dear life. Once I'm in the water, it's surprisingly fun, and not scary at all. Sidney and I mess around, doing stupid spins and what not for a few minutes. People start to form a line after a while so we just get out and leave.
"That was fun." I say, leaning on him.
"It took you long enough to get in!" He says. "It's really fun at night, if I can convince you to do that." He says, wrapping his arm around my waist as we head back to the room. I put back on my clothes and pull my hair back into the messy bun I had earlier.
I sigh and lay on the couch, already ready for a nap. Sidney lays beside me, or tries to. He falls off a couple of times before giving up and just sitting by me. Of course I'm laughing and he's embarrassed, which makes it even funnier.
"Oh Sidney," I say, laughing again. "You never fail to make me happy." I say smiling down at him. He looks back at me, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.
Picking up my phone, I read the text Ruthanne sent quite a while ago. I reply. Yeah, been there done that. we went swimming, then to the wave pool. eek eek eek!
I set the phone down, not planning on getting her reply so quickly. They must be doing something in their room, or else she would be busy. ahaha, I can see you on that. How'd it go?
I laugh and so does Sidney, reading over my shoulder. Scary. I wiped out a zillion times.
Sidney laughs even more. Right now I'm feeling it though. I can feel bruises developing on my shoulder and on my thighs.
Ruthanne's reply says. even better. see you at dinner. We're gonna go on a walk.
seeya. I type and turn back to Sidney.
"What's Max doing?" I ask him, curious as to why he's on the boat alone, with a suite all to himself.
"I don't know." Sidney says, averting his eyes from mine. "Probably trying to hook up or just enjoying the alcohol. He's been in a crappy mood lately." He says. I press my lips, nervous. I can't help but think I'm the reason why Max is so upset.
"Oh." I say, "Well, we should invite him to do stuff with us, get his spirits up." I say, even though I really don't mean it. I don't want him around really, well I do, I like him a lot, but I always feel bad around him. Especially when Sidney's acting romantic.
Sidney shrugs, "he probably wants time to himself. It's not often we get to escape the team you know."
I laugh and hug him. "yeah." I say, still feeling bad.
Sidney wraps his arms around me. "he'll be ok." He says, looking me in the eye.
I feel bad for Sidney's obliviousness. He's totally got the wrong idea, but, I play along. I yawn quietly, laying my head on his arm.
"I'm gonna take a nap. If you don't mind." I say.
"Go right ahead. I'll join you, even." Sidney says, laying down behind me on the couch in a more comfortable position.
"Remember, we have dinner with Kris and Ruthanne tonight, we can't sleep through that." I say yawning again. I didn't realize I was this tired. My eyes close and I'm asleep almost instantly.

Chapter 21

Caitlin's Point Of View ;)

