Page 23 of Sail Me to Ruin
Men.
Before I can pepper him with questions in return, Jade gets to him first.
Removing his hand from my arm, she fires back, “Well, were you there when she woke up?”
Well...she’s right, at least.
He’s silent for a moment, and she continues the charge forward. “Nope. Didn’t think so. Thanks for the sex buddy, but she’s good now, so run along.”
Not thinking his reply is worth hearing, she takes me by the hand, leading me away from him and to the other side of the table.
I don’t even look back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
He doesn’t get to leave and play the victim.
Absolutely not.
Jade looks me dead in the eyes before shooting him a glare. “Is it okay that I did what I did? Just checking.”
I nod. “Yeah, you weren’t wrong. I was the one left alone.”
Feeling his eyes on me, I keep my back to him while we apply sun screen and wait for the boat to get ready to load.
A few minutes later, they begin letting us on board and our excitement rises again, refusing to let Blaise ruin our day.
“Do you think we’ll see any turtles? I want to see one so bad! I’ve heard they are fricking massive!” Jade says, the excitement making her progressively louder.
I can’t help but to laugh a little. “Well, we definitely could see one! I want to see the little fish and starfish on the reef. The coral should be an array of colors too! I want to see how it all works.”
My brain goes a million miles an hour as I picture all of the different little fish around us.
“Okay, nerd, your teacher is showing. Why don’t we reel you back in a bit.” Jade nudges me playfully with her elbow.
A deep voice interjects before I can retort. “Oh, so we have a teacher aboard! How fun, tell me, what do you teach, Miss…?”
We both look up to see one of the charter workers standing right by us. He’s tall with dark curly hair and a bright smile.
He’s cute, that I can’t deny. I’m not blind.
“Elodie. My name’s Elodie. And it just so happens that I am a teacher, yes. I can tell you about as much as Mr. Ray can from Nemo. I teach Kindergarteners. You know, the fun little gremlins. What’s your name?” I barely contain the laugh at the face he makes when he realizes the age group I work with.
It’s the same face everyone makes. It says wow, you’re crazy, without actually saying it.
“My name's Rafael, and I think if you’ll let me, I could teach you more than Mr. Ray can. I’ll be one of the guides today.”
Jade waggles her brows at me as if there’s a double meaning there but I roll my eyes.
She usually looks for something that isn’t always there.
God bless her and the special type of delulu she is.
Rafael walks off for a moment with the boat's captain to make sure everyone is on board and ready.
The captain’s voice begins to carry over the speakers as he addresses the boat. “This is your captain speaking. Everyone is now boarded and checked in, so we will be departing from shore. If you need anything, please come to me, or my two helpers. Rafael and Emilio. Any one of us should be able to assist you. Please keep your hands, feet, and heads inside the boat while we move. We should get there shortly.”
The engines come to life with a roar before the boat is lurching forward and we’re moving away from the beach. Rafael walks back over to his spot across from us.
As if the three of us have been good friends for years, we all sit and laugh, chatting it up to the reef. Jade and I look up startled when the engines stop.
