18 Chapter sixteen

For the past few minutes we've been just standing here, talking to one another, and my feet have been on fire. This top deck has had the sun pointed on it all day, like a spotlight, and deciding to stay for more than a minute on one spot is like begging for second degree burns all over the soles of your feet. But I forgot all about it for a moment because instead of that unpleasant hot prickly feeling below me, there's a faint rumbling that vibrates against me.

I know what that means.

"Do you guys feel that?" Harry questions, glancing around, but no one has paid too much attention to it.

"Wait…" Emily says. "Doesn't that mean we're —"

"Shush!" Lilli tells her.

At first the vibrations beneath us are small and slow waves, but all of a sudden the grumbles grow and everyone is looking confusedly down at their feet.

In less than a minute the balconies on Deck fourteen will be completely packed, with passengers pressing themselves against every possible railing to watch and taking Snapchat photos of the ship leaving the dock. I know better than to stand still while our rightful places on the balcony are taken.

"Come on, guys!" I say to them excitedly.

It takes a moment, but I can hear five pairs of bare feet behind me, swiftly catching up as I race up the painfully steep stairs. But I'm so jacked up on adrenaline that I barely realise when I've reached the top; I just want to keep climbing.

I smile at the artificial grass between my toes, the softness of it making me feel at home, like I could lie down in this moment and smell the earth. I internally beg my friends to keep up with me.

Quick, quick, quick.

I throw myself at the balcony rail, gripping the hot metal tight and leaning over to intently watch the water. At any moment, we'll be leaving Circular Quay and starting on an exhilarating adventure at sea with some good old friends.

Harry's beside me now, and then Emily and Ben, and finally Lilli and Charlie. I tell them all to watch carefully because this has always been my favourite part of being on a cruise. I have no idea why, but something about seeing the rush of the white water and the rumbling of the engine hypes me up from the inside out. The grumbling from the engines are like a drumroll, building up intensity, uncertainty and anticipation. And then, when the ship finally shies away from the dock, my excitement can no longer be contained. It's just a fact.

I keep my gaze intently trained downwards at the line where the ship meets the sea, and I might look so much like a child right now, but I'm only seventeen; still a mere child. The water shifts.

"Look, look! We're moving now!" I yell, grabbing Emily's shirt and tugging like a child because that's what I still am.

Dark green and swamp-like water turns white. Fluffy foam forms down there, and then the gap between the dock and the ship widens.

Away from the dock we go. And I remember being a smaller child, reaching my fingers between the thin gaps to brush the rushing wind with my stubby kid fingers.

I turn to Harry. "How cool is this?!" I scream at him.

He laughs at me, but I know he's not mocking me. He seems just as excited as I am, but not so much at the water.

We've pulled quite far from the dock, and I stand up tall.

"Get ready to wave!" I say.

We're sailing past the dock, then past lines and lines of grey-ish buildings, lush green parks, small beaches with ant-like people and their striped towels laid out on the sandbank. Soon we're passing a footpath with several people doing their daily walks or just out on a stroll.

A small girl in a bright yellow tunic with frizzy brown hair spots me from the footpath while trotting along with her mum. She's confused at first, and then extremely excited. She points at us and squeals and dances.

I lean forward and wave enthusiastically at her.

"HI! HAVE A NICE DAY!" Emily calls.

After the deck becomes completely full we decide to call it a day. We're out of the harbour, and the sun is starting to lower now. I'm on the balls of my feet because if we're able to hurry, we'll be able to see the most beautiful sunset, and I know how happy Lilli will be to get some aesthetic photographs for her travel log.

Out of the sun and back inside, skipping down the two flights of stairs and taking a left into our corridor. We're neighbours now, and we promise each other we'll dine together.

After my convincing, we bid each other a quick adieu, but not before I hear a scream and I'm being grabbed by my arm.