Ella Dawson POV:

We had only been out on the port deck for five minutes or so when Mr. Andrews stood up from his chair and motioned for us to follow him.

"The ship is underway, and now I would like to introduce all of you to the bridge."

I stood up with more adrenaline than necessary, eager to learn more about the majestic ship. Ben simply reached his hand down to Elizabeth to pull her up from her seat.

"Thank you, Ben," Elizabeth had said, flashing her pearly white teeth.

"Ah, no problem," he had responded, a charming grin upon his face.

Catching up to Mr. Andrews, I asked him if he could introduce us to the crew of the ship.

"Of course, Ella!" he said. "They would be happy to meet all of you."

Upon saying this, we reached the bridge, and an officer came to greet us.

"Hello to you all," he said with delight. "I am Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall. But you can call me Joe."

"Hello, Joe!" I said with a friendly smile.

Joe responded, "Hello to you to, Miss…"

"Dawson," I replied. "Ella Dawson. And this is my brother, Benjamin." I gestured to Ben, who gave a nice wave.

"And you must be familiar with my daughter, Elizabeth," Mr. Andrews said, to which Elizabeth smiled and said,"Hey, Joe!"

"Hello to you all," Joe said with another smile. "The rest of the officers are in the mess hall for lunch, as you can see by the empty bridge." He gestured as he was speaking. "But if you all would like, you can come and meet the crew!"

"Splendid!" I replied with as much joy as I could muster.

Joe chuckled and said, "Now follow me; it can be easy to get lost on a big boat like this!"

Following him, we went down the stairs into the crew quarters and walked down the corridor. At the last door, we stopped as Joe opened the door and motioned for us to enter.

The crew's mess hall was filled with various men and women in uniform, lined up at the counter and sitting at the many tables. One of the largest tables in the room was seated with men wearing official caps: officers.

One of the officers at the table caught Joe's eye and motioned for us to greet them. The five of us walked over to the table, and the men stood up.

Captain Smith came to us and said, "Welcome! I'm Captain Smith, and these are our officers." He waved his arm at the men behind him.

One of the men came over and introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Chief Officer Wilde."

Another man with startling sea green eyes came over and introduced himself as First Officer Murdoch.

One by one, the rest of the men introduced themselves, and we all shook hands.

Afterward, Ben immediately began conversing and cracking laughs with Murdoch and Elizabeth was talking to Smith with her father at hand. But I first noticed one of the officers making his way towards me. He was a tall individual, and he had tousled brown hair hidden beneath his cap.

"Hello, I'm Harold Lowe, Fifth Officer," he said with a grin. "But everyone calls me Harry."

I immediately took his hand, to which he shook it firmly. "I'm Ella Dawson." I pointed to Ben. "And that is my brother, Ben. It's nice to meet you, Harry."

Harry thoughtfully agreed with a slight blush on his face, but it was quickly broken when another officer was with us.

"Harry, don't keep the ladies from me!" the officer said with amusement. Turning back to me, he said, "I'm Sixth Officer James Moody, or Jimmy."

"Pleasure to meet you, Jimmy," I said as I took his hand to shake it. "How has life been onboard Titanic?"

"Exhausting," Jimmy replied, rolling his eyes. "I hardly get sleep with our odd round hours."

"Rounds?" I asked with a confused expression.

"It's our shifts," Harry said to me. "We all go on shifts. Six hours at a time."

"Bloody, if you ask me," Jimmy whispered while glancing over at Wilde, who immediately came over to us.

Wilde shook a finger at Jimmy as he said, "Enough with the complaining, boy! Or should I give you double rounds?"

Jimmy immediately began apologizing with exaggeration, and I looked over at Harry as we were both giggling at Jimmy.

Harry motioned me over to the side, and we stepped away from our preoccupied friends. "It's nice to know at least one sane person in this room," Harry responded, mirth evident in his kind brown eyes. "If idiots could fly, the crew hall would be an airport!"

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but emerge into a fit of laughter, to which Harry joined in. Together, we were laughing, right up to the point when Murdoch walked over to us with a priceless look of puzzlement.

"What in heck's name are the two of you laughing at?" he asked us.

"Nothing," Harry said with a dismissive shrug and a chuckle. "We were talking about the lack of sane people down here."

"I can agree with that," Murdoch said with a sigh. "I feel like I'm going to explode from hearing Jimmy's jokes." He glanced over at Jimmy, who was now emitting laughter with Wilde.

"He sure knows how to lighten the mood," I said wistfully.

Murdoch looked down at his pocket watch and let out a sigh. "It looks like I have to leave for my rounds. Take care." He waved goodbye and made his way to the exit.

Harry looked around the room before nudging me. I looked up at him, and he whispered in my ear, "I was planning a prank on Murdoch with our lookouts, Freddie and Reggie, and some other officers. Seeing as Jimmy and Lights are busy, would you like to help me with it?"

"Why not?" I agreed after a moment's pause, and so he motioned for me to follow him to the door.

