What if water is the only barrier between us? Just a second of total immersion and you're in another world. You can no longer be sure that there is a warm pool under you, and not the Atlantic abyss, you can not be sure that you will return to a cozy room, because your room has already reached the bottom of the ocean and you have nowhere to go back.

This thought occurred to me as soon as I was under water. At first I felt a sudden chill, and then when I dared to open my eyes, I saw nothing but darkness. The sudden panic attack that seized me at that moment forced me to float to the surface of the water as soon as possible. And, taking a breath, I shouted his name.

The lights of the luxury ship blinded me for a moment and then everything took its usual form. A cool wind blew over my wet head, rather bringing me to my senses.

Water was also running down Jack's ruddy face. He was looking at me with such a surprised grin, as if I had said something awkward.

"Don't be afraid, they're good guys. But anyway," he paused and and whispered, "you can be sure I won't let them hurt you."

I didn't even understand who he was talking about, until that moment only he existed for me. Later, I remembered that there were at least five other guys in the pool. I smoothed my wet hair, shaking the water off it.

"I'm fine."

Except for the fact that ten curious eyes are studying me.

Finally, Jack realized that I must have been confused being in someone else's company, and immediately began introducing me to his cruise friends. It wasn't that I was bad at remembering names; it was just that when I heard one familiar name, I was so surprised that I simply ignored the rest.

Wayne.

I immediately turned around. One glance was enough for me — he has hardly changed since our last shift at the camp ended: the same curly black hair sticking out from under them big ears, and the same thick eyebrows hanging over a hooked nose; except that he has matured a little.

"Welcome," Wayne greeted, catching that brief glance.

He drank beer even in the water.

It was more difficult for him, the image of a completely different Rose remained in his memory. There's not much left of that cute shy girl with adorable red curls.

"Rose is my new friend!" Jack introduced me to the others. "A good friend, I hope," added quieter.

"A good friend," I confirmed, feeling a rush of heat to my face.

"Jack, you're making new acquaintances so fast." Lucy slipped between us. "Tell us how you met?"

"So..." He looked questioningly into my eyes as if he was asking for permission, but when he didn't get an answer, he decided to lie. "It's stupid really. I almost knocked her down when I was rushing to you in the morning."

"What a clumsy boy," Lucy scolded him jokingly. Climbing onto Jack's back, she wrapped her legs around his hips. "I hope he apologized to you properly."

"He..."

...had nothing to apologize for.

"... a very polite guy," I replied with warmth in my voice.

"I took Rose to her deck."

"My sweet baby!" Lucy bent down to kiss Jack on the lips.

And he responded to the kiss in confusion. He couldn't resist the girl who wrapped around his body like a snake.

I always felt uncomfortable when couples in love suddenly started kissing in front of my eyes, forgetting about my existence.

If you were instead of Lucy, you would forget about the existence of everything.

However, I was sad. It was sad to think that Jack had never been and would never be mine, that the whole story of true love on a sinking ship, no matter how realistic it seemed to me, existed only in my head.

"Rose?" Wayne suddenly remembered me when, wanting to get out of the pool as soon as possible, I swam up to the stairs. He squinted to see my face. "The Camp Conrad Weiser, July 2020?" His voice had also changed, it was no longer boyish, but not yet masculine.

I nodded unconvincingly, as if it wasn't me who recognized him first.

"Rose!" Wayne shouted happily, breaking into a smile. (I must admit that the braces did him good and now he has a really beautiful smile.) "I can't believe it's you!"

I had to stay in this company for a while longer. Wayne kindly shared a towel and a beer. We sat down in the lounge chairs. He told me about his life before and after our meeting and also about his plans for New York.

The reddish light of the lanterns from afar looked like a kindled fire, the smell of smoke was in the air, and the floor of light wood reminded me of the sand by the lake. If there were crickets chirping here, I would feel like I was back in camp.

"Lucy is beautiful, isn't she?" Wayne said, interrupting his story to look at the girl. Lucy was coming out of the water, shaking her hair. "She's from Texas."

I couldn't disagree with him. Lucy was beautiful. She had smooth olive skin, a slim waist and short dark hair accentuated her protruding collarbones.

"How did they meet?" I asked, joining in the surveillance of Lucy and Jack.

"Oh, it's an interesting story. It all started on this ship. First, I met Noah and then I became friends with Jack. We had a small American-Jewish company and went to parties together. (Sometimes Sebastian and Finneas join us. These are the two who are now in the pool. They're kind of a couple... But I'm not sure). I knew Jack wanted to visit Paris. And when the ship stopped off the coast of France for a couple of days, I immediately decided where we would go. Noah wanted to stay in the port town, so we went without him. Apart from the most popular places, we visited the art gallery of my uncle, who is quite famous in the circles of artists and admirers of modern art. It was there that we met the young artist Lucy. She was going back to the United States. I offered her to come with us because the ship will sail to America anyway. Lucy agreed. She likes to make spontaneous decisions. And it seemed to me: she liked me… I know I'm too young, I'm 18, she's 22, I'm inexperienced, I'm not as good and charming as Jack. And I need more time to like a girl. But Jack took advantage of my naivety and stole Lucy from me," Wayne finished his speech resentfully.

