Brooklyn Noelle Brankovich

Chapter Ten: "Lost and found"

Noah, Gael, and I were back in familiar territory shortly after leaving the beach parking lot.

"Hey, there's Burger Guy!" Noah referred to a man with a food truck.

"Oh, good, maybe he's seen Cassie," Gael thought.

Noah ran over to the man before Gael and I could even cross the sidewalk. When we did, though, we heard the man shooing Noah away.

Gael laughed out loud. "What happened?"

"He said he's closed and there's no more burgers," Noah huffed, walking behind us.

"For fuck's sake, you were supposed to be asking if he saw Cassie, or not," I snapped at him.

"I'm hungry," Noah exclaimed back.

"Well, I'm freezing," I countered, my body shivering from the cold rain that continued to pour.

"Let's just go back to the ship," Gael suggested first then Noah and I agreed.

Not even a minute of walking later, I spotted Cassie on the sidewalk.

"Cassie!" I exclaimed like she was my long-lost puppy.

When we got in her face, she was probably scared and had a lot of questions. She looked very standoffish and reluctant to come with us, but that could just be her resting bitch face.

"Well, you found me. What do you want," she sassed Gael who'd said something to her I hardly caught.

"We're all going to the same place, we might as well walk together," Gael said it simply.

"Do you know how to get back?" Cassie asked all of us.

We all shook our heads. Gael spoke up first. "My phone died," he told her.

She replied, "Mine, too."

When everyone looked at Noah, he stepped out of the light and said, "I lost mine."

With their eyes on me, I was embarrassed to admit, "I left it in the room."

"Great," Cassie spat.

***

"-We're lost," Noah mumbled to himself but I heard him.

"Maybe you should've asked the burger guy for directions instead of the menu!" I roared at him.

"What is up your ass," he said back to me in that tone he used to mock my father's voice.

I slipped down a long dirt hill and stumbled across a hut. The area said it was a tourist attraction usually open for the public, but it was closed due to the weather.

"Brooks?" Noah called out the nickname he gave me. Not going to lie, it kinda stuck. I just like when he says it.

"Down here," I groaned. I stood up and dusted off my knees and butt.

"Finally, somewhere we can rest," Cassie said what we were all thinking.

There were a lot of trees surrounding the huts so little to no raindrops got to us. We explored each one, they were all tight on space and not very tall people friendly. The guys kept having to duck through the cut out doors while I just barely made it.

I noticed Gael follow Cassie to the hut neighboring the one I occupied.

Noah was still fooling around outside but when he came into the area I was, he threw his backpack down and sat beside me.

"Check this out," he said, pulling something from his bag. "I found a coconut." All I had the energy left to do was stare at him as he cracked it open.

"That was harder than it looked," he panted after struggling.

I nodded, playing along with the sarcasm. "Oh, you made it look so easy."

He went "aheh" and drank straight from it, offering me the other half.

"No, too many-" I stopped myself from saying what I was about to say to avoid sounding stuck up. "You know what, fuck it. Here," I gave in. I snatched it from his large, veined hands and tasted the liquid.

"Hey," Noah got my attention. "Is what's inside of a coconut called water, or milk?"

I made my eyebrows a 'V' and pondered the thought. "Good question, let me look it u-UGHHH! My phone is on the ship. And now the ship's probably going to leave us, we don't even know what time it is, we've been walking forever-"

"I lost my phone, but you purposely left it? In the room? On the ship? Why?"

"Because," I stopped. My lip quivered and I felt the tears coming on. Instead of just holding it in, for once, I let it go.

Noah probably thought I was crazy for how I broke down in front of him.

"Oh, God, ew," I sniffled. "Sorry for crying."

"You're apologizing for crying?" he asked, chuckling. I guess I am.

My mother just drilled me to believe I should never show weakness, I always got reprimanded for it.

"It's not fucking funny," I whined. In a bratty rage, I pushed the stupid coconut away from me.

"Wow," Noah breathed out. "Coconuts have feelings, too." He crawled out to get it and put it back in my lap.

"I hate the rain," I confessed in a sob. The back of my left hand wiped the tears from my eyes and chin.

Noah brung his knees to his chest and said to me, "No rain, no flowers."

At first I wondered what it meant. Then my brain ran with a possible answer: if it doesn't rain, no flowers will grow. So, if bad (not exactly negative) things don't happen, something good won't come from it. Err, something good has to (always) results from a negative situation. Circling back to the motto that everything happens for a reason.
Huh. I never thought about it like that. . .

I didn't like how much I brought the mood down so I tried cheering up.

"You and Gael are really close," I talked randomly, sitting back to with my chin on my kneecap.

