Hey guys! I know, I know, I royally suck at this whole updating thing. So yea. Here's chapter 15...
**Massie**
My first thought upon waking up was I'mgoingtoseetheLeaningTowerofPisatoday! It has been a place I've wanted to go ever since I was little. But first we were going to go to places in Genoa, which would also be neat. I looked over to see Claire slowly open her eyes and stretch, giggling because she looked a bit like a cat.
"Morning, sleepyhead!" I chirped cheerfully, my mood brightened by the sunlight streaming through our porthole. She mumbled incoherently before wakening suddenly and throwing off the covers.
"Today is Pisa day!" She exclaimed, knowing how excited I was. I just nodded, a huge grin on my face. I had such a good vibe about today. It was starting off wonderfully.
We dressed quickly in shorts and graphic tees before heading up the stairs to breakfast, barely bothering to fix our hair. I stopped for a minute at the top of the stairs to reflect on how I kind of liked not spending so much time on looking perfect in the morning.
"Hey girls," Alicia motioned us over to a booth she was sharing with Dylan. We raced over, not worrying about commanding the attention of the room or watching our steps in heels. Well, I was in heels. Today Claire sported her signature keds.
"What's up?" Claire asked, plopping down next to Dylan. I slid in next to Alicia and waited for their responses.
"I dunno, the guys wanted to have a 'boys-only' breakfast or something weird like that," Dylan air-quoted while Alicia rolled her eyes. I glanced over at a booth across the room, where Cam and Derrick were sitting with their backs towards us. They along with Josh seemed to be listening while Plovert explained something using wild hand gestures. I giggled. The other girls glanced over as well, and within seconds we were clutching-our-stomachs laughing. I didn't make sure I was laughing daintily, and I didn't wince when I bent over and the tips of my hair grazed the floor. And in the middle of the best laughter I'd experienced in a long time, I realized something. I shouldn't need to act outrageously or extra flirty or work so hard for attention, not from teachers, classmates, or even boys. I fundamentally like who I am, and I should surround myself with others who like me for who I am—at my best and worst. For example when my face is scrunched up unbecomingly in that laughing-so-hard way, and my hair is getting all tangled, and I am nearly in the fetal position clutching my stomach, all over something as little as witnessing a funny conversation with my friends. I knew in that moment that not one of the other three girls at that table was judging me for it (not to mention they were doing the same). And I liked being able to let down my guard and still have people appreciate me.
We finally caught our breath, but my smile stayed glued on my face long after we moved on to discussing the day's plans and hearing about how great Josh and Plovert were. I saw Claire glance over and grin at my expression, but I'm not sure I could have stopped smiling if I tried. It was the kind of epiphany that made me feel so much more complete.
We finished breakfast after a few more fits of giggles, and gathered on the main deck to disembark into Genoa. The guys' meeting was over, and Alicia and Dylan ran over to join them. Claire hung back, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the group.
Once we reached them, I dropped her hand and entwined my arms with Cam's. He stiffened, and I could feel my megawatt grin dimming a bit. Still, I was going to try to stay positive and wow him with the new me. Derrick had his arm around Claire, but he shot me a grin that put me more at ease again. I let out a happy sigh and prepared to have the best day ever.
**Cam**
I know Derrick and I had agreed to let the trip play out and let the girls come to us, so I was waiting for Claire. But that agreement did not address how I was supposed to deal with Massie. I felt bad for feeling this way, but I just really didn't like her. So I copped out and just started acting really distant and uninterested. We headed to the first Cathedral and I wished I could tour it with Claire, because she might definitely have some good insight on it. She tends to know a lot about these things, whereas all Massie does is get all outrageous and buddy-buddy with other tour groups.
Instead, this time Massie seemed a lot more subdued. She was still very much… herself, but she wasn't jumping all over the place and calling the tour guide babe or anything.
"This St. John person must have been a pretty cool guy," she marveled while looking at the ceiling, and I almost laughed in surprise. The tour guide had just explained how the inside of the chapel was dedicated to him, and I agreed with Massie that it looked really neat. That didn't make me warm up to her any, though.