"Have you been dating?" I asked.

"No, but..."

"But did Jack know about your liking for Lucy?"

"No. He didn't know."

"And she?"

"I... I was giving her signs."

I hope it wasn't like the signs he gave me at the camp. Otherwise, I have bad news for him.

"Then how can you say Jack stole Lucy from you?" I was a little annoyed by his accusations. "If you had told him..."

"He would have just laughed at me."

"Why do you think that? You can't know that!"

"You don't know him at all!" Wayne reminded me.

"You're right," I breathed, agreeing. "But he seemed like a good person to me."

"Yeah, I noticed," Wayne laughed. "You like him. He has an amazing ability to charm girls."

It's called respect.

"You should be more persistent," he suddenly suggested, "he likes you too, that's obvious."

Of course, then Lucy will be left alone with a broken heart and Wayne will have another chance. But he didn't even think about who I would be in the eyes of the whole company.

"Sorry, but I won't get into their relationship!"

"They don't have relationship. It's just an an easy affair. You know, passion, sex... and all that."

"So why aren't you doing anything if your feelings for Lucy are something more?" I asked, getting up from the chaise longue. "I'm not the person who can help you!"

"Are you leaving already?" Jack suddenly intervened in our conversation, noticing how I left the towel and put on my jacket.

"Yes, I have to go," I smiled softly, "Mom is probably terrified."

"Can I ta...?"

"I'll take her!" Wayne quite cleverly predicted what Jack's offer would be, and beat him to it.

"Good! So you guys have known each other for a long time?" Jack asked me. "Just so I can be sure you're going to be okay..."

That's so sweet of him.

"Yes, we..."

"Rose is my ex-girlfriend," Wayne interjected again, making me blush. "We were at the camp together. She'll always be okay with me, Jack!"

"I missed the moment when we were dating," I replied with an awkward smile.

Jack was laughing. And a pale Wayne was looking for my shoes.

"See you later, Rose!" said Jack.

"Bye, pretty girl!" Lucy waved at me with her free hand, in the other she had a beer and a cigarette.

She wanted to seem friendly and nice, but I still felt that she hated me.

"Bye!" I waved back at her.

Meanwhile, the nausea was getting closer and closer to my throat. I should have hurried so as not to spoil this evening even more.

"You could have played along with me!" Wayne was angry, not keeping up with me.

"Sorry, but it was a lie."

"I wouldn't look like a loser in Jack's eyes if you lied a little. He would have seen me as a worthy opponent."

I had the feeling that Wayne was still fifteen. He sounded like an offended boy.

"Wayne..." I paused for him to catch up with me, "lying about your experience in a relationship is weird. Don't you think?"

"Yes, it's weird," he agreed, "but when your friend can seduce even a tree if he wants, you involuntarily start to complex."

The pleasant coolness caressed the skin. We continued to climb the stairs that separated the pool area from the rest of the deck, through which we still had to pass so that I could get to my floor. In theory, it seemed simple, but my sense of self was rapidly deteriorating.

In the bar to our left, the party was in full swing. There was loud music coming from there, screams and noise, which made me stop hearing Wayne and all his words about what a bad guy Jack really was.

"And that's not all! To let you know and not be too charmed, he paid whores!" I heard it when we were a good distance away from the bar. "Yes, they were real whores. He never slept with virgins. He had either experienced women or whores."

I didn't know how much he drank and how strong their friendship with Jack was, but something told me that Wayne was not the most reliable friend.

"And Lucy belongs to which category?" I asked.

He paused, frowning thick eyebrows.

"She shouldn't have been on his dirty list at all!"

We had to stop in front of two people talking in raised tones. A young woman was desperately trying to prove to a security officer that her husband was missing without leaving the room. She asked him to start an investigation immediately. Since these two blocked our way to the door, we unwittingly witnessed their conversation.

"I think your husband got lost on the ship, ma'am." He wanted to calm her down. "It happens a lot."

"He didn't go out!"

"You might not have noticed."

"I couldn't, I'm sensitive in my sleep. Preston's pajamas were left on our bed, and Preston himself was not there."

"Do you have a balcony?"

"No," she shook her head. "We have a small room."

"We will look at the video from the surveillance cameras. He will definitely be found."

"But he didn't come out!" she argued almost hysterically. "His phone, wallet, key card... everything remained in its place. He definitely had to take at least some of it! Explain to me what's going on here? How is this possible?"