I wake up in Sidney's arms happy. He's not even awake yet. He's got a Penguins alarm clock sitting on his nightstand and I twist awkwardly trying to read it. 5:45? Ahhhh, how will I ever get out of school mode? I snuggle back into Sidney and it wakes him up. "huh?" He asks. I just ignore him and lay my head on his hard chest to get comfy. I quickly fall back asleep, his warmth comforting, the weight of his arms keeping me from getting up. It probably hasn't even been half an hour when the alarm clock blares.
Sidney groans and tries to roll over, then remembers that I'm there and he smiles. "How'd you sleep?" He asks, tucking a strand of my tangled hair behind my ear.
"Wonderfully." I say, smiling back.
He kisses me briefly then says, "we gotta get movin'" I go into the bathroom and pull on something cute and comfy. It's no fun when you're on a plane and you're not comfy. I pull a brush trough my hair and add just a little eyeliner to my look. I come out in like 3 minutes.
"ohhhkey dokey" I say, just happy to be with him from the minute I woke up. He grabs both of his bags and one of mine. "You don't have to carry mine." I tell him.
"No problem, you just get the other one." I grab my lightest bag and sigh. He's always making my life easier. I follow him downstairs and into the like, entrance hallway thing and he put our bags there. Then, he leads me to the kitchen, "Pop Tart or Toaster Strudel?" He asks me.
"Toaster Strudel." I say, and he throws them in, then walks over to me.
"You all ready?" He asks.
"Yep." I say. He leans down to kiss me, his arms around my waist, my arms around his neck, when Mario's daughter Stephenie walks in. "umm," we both say awkwardly, and let go. "Toaster Strudels are ready!" I desperately try to cover, running to the toaster. Sidney laughs at me and walks over.
"are they?" He asks, laughing.
"I thought I heard your toaster pop!" I say, mock glaring at him. We both laugh at each other and we both jump when the toaster does pop. Sidney grabs them out too quickly and gets burnt. The toaster strudel goes flying across the counter. All the while, Stephenie's standing in the doorway laughing at us. By now, Lauren has joined her and they're both laughing at us. Sidney retrieves the breakfast and we eat in silence, just trying to get our butts in gear so we can get out of here.
"That was swift." I say.
"Yeah," he agrees. "Mario's gonna hear all about that one." He laughs halfheartedly.
I just hug him, "It was cute." I say, smiling up at him. He finally smiles back, and this time it reaches his eyes. We throw the bags in the back of his Range Rover and get going.
"We're picking Ruthanne and Kris and Max up AND Jordy I guess," he says, looking at his phone. My heart kinda stops when he says Max. I'm always having a great time with Sidney and somehow Max gets brought up. "They don't want to go through a hassle trying to find us at the airport."
"Ok." I say, happy. "Are they together?" I ask.
"Yeah, Ruthanne went to Kris's a little bit ago and I guess that's where everyone else is right now too." I glance at the clock on his dashboard. It's like 7:00. They must have woken up really early. We pick them up and make it to the airport, all in good time. Traffic isn't bad on Saturday mornings.
Sidney leaves the Range Rover with Jordan and the rest of us grab out bags. I don't know why Max is here, but I figure he's going on the cruise with us. We go through all the normal airport proceedings and finally make it onto the plane. I traded seats with some lady (after some hassle) so that I could sit by Sidney. Ruthanne and Kris are directly in front of us and Max is somewhere here. He got on right before me, but I didn't pay attention to where he sat.

I slept for some of the plane ride with my head on Sidney's shoulder. When we land, he wakes me up. "Sorry." I say.
"It's ok. " He replies, putting the magazine he was reading back into his bag. We get all our stuff together, luggage etc. and then go outside to hail a taxi.
That takes us to where we need to be and the cruise ship is loading when we get there. "Perfect timing, eh?" Sidney says, gazing down at me and walking around to the cab's trunk. I'm still waking up, so I just nod. We grab all our bags and stand on the curb for a moment
Ruthanne and Kris are over there doing their little lovebird thing. Holding hands and swinging them back and forth, laughing and fooling around. They're great couple. I'm glad they met. Well, not as glad as I am for Sidney. "Get your bags!" Sidney says to them, nodding to our impatient cabby who obviously does not know who we are. That or he just doesn't care. But, I'd be willing to bet he doesn't know us. ;)
They check our luggage, making me pull out every tiny perfume bottle I had which, I had a few. When everything was finally deemed legit, for all of us to get on the boat, it took over an hour. I would hate this job, I decided after no more than 15 minutes of standing there and watching them do everything. Our suites are side by side with a door in between since we booked together. Ours 158 and theirs 157. Max is in his own private room somewhere on another deck. Sidney and I walk in and plop on our bed. "Finally," I sigh, rolling over to face him.
He kisses me, "it'll all be worthwhile soon." He says, kissing me again. I smile, liking what he has to say.
"It better be," I say, rolling over on top of him. There's a knock at our door. "Ughhhh," I groan, "you get it." I roll back over. He gets up to answer the door.
It's Ruthanne, of course, with Kris right beside her. "You guys wanna go find something to eat?" He asks. "I gotta get Max though," he says, pulling out his cell.
"The ship hasn't even left port." I say, looking around nervously, hoping nobody noticed my little jump at Max's name. I need to stop being so...scared of him.
"So? We can still look around!!!!" Ruthanne says, absolutely beaming. I groan and look at myself. I look hideous and scraggly after all the hub-bub and my last few happy moments in the bedroom.
"Fine.. just, let me get ready or something." I try to run a hand through my hair, getting it stuck and hurting myself. They turn around and go back to their suite to wait for us. I run back to my suitcase to get a brush and some eyeliner and something to replace my sweaty clothes. It's the least I could do to spare everyone the gastly sight. Sidney sits on the bed patiently, well, as patiently as he can. I finish and turn around, coming out of the small bathroom. "How's this?" I twirl in front of him in my new short sundress.
He nods, approving, wrapping his arms around me. "beautiful." He says, kissing my neck. He leads me out and we knock on their door.
"You coming or what!?" I shout through when they don't answer right away.
"Yep!" Ruthanne says, opening the door and surprising me.
"Let's go then." I say, hooking my arm through Sidney's.
He laughs at me, "we have all week you know." He says.
"Yes, but, they want us to go go go, then they take forever!" I say, my fast paced mind kicking in again. We laugh at me and walk around just to explore. That's what we decided to do since Ruthanne and I have no clue how this kind of thing goes. We all kind of just walk aimlessly, looking at things and pointing. There's more and more people being led to their rooms or suites, just like us, so we decide to head up a deck. I notice all sorts of things I want to hit later, after relaxing of course.
After a while, I whine into Sidney's ear. "Let's go back," because people are just walking around aimlessly like us, waiting for the stupid ship to leave port so we don't feel so weird. Ruthanne and Kris are so into their little exploration trip they continue on well after Sidney and I head back to our rooms. Max had disappeared sometime earlier, probably to pick up some alcohol.
"So," he says, "what do you want to do tonight?"He asks.
"Well, as long as I'm with you I don't care..." I trail off. He kisses me lightly.
"Let's hit the casino." He says.
I laugh, "I didn't know you were a gambler!" I say.
"I'm not. But I like to play." He says. We laugh again and lay back on the bed.
"I suppose if we're going to be here for a week, I might as well get moved in, right?" I say, getting up to do so, claiming the top half of the dresser in front of our bed.

