As she joined the line, a twentysomething guy wearing a pair of red, star-shaped sunglasses bounded up to her. “I’m on to you!” he said, wagging a finger.
Tabitha’s face flashed in Emily’s mind. “W-what?” she croaked.
“You’re totally a secret Cirque du Soleil fan!” The guy stuck out his hand. “The name’s Jeremy. I’m your cruise director this week. How would you like to be a guest in tonight’s kickoff Cirque du Soleil performance in the theater? The show’s theme is Mother Earth, in honor of this being an Eco Cruise and all.”
Several kids nearby stopped and smirked. “I think I’ll pass,” Emily mumbled, scurrying forward.
She flashed her passport to the check-in girl and was given a key to her cabin, a meal card and daily menu, and a map of the boat. Last but not least, she received a pamphlet that listed the various classes, activities, seminars, group meetings, and volunteer opportunities for the week—students were required to participate in one for-credit class and volunteer in the ship’s “community,” helping to clean, cook, plan events, or take care of the ship’s enormous endangered-fish aquarium, and so on. The volunteer spots were on a first-come, first-serve basis; Emily had already signed up for lifeguard duty at the main pool. She still didn’t know which class she’d take, though, so she scanned the list quickly. There was Exploring the Reefs Responsibly, Hunt for Sunken (Eco)Treasure, Clean Up the Tide Pools in a Kayak. She decided on a course called Caribbean Bird-Watching.
She boarded an elevator that would take her to her room. A calypso band played loudly on an upper deck, the bass thudding through the walls. A few girls were talking about a great bar in St. Martin they’d heard about. Two guys chattered about kiteboarding in Puerto Rico. Everyone was dressed in shorts and flip-flops, even though it was forty-five degrees outside.
Emily envied their carefree excitement—she couldn’t even coax the corners of her lips to bend into a smile. All she could think about was her mother’s vacant eyes, her dad’s punishing scowl, the hatred in their hearts. The FBI agent on the news this morning. Gayle’s dead body. Tabitha’s face just as she realized she was falling. A lurking in the darkness, laughing, ready to hurt her for real.
She thought about Ali, too—Real Ali and Their Ali. All this time, Emily had been hiding a secret: In the Poconos, the girls had escaped the house just before it blew up, with Real Ali still inside. What the others didn’t know, however, was that Emily had left the cabin door open so that Real Ali could escape, too. She’d told everyone she’d closed it tight. And when the cops didn’t find her body, Emily was positive Real Ali had gotten out and was still alive.
For many, many months, Emily had hoped that Real Ali would come to her senses and apologize to all of them for being A. Emily would be the first one to forgive her, of course. After all, she’d loved Ali—both Alis. She’d kissed both of them, Their Ali in her tree house in seventh grade, and Real Ali last year.
But that was before Real Ali messed with her daughter. Some of the notes from A threatened Violet’s life. It was then that she realized Real Ali was beyond the pale. Real Ali didn’t care for Emily at all, and she certainly had no intention of trying to make things right. She was just … evil. Almost immediately, the hope and love Emily had felt withered away, leaving a huge hole in her heart.
The elevator dinged, and an automated voice announced that they were on the Sunshine deck. A bunch of kids marched down the long, garishly carpeted hall to find their rooms. Not wanting to get stuck behind them, Emily turned toward the sliding-glass door that led to a small patio overlooking the water instead. She stepped through it and let the chilly sea air fill her lungs.
Gulls called overhead. Traffic swished in the distance. The waves had foamy white tops, and a lifeboat bobbed seven decks below. Then Emily heard a cough and jumped. A girl with olive skin and long, chestnut-colored hair stood at the far end of the balcony. She wore dark sunglasses, a white eyelet dress, and ballet flats with pink-and-white grosgrain ribbon trim.
Emily didn’t speak at first. The girl was so ethereal and quiet that she thought she might be a ghost.
But then the girl turned and smiled. “Hey.”
“Oh!” Emily said, stepping back. “Y-you scared me. I wasn’t sure you were real.”
The corners of the girl’s mouth turned up. “Do you often see people that aren’t real?”
“Never anyone like you,” Emily blurted, and then clamped her mouth shut. Why had she just said that?
The girl raised her eyebrows, taking her sunglasses off. And then she strolled over. Up close, Emily could see the dimples on her cheeks. Her arresting green eyes sparkled, and she smelled so fragrantly of jasmine perfume that Emily felt a little light-headed.
“Maybe I am a ghost,” the girl whispered. “Or a mermaid. We are at sea, after all.”
Then she touched the tip of Emily’s nose, turned around, and disappeared through the sliding door. Emily remained in a cloud of jasmine, her mouth hanging open, the tip of her nose tingling. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but she definitely liked it. For one fleeting second, the ghost—or mermaid, or whatever she was—had made her forget absolutely everything wrong with her life.
3
THE BEST COUPLES ALWAYS COMPROMISE
“Welcome to the Activity and Volunteer Fair!” a sandy-haired guy said to Aria Montgomery and her boyfriend, Noel Kahn, as they walked up to the ship’s casino. “Aren’t you so psyched to be here?”