"You two, come through!" Finally, noticing us, the man took a step back. "And preferably quickly."

"What do you think happened?" I asked Wayne quietly.

"She's crazy," he replied, grabbing my hand.

She's not the only one.

Transparent doors opened in front of us, letting us into a corridor shining with cleanliness and light.

"It looks like this woman is really desperate." I could still watch her through the glass.

"Stop it!"

"What if she's telling the truth?"

"Stop thinking about her!" Wayne said rudely after calling the elevator.

"Stop thinking about Lucy," I replied, leaning against the wall wearily.

"Do you want me to start thinking about you?" he smiled, raising his eyebrows coquettishly.

"God, no!"

I realized that I could no longer hold all the alcohol I had consumed inside me.

"Excuse me, I need to leave for a second!" I left Wayne and ran to the restroom.

I was glad that Ruth wouldn't see me cuddling with the toilet, but I was a little ashamed in front of Wayne. It was just a coincidence that I threw up after his stupid flirtation.

I was in a hurry to get back after I emptied my stomach and cleaned myself up a little. I opened the door and found myself in someone's trap. At first I thought it was Hockley who was waiting for me near the restroom like a "true gentleman". But then I saw the calloused, wrinkled fingers that forcefully grabbed the tender skin of my wrist and dragged me into a corner. Looking up, I once again met her creepy eyes. They were so black that I'm not sure if there was a pupil in them.

Why was that old woman following me?

"What do you need?" I asked, trying to free myself from her hands. "You're scaring me! Let me go!"

"You know you shouldn't be here! You know that the dead should lie in the grave! You know..."

"I bought a ticket and have the right to be here."

"Did you buy a ticket for this ship?" she laughed in my face.

"Let me go! I'll scream! There are guards nearby."

"Scream!" She squeezed my hand until it hurt.

I took a deep breath and realized that I couldn't. I couldn't scream. It was as if I was in a dream where I could only open my mouth helplessly but was unable to make a sound.

"So are you scared?" the old woman asked, looking into my eyes. "You'll soon find out what real fear is!"

If it was a dream, then I needed to wake up.

"The dead should be in the grave! The dead should be in the grave!" she repeated, pressing me against the wall. "The dead must lie in the grave!"

The dead should…

I couldn't remember how Wayne ended up next to me. He tried to calm me down, and I kept screaming and pushing him away.

"It's okay, Rose, it's me. Look at me! Hey!" Wayne shook me. "Look at me already, damn it!"

"Hey, be careful with her!" a voice familiar to me made a remark to him.

Jack?

"Wayne..." I smiled.

"Thank God! What happened to you?"

"Is beer really to blame for everything?" Jack asked, laughing.

"There was champagne before that..." I clarified for some reason. "Have you seen the old woman?"

"See, it's not me!" Wayne said him. "I didn't scare her!"

Jack roughly pushed him away.

When did he just arrive?

"Who's the old woman, Rose?" he gently put his hands on my shoulders. "What did she look like? Do you remember her face?"

"I remember her eyes, they were terribly... terribly black."

"There should be cameras in the corridors," Wayne reminded.

"Did she say something?"

"Yes. Something about the dead... she's... she's stalking me. It's because of her that I almost..."

My speech was incoherent, I was sleepy.

"I want to sleep."

"I'll take you to sleep," Jack led me behind him. "Are you sure it wasn't Wayne?"

"Do I look like an old lady?" he was indignant and trailed behind us.

"Sometimes."

"No, it wasn't Wayne..."

After a short period of time, the three of us were already in the elevator. I could only think of one thing. What will Ruth say when two men bring me to her?

"Tell me, how do I look?" I got nervous. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"Uh..."

"You look good," Jack assured me. "Everything's fine with your hair, it's almost dry."

"Really?"

"Don't flatter her," Wayne interrupted him. "Rose, you look like a whore!"

At least it was honest.

"Don't ever say that to a girl," Jack said. "This is outrageous!"

"She's my friend."

"And?"

"I'm fine, thank you," I intervened in their argument.

I wanted to sit on the floor and go to sleep, but Jack kept lifting me by the elbow. I knew I'd be ashamed in the morning, but I couldn't stop thanking the universe for sending me Jack. He seemed to me so mature, so wise, so kind compared to Wayne, who was still fifteen. I really began to understand Lucy. And envy her.

As soon as the elevator door opened, we saw Ruth. She was wearing a black silk robe and looked like an executioner. The mother's thin arms were crossed over her chest. She seemed incredibly calm, which was undoubtedly alarming.

When I saw her, I refused male assistance and approached her on my own, trying to maintain at least a slight balance.

"Hi, Mom..." I made something like a smile.

"Go to the room! Now!"

Well, I think I understood what kind of dead the old woman was talking about.