Shattering Crystals

"This is just amazing." Lorraine is right. It truly is.

Lorraine lies in a chair beside me, her eyes covered by her sunglasses. The hot sun beats down on us, darkening our skin and lightening our hair. Hers, anyways.

I sit up and look at my body, exposed by the blue bikini that Lorraine had picked out for me. My skin is no longer the tanned, golden color it used to be. Instead it's pale, and doesn't seem to tan much. At least it doesn’t burn.

A group of boys walk by, looking me up and down. I cringe internally at the thought of being inspected like that. It doesn't make sense, though. Shouldn't I take it as a compliment?

Lorraine is wearing a bikini similar to mine, except in a shade of orange. She hasn't started showing yet - and she still hasn't told anyone. I know she dreads the day she has to.

More people walk by and stare. I guess I should get used to it... Nevertheless, I slide on my huge sunglasses.

"This cruise was the best idea," Lorraine says. "What better way to spend our last days on Earth?"

"A way that doesn't make Sarah, Ashlee, and Cody puke," I reply. They've been in their rooms, seasick.

"Yeah, yeah. They should just take their meds and get over it."

"Katalina's not having fun either," I point out.

"That's because she thinks her disguise is ugly."

"She thinks everything other than her own face is ugly." Lorraine just laughs in agreement and then is silent. I get up from my chair and leave her lying there. I walk over to the pool, testing out the water. The salty water is warm, almost hot, and I really hope no one emptied their bladder in here.

I sit down on the edge of the pool, letting my feet hang over the edge and in the water. More stares. I focus on the blue tiles of the pool's bottom, ignoring all the people.

A guy swims over. A tanned, muscular guy, the type girls stare at and fawn over. He looks to be about seventeen.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi," I say. I'm not sure how this conversation's going to go, and I'm not even sure if I want to be having it. There’s an awkward silence as he wonders what pick up line will get him into my pants the fastest.

Then a pair of arms slips around my waist, and I turn in alarm to see who it is. It's Connor. I make a big show of kissing him, right then and there. He's surprised, but doesn't seem to mind...

"Uh, never mind," the guy says, swimming away.

I sigh. "I’ve heard so many pick up lines today.”

"Me too," Connor says, and I don't doubt it. Over the two years I've known him, he just seems to be getting more attractive. In an adorable way that makes it seem easy to talk to him. "What have you been telling them?"

"Oh, I just tell them off," I lie. Actually, I just blushed and didn't reply. But Connor doesn't need to know that.

"Maybe we should get stickers."

"Stickers?"

"Yeah. Ones that say 'I'm taken' and stick them to our foreheads."

I laugh. "That would help."

"Or maybe," he says, leaning in, "we should just not leave each other's sides."

"Hmm..." I say, taping my finger against my chin and pretending to think about this. "I think... that would help too."

----

"Never, ever again," Cody says as we get off the cruise ship. "I will never set foot on a boat again."

"Not even for me?" Lorraine says, batting her long eyelashes.

"Not unless you want me to throw up on you," Cody says grimly.

"Okay," she says. "Forget I asked."

"Where to?" Dean asks, holding out the map.

"My family has a house here," Lynda offers, her voice hoarse and barely above a whisper.

"So does my family," Katalina says. "I will bet you that my family's house is bigger. I will pay the workers to get out and not speak a word to anyone."

"So, Katalina's house, then," Dean says, folding up the map.

----

The waves crash onto the shore, the salt water bringing in more white sand speckled with pink particles of coral. A pink sand beach. Much prettier than the beaches of Hawaii, where so much had been lost.

Once we got to Katalina's luxurious beach house, everyone had wanted to explore the beaches. And we did just that. Connor and I are inside a small cave near the shore. Light streams in through one side, and the other half is hidden in shadows.

"I can't believe we're here for six more months," he says, sitting himself down on the wet sand. "Not that I object, but still..."

"It's beautiful, isn't it," I remark.

"Not as beautiful as some things," he mutters. As vain as it may sound, I never get tired of hearing that. Inevitably, a smile comes to my face.

I turn and stare out at the beach. A picture perfect moment, strikingly similar to other things I’ve seen. There are so many places like this on Earth that I never wanted to leave. I hope that Crystallaria is just as beautiful.

"I've been thinking," he says, and I turn to face him again. "This is just so weird."

"We've already been over this," I say.

"But it is," he says, running his hand over the smooth black surface of the wall. "I'd never thought in a million years that I'd be here, in a place like this... with someone like you. I love you."

"You really do?"

"Yeah."

"Well... then I love you too." I say, as I get that warm, fuzzy, cliché feeling in my stomach. And it’s so much more than just butterflies.

A silence follows, showing how much we're not like the other couples we know. Things were never that romantic between us, but at the same time it’s perfect. He walks over to me. We're about the same height now, me being a little taller.

"You know what else?" he asks.

"What?"

"This is kinda stupid, but..."

"Is it as stupid as the time you-"

"Don't say it!" he nearly shouts, and his voice echoes off of the cave walls. I can't help but smile again as my heart does a flip-flop (and not the shoe kind). There's no way to describe this feeling. He blushes, and I can see the boy that I was once uncertain about. Yet today. I'm certain that this is right.

"So what then?" I ask.

"It's stupid," he repeats.

"Just say it," I say. “Or as Lorraine would say, spit it out.”

"It was fate," he says quietly after another pause. "We were brought together by it."

"Fate," I say, trying out the word. Then I nod. "Yes. It was fate."