Ever since I first laid eyes on Zack Martin, I knew I loved him. There was something about him that drew me to him, that made me fall head over heels for him. Maybe it was the way his eyes sparkled or how that crooked grin always sent my heart racing, but I knew that I loved him as much.

The bad thing was that he didn't feel the same for me. He was usually annoyed with me for trying to stick up for him, so I doubted he felt anything like that for me.

I flicked myself on the side of the head and winced; I usually did that when I was thinking about Zack because I thought it would help me get over him. It never helped.

"Y/N, why did you just flick yourself?" Bailey asked with a frown on her face. 

Surprised, I looked at her before looking away. "No reason," I said with a shrug. 

"Oh, there too is a reason, and I'm going to find out." She had on this wide smile as she looped her arm through mine. "You've been acting strange lately."

That was because it was getting harder and harder to keep my feelings to myself. I hated watching all these girls throw themselves at Zack, trying to get a piece of him when he was all mine. 

"I have not," I argued. I hadn't told anyone about my feelings for him because I knew they would spill it - accidentally or not - to him, and I could not have that happen. He was my best friend, and I doubted he saw me as anything else. "There's nothing going on with me."

We stepped out onto the deck near the juice bar. Zack was nowhere to be seen, which made me a little sad. Every time I saw him at the juice bar, we would always chat for a few minutes before Mr. Moseby yelled at him to get to work. 

"Ahhh!" Bailey yelled as she tripped over something. I laughed until I heard the 'shh.' I looked down to see Zack laying on the ground, looking in front of him intently. "Zack, what are you doing?" Bailey asked, an annoyed tone appearing in her voice.

Zack looked up for a split second, and we locked eyes. He offered me beautiful smile, and I returned it. 

"I'm pranking Woody," Zack said in a hushed whisper. "He salted my pudding cup."

"And you are pranking him for that?" I asked with a frown.

"Y/N, he deserves to pay for what he did to my delicious pudding cup," Zack said dramatically. "Ooh, there he goes now!"

"Uh, Zack, that's not Woody," Bailey said, fear creeping into her voice. "That's -"

"Hey guys!" Woody said brightly behind them. 

Right after he said that, the explosion happened. I didn't have the chance to see who triggered the explosion, but Zack looked horrified. After the smoke cleared, a figure stepped toward them. My throat went dry at the sight of Becky Moldune. She was the strongest girl aboard the ship. Honestly, she was probably the strongest person aboard the ship. 

"Who did this to me?" Becky yelled, gesturing to her body. There was chocolate pudding all over her clothes and her face. I could see a vein throbbing on her forehead under all of the pudding. "Was it you?" Becky asked, pointing an accusing finger at Zack.

"No," I jumped in. I did not want him to get hurt because of what he did. "It wasn't him. It was me. I was pranking Woody."

"What?" Woody asked behind me. "What'd I do to you?"

"Uh, Y/N, what are you doing?" Bailey asked, tugging on my arm. "You weren't the one pranking Woody."

"Yes, it was me," I said after sending a glare to her. She didn't seem to get the message, though. "I set up the pudding explosion."

"It was Zack," Bailey blurted out. "Y/N is lying to cover up for Zack."

"It was me," Zack said, stepping up next to me. He glared at me for a second before turning his attention back to Becky. "I was pranking Woody because he salted my pudding."

The vein on Becky's head was still throbbing as she cracked her knuckles. She even went as far as cracking her neck. "Are you ready to cry like a little baby after I'm finished beating you up?" Becky asked, taking a menacing step forward. "No one humiliates Becky like this. No one!"

Right before Becky could land a punch on Zack, a voice rang out around them. "Stop it!" Mr. Moseby yelled. He jumped in between Becky and Zack. "There will absolutely be no fights between the two of you. Understood?"

Becky put on a smile and said, "Got it, Mr. Moseby."

"Do you understand, Zack?"

"Yes, sir."

With that, Mr. Moseby walked away from them. The smile slipped off of Becky's face like the pudding that was doing the same. She shoved Zack's chest as she said, "Meet me here at three so we can fight."

Zack nodded stiffly. He looked terrified as Becky walked away from them. "Dude, you're going to have to hide forever," Woody said with a shake of his head. "She's going to kill you tonight."

As Woody and Zack argued about whether or not he was going to fight Becky, Bailey pulled me away from them. She had this look on her face that scared me a little bit.

"You like Zack," she said once we were far enough away from people. "You totally like Zack. That's why you've been acting strange lately."