Ruthanne's Point Of View ,<3>

Kris and I are having so much fun just walking around, I hardly notice the time til Caitlin texts me. Hey, Let's go eat... why aren't you back by now!?
Kris laughs, looking over my shoulder. I text her back. Ok... just having fun with Kris. Enjoying the ALONE TIME. Kris laughs again and we head back down the 3 levels we had climbed. I glance at the time on my phone. 3:30 almost. Wow, what a long day already.
They're standing at the rail, looking out over the water when we get back. The ship has left by now and they're enjoying watching the land slowly get farther away. And the way they're standing makes them look so cute. I pull my camera out and snap a picture before they can notice us. Kris laughs at me. "Paparazzi much?" He asks, making them look up. Caitlin I think, hear him and gives me a funny look. Sidney just seems to hear Kris's voice. I tuck the camera back into my pocket and walk up to them.
"Ready?" I ask happily.
"Yeah," Caitlin says, "I'm starving."
I know how she gets when she's hungry so I say, "let's go then." And we start walking back towards the dining area Kris and I found. I guess on this particular ship, there's several. A waitress immediately sees us and comes over to get us a drink. Sidney and Caitlin get coke and Kris and I both get iced tea. We chat quietly while we wait for that.
The special today I guess is prime rib, so Kris orders it, Caitlin and I don't like our meat still bloody, so we decide on some nice-- cooked --chicken breast. Sidney, gets some sort of weird soup that he says is really delicious and makes Caitlin try. Judging by her face I don't think she really liked it, but she doesn't tell him that. Max shows up late and gets himself some chocolate milk and roast beef. We all laugh at him for his order even though it's something we'd all love to eat.
Dinner was good and fun, and we ended up with some great pictures of the water and of us. Kind of tired, we all head back to our suites for a little break. Caitlin had filled me in on their plans to hit the casino. I have no clue if I'm even old enough to gamble so I turn to Kris. "You want to go to the casino with Sid and Caitlin tonight?" I ask him slowly, just in case I'm not even allowed in.
"Sure." He says. We sit on the couch in front of our flat screen TV for a little bit, just hanging out for a while. We don't really watch the weird romance movie that's on, instead, talking and kissing and whatnot.
Come 8:00, Caitlin has texted me. Let's go!
I laugh. She's always kind of been a gambler.
Okey dokey! <3 I type back and we meet outside. Sidney leads us up to the casino he somehow noticed. It's supposedly a big attraction, except it has this teeny tiny little sign, and only 2 big doors.
I find out gambling is fun and I beat Kris like a zillion times at Texas Hold 'Em since he insists on spending all his money. I walk out with a few hundred dollars more than I had, which was absolutely none. I'm happy to be a winner. Kris comes out with a pitiful win of $47.
Caitlin and Max won some, not much, and Sidney lost. Everyone makes fun of me for being the big winner.
Exhausted, Kris and I head back to our suite. I look at the time again, 12:30 AM. "We spent that much time there!?" I ask him, surprised.
He looks at the clock himself and laughs, "wow. now I know how so many people lose themselves gambling." I nod and walk over to my suitcase, something I didn't bother to unpack since I got here. I get a cute old pair of sleep pants that I love and a t-shirt which just happens to be a Pittsburgh Penguins one. Kris winks at me as I walk into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
I come out feeling less tired than before, having gotten my shower blow dried my hair and brushed my teeth. Kris pulls back the covers on my side and then takes his turn in the bathroom.
His beautiful thick hair, is still wet when he comes out and I smile at him mischievously. He laughs and climbs into bed beside me. "goodnight, love." He says as we pull our lamp switches simultaneously.

