Coincidence - Alan May [14]
“And I’m Trudy Baker,” the third one said, when she had recovered from her fit of giggling.
The four traded preliminary information. Nancy Shore was from the Boston area, entering grade twelve. Kathy was a gradetwelve student as well, from Calgary, and Trudy was a grade-eleven student from Montréal. Trudy had been among the last group of students that Dave and Pierre had picked up at the airport, so she had to make do with the only unclaimed bunk, the outside upper one. But that was okay, the others told her. She was the “child” of the four of them, a mere sixteen to their seventeen, so it was only right for them to get first pick.
Melissa liked all three of her cabinmates instantly. She decided if it was at all possible for four strangers to get along in a space not much bigger than a doghouse, their chances were better than most.
At 1600 hours everyone was called on deck for introductions. The professional crew consisted of Captain Luke Marzynski; Dr. Elliott Williams, who was first mate as well as ship’s physician; Henry Mattox, the second mate; two engineers, Matt and Sam; Jarred, the cook; Mac, the bosun, who was in charge of the ship’s rigging; and the bosun’s mate, Charlie. The teachers were Dave Cameron, Sharon Rock, Tom Michaels, Mary Wilson, and Anika Johnson, who was the shipboard director.
Melissa looked around at the Floaties assembled on deck. She checked out her competition among the girls and was dismayed to find it pretty stiff. But she always underestimated her own attractiveness. She noted with resignation that she was, as always, the tallest girl. As for the boys, they were the usual mixture of good-looking and nerdish and all points in between. But Pierre was the only real standout, so she resolved to reel him in him, hook, line, and sinker, and the sooner the better. No other girl, no matter how cute and petite, was going to have a chance at him.
As for how she was going to put her plan into operation, she hadn’t the least idea.
After the introductions, Captain Marzynski outlined the first week’s itinerary. It would include moving the ship to another dock, where provisioning would take place, intensive training on lines, sails, and terminology, and getting used to laying aloft.
That first night the students ate onboard but were free to leave the ship after supper as long as they went in groups. For safety reasons, students had to be in groups of at least four when going ashore. Such security might not be necessary in San Diego, but it would be in other ports, so the rule was put in place for the duration of the voyage.
Melissa grabbed Nancy and made a beeline for Pierre, who was wandering around the deck with his cabinmate Dan, as if in search of something.
“Nancy and I are going ashore for a walk if we can just find two more people to go with us,” Melissa said. “How about you two?”
There, she thought. That sounded plausible, not too obvious.
“I—we—were just looking for two people to go with us to get some ice cream,” Pierre said.
Dan shot him a glance, this being news to him, but off they went with Melissa and Pierre taking the lead. Nancy and Dan tried to think of things to talk about, aware of how redundant they were. Melissa and Pierre weren’t saying much either, but it was clear that they were communicating beautifully.
It was as if they were made for each other, Melissa thought, the way their strides matched, the way she could forget about her height altogether instead of feeling like a gawky Gulliver among the Lilliputians. She was surprised to find herself touching his arm as they walked. That was something she’d never have felt comfortable doing with a guy before. But Pierre didn’t seem to mind. She hoped that meant he felt the same warmth and excitement she was feeling—a feeling she decided she would quite enjoy getting used to.
As for Pierre, he not only was warming up to the idea of Blue Water Academy, but he also was incredulous that it included the most gorgeous girl he’d ever seen and