Last Girl Standing

She tried to look remotely interested as the blond boy in front of her tried to form some sort of coherent sentence. Haley couldn't help it, she really couldn't. But her eyebrow just kept creeping further and further up her forehead as she tried to make sense of his thickly accented, Irish babble.

"So, uh, where are you from?"

"Connecticut," Haley replied. She wasn't sure who the shock she was feeling was aimed more towards. The boy- who's name she had already forgotten- whom actually managed to speak properly, or her. For being able to understand that ridiculous accent of his.

"Oh, we've-"

Glass shattering behind them caught the pair's attention, and as Haley and her date looked back, another bachelor from the group was apologizing profusely for the mess around the table full of food and drinks.

"Nice goin', Lou!" The blond laughed. "Don't try to impress the ladies too much, mate!"

"Shut up, Niall!"

Niall. That was his name.

"Hey, Harley-"

"Haley."

The blond boy blushed in embarrassment. "Right, sorry. Would you like to go outside?" He jabbed his thumb behind himself, swallowing.

Right, because there was nothing outside except for water. She should have mention she can't exactly float, much less swim in a kiddie pool that comes up to her waist.

"To the deck?" Niall cleared his throat.

Haley blinked, shuddering at the thought. But yachts were safe. They had railings and other things to hang on to when you were surrounded by water.

"Sure."

Cat calls and wolf whistles from the other boys soon followed as they ditched the party inside.

"It's beautiful out here, isn't it?" Niall tried to strike up more conversation.

Haley couldn't keep her eyes from the clear water below her.

Perfect. It was all just perfect. In her wildest nightmares.

"I can't swim."

"Oh!" It came out more of a squeak than anything, but Haley could tell the boy truly didn't know what to say. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know. Would- um. Would it help if I was like this?"

And then he made a graceless move to wrap his arm around her back, and hold her opposite hand on the railing.

Either he was trying too hard, or he really didn't know what he was doing.

"Better?" His face was way too close to hers for comfort. And she was just that much taller than him to make the position even less than desirable. All in all, it was just really awkward. And his hand- soaking wet.

But, Haley Hart was a good sport, even when she didn't want to be. So she just nodded.

It was another two hours before what Haley had now dubbed the 'Disaster Date' ended.

When she had voiced her hopes for a fun date night earlier that day, being stuck on a yacht with a clumsy Irish boy was the farthest thing from her mind.

As soon as she flopped face first into her new bed at the house, a screaming match broke out in the downstairs lounge area. Between which girls, she couldn't have cared less. She just groaned and buried her head further into the fluffy pillow.

Silently, she cursed her older sister for putting her in this situation. If Shea had just a better sense of humor, she would have taken the joke fine. But no. She had to fuck Haley over in probably one of the worst ways possible.

"Hope you find someone there. It'll make it worth your while. Maybe they'll actually understand your sick sense of humor too."

This was going to be a long few weeks. Haley just hoped she was kicked off sooner than later.