I remember it being hot. I had looked up through my designer sunglasses to see white sand beaches and a majestic aqua blue ocean spanning out in front of me. I remember hearing Alana proclaim "This is going to be the best vacation ever!" and Katy replying in her usual apprehensive voice "We're going to be late!" And at that we were off. We climbed down the luxuriously decorated staircase to the first floor of the resort. (When I was with my friends, we never rode the elevator for fear it would get stuck or spontaneously explode, but that's my friends for you.) Just along the beach, a short distance from the hotel was a very large ship dock with an enormous cruise ship docked there ready for boarding. Fabulously decorated and surrounded by quaint little palm trees, It was just the sort of thing that would be on the cover of a travel brochure. At that moment, even though I wasn't sure, it felt that I could maybe, just possibly, be growing up. It was our senior trip after all. I would be graduating in exactly two weeks, and then I'd be a freshman…in collage! I would get my own place, and car, and have my own life to make important decisions and maybe even change the world…one day.
The ship was absolutely beautiful. I set my bags down in the cabin that Alana, Katy, and I shared. When I stepped out of the sleeping quarters area, the first deck opened out. It was bigger than mine and my neighbors yards combined with an Olympic sized pool and surfer pool. To the right of the deck was an Asian-inspired restaurant with a fire-pit right in front of the tables, so the cooks could prepare the food in full sight of the guests. I remember Brandon asking me to eat at that restaurant later that evening, I wish so badly now that I could have gotten the chance to.