I couldn't believe she figured out my secret. We had been on this ship for over a year, and no one had figured it out. Until now. Which I didn't really know how they couldn't have figured it out because I always stuck up for him when people were mean to him. Didn't they notice how I would always smile at him whenever he wasn't looking? Apparently they didn't.

"I don't like Zack," I said simply. 

"Stop lying! I know you do!"

"I love him." Bailey's mouth fell open at that statement. I couldn't believe I just told her, but there was no stopping it now. And when I got nervous, I rambled. "I think I've always loved him, you know? But he obviously doesn't feel the same for me because he has all of these other girls - prettier girls - that fawn over him and -"

"Slow down," Bailey said. She placed her hands on my shoulders and shook me a little. "You love Zack? Seriously?"

"As serious as one gets when they love someone."

"This is so exciting!" Bailey exploded happily. The smile on her face was so large. "You and Zack could go on double dates with me and Cody! How cute would that be?"

"Bailey, he doesn't feel the same way like I do," I said quickly. "He obviously doesn't like me - let alone love me - so don't get your hopes up."

"Oh come on, Y/N," Bailey said, rolling her eyes. "He does like you."

"No, he doesn't." I pushed Bailey's hands off of my shoulders. "He never would because were just friends. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Sure, whatever you say," Bailey said. "It's not like his life is in the balance or whatever. You shouldn't tell him how feel."

"You know I'm not because I've kept this secret for over a year," I said with a shake of my head. "I'm going to take it to the grave with me, and so will you." An evil glimmer entered her eyes. She took a step away from me, but my hand shot out, gripping her arm. "Where are you going?" I asked fearfully. 

She dragged me forward slightly as she said, "I have to go talk to our other friends."

"No, you do not. If you tell them, I will kill you."

"You would never kill me."

I jerked her back to me and dug my fingernails into her arm. Her eyebrows raised slightly. "We share a room on this ship that floats along. One night you may wake up in the ocean, far away from shore and from the ship."

"You're not strong enough to lift me all the way from our room to the edge of the deck."

I sighed and dropped her arm. "Please don't tell anyone yet," I begged. "Please. I don't want anyone to know right now. Especially if he doesn't feel the same way about me."

Bailey nodded. "Fine, Y/N. I won't tell anyone yet. I promise."

"Thank you."

I glanced over Bailey's shoulder to see Zack standing at the juice bar. He was busying himself by wiping down the counters, but I knew he was nervous about the upcoming fight. I was nervous about it too because I didn't want him to get hurt.

"I think I'm going to talk to Zack about the fight," I said when I looked back at Bailey. 

"Okay. Have fun and spill a lot of secrets!" she said with a wink. 

"You know I won't."

She said a quick goodbye to me as I started walking toward the juice bar. I didn't have eyes for anything else besides Zack. His brows were scrunched up together, and his lips were moving as if he was speaking to himself. I wished I could hear what he was saying, but most of the passengers were out and about on deck, chatting with each other.

"Hey," I said to him as I sat down in the seat directly across from him. "How are you doing?"

Zack jumped slightly when he noticed me. His cheeks turned a little red. "Hey, Y/N," he said, setting his rag down on the counter. "I'm doing fine."

"As fine can be when you have to fight the strongest girl in the entire world."

He cracked a smile and leaned against the counter in front of me. I leaned forward, too, and our hands were very close to each other. I fought the urge to grab hold of his hands as he said, "Yeah, that sums it up really nicely."

"Thank you." My laughter died down, and I said, "I don't want you to get hurt, Zack."

"You don't believe in me?"

I shook my head. "Not really. You're going against the captain of the wrestling team with those noodle arms." I reached out and touched his biceps. They were a little bigger than I thought, but they were still very small compared to Becky. "You should just hide, like Woody said."

Zack frowned as he straightened up. "I'm not going to hide just because you and Woody want me to."

"Why not? We don't want you to get hurt." I reached out toward his hand but thought better of it. "I don't want you to get hurt," I said softly.

He turned away from me, picking up the rag again. "If that's all you're going to say, I don't want to hear it. I'm going to fight her and no one is going to stop me."

I stood up, anger rising up through me. "Fine. Don't look for me during the fight because I'm not even going to watch."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

I whirled around and stormed down the hallway toward my room. I couldn't believe that he was really going along with this fight. I really didn't want him to get hurt, but right now, I didn't really care. He wasn't listening to me, so I wouldn't waste my breath on him.

---

The clock on the wall read 2:55. It was five minutes till Zack's fight, but I was still in my room, laying on my bed. Bailey and London left a few minutes ago to go to the sky deck to watch the fight. I didn't tell Bailey that Zack and I got into a fight. I didn't really speak to them the whole time I was in our room. They got the memo that I was angry.

