My what what?
Just trust me. But until then, forget about Captain Asswipe and enjoy yourself. Because YOU’RE ON A YACHT IN FIJI!!!
Marianne’s right: I’m not here to flirt with Caleb. He’s just one more obstacle in the string of many to make me feel like I don’t belong here. And I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of proving him right.
I’m just not sure why it stings so badly.
A perfunctory knock sounds at my door before Jules pushes it open.
“So…” she says, tweedling her fingers like a Looney Toon. “What do you think! Isn’t it insane?!”
“Insane is one word for it,” I reply. Jules deflates. I may beable to fool Harry, but she knows from one look at me that I’m a few notches less than pleased.
“You hate it,” she says gingerly as she sits beside me on the bed. It’s not like I’mtryingto be a downer. But someone in this family has to be realistic, and it’s notgoing to be Jules. Her new lifestyle is one I will never fit in with, and the sooner Jules understands that, the easier it will be for both of us.
“I don’thate it,” I huff. “But you told me this vacation was going to below key.Never did you mention we were boarding the Queen Mary! Is there a secret ballroom on board I don’t know about? Do we have an escape submarine hidden below deck?”
“Ok, I may have underexaggeratedjusta little. But if I’d told you the truth, I was afraid you wouldn’t come!”
I open my mouth to protest, but she’s definitely not wrong.
“And if you’d read the welcome packet…”
“Fine, fine,” I tell her, not wanting to hear another thing about this stupid welcome packet, “But a heads up would have been nice. I feel a little underdressed. And theyfoldedmyunderwear!”
I point to one of the mahogany drawers and Jules laughs.
“Luckily for you,” she says, “I brought enough outfits to last four years at sea. If we’re boarded by pirates, at least we can fight them off with my suitcases.”
When I don’t laugh, she gives me a concerned look.
“What’sreallygoing on, babe?” She asks, pushing my shoulder playfully. “You’ve been dodging my calls for weeks. Is this really just about the ship?”
I try not to groan. Where do I even start? For a minute, I think about telling her about Caleb. It would be so nice not to feel like I had to gaslight myself into thinking his behaviorisn’tappalling. But Jules isn’t one to let things lie. If I tell her my mystery knight in shining armor is actually the Warren’s captain, the first thing she’lldo is go to Harry, and it’s not hard to imagine the drama that will ensue. The same kind of drama that just got me suspended. If experience is anything to go by, the only thing telling Jules will accomplish is teaching the Warrens to associate me with problems.
But thereissomething Jules needs to know. Even if saying it out loud feels equivalent to harpooning myself with one of the spikes on my garish chandelier.
“Ok. Please don’t freak out?—"
I’m interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Come in!” Jules calls, and it swings open to reveal a smiling Gia, her arms busy with a white tray of pink drinks each garnished with an orchid flower.
“Hello ladies! I thought I’d bring you down some of Russ’s freshly-made passion fruit juice.”
Jules turns to me with a wide-mouthed smile that gives her the overall air of a contestant on the Price is Right.
“Thank you, Gia. It looks delicious!”
Jules takes the drinks before Gia closes the door, smile unbroken.
“See!” I hiss as soon as I’m sure she can’t hear. “Did she just bow?”
“Oh, take the drink Stella,” she chides as she passes me the juice. “When was the last time you let yourself just relax?”
I take a reluctant sip and discover that, unsurprisingly, it’s phenomenal.
“I’m not accepting your bribery,” I tell her. “Don’t you feel like we’re exploiting the crew by expecting them to wait on us every hour of the day? It just seems so… classist.”