At the very least I could tolerate her hanging off my arm if she was being like this, but I still wished that she could be replaced with her cute and brilliant blonde best friend.
**Derrick**
Genoa had been really neat, and I couldn't help smiling at the radiant smile that just beamed off of Massie's face the whole time. My favorite part was walking through the biosfera with her and Claire and Cam, because in Spain we had split up for the botanical garden. I got some really great pictures in there. Also it was fun giving Massie a piggyback ride around the square before lunch, when she got tired. She seemed like she was being less outrageous, which was definitely something I could appreciate. It's hard to keep up a certain façade all the time, and I was really glad she was letting her guard down around me a bit more.
As of right now, we were sitting side by side on the small upper deck of the boat, her head resting on my shoulder. Cam had made himself scarce, and we could see Claire on one of the lounge chairs, scribbling away in the tattered brown notebook she had. Normally I was dying to ask Massie questions and discover more about her, but right now I was perfectly content the way we were, in a completely comfortable silence with the gorgeous ocean stretched out before us as we sped towards Pisa.
**Claire**
I was starting to get somewhere on my song, which was really nice. I placed the nearly-full notebook into one of my desk drawers and quickly re brushed my hair while Massie was in the bathroom. As she emerged, she wore a huge grin that had covered her face all day.
"So spill," I commanded playfully, arching an eyebrow.
"Why, whatever do you mean?" She asked back, a twinkle in her eye.
"What's gotten you so smiley?" I clarified, and her grin widened even more.
"Well, I just had this epiphany, where I realized that I shouldn't feel the need to work so hard to maintain my image," she explained, "It started this morning when I didn't spend that long to look good and formulated when I was laughing so hard at breakfast that I nearly snorted!" She started bouncing on her bed.
"Massie, that's wonderful!" I exclaimed, truly happy for my best friend.
We ran up the stairs once again when it was almost time to dock in Pisa. We eagerly watched the ship pull into the port and the gangplank get lowered. By that time everyone else had joined us, so we all rushed out onto land as a stampede. I guess everyone must have been as excited as Massie was to see the leaning tower.
At first Massie had her arm linked through mine, but then she spotted Derrick up ahead and tried to pull me towards him. I thought it'd be better to let her go chat him up herself; I'd seen them on the upper deck together looking adorable and figured the more she hung out with him alone, the better off everyone would be. So I unhooked my arm and told her I wasn't feeling very social but that she should go ahead, and watched with excitement as she sneaked up to him and tapped his left shoulder before popping up on his right side. I wanted to laugh out loud as he turned to look over his left shoulder before realizing that she'd tricked him. Watching them together, I could see Massie let down her guard and really embrace what she'd told me.
I was looking at them laughing together and feeling quite accomplished when someone tapped my left shoulder. Warily I turned to look over my right shoulder to see a sheepish looking Cam. Why did he have to take my breath away every time I saw him? No one deserved to be that beautiful. Maybe, just maybe, I would forgive him.
"Hey, Claire," He greeted, his hands in his pockets. "How've you been? I saw you working on your song earlier, how's it coming?"
"Fine," I answered automatically, and then wishing I'd thought of a more interesting response. So I added a shrug, which might have made it worse. He sort of looked at a loss for what to say next.
"And I've been good," I continued, "thanks for asking." I looked up at him and tried to smile, but it might have looked more like a grimace. I probably ended up sounding sarcastic instead of sincere. Great, he finally tries to be friendly to me again and I unintentionally freeze him out. Of course this would happen. We walked the rest of the way to the tower in silence, and eventually I joined up with Alicia and Dylan to tour it with. I lost track of Cam, but I was so embarrassed about how I acted that I didn't really care. All I could do was enjoy the moment and hope that he might give me another chance.
Again, I'm sorry. The wait was long and it's not even a stellar chapter. No promises on a quick update, but as a side note, originally their cruise was going to circle back to Morocco but as of now I'm planning to have it end in Greece. Anyway. Hope everyone had a really nice Thanksgiving!
Hugs, Sky