It was the launch of the RMS titanic, the maiden voyage of the unsinkable ship, the world's largest. My favorite person (after my sister and Mateo) Naomi had gotten us all surprise tickets for first class on the Titanic. Mateo, Gabe, Naomi and I stood on the docks, saying goodbye to our families. I hugged Abuela, then Abuelo, and then Isa.

"It'll be you and Mateo on a cruise ship, no adult supervision. I want Mateo to be my brother," she muttered in my ear. I pulled back, and looked at her, stunned by her comment. But before I could respond to her, Esteban came and hugged me. Then, the Titanic's whistle blew. Once. Twice. Three times.

"You need to get going, mija," abuela said to me as she kissed me on the cheek.

"Where?" I asked. Isa's comment had totally thrown me. I shook myself out of that daze, by closing my eyes and shaking my head from side to side. "Oh, yeah, the Titanic. Bye. See you all next week."

I turned and walked up the gangplank to meet Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo by the rail. Mateo. Was my sister right? Did I have romantic feelings for him. I had always thought that we were just best friends. I had never thought… Again, I shook myself out of that daze. I couldn't afford to let anything spoil our trip. I joined my friends by the rail, pulling out the white handkerchief from my pocket to wave at my family as we left the docks.

The next few days were fairly uneventful, and there was little going on. But it was paradise. Gabe and Naomi spent a lot of time alone together, so that meant that Mateo and I did too. It was amazing, but I had a nagging suspicion in my mind. Did I love Mateo? A question that was answered that night when there was a jolt. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a dark green chal that I wrapped around my shoulders.

"Mateo!" I cried as I ran out of my cabin and across the hall to his.

"Elena!" I spun around, and there he was. Mateo De Alva, his gray black and red flannel pajamas clashing with his pink bunny slippers.

I ran and wrapped my arms around him. He was shocked, but flung his arms around me a split second later. "What happened?" I asked him, terrified.

"I don't…" Mateo began as a crew member came running up to us.

"Iceberg! We hit an iceberg! We have to evacuate the ship!" He screamed.

"We have to get out of here," I said urgently to Mateo.

Mateo nodded. "Agreed."

I grabbed his hand, and we ran. We weaved down the decks, through hordes of people, terror coming through us. We finally made it to the boats.

Someone grabbed me, a guy I had never seen before. "Senorita! Come, you need to go!"

"Thank you, senor," I said graciously. I turned and shouted to Mateo "We have a boat!"

"Oh, no senorita," he said. "We are evacuating women and children first," He said.

"Go, Elena," Mateo insisted.

I shook my head. "I'm not leaving you, Mateo," I told him firmly.

There was a loud crack as the ship buckled in the middle. The crew member smiled apologetically and lowered the lifeboat. "Elena, you could have been safe! Now you're going to die!"

I frowned slightly, noticing the way his hands were on my shoulders, and my heart began to beat faster. It's fear. I told myself. I smiled slyly. "Maybe not." I stepped back and offered my hand. "On three, we jump," I raised my eyebrows, nodding at my hand. He took a deep breath, and accepted it with a nod. "One. Two." I took a deep breath. This was insane. I dropped his hand. "I can't." Suddenly, the ship suddenly sank more than ten feet.

"No choice." Mateo grabbed my hand. "JUMP!" We pushed off, screaming. Pure terror filled my mind as I wondered how anyone could ever handle being a stunt person. The water sent pins and needles through my body and I cried out with the shock of the water, and so did Mateo.

"E-E-El-Elena, l-l-lo-look," Mateo managed through chattering teeth. "I-i-it-it's a b-b-b-b-bo-bo-boat."

I looked around the water, a large piece of driftwood floated near us, the frozen corpse of a crew member sitting on it, a whistle around their neck. I leaned down to him, and blew into the whistle, the shrill sound piercing the freezing night air. I didn't stop blowing.

"There's someone in the water!" A voice called in the distance. "This way!"

Hours (or minutes) later, the boat arrived, pulling us onboard. I looked into Mateo's eyes, and did something insane. I put my hands in his hair, closed my eyes, and crashed my lips against him. He was only shocked for a second, before he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against mine, and my question was answered. The answer was yes. I did love him. I loved him so, so, so much. And my guess was that he did, too.