But now I felt bad that we argued. I shouldn't be here in my room; I should be there with him, to make sure that he was okay. I doubted he wanted to see me, though. He probably hated me.

A knock on my door pulled me away from my thoughts. I frowned and pulled the door open. In front of me stood Cody Martin. "What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Zack wants you there," Cody said quickly. "He wants you there to watch him fight Becky."

"Why couldn't he come tell me himself?"

Cody turned a little pale at my question. "He's getting ready for the fight. But he wants you there."

I didn't really believe Cody at all. I was pretty sure that Bailey told him about my feelings, but I went along with it. "Fine, I'll come," I said with a sigh. 

"Thank you, Y/N!"

He took me by the hand and dragged me toward the sky deck. There was a large crowd surrounding Becky, so I stayed at the edge. I didn't want Zack to see me because I told him that I wasn't going to be there at all. Cody stayed next to me so I wouldn't be alone back here.

"Do you think he's going to win?" I asked Cody.

"No, I do not," Cody said with a quick shake of his head. "I think he's going to get pummeled."

"Yeah, me too."

My heart constricted when I saw Zack step through the crowd. He said something to Becky, but I couldn't really hear anything over the sound of my heart beating. They got in their fighting stances, and Becky struck first. She was so quick that all I saw was a flash and then Zack wincing as he touched his arm.

An overwhelming urge to protect Zack took over me, so I pushed my way through the crowd toward him. His eyes widened when he saw me step into the circle.

"Y/N! What are you doing here?" he asked quickly.

I threw myself at him and hugged him. "I came to protect you."

"I don't need protection. I need to protect you from getting hurt."

Before I could say anything, Becky took a menacing step toward me. I let go of Zack and faced her. 

"You better run along," Becky said with a sneer. "I wouldn't want to hurt a delicate girl like you."

"You're going to have to go through me if you want to get to Zack."

A slow smile spread across Becky's face. She cracked her fingers before taking another step toward me. "This is your last chance to leave."

I stared her down even though my heart was racing. I had no idea how to fight at all, so I hoped Mr. Moseby was coming soon. I wanted him to stop this fight before it happened so I wouldn't get hurt.

"Very well."

In a flash, Becky lashed out toward me. I ducked from her flying fist and kicked toward her legs. Surprisingly, I kicked her left leg as hard as I could. That just made her even angrier. Everything seemed to slow down as she kicked my leg. An immense pain erupted on my shin, and I fell down. The last thing I remember seeing was Zack standing over me, saying something.

The next thing I saw was all my friends crowded around me. The pain in my leg had grown numb, but I knew something was wrong with it when I tried to move it. With a groan, I sat up slightly.

"She finally woke up, guys," Bailey said loudly. I winced because of the pain in my head. "Hey, Y/N. How are you feeling?"

"Terrible." My whole body ached, especially my head. The light was too bright above me, and my friends stood way too close. "What happened?"

"Becky sort of broke your leg," London said with a sympathetic nod. 

"Where's Zack?" I asked, glancing around.

"I'm in here, too!" Zack called from the other side of the room. "I'm in the other bed because I got punched after attacking Becky."

Bailey moved out of the way and I saw Zack laying on a bed to my right. His face was swollen and turning black and blue. "You attacked Becky?" I asked, frowning. "Why?"

"She hurt you. I had to do something. Anything."

"I think we should leave," Bailey said quietly. "We'll come check on you guys later, okay?"

"Bye," I said, waving at them.

They all exited the infirmary one by one, leaving me alone with Zack. He sat up slowly and said, "I'm sorry."

I frowned. "About what? I should be apologizing to you."

"No, you shouldn't." He stood up, taking small steps toward me until he sat down on the edge of my bed. "I should apologize because I should have listened to you. You were right. And I apologize for you getting hurt."

"I know that." He laughed before lacing our fingers together. My heart picked up speed at the simple touch. "Zack, I would do anything for you. I'd get my other leg broken just to protect you from any harm."

"I would do the same for you," he whispered. "Because you mean the world to me." He paused and looked directly in my eyes. "Y/N, I've liked you for a long time. I just didn't know how to tell you."

"You like me?" I asked.

"Yes," he breathed out.

"I love you." He stared at me like he didn't believe what I said. "I love you, Zachary Martin. I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you." I squeezed his hand and asked, "Will you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?"

"Of course," he said with that handsome smile of his. "Of course I will be your boyfriend."

I had always wanted to kiss Zack Martin, and now I was finally doing it. Nothing in my life had prepared me for how great this would feel. I couldn't wait to do this forever.