Jen walked into the Teen Lounge with a belated birthday card. There hadn't been a big selection in the gift shop—and of course most of those were all nautical themed—but she managed to pick what she thought was the cutest.

On the front was a picture of an old-timey sailboat and the caption, "Oh, ship! It's your birthday!" while the inside read, "I bet you thought I'd forgotten all a-boat it." She'd signed it with her first name, social media contacts, and phone number. After tomorrow, they'd all return home, but hopefully this would help the birthday boy keep in touch.

Jen smiled to herself just thinking about it, but her expression fell when she saw the intended recipient playing GTA on the Xbox surrounded by Nikki, Sarah, and Marlee.

Her first instinct was to turn around and leave, but they'd already noticed her. She'd come this far, so taking a deep breath, Jen made her move. She would have preferred to do it in private, but when there was a pause in the game, she handed Justin the card.

He must have been startled by the unexpected offer because he just silently took it. But seeing the other girls smirk made her suddenly lose her nerve, and Jen retreated without waiting for a proper response. After hiding behind the claw game in the adjacent arcade to spy out his reaction from a safe distance, Jen began to hear laughter. It was soon followed by the ping of her phone, indicating a text from an unknown number.

[Unknown: Hey. This is Justin. Is this Jen's phone?]

Jen giggled, ecstatic that Justin had already noted her digits and thankful for shipboard 4G. With shaky hands, she typed in a quick response. 

[Jen: Yeah. Hiya :) ]

With her heart beating out of her chest, she waited to see if he'd write more. Even if he didn't, she still had his number so they could reconnect at any time. But the next message quickly followed.

[Unknown: Good, 'cause I didn't want to tell a stranger . . . ]

OMG, what was he about to tell her? Was it possible that he'd had a secret crush on her the same way she has had on him the entire trip? Waiting on the rest was agony!

[Unknown: How big of a loser they are!!!]

What? Jen had to re-read the last message to make sure she wasn't seeing things. It couldn't be right. Why would Justin say that? Did he mean she was a loser? Or was this some sort of bad joke?

She didn't have to wait long again because he kept writing.

[Unknown: It wasn't even my birthday, by the way. I just needed you to get out of my face. Have a nice life.]

Jen was crushed. With the sound of delighted squeals coming from the group in the lounge—no doubt having fun at her expense—she burst into tears right then and there. Turning around, she nearly collided with Sam.

"Hey. I've been looking for you," he said cheerily before noticing her tears. "Wait, are you okay?"

Ignoring him, Jen ran out of the room and back to the seclusion of her cabin.