"He's my boyfriend," Noah said to me. When he didn't laugh, my face fell.

"I'm joking, fix your face," he finally cracked.

Seeing a man walk by, I scurried from the hut and got his attention.

"Hey!" I shouted, scaring him. "Can you tell us how to get back to the ship?"

When he didn't understand, I exhaled deeply and slowed down my speech. "The ship? Cruise? Where, please?"

"Ohhh," he sounded like he remembered something all of a sudden. "Yes. Is that way, Miss."

I followed his index finger to the direction in which he pointed. Trusting that information, I thanked him with a genuine smile and sent him on his way.

"My crew, let's go. I'm not waiting. Get right, or get left," I bossed the group, tossing the backpack on my shoulders properly.

***

The four of us returned to the ship just in time. We were all in good spirits given the circumstances.

"I still hate the rain, but it wasn't so bad being stormed in a hut with you," I joked with Noah. He wet his lips and just smiled at me, never breaking eye contact. Feeling my cheeks burn red, I bashfully looked away.

Just as I went to finally say something to Cassie, who actually seems like a cool girl, harsh words in the German language got my attention.

Mom and Dad, I already knew. I braced myself for the public lashing I was about to receive.

"Brooklyn Noelle Brankovich," Father scolded me in front of everyone in his native tongue, his hazel eyes going dark.

I swallowed, looking down at my feet.

"You left without telling us where you were going and didn't bother taking your phone," he continued. All of his points were valid, I should've been more mindful. The more he talked at me, the smaller I felt.

Enjoying this, Mother just shook her head with this sinister, almost proud, smirk on her face.

"Who are these, your friends? Is this why you almost got left?!"

"No. I almost got left because I forgot my phone and didn't know the time, this isn't their fault," I argued, my voice cracking.
I bit down on my lip and balled my fist again, trying to contain myself before causing an even bigger scene. Besides, Noah didn't need to see me cry for a second time.

None of them said anything, and I didn't expect them to. It was embarrassing enough.

"Let's go," he demanded in a yell, pulling me by the arm.

***

It was nearing midnight, my parents were passed out after a dip in the Adult Zone's jacuzzi. Hearing my father snore, let me know he wouldn't be waking up lightly. Mother was a heavy sleeper, too, so I made my move to sneak out. Ugh! Isn't that pathetic, sneaking out at twenty-two?

I put on an all black romper and a comfortable red pair of Tory Burch sandals before spraying some warm ambery scented perfume and putting my hair in a messy half-up half-down style.

Luckily, I remembered my wristlet with my room key in it. And this time, I took my phone.

I wandered all around the ship, seeing features and rooms I hadn't seen on my first tour. Everything was so magical, it never ceased to amaze me how something so big could just exist in the water.

The last place I looked was the lido deck. I took the elevator up and it let me off. Instantly, I was hit with a gust of cold wind that hardened my nipples. I made a mental note to wear a jacket from then on and then I ventured forth.

I'd almost given up hope when I rounded the corner past the basketball court, and heard a whistle.

"Yo," Noah's voice called, "over here." A relieved and grateful smile formed on my lips as I walked towards him.
He wore a blacked out hoodie, multicolored lax shorts, high white Nike socks, and a pair of sneakers with a red hat to the back. Still godly.

Noah was playing mini golf alone, and I already knew I sucked ass so, I sat down on the neighboring bench. I got comfortable, with my legs curled under my bottom and my fists in my lap.

"Where's Gael," I asked first. Noah's shoulders raised.

I watched as Noah then spent a whole sixty seconds or longer getting in the right position to swing the club. After a deep breath, he vent over, picked the small white ball up, and dropped it in the hole under an alligator's open mouth.

"You're psychotic," I teased him, shaking my head as my palm kept it up. Noah just laughed quietly.

"Sorry about earlier," I randomly began to apologize.

"For what," he asked quickly and seemed oblivious.

"My parents, they're pretty overbearing. I know you heard, come on, it was embarrassing-"

"It doesn't really matter what I think, you have to live with them," he said coming to sit by me. "Why do you put up with that?"

"It's all I know," I guessed, feeling silly. I flailed my hands about. "They're my parents and I love them."

Noah's jaw clenched and he turned his body slightly. Our knees touched and I fell weak, butterflies forming in my stomach, when he didn't move.

"If I were you, I'd move out. You have enough money, I'm sure," he griped.

"Ah, that's what this is about? You think I'm loaded? That safe - we're saving our stuff in - there's nothing in it but a watch. This old Rolex but grandfather passed down to my father. He worships that thing. God, my parents are. so. pathetic," I concluded my rant.

"Sounds like you need a drink," he exhaled.

"For sure," I giggled, standing.