A/N: This story was totally unplanned. I woke up this morning and it was 40 degrees below zero outside, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to be somewhere where it was actually warm. But, seeing as how hopping on a plane to the Caribbean isn't possible at the moment, I decided to write about it instead, while wrapped up in a really, really warm quilt.
Please read and review/comment/criticize! I'm winging the whole editing thing on my own, so feel free to correct me, should the occasion arise. I greatly appreciate it...
Chapter 1
Elizabeth Swan released a heavy sigh as she leaned against the wall of her best friend's bedroom and peered out the window. Her eyes caught the barest glimpse of the scintillating blue of the Caribbean Sea, as the rays of the evening sun danced over its surface.
Lauren looked up from her laptop and yawned, as she stretched her arms above her head of long, dark brown hair. "Why the long sigh?"
Elizabeth straightened and crossed the small room to her friend's bed, flopping back rather dramatically on the mattress. She grabbed a pillow and pressed it to her face. "I don't know what I want to do with my life," came her muffled reply. She heard the mattress creak as Lauren sat down next to her.
Lauren removed the pillow from Elizabeth's face and smacked her in the stomach with it before she tossed it back to its rightful place at the head of the bed. "Say that again, without the pillow covering your face, please."
The corner of Elizabeth's mouth lifted in a slight smile. "I said, I don't know what I want to do with my life." She draped an arm across her forehead and stared blankly at the ceiling as she continued, "We've graduated, it's June, and I haven't even signed up for my college classes yet."
Lauren gave her a puzzled frown. "I thought you were planning to major in political science."
Elizabeth continued to stare at the ceiling as she replied in a monotone voice, "That's what my dad wants me to do. But I don't. I'd rather slit my wrist with a rusty spoon and drink my own blood than become a lawyer."
Lauren looked down at Elizabeth and nodded in understanding. "The struggle is real."
Elizabeth lowered her arm to her side and turned her head to study her friend. "I don't know what you're talking about. You've wanted to be a teacher since you were eight! I, on the other hand, haven't a bloody clue. I've been thinking about joining the Navy, actually."
Lauren reared her head back in surprise. "You can't be serious! Your dad would never allow it! And besides, do you really think you'd make it in a career where you have to take orders from someone?"
Elizabeth abruptly sat up and turned to face Lauren, her wavy, caramel-colored hair whirling about her shoulders as she did so. "I'm perfectly serious! And I don't care what my dad thinks! I'm eighteen years old – a legal adult – and I can do what I want with, or without his permission. In fact, I'm planning to go talk to a recruiter tomorrow," she announced in a mildly defiant tone, as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Lauren raised her hands in a calming gesture. "Look, why don't you take some time to think about it before you do that? Maybe talk to some people who either are or have been in the Navy to see what it's actually like." When Elizabeth gave her a doubtful look, Lauren quickly continued. "A recruiter is just going to feed you lies."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that? And besides, why would a recruiter lie to me?"
It was Lauren's turn to sigh heavily. Elizabeth could be so naïve at times. But then she supposed, living a sheltered, privileged life would do that to a person. "It's a recruiter's job to try to persuade you to join, Elizabeth. They'll say anything to get you to sign your name on the line. Besides, Will told me so. They really screwed him over when he enlisted three and a half years ago."
Ah, Elizabeth thought. Lauren's cousin, Will Turner. The guy who all of her friends, at one point or another, had had a mad crush on. Although Elizabeth herself had never met him – his family lived on St. Croix, and she had been gone whenever he'd come to St. Thomas to visit Lauren – she'd seen the pictures of him that Lauren's parents kept around the house. Elizabeth, too, had not been immune to his dark good looks and warm, chocolate brown eyes.
"I know!" Lauren suddenly exclaimed, making Elizabeth jump. "Why don't you email Will and ask him?"
Elizabeth grimaced. The thought of emailing the guy she'd had a crush on for years, sent a swarm of butterflies into flight in her stomach. "I wouldn't want to bother him…"
Lauren tilted her head to the side. "You wouldn't be bothering him. He's a really nice guy."
Elizabeth pressed her lips into a tight line and shook her head.
Lauren squeezed her shoulder and gave her an understanding smile. "If you're uncomfortable with just sending him an email out of the blue, I can ask him if it'd be alright and give him a heads-up." She glanced down at her watch. "It's 6:45 here, which means it's 6:45 in the morning in Japan, so he should be finished with his shift. He's usually on instant messenger for a little while after work." With that, Lauren sprang from the bed and dashed to her desk to check her laptop. "Woohoo!" she exclaimed, "Just our luck, he's online!"
Elizabeth's eyes widened in alarm and she quickly rose from the bed as Lauren began to type. By the time Elizabeth reached the desk to stop her from sending the message, Lauren had already hit the "send" key. "No, Lauren! Really?" Elizabeth exclaimed, as she sank to the floor beside the desk and dropped her head into her hands. "What did you say?" she mumbled, half afraid of what Lauren's response would be.
Lauren looked down at Elizabeth's slumped figure on the floor next to her and laughed, giving her blonde head a patronizing pat. "I told him that you have a mad crush on him."
Elizabeth jerked her head up to glare at her friend and smacked her on the arm. "Stop it! You did not! Seriously, Lauren, please tell me what you said!"
"Good grief, girl, chill out, will ya?" Lauren laughed as she took in the sight of Elizabeth's blushing cheeks. "I just told him that I have a friend who is thinking about joining the Navy and that you have some questions about it. I asked if it'd be alright if you send him an email sometime." The ping of the messenger notification tone sounded, and Lauren turned her attention back to the screen. "He responded. He says that would be fine. He'd be happy to tell you whatever you'd like to know." She looked down at Elizabeth and cocked an eyebrow. "You're welcome, by the way."