Once we were out of earshot, and out of the room, Harry whispered to me, "We are planning on bombarding Murdoch with 'goodies'."

"What kind of 'goodies'," I asked as Harry was stopping to unlock a door in the crew corridor.

"Water balloons, confetti, and that sort of thing," he said as he opened the door and retrieved a box from the floor.

"What does it have to do with Murdoch?" I asked in confusion as I shut the door behind Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes before he said to me, "You know, we're going to throw it at him!"

"Ohh," I said, hitting my head in frustration. "But how exactly are we going to do this?"

After we reached the stairs up onto the deck, he said, "We will do it from the roof of the wheelhouse."

Before I could respond to this, Harry put a finger to my mouth and led me to the side of the wheelhouse. He peeped his head around the corner of the starboard side and motioned for me to take a look.

Walking down the deck with his back turned toward us was an officer, preoccupied in his inspections of the deck. It was none other than Murdoch himself.

"I will help you up on the roof, and you will pull me up," Harry whispered. "Once I give the all-clear, we will bombard!"

I giggled at his tone of excitement as he began lifting me up on the roof. Once I was safely up, I pulled Harry up by his arms, and we crawled to the edge of the roof. Harry handed me a gun filled with multicolored confetti, and he grabbed an arm-full of balloons.

Before I knew it, Harry gave me the thumbs up, and we began firing at Murdoch with our "arsenals".

In only a matter of seconds, Murdoch was engulfed in a coat of confetti, and he winced as he was soaked to the bone. Freddie and Reggie from the crow's nest also bombarded with weapons of their own: spray adhesive and loads of birdseed.

It only took two seconds for the multicolored Murdoch to turn around and spot the two of us on the deck before he yelled, "What in blaze's name are the both of you doing?"

Harry had already helped himself down, and he held out his arms for me to land in. In a swift movement, I jumped and was caught gently in his arms before we gazed into each other's eyes.

The moment only lasted for a few seconds when Murdoch shouted, "You ain't getting away with this!"

"Come on, Ella!" Harry said to me as he let me down and grabbed my hand. Before I had a chance to reflect on it, he was pulling me into a run as we sprinted around the wheelhouse to the port side.

My lungs were burning as we rushed past the bridge and neared the First Class dining saloon. The smell of food emitted from the room, but I could hardly reflect on it, for Harry pulled me around the corner to the starboard side of the ship.

Once we rounded the corner, we bumped into Lightoller ("Lights") and another officer, Third Officer Herbert Pittman, sending them into puzzlement.

"What the …," Lights said, whilst his blue eyes were widened.

Herbert shook his head. "Harry, you sure are one crazy boy!" he said. "What were the two of you doing?"

"We just played a prank on Murdoch!" Harry said with an adventurous voice. "He's going to kill us!"

"What exactly did the two of you do?" Lights asked.

"You'll find out later," Harry said. "But for now we have to go!" Murdoch's steps were already getting closer.

"Nice to make your acquaintance again, Ella," Lights said with a chuckle as we were running off.

Harry grabbed my hand as we rushed past Lights and Herbert through the First Class entrance. We bypassed by the Grand Staircase and made our way through the corridor.

We stopped against the wall, catching our breath, before Harry turned to me and asked, "How was that for being a First Class lady?"

"Thrilling," I replied, still breathing heavily. "I haven't done that in years!"

Harry met my gaze and looked away, a blush already forming on his cheeks. "You sure are missing out!"

"Indeed," I said as I was slumping down onto the floor.

Harry followed my movement and laced his fingers behind his head before saying, "I haven't got a bite to eat yet." He brought out his pocket watch before saying, "And it's almost a quarter to one."

I pondered this before saying, "I originally had plans to eat with Ben in the First Class dining saloon. But, if you would like, you can join me."

Harry paused dramatically before saying, "I am awfully hungry." He made a show of rubbing his belly.

"Great!" I said while hopping to my feet."But I need to go to my room and get ready."

Harry stood up with me as we began walking back to the staircase. "What floor?" he asked me.

"B deck," I replied as we made our way down a flight of stairs.

"It must be nice living in First Class," Harry thought out loud. "Being an officer, we surely don't get much."

"First Class is okay," I said as we began down the corridor. " But I would rather travel in Third Class."

"I couldn't agree more," Harry said truthfully as we stopped to unlock my door. "But I thought that First Class was a secure life."

"It is," I said as I sat onto a couch in the main room. "But it isn't a happy life for me."

Upon sitting down, Alice had emerged from the bedroom and came to my side as I said to Harry, "Wait here as I get dressed."

Harry nodded, and I entered the bedroom with Alice as I shut the door behind me. After that, I began the laborious process of changing my attire.

Thus goes Ella Dawson's afternoon! More POV's to come, and yes, Murdoch is still covered in his "surprise", ha ha. This is my first Titanic story, so I once again would appreciate reviews and suggestions! I may switch back and forth between POV and narrative, but for now, there remains the other sides of the afternoon! Until then, adios!