Chapter 20

Ruthanne's Point Of View <3>

Still on the brink of crying I just ask, "why?"
"because a problem came up where there's not as many rooms on the boat as they thought. Their computer screwed up or something." He pauses to take a breath, "They called us, well, me and Sid since we booked so last minute, offering to let us get on another cruise, another time. But, we knew you guys were looking forward to it, kinda like a graduation gift, so we said we'd take it up with you. What do you think?"
"Oh.." I sigh, a great feeling of relief washing over me. I lay my head on his shoulder and lean against the window, pulling my feet up onto my window seat.
"What?" He looks down at me, "you seem relieved, almost."
"I ammmm." I say, looking back up at him. "Brittny sent me a text." I reach over to get my phone up off my bed to show him the text.
From: Unknown Number
You know that cruise? Forget it. You're not going, and neither is Caitlin. ~♥Britt
"Ohhhhh." he says, wrapping his arm around me. "No worries. She's got nothing. As far as we know." He kisses the top of my head, "it's ok." He continues to comfort me.
"Thanks Kris." I say, right before kissing him "for everything."
"you're welcome." He says, kissing me back. I smile. "what?"
"Sorry. I just thought this was funny, cause it's just like a scene out of a movie or something." I laugh.
Kris laughs too, "It is!" He says.
"My mom's calling. Let's go meet my family!" I roll my eyes, showing him that I'm a lot less enthusiastic than I seem. He laughs at me and follows me downstairs.
"I already kinda met your dad," he says, following me into the kitchen.
"well, not my mom!" I say, sitting down at the counter on one of our spinny chairs. He does the same, sitting beside me.
"You must be Kris," my mom says, extending her hand, then taking it back to wash it first because she noticed how disgusting it was. She's always cooking. She comes back to shake Kris's hand and they exchange an easy laugh.
"What's for dinner?" I ask her. I usually know ahead of time, but since Kris came along, I haven't been home much.
"um, I'm making chicken fajitas and we're having tostitos and salsa. I made a jar for you to take to Caitlin." (Ruthanne's mom's salsa... deeeeelish! :) )She says, pointing at it on the counter.
"tomorrow."
"Last day!" She says, smiling. "are you ready for it to end?" She asks.
I nod, even though I'm not. I might try to act tough but I'm gonna miss everyone. Kris somehow knows how I feel and lays a hand on my leg.
"So how'd you guys meet?" My mom asks.
"Internet," I joke.
"Caitlin" Kris, doesn't.
My mom laughs, "it figures. That girl got you soooo obsessed." My mom says, rolling her eyes. I blush.
"We're fans, what can we say?" I say sheepishly, holding my hands up in defense.
"My biggest fan," Kris says, putting an arm around me. My mom smiles, even though she wishes we'd save it for another time, when she's not around.
"your dad's gonna be back in a minute." She warns me, he's not as tolerant of this kind of cuddly behavior. Oh well.
I nod, "we're heading back up, call us down when it's ready." I say. She just says Ok as we walk up the stairs an my dog Turk barks at us. "Don't mind him. Really, he's just a big baby." I say to Kris.
He laughs, "good to know."

