june 2nd, 2019

- Andy -

"When will you be back?" Rosalind, my best friend of 10 years, asked me. We were standing on the docks, a duffel back over my shoulder as the nighttime summer breeze blew by.

"I'm not sure, Ro." I shrugged. "I don't even know where I'm headed yet, maybe Rome, Paris or even Amsterdam." I didn't bother to see where the cruise ship was headed, there was more fun in the surprise.

Ro rolled her eyes, "Just.. Come back, alright?" She pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "Please."

"You gotta let me go before you break my ribs and I'm not able to say goodbye." I said in a strained laugh, Ro chuckled and let go. I smiled to her, her yellow blonde hair was tied back in a tight bun. She was wearing leggings and a pink sweater, off-brand uggs on her feet.

Me? I was nothing like Ro. She was pretty and well put together, always polite and welcoming to everyone she met— I was the opposite. My hair was always a tangled mess of golden brown, I had dreary grey eyes that resembled a gloomy day, and my clothes were always wrinkled and baggy. Not to mention the sarcasm that I used religiously.

"I love you, Ro."

"I love you too, Andy."

june 2nd, 2019

- Andy -

I didn't have money so I had to stowaway on some cruise liner. Where ever it was headed, that's where I would start my new adventure. I was staying in the cargo bay, my backpack stuffed behind a few crates. I didn't wanna take chances of getting caught so I planned on getting off the ship at the first stop, which would be in 2 days exactly.

I slugged my backpack over my shoulder and sneaked my way up to the main deck. Half the day had passed and I couldn't stay cooped up in the cargo bay any longer. The setting sun was warm on my skin. I wore jean shorts, a white t-shirt and some sneakers, simple but comfortable. I had all my essentials in my backpack— toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, a razor, extra clothes and my journal. Everything I could ever need.

The water was dark and rushing— it made me uneasy, I stepped away from the railing and sighed. "Nervous?" A voice came from behind me, I jumped and turned to see a very attractive young man, he had an accent. His hair was dark brown, his skin was fair and he had small, pink lips. He was taller than me, at least by a couple inches and I could smell the cologne on him. He reminded me of a rainy day with the clouds shrouding the sky completely.

I chuckled, "It's scary to think that this could all sink and then we'd all be left for the depths of the ocean to take." I turned back to the railing, staring down at the water as the sky became dark and the stars made their entrance.

"The ship won't sink." He said, joining me at the railing as we both gazed down to the sea.

"You sound so sure." I laughed lightly.

"I have to be!" He laughed along, "Or else I'd be the nervous one." I looked over to him, he was wearing a necklace— something silver on a chain.

"Andy." I stuck my hand out to him.

"Tom." He shook my hand with a smile, our eyes connecting for longer than 10 seconds. His were brown, the moon reflected onto them as the clouds passed over it. "So, who did you come with?"

"Sorry?"

"On the cruise, who did you come with on the cruise?" We both looked back out to the ocean.

"Oh." Well, no one, actually. "My husband and our two kids." I said with a casual sigh.

"Oh." Was all he said, the air filling with silence and the crashing waves from below.

I burst out laughing, "I'm kidding! I'm only 20, there's no way I'd be married with kids anytime soon." I saw Tom's cheeks go a little red as he laughed with me.

"You had me going there for a second!"

I looked over to the very front of the ship, the steep corner that many people have probably posed on. "I need my Titanic moment." I told him. He furrowed his eyebrows, "C'mon, be my Jack for two minutes, will ya?"

Tom moved his eyes from me to the bow of the ship, the corners of his lips curling up slightly before he fully smiled. "Sure thing, Rose." I put my backpack down by the railing and walked up to the bow. I stood on the highest point, closing my eyes and stretching my arms out wide.

I waited, a small part of me wondering if Tom had abandoned me here due to my weirdness. But, a few seconds later, I felt his body brush against mine lightly and his hands gliding across my arms as they stretched out onto mine. I let my head fall back into the crook of his neck, his rainy scent filling my lungs and the sound of the waves hitting the ship engulf my ears.

"Andy?" Tom breathed lowly by my ear, his hot breath tickling me.

I opened my eyes, our arms dropping, I turned my head to him slightly. "Hmm?"

"I—"

Before he could get a word in, I saw my backpack slipping between the rails. I gasped and pushed myself out of his arms, running and jumping onto the railing so I could grab the bag in time. The air was taken out of my lungs as my ribs hit the railing, I tried my best to balance myself as my fingers latched onto the bag just before it went over the edge.

"Oh my—" I felt two large hands grip my waist, Tom began to pull me back onto the deck but the bag started to slip from my hand. My backpack pulled me more over the ledge, the depths of the sea staring up at me as if it were taunting me. "Andy!" My legs went over, Tom held onto my ankles but soon enough... we fell into the hands of the ocean.

I gasped for air, coughing up water and flapping my arms around frantically. The water was cold, trying to drag me down by my clothes and backpack. "T—" A wave crashed against my face and I sunk under the surface, water rushing through my throat. I kicked my legs as hard as I could, trying my best to get back topside. I breached the surface again, practically throwing up sea water. "TOM!" I screamed out.

"HERE! Over here!" I heard his voice but I couldn't see where it was coming from. I turned and turned, trying to find him but the waves towered over me and pummeled me again and again. "ANDY!" He called again, his voice was strained and terrified.

"TOM!" I screamed out, tears streaming down my face, it started to rain and the waves were getting bigger. My heart was pounding so hard that I was more scared of it beating straight out of my chest than I was of drowning.

I sank back under the water, my limbs so exhausted of trying to stay afloat. I learned how to swim when I was 4 years old, but in that moment, everything I knew had gone out of the window of my brain. I panicked. I shut my eyes tight, too scared of seeing the dark depths below me, unable to get back to the surface. As I felt myself starting to give up, I felt arms hook around my torso tightly.

I couldn't remember what it was like to be warm. It was dark where ever I was, the sound of white noise right in my ears. My hair was soaked and so were my clothes, I couldn't seem to get dry. And I felt heavy, oh so heavy.

"Andy." Someone said my name. It sounded muffled and distant. "Andy, wake up." Hands were on my shoulders, slightly shaking me. I felt the place I was in get lighter, "Andy!" My eyes bolted open.

"Wh—" I choked out water and sand. "Where.. What... I.." I felt so dizzy and light headed, my brain feeling like it had been submerged into the deepest part of the world.

"Calm down, it's okay." I met eyes with Tom. His hair was a mop of soaked brown with sand mixed in, his clothes were dripping and sticking to his body. I was laying on the shore of a beach while he was knelt over me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked hastily.

I blinked a few times, trying to rid myself of the blurriness. "Um.." I didn't feel pain anywhere except in my lungs and in my head. I touched my forehead, moving my hair away from my face. I winced as my finger grazed over the top of my right eyebrow. I retracted my hand and saw blood.

"Okay, alright. Yeah." He sighed with obvious anxiety bubbling up inside of him. I looked around, it was morning, the pale blue sky lighting up with the sunrise. The beach stretched on for good while, no one else in sight. "Yep. Ok. Yeah." He continued to mumble to himself.

"Tom." I put my hand on his arm and he quickly turned his attention to me, the same terrified expression on his face that I probably had. "Where are we?"

"I don't know."