"Hello everyone!" the way-too-happy lady standing on stage said. "we have two options for the teen clubs on this ship! We have club O2 which is for teens from the age of 14-17 and we have Mirage for teens 18-20, If you have graduated high school and are going off to college this semester, and you are still 17, you may go to Mirage with a parent's consent."

20? That's not a teen... but I'm not gonna complain at all. I get along with people older than me so much better. I just have to get my parents to consent. Easy.

"Hey mom?" I started.

"Yeah Rockie?"

"Can I go to Mirage? Pleaseee, please please! You know I get along with older people better."

"Sure, I guess, if you really want to. You'll be turning 18 in October anyway."

YES. That was way too easy...

We went up to the tables and grabbed the registration and consent forms. They gave us pamphlets with all the different activities and things that Mirage would be offering. Not really interested in a lot of these things, I just scanned through them briefly, but there was something that stuck out...

"Come join us tonight for the Caribbean Cruise Kick Off Party! Enjoy refreshing mocktails, dancing, an make some new friends while you're at it! The fun starts at 11pm in Mirage, the party will continue until 3am." Party? Dancing? I'm in.

I went back to the room and started to get ready. I was still in the clothes I had put on when I woke up this morning. Knowing I'd find some way to party on this cruise, I packed nice looking clothes.

My parents aren't exactly night owls, and they went to bed at 10. So I made my way to the club which was on deck 13.

I have never felt so awkward in my life. I went to parties and dances all the time, but this was different. I don't know anybody here... We're all just awkwardly standing around, except for "those people" that can make friends instantly wherever they go. I don't have the confidence to just walk right up to someone and start a conversation. So I just sat on one of the chairs that were modeled to look like the big bongos they use in the Caribbean. They were pretty comfortable actually. I took a drink, and just sat and watched people. What a fun party this was.

This place was only playing the music that I constantly hear on the radio, and I was getting sick of it. I went up and requested "Honestly" by Cartel, not my favorite song, but they didn't have many of the bands I listened to. So I grabbed myself another drink and returned to my seat.

There weren't many people sitting down by themselves anymore, funny how that changed within the 15 minutes I'd been there. There were people making out in the corner, how long have they known each other? Oh yeah, FIFTEEN MINUTES. I wonder about people like that...

While I was looking at the crowd of people dancing under the neon lights and disco balls, I noticed someone sit down next to me out of the corner of my eye. Great, who is this, and what do they want? I tried to ignore him.

"Hello," this soft voice said behind me.

I turned around expecting to find a weird guy with acne and square glasses, wearing a checkered shirt with a sweater vest. I don't know why that was in my mind, but that's the only kind of person I would've expected to approach me.

Much to my surprise, I found a very attractive guy sitting next to me. I didn't answer him, I was a little awe struck. He was wearing a white v-neck, with black skinny jeans, and multiple silver necklaces, one of them had a peace sign on it. He was... stylish. He had hair that was messy on purpose, and long, the back almost reaching his shoulders, like a modern day mullet, would be the way to describe it, it was dark brown, with the bangs that a lot of guys had now, swoopy and across his forehead. He pulled this look off quite well.