That day after our last class, Tamira and I were walking down the hall together, talking and laughing hysterically. Some of the mishaps and situations that Tamira and her friends had gotten into during their time on Breaker High were just too funny. I hoped that I would also have many wonderful and humorous moments on my journey.

"Hey, you wanna come hang out at my place?" Tamira asked.

"Sure!" I accepted.

When we reached her cabin and opened the door, I saw a tan, dark-haired guy painting a pale, red-haired girl's toenails. The guy turned around and smiled.

"Hey Tams," he said to Tamira.

"Hi Alex." Tamira greeted back.

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked rudely. "And who is that look-alike fashion mistake next to you?"

"This is my friend Jennifer. She's a new student here." Tamira once again introduced me. I'd be glad when I finally knew everyone. It was kind of tiring to constantly tell people who I was. "Jennifer, this is my roommate Ashley and this is Alex."

"Hey Jennifer, nice to meet you." Alex welcomed me kindly. Ashley, however, took the opposite approach.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Ashley Dupree, of the Georgia Duprees. I'm sure you're greatly indulged to make my acquaintance," she said conceitedly. "Now is that all you wanted?"

"Well, we were going to hang out here," Tamira explained, "but if you guys are busy, we'll leave."

"Please do, unless Jennifer would like to hear one of my Miss Southern Teen Pageant stories." Ashley suggested.

"We'll pass." Tamira said quickly.

"We can hang out in my cabin." I told Tamira. "No one else is there, so we won't bother anyone."

"Okay." Tamira agreed. "See you guys later."

"Bye Tams." Alex said. "See you later Jennifer," he added before we left.

"Bye!" I returned.

---

We got to my cabin and opened the door. "Pretty empty, huh?" Tamira pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm used to it." I said, closing the door behind me.

"So, you don't have a roommate?" Tamira asked.

"No. Until we hit the next port with another student, I'm all alone."

Tamira sighed. "I wish I had a room to myself."

"Yeah, Ashley did seem pretty rude." I commented.

"Believe me, she is!" Tamira exclaimed. "We haven't gotten along since the first day. She thinks she's so great with her beauty queen tiara and everything."

I stood up and imitated Ashley. "Hi, I'm Ashley Dupree, of the Georgia Duprees, currently Miss Southern Teen." I said, over-accentuating the southern accent. Tamira laughed, taking the hat off her head and placing it on mine, acting as a tiara.

"Oh, thank you, thank you to everyone." I said as I blew pretend kisses and waved like a beauty queen. Tamira and I both fell back on the bed laughing uncontrollably.

I sat up and pointed out, "Well, at least Alex was nice."

Tamira sat up also. "Yeah, he's about the only person Ashley actually likes."

"I'd say so! So are they going out or something?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ashley dumped her boyfriend back home, Tyler, so she could go out with him."

"Wow." I said, surprised.

"And Cassidy is going out with Max," Tamira told me. "You haven't met him yet. I used to have the biggest crush on him, but when he and Cassidy became a couple I got over it."

I smiled, still curious about the people here. "So what about Sean?"

"What about Sean?"

"Well," I said, trying not to sound interested, "Is he seeing someone?"

"Not that I know of." Tamira replied. "Why?"

"Just curious." I answered.

Then Tamira said what I was afraid she'd say. "You like him, don't you?"

I tried to lie. "No, I was just wondering."

Tamira saw right through me. "You do!"

"No I don't!" I denied once more.

"Come on, admit it, I know you do," she said, prying the answer out of me.

I groaned. "It's that obvious, huh?"

"No, not really." Tamira said.

"Then how did you know? Are you a mind reader or something?"

She shrugged. "Maybe we just think alike."

"Hey, do you think what Ashley said was true? That we look alike?" I asked her, changing the subject.

"I guess," she said. I took the time to think about it. We did sort of resemble one another. Same shade of light brown hair, similar bone structure. We even had the same style: conservative, colorful, and unique. Okay, so maybe we weren't identical twins, but we did act and think similarly.

"Anyway, what were we talking about before you brought that idea up?" Tamira asked.

"Oh, you were teasing me about liking Sean." I recalled.

"Let's not talk about that." Tamira said.

I was confused. "Why not?"

She hesitated. "I just don't want to."

"Why? There's gotta be a reason."

"I guess I might as well tell you," she said dejectedly.

"I'm all ears." I replied.

Tamira filled me in on how she and Sean used to date and he was her first real boyfriend. Their relationship seemed so sweet at first, but she told me how she took him for granted and was ungrateful for what she had. What really tore them up was something that happened between Tamira and Max. When Max and Cassidy were in a fight, and Alex and Ashley were broken up, Max saw Alex and Cassidy making out on the deck. Max got really angry and Tamira went to comfort him. Then they ended up kissing. So when Tamira accidentally blabbed about who-kissed-who, everyone got mad at each other. The worst part was that when Sean found out, he became upset and hurt. He realized that she could never be with him without her wanting to be with someone else. In the end, everyone got back together, except Tamira and Sean.

"The good thing is that we're still friends," Tamira continued, "but I'll never forgive myself for being so stupid and immature, and not realizing what a good thing I had when I had it."

It took me awhile to take all of this information in. "Wow," was all I could manage to say.

For a long while there was silence, both of us at a loss for words. Finally, Tamira spoke up again. "You must be awfully lonely in this room, all by yourself."

"Yeah, you feel pretty isolated after awhile, but at least it's better than having a snobby roommate like Ashley."

"What did you say?" Tamira asked.

"Oh, um, no offense, but I said that it's better than having—"

"I've got an idea!" Tamira announced excitedly. "Why don't I move in and be roommates with you? That way we could hang out here and you wouldn't be alone. I bet Ashley would appreciate a room to herself, too."

"That's a great idea!" I exclaimed. "But will you be able to?"

"Sure. I'll just ask Captain Ballard."

---

"I think that's a fine idea, Tamira." Captain Ballard said when we told him about her idea. "I'm glad you're willing to make Jennifer more welcome here."

"No problem Captain Ballard." Tamira said. "I'll move my stuff in tomorrow," she said to me.

"All right." I said. "See you later!"

"Bye!" Tamira called as I walked back to my room. I was ecstatic that Tamira and I would get to be roommates, but in the back of my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened between her and Sean. I didn't want Tamira to feel like I was snaking him away from her, even though they weren't a couple anymore. I had a feeling that she still liked him. I tried my best to take my mind off of it. I should be glad that my new friend is going to be my roommate. I should be glad that I'm finally starting to fit in.