Caitlin's Point Of View ;)

"you ok?" Sidney asks me over the phone. "you sound upset."
"Yeah, it's all good." I say, not quite telling the truth. "You coming to graduation tomorrow?" I ask him.
"Of courssse." He says, "I wouldn't miss it for the world." I smile, that means a lot. "Guess what the day after tomorrow is!?" He says loudly. I cringe, his voice hurting my ears.
"Cruissssssse." I say happily.
"You sure you want to go then?" He asks.
"Yeah, why?" I ask him, confused. Painting my nails while on the phone has been a habit of mine since I was in the 6th grade. Everyone always wondered how I took the time to do that. I'm just a highly social girl, really.
"Oh, cause we can go another time, the cruise company messed up and it's gonna be realllly crowded."
"Oh?" I ask. "well I'm sure we'll be spending more time in our room than anything," I say suggestively.
"yeah, and we're first class. Best on the ship." He brags.
"Only you," I say back.
We laugh and then he says, "well, I gotta go, dinner."
I laugh at him again and then say, "ok. seeya."
"Love you," he says, then hangs up. I don't know if I can say it back anyways, I'm glad he hung up for once. I lay on my bed, bored. My mom eventually calls me down.
"Roast beef!" I yell, smelling it. I yell it more because it's funny than because I'm excited to eat it.
My mom laughs and asks, "are you enjoying your new laptop?"
I laugh at her, "what do you think? Of course I am!"
"Of course you are." She says, stirring whatever's all in the crock pot. When I was little and she made this I was afraid to eat it because I thought it was witch's brew.
"Witch's Brew. Yum." I say, leaning over to smell it.
"you remember that?" She looks at me funny.
"Yeah!" I say, "I wouldn't eat this if you paid me back then." We laugh.
"Well, it's almost done." She says.
"Awesome." I say.
"Well you're in a good mood." She notices.
"I have no clue why. I think I'm more hyper than anything else." We laugh again. My mom and I always have a good time at dinner. My dad's usually home by now, but I don't see him around. "Dad home?"
"Yeah." She says, "he's doing something or other in the living room." She explains his absence in the kitchen. He's always bugging to taste it and she has to enlist my help to fight him off. "So. You ready?" She asks me.
"No." I say, already knowing what she means. About being done with high school and going on to that apartment and college. Of course I'm excited for what's to come, but I'm scared too. How am I going to survive on my own? Of course, I won't be alone, I'll have Ruthanne, but I'm not sure how much of each other we'll be able to stand when we live together.
"You'll get through it." She says.
"yeah." I say, "it's just a little scary. thanks, by the way, for helping with rent." I say, turning to hug her. "That is a huge huge huge help."
"I know. You gotta thank your dad too. I had to talk him into it." We laugh, both knowing how stingy my dad can be when it comes to stuff like this. Helping me, in other words. He wants me to do most things on my own, to learn.
The roast beef was delicious and I disappear back up to my room to watch TV. I check my phone. 2 texts. The same one Ruthanne showed me and then one from Sidney
What time is your graduation? <3
I tap in a reply 4:00 tomorrow after school. They're excited to get rid of us. ;) <3
I lay on my bed and eventually fall asleep. I wake up scared. Glancing at my clock it's 2:45. I had fallen asleep in my jeans and Penguins t-shirt probably somewhere around 11:00. Hair still in a pony tail, I stumble into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get into some comfier clothes, grumbling the whole time. I get back in bed and can't fall asleep. All I can think about is how Sidney's going to get mobbed at my graduation. Maybe I should text him and tell him not to come.
When I wake up at 6:15 it comes all too soon. I brush my hair quickly and then curl it a little bit to give it more volume. I sigh, grabbing my bag again even though I don't need it. I grab the garment bag that holds my graduation cap and gown and make my way to my car without breakfast. Sitting in my car I check my phone. One from Sidney again.
ok, can't wait to be there! <3 I remember what took me so long to fall asleep last night and reply to it. maybe you shouldn't come, you're gonna get mobbed and no one will care about graduation. My mom will have it on tape? :( <3 I drive to school, still drowsy from the lack of sleep. My caffeine mints will kick in soon and it won't be a problem, til later that is. I guess the plan is for me to stay at Mario's with Sidney tonight so we can get an early start. We discussed it during our hour and a half conversation last night. I'm officially free after tonight. Well, in my mind I am. I'm sure my parents will have a hard time not bossing me around for a while. I get to school and check my phone again, just in case Sidney's up at this hour. I guess he is, cause I've got a text. No! I'm coming. I might wear a hat and sunglasses, but I'm going! Love you <3
I smile, he won't let mobs of people stop him from watching my graduation. Thanks. :D <3

