Harriet and her dad decide to have a holiday on a cruise ship for two weeks. Everything is great, and Harriet and her dad are loving the sun and meeting different people, but one night, something dreadful happens that makes Harriet want to investigate...
I wake up to the sweet smell of croissants and madeleines. My head is throbbing and that reminds me about what happened last night. That ghostly figure really creeped me out. I peer around me trying to figure out where I am, and I see my book, 'The year of the changing generation' next to me. I relax, recognizing where I am and sit back just as dad comes in. "Hey love, your awake!" He says softly. "Want a pastry? There's a croissant or a madeleine." He holds out a silver tray with the sweet pastries wafting their alluring scent over to me."Uhm, yeah, sure.. Do you remember what happened last night, dad?" I ask."Oh yes, I was looking for you everywhere! Then I found you sound asleep on one of the loungers on East deck. So I brought you inside to your cabin." He chuckles. "You slept like a hibernating hedgehog!" He then offers me a croissant and I eventually take it. "But I don't understand". I say, biting off the end of the warm croissant. "I wasn't near any loungers last night. And-" "Well you were obviously very tired. Maybe you just forgot." Dad says then he goes next door to his cabin.But the last thing I remember about last night was that horrible pale figure pinning me down onto the hard wooden planks. And then I must've fell unconscious. I suppose my mind must have been playing tricks on me. Maybe dad was right, I was probably just tired, I probably just didn't notice the loungers. But then how did I get onto them to be found there by dad? I'm so confused, so I continue to munch my now cold, croissant. When I'm dressed, I go out onto the deck to find dad chatting to another man. "Hi dad". I say as I join them with some apple juice."Ah good morning Harriet, this is Johnny, Amara's brother." He says as he gestures to the tall, tanned bearded man. He is wearing a buttoned shirt, which is unbuttoned, showing his smooth waxed chest. Johnny gives me a hesitant smile then looks back out to the shimmering ocean. "So, Harriet are you enjoying your cruise with dad?" Johnny asks whilst sipping a red drink."Yeah, I don't really know what I'm going to do today, probably just read my book" I say, fiddling with the plastic straw of my juice carton."Ah, I thought you might get a little bored, but that's why you can hang out with Johnny's son, Liam." Dad thumps my shoulder, trying to motivate me, except he only manages to make me splutter my juice on my face. "He's the same age as you, Harriet, so you should get along like a house on fire". Dad grins as Liam, a dark haired boy with, I have to say, quite muscly arms comes out of the cafeteria and towards us. I quickly wipe the juice from between my nose and my lips away so I don't look stupid."Son, this is Harriet, you can spend time with her today. I think you'll make great friends." Johnny places his hands on each of our shoulders and thrusts us away. "Make sure you treat her well!" Johnny adds."They'll stay out of harm's way whilst you and Amara are on your date tomorrow night". I hear Johnny say as we head to the games room below deck."Sorry about my dad, he gets excited when he meets other people." Liam says as we go down the carpeted stairs."It's fine, I'd rather a dad who is sociable than one who isn't easy to get around". I follow him down to a dark room filled with bright lights of gambling machines and pool tables. We stop beside a pinball machine and I manage to steal a glance at Liam before he beckons me to play. His wavy dark brown hair matches his chestnut eyes that glimmer with mischief. He has freckles that cover his nose and the top of his cheek."I've never liked them". He catches me staring at him and I blush, hoping the dark lights hide my embarrassment. "I thought I'd grow out of them but I haven't". Liam lets a smile slip."You mean your freckles? I kinda like them. They suit your hair." I have to look down so he doesn't see my awkwardness."You think? Thanks Harri. I can call you that, right? Sorry, I'm just like my dad" He says as I pull the pinball trigger and the shiny metal ball shoots into the twenty points cup. I smile and say "Sure I do! I think freckles look cute." I tuck my hair behind my ear. "And yea, you can call me whatever, I don't mind" Another ball shoots into the eighty points cup. At the end of the game, I got one thousand two hundred points.We wander back up to the pool and Liam buys me a cookie, which I think is really kind, compared to the other boys I've met. I break off a chunk and give it to him. Liam is taller than me, but I have longer legs than him. He is wearing beige shorts, presumably his dad made him put them on, as he is also wearing a Hype t-shirt which doesn't really go with the shorts. He sees me checking them out and says "Yeah, dad likes these kind of shorts, but I prefer ripped denim ones". He brushes his hands off after finishing his chunk of cookie."Don't worry, they don't look too bad" We laugh and I accidentally brush his hand with mine. I instantly pull back. "Sorry" I squeal, then I race off to the rails and stare at the horizon wishing I wasn't so embarrassing. "So, what are your hobbies?" Liam appears next to me and I sit on the bars with my legs dangling.I clear my throat and say "I mostly like to read science-fiction and emotional stories, but I do like a good romance every now and then"."Oh so you're a bookworm? What is your favorite book? Maybe I could try reading as a hobby too" Liam brushes his hair out from his eyes."Well I wouldn't say I'm a bookworm, but my favorite emotional book is probably 'Will the fire burn out?' by erin0000". "That sounds cool. I'll take a look." He genuinely sounds interested."I have it with me now, you could borrow it if you like?""Sure"And we go to my cabin. I'm starting to like Liam, he's cool but he's intelligent, too.
