A/N: All I can do is lower my head in shame and say I am soooooooo sorry it took me this long to update. I've been doing 5 foot long footnote papers, have had really important tests, and all that delicious stuff, (yuck. I am never using the word delicious again) but that is no excuse. And so anyway, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I realized I didn't write a disclaimer last chapter! ! Please don't sue me! Oh, and by the fact that someone can sue me and that I am writing one of these stupid things proves I do not own this. I don't know who exactly does, but it's not me. (But I do own my own character, Anna... but it's fine if people copy the social anxiety disorder aspect, just not the exact plot, I'm kinda proud of it...)

I woke up the next morning feeling horrible. My head felt like it was made of stone, and it felt like a bouncy ball was bouncing around the inside of my skull. I sniffed, then as I climbed out of bed, coughs wracked my torso.

"I feel horrible…" I groaned, as I pulled a tissue to my nose. I looked over to Madison's bed, to see she was packing. The nerves tingled through my spine once more. Oh No! She probably thinks I'm really annoying. Or stupid, or lame…

"Anna? Are you alright? Sound like you've got a cold." Madison turned her head towards me, while continuing to pack. "I really should have packed more yesterday, it just seems so strange… leaving this place." Her voice trailed off, and again I felt stupid for not realizing what she was actually thinking about. I took my things and hurried into the bathroom, turning on the shower.

As I stood there, a tear streamed down my cheek. I was used to this, crying in the shower. I had no idea why I was even crying, I was just crying about… everything. I dried myself off and pulled on some black skinny jeans with rips and an old band t-shirt. This was my 'drab', weekend look, though my sister thought it made me look really awesome. (I secretly thought so to. I was a punk rock lover at heart). I gazed into the mirror. My sister. I hadn't thought of her in a while.

I snapped myself out of my trance. I ran a comb through my just past the shoulder long, black hair. I pulled out my straightener, then decided against it. Some days, I just couldn't be bothered trying to make myself look good. I forced myself to put on makeup, but I was still thinking 'What's the point?' Without straightening it, my hair fell in what, on a prettier girl, could be considered 'gentle waves'. No. Mr. Blanket told me I have to stop putting myself down. Good adjectives, good adjectives…

I was nervous in a tingly, nice way, to see Zack again today. As long as I had been here on the boat (about 4 months) he had yet to see my hair wavy like this. I was the ugly kind of nervous thinking about how he would react. After a sweep through with my fingers of my straight side bangs (they hadn't curled as much), I opened the door.

"WOW! You look gorgeous!" Madison looked at me with a shocked, encouraging smile on her face. I blushed, and immediately felt like hiding.

"No, I don't look that good… anyway, you're gonna miss your goodbye party!" I answered, taking her hand and tugging her out of the room with a smile, grabbing my black zippy sweater on the way out. Even though I was glad I would soon have a dorm to myself and more protection with my secret, Madison and I were actually pretty ok friends. We talked sometimes, we were friendly with each other, did girl things together at least once a week, and although we had never really opened up the secret trove with one another, you could say, in a way, we were like besties. I would be sad to see her leave.

I ran out onto the Sky Deck, and immediately stopped when I saw the obstacle that stood in my way – SNOW. About a foot of snow, give or take seeing as it was windy on the boat, spanned the length. Mr. Moseby and another employee were shoveling at the far end, leaving the rest to be empty (it was still pretty early in the morning, except for Marcus, Bailey, Cody, and… Zack. He ran up to me, his green coat's hood up over his windswept blonde hair, his face red from the cold. I was glad I had my black sweater, 'cause it was cold.

"HEY ANNA! Look! Sno–" he stopped dead when he saw me. "Woah. You... look…." he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. Doubt flooded my veins, and I avoided his eyes, as I knew a very evident blush bloomed on my cheeks.

"Hey Anna, you look gorgeous!" Marcus said, walking to stand by Zack's side.

"Yeah, that," Zack muttered, and I noticed he was blushing too.

"Yeah, yeah, enough about me," I said hurriedly. "It's Madison's big day! What do you want to do first? Seeing as a barbecue is out of the question." I laughed, and I noticed Zack's eyes lit up when he laughed too. I struggle not to get lost in his baby blue eyes, and turned to Madison to distract myself.

"I told you and I told you," Cody said, in his know-it-all tone. As far as I knew, Cody had only two tones. The first, the ever annoying know-it-all tone. He used this the most commonly, especially when he was proving how smart he was about a topic or at an argument. The second, was the sweet, understanding tone. I had only heard him use this once, when he found out about my… issues. I wasn't the one who told him, if Bailey knows something, Cody does too, plus he understood the signs.

I saw Bailey look up at Cody with fake annoyance, but I knew she secretly was still in love with him. I got a sudden, impulse idea that was totally and completely unlike me and I knew I'd pay for it later with insecurity and doubt. While Zack and Cody started yelling at each other, I stopped down slowly, and formed a ball of snow in my hand, I then stood up and threw it at Zack's back. He turned to me, his eyes fiery, and everyone started to laugh as he yelled "I am so gonna get you!" with a laugh in his eyes. I ran for my life, (which was extremely difficult as I was laughing so hard), and Zack quickly caught up to me.

Everyone was throwing snowballs now and running around (to the extreme distaste of Mr. Moseby, who was trying to stop Madison from dropping a snowball down Marcus' shirt. As Zack caught up to me, he wrapped his arms around my waist, whispering "gotcha" in my ear before lifting me up off the ground.

I screamed and laughed, saying "let me down, let me down", and Mr. Moseby sauntered over with a look of killing in his eyes.

"Ok, Zack, you've had your fun, now put Ms. Lanton down, and you've both earned a one way ticket to Detention," Mr. Moseby ordered. With snow in our hair and smiles still on our faces, we took the detention slips with pride. I could feel the insecurities starting to rise to the surface as I realized all the events that had just felt so… normal. But unnatural. I felt tears beading up at the corners of my eyes as my brain told me 'Why can't it be natural? Why did your life have to be this way?'

I turned and walked quickly to the bathroom, and once the door closed, finding the bathroom to be empty, I let my tears fall freely. I had forgotten about my cold in all the fun, seeing as the cold was only light, but sitting here, on the floor, with tears running down my face, coughs rattled my frame once more.

A/N: Sad ending, right? Don't worry, more to come... ;) (Btw A/N stands for Author's note) Please review! It would really help me if you would tell me what you thought! I had to add the cold part at the end because I sorta forgot that I put it in the beginning. I was inspired by the fact that I have a HORRIBLE COLD right now. But I'm still updating, I feel like I owe you guys... oh, btw, CraziiCookii thankyou for being my first reviewer! Plus, you made me feel really guilty, so here goes nothing - it's not my friend, it's me. I have very slight social anxiety disorder, but it's getting worse... but sometimes better. 3