"I really freaking hate you, you know that, right?" Elizabeth grumbled as she rose to her feet.
Lauren looked up, batted her eyelashes and blew Elizabeth a kiss. "I love you, too."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm supposed to be home for dinner by seven fifteen, so I'd better get going." She patted the pockets of her jean shorts and felt the outline of her car key and cell phone.
"Is your dad actually home this week?" Lauren asked, rising from her chair.
"Yep," Elizabeth replied in a glum tone.
Lauren gave her a sympathetic smile. "Hmm, lucky you. I'll text you Will's email address, okay?"
Elizabeth nodded.
Lauren jabbed Elizabeth's arm with her index finger. "Be sure to email him, Elizabeth. I mean it! Tonight. I'll know if you didn't. And I'd better not hear about you going to the recruiting station tomorrow, either."
"Aye-aye, madam," Elizabeth replied. She gave her friend a mock salute and turned on her heel to leave.
The amount of time it took to drive across Charlotte Amalie from Lauren's house to her own home on the outskirts of town, wasn't nearly long enough for Elizabeth. She parked her car in the circular driveway and rested her head against the steering wheel for a moment. Her father would, no doubt, demand to know her plans for the upcoming fall semester, but she didn't have an answer for him. He'd flip if she told him she was considering enlisting in the military.
His long-held dream for her was to study law and eventually work for a prestigious firm and marry some wealthy stiff he approved of, who would advance his own political career. Even the thought of it made Elizabeth cringe. She wanted more. She wanted freedom and adventure. She wanted…well, she didn't know what she wanted, exactly. All she knew was that she wanted to feel passion for her career and for the yet-unknown man she'd marry, someday.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the car door and stepped out into the hot, humid evening air. As she climbed the steps to the front door of her home, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She paused on the steps and pulled it out to check the message. It was from Lauren. She'd sent Will's email address, as promised. Elizabeth tilted her head back and stared up at the dusky blue sky, dreading the evening to come. Dinner with her father and then an awkward email to a hot guy she'd never met. Just super.
OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO
Somehow, Elizabeth made it through the hour-long meal with her father. He'd droned on about politics and his hopes for her future. She'd smiled and nodded throughout the ordeal and had promised him that she'd enroll in classes for the upcoming fall semester at UVI. After all, she reasoned afterward, when he had rushed off to his study to attend to some business matter or another, just because she'd said she was going to enroll in classes didn't mean that she actually planned to attend any of them.
Elizabeth rose from her seat at the table and made her way through the dining room and parlor, and up the marble staircase in the two-story foyer. When she finally reached her room, she closed the door and crossed the floor to her bed, collapsing face down onto the mattress. Her phone vibrated. She sighed heavily into the mattress, and without moving anything other than her arm, she removed her phone from her back pocket and finally raised her head to read the message.
It was from Lauren. "Did you email Will yet?"
Elizabeth frowned, scrunching her eyebrows together. "No." she typed, before hitting the "send" key.
Her phone vibrated again and another message from Lauren flashed across her screen. "DO IT. NOW. He said he'd stay up until he heard from you so that you don't have to wait a whole day for him to email you back."
Right, Elizabeth thought, dropping her head onto the mattress again. Knowing Lauren, she'd probably told her cousin that her naïve friend was planning to enlist tomorrow and had begged him to talk some sense into her. Elizabeth rolled onto her back and typed a reply. "Fine. But you're evil. Just know that."
Lauren replied with a kissy-face emoji.
Elizabeth reluctantly rose from her bed and made her way over to her desk. She flipped open her laptop and sat down in the chair in front of it, impatiently drumming her fingertips on the desktop as she waited for her home screen to load. She opened her email and clicked the "compose" button, before pulling up Lauren's text message that contained Will's email address.
Her fingers hesitated on the keyboard as she tried to think of what to say. Finally, she began to type.
Hello,
So…yep, you don't know me, and this is rather awkward, but you know how Lauren can be...
Groaning in frustration, Elizabeth deleted the text and started over.
Hi,
My name is Elizabeth Swan and I'm a friend of-
Elizabeth mashed the heel of her palm into her forehead as she once again held down the "delete" key and watched the text disappear from the screen in front of her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If what Lauren said was true – and her friend rarely lied – the poor guy was waiting for her email after working a long, overnight shift. Elizabeth silently cursed Lauren and her well-meaning treachery as she settled her fingers on the keyboard once again.
Hi,
Elizabeth Swan here…I'm a friend of Lauren's. I've been considering enlisting in the Navy, but Lauren thought it would be a good idea if I asked you a few questions about it first. So…here goes.
1. What do you like about being in the military?
2. What do you dislike?
3. What is the hardest part?
4. Do you have any regrets about joining?
5. What would you do differently, if you had it to do over again?
6. What is your advice to someone who is considering enlisting?
That's about all of the questions I have at the moment. Thanks in advance for your time…I greatly appreciate it. And thanks for your service.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth S.
Elizabeth read through the email a few times and then, with slightly shaking hands, she hit the "send" key. Her heart gave a lurch in her chest as the whoosh tone from the computer speaker confirmed that the message had been sent.
She scrubbed her hands over her face a few times before she rose from her seat and walked into the en suite bathroom, discarding her clothes before stepping into the luxurious, granite-tiled, walk-in shower. She turned the faucet handle to the warmest temperature possible and sighed as a steady stream of hot water from the two oversized showerheads pummeled her body, washing away the stress of the evening.
Elizabeth returned to her room an hour later, dressed in her pajamas and feeling refreshed. She glanced at her laptop as she walked past her desk and paused to swipe her finger over the mousepad. Her email inbox immediately popped up on the screen, with a message from Will Turner awaiting her.