A/N: Yay! I'm back with another update. I'm sorry for the long wait.
Max entered the room, looking around uncomfortably. He could see that everybody in it was absorbed in his or her own activities. He was very excited, as that evening, the six who had left them were returning. But apart from that, he had been doing some thinking about what Kai had said to him, and about the little nosebleed-incident. And he had come to two conclusions; one: never walk into or out of a room behind Miriam, and two: there was some truth in what Kai had said. And being a boy of instant decision, he told himself to face the music and get out of this denial phase.
Making his way to where Miriam was lounging, her eyes closed, he sat down beside her and said into her ear, "Everybody's coming home today!"
Miriam shot up with a yelp. "What the hell, Max?!" she exclaimed, sinking back down when she saw who it was. "I was trying to get some sleep."
"Why? It's almost lunchtime," said Max with a grin.
"I couldn't sleep a wink last night," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Insomnia, on top of everything! Why me?" She groaned.
"Insomnia! Sounds bad," said Max, looking concerned. He hesitated for a moment, and then put an arm around her shoulders. "Try to get comfortable. Maybe then you can go to sleep."
She was too tired even to protest. Besides, she felt surprisingly relaxed. Resting her head on his shoulder, she managed to mutter, "Thanks, Max…" before dropping off.
Max looked around, trying not to act too conspicuous. And then, he was filled with a sudden dread. Was that Kai entering the room? Why was it that Kai always had to catch him at moments like this? He buried his face into a cushion trying to hide himself from the Russian, but it was no use.
"Phase two:…" began Kai with a grin… or at least, as close to a grin as he could get, but Max interrupted hastily.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up," he chanted, putting his free hand on one ear. "How would you like it if I teased you about… about… about…"
"You figure out who, and then ask me," said Kai smoothly, walking to the opposite side of the room.
---------------------------------------------------
The oversized sunglasses perched precariously on Raul's nose. He had seen them at the market and they had made him laugh so much that he ended up buying them. Now he was shooting people what he himself had dubbed his 'long, narrow look' by lowering his glasses with his finger and raising his eyebrow.
In fact, he was shooting a long narrow look at his twin when the ship finally drew into port. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "It's an hour late. The owner of that ship really needs one of my looks."
Everyone rolled their eyes and chuckled. They had been waiting at the port with their suitcases clustered around them for quite a long time. It wasn't very crowded; not many people were there at the moment. However, they had spotted someone they knew: Violet. She was standing alone, leaning against her suitcase. Since they didn't know her that well, they hadn't really greeted her, though they did wonder why and when she had got off the cruise.
At that moment, Miguel noticed Tyson standing at the railing, waving madly. He started waving back, nudging the others and pointing. Raul jumped, and then started waving back like a madman, his glasses dangling on one ear.
"I think the long wait has messed with his brain," said Matilda, a slight twitch of her lips belying her grave expression.
"Why would you say a thing like that, Matty?" asked Raul, pouting and pushing his glasses back on. He purposely used the nickname just to annoy her. She glared at him before stating, "Because it's true."
"I guess I'll have to change your mind," replied Raul with a sly grin. Matilda eyed him dubiously; his way of changing her mind was always different, but never sane. She yelped and retreated behind Aaron as he suddenly lunged at her.
"Oh, stop flirting," said Aaron, rolling his eyes. "Save it for when we're done boarding."
They both bellowed in unison, "WE'RE NOT—" but they were drowned by a louder yell from Tyson. Apparently, the ship had let the gangplank down and Tyson was coming bounding toward them.
"Nice glasses, man!" he said, half joking, half serious, shaking everyone's hand. "So, can I help carry the luggage?"
"Yeah, sure," said Claude, dumping his suitcase into his arms.
"I was talking to the girls," said Tyson, grinning and dropping the suitcase.
"Oh, that's nice of you," said Julia. "You can carry mine. I'm sure Raul will carry Matilda's."
"Yup," agreed Raul. "Matty's suitcase can go with me." He ignored the dirty look being given to him by the pink haired girl.
"You'll probably fall if you try to lift two at the same time," Miguel spoke up with a smirk. Mother Inka had been shocked at how thin Raul was. She maintained that it was alright for Julia to be thin because she was a girl, but Raul was altogether too 'elfin'. She had been feeding him all sorts of delicacies as soon as the nurse let her start. However, the boy never seemed to get fat. He remained as thin and pale as ever, much to mother Inka's disappointment.
Raul looked injured, and lifted both his own and Matilda's suitcases to prove Claude wrong. "See?" he wheezed. "I can do it." He set off determinedly towards the gangplank and everyone else followed.
---------------------------------------------------
Julia walked along the deck, a pair of earphones in her ears, holding a Discman. It had been a lot of fun to meet her circus family again, but it was even nicer to be back on the cruise. At the moment, she was listening to the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD. Swaying slightly to the tune, she made her way to the dining room.
Entering it, she noticed a familiar redhead standing at the water cooler where she was headed. Groaning inwardly, she hovered where she was standing, debating about whether she should stay or come back later.
She was still dithering when Tala turned around. He put his empty glass down and starting walking towards the door.
"Uh, can you get me a glass of water, since you're already there?" blurted Julia. Tala stared at her as if no one had ever asked him to do them a favour before. In fact, his eyebrows had practically disappeared into his hair. Nevertheless, he turned around and filled another glass. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both of them, Mariah was sitting in the corner watching.
Handing the glass of water to Julia, Tala left the room. She drained her glass in one gulp. She put it back on the table and when she turned around, she came face to face with Mariah. Jumping, she took a few steps back.
"Never do that again," she said, leaning against the wall for support. "So what's up with you? You look as if Christmas has come early."
"No, alas," Mariah said, her grin spreading from ear-to-ear. "Christmas is still three weeks away. But I did notice your little chat with Tala there."
"What little chat?" enquired Julia. "I just asked him for water."
"Sure you did," said Mariah, still with that grin. "So, three weeks… that's a lot of time."
"Yeah… so?" said Julia, beginning to walk.
Mariah fell in step with her. "Plenty of time to ask Tala to come with you to the party."
Julia nearly dropped her discman. "What?" she asked, eyes wide, clutching at the device in her hand. "What are you talking about? I think you guys are all trying to freak me out. First Greg, then Miguel, now you."
"But we all know it's true," Mariah cut her babbling short as they exited the room, walking extra fast to keep up with Julia. "We all know you like him." As they walked down the passageway still arguing, Tala stood up. He had stopped to tie his shoelace beside the door and heard the whole conversation. If he had seemed surprised before, it was nothing compared to what he was looking like now.
A/N: I really enjoyed writing that last part! -cackles- Yeah, three weeks till christmas! Yay! I couldn't resist adding christmas to this story. anyhow, what'd you think? i hope the first part wasn't too forced. that reminds me, I NEED YOUR HELP! Who thinks that Violet should come back and who thinks that she should stay out of the story? please tell me your opinions.