~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Graduation. We're sitting in these hard chairs, sweating in the gym, waiting for the principal to get done with his speech. I keep glancing at the crowd, looking for Sidney. His hat and sunglasses idea was mimicked by just about everyone in the place so I'm having a hard time. Then I see the Stanley Cup Champions shirt and the defined muscles. I smile and wave, just a little. He smiles back. The girl next to me leans over, "Is that Sidney Crosby?" She asks in a whisper.
I'm hesitant to answer her truthfully. But I do. I just nod then say "Shh." She nods too, understanding.
The cameras are always flashing and I'm getting dizzy in the line to receive my diploma. I smile for the camera when I take it. There are more WHOOS! for me and Ruthanne than I would have imagined, all coming from the row Sidney's in, Max, Kris and Jordan with him, which makes me turn beat red. I retake my seat and the girl next to me says, "Whoa, Sidney, Jordan, Kris AND Max?"
I laugh nervously and say, "yeah," She gapes at me and turns back to look at them.
"You are one lucky girl."
"tell me." I say.
My parents and Sidney(and gang) are there to greet us when Ruthanne and I break off from the crowd. I get a hug from everyone and all the guys hand us each one rose while my parents give me a whole bouquet. "Where are we going for dinner?" My mom asks. "Your choice, love." She puts her hand on my back, above Sidney's
"uhhhh.. Let's get Mexican." I say, not caring where we go. Those authentic Mexican restaurants are always good. The guys all smile, excited and my mom and dad nod.
"Us too." Ruthanne looks at her parents. They smile, but it never meets their eyes. I don't think they expected this many people.
I sit between Sidney and Max, which makes things awkward for me at least. Sidney's absolutely oblivious and Max is kinda acting like nothing ever happened, except he flirts a little here and there. My parents sit across from me and by Jordan and Kris who's by Ruthanne. She's by her parents. All of the parents obviously hadn't expected such a crowd for my graduation dinner so they're a little flustered as we laugh and joke around.
After the dinner I go home to change and grab my suitcase. "I feel so weird leaving so earlyyy." I whine to my mom, giving her a hug before leaving with Sidney.
"It's ok." She says, hugging me again, her eyes welling up. She's trying to hold it together long enough for us to leave so I nod and step out the door.
"that was fun." I say to Sidney, squeezing his hand.
"Yeah it was. Just wait for tomorrow. It's gonna suck." he says.
"Why?" I look at him. I mean, we're going on a cruise, how bad could it be?
"Eh, the first day, people always go exploring. It gets less crowded as the week goes on. More people figure out what they want to do." He explains. "That and getting on the ships a huge hassle."
"Ohhh." I say, getting it now. We walk into Mario's and he leads me upstairs.
"Are you sleeping in here? Or would you prefer your own room?" He stops, setting down my bags for a moment. His eyes make it impossible to say no to such an invitation.
"Here's fine," I say, smiling. He opens the door and I follow him in. He lays my suitcases by his and points to the bathroom.
"You can get ready for bed in there. We've got a big day tomorrow" He sighs, laying back on his bed. I dig through my suitcase for a pair of shorts and a comfy tank, coming out with some. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, hair, and then I change. I come back out and lay with Sidney on his bed. He's changed into nothing but his boxers, classic plaid, of course. He rolls over and kisses me. "Night. I love you." He says, pulling the covers up.