TGoF Chapter 1

"Wake up Cassie! We gotta get going!" My little brother, Rocky, shouted at me. I groaned and looked at the little seven year old at the foot of my blue bed.

Today was the day we were headed on a cruise to Hawaii for my sixteenth birthday. Something exciting in my oh-so average life.

"Rocky, you're getting the floor wet! Get out so I can shower," I responded. He laughed before shaking his head, making his wet hair sprinkle water everywhere. He ran off before I could chase him out.

I rolled my eyes as I walked into my bathroom and looked into the mirror. Now, while my family and life were pretty average, my looks weren't. We were all fair skinned and the guys had a medium build while the girls were described as having perfect curvy figures, but after that similarities stopped.

I had long, shiny, and wavy brown hair. The rest of my family had honey blonde. I had dark blue sapphire colored eyes while everyone else had hazel. Also, I never got a single blemish on my skin. I seemed to be immune to bruises, scars, freckles, bug bites, all of that.

I was anything but Italian. Everyone but me had a slight Italian accent. They looked and sounded the part, and I stuck out. The only thing Italian abut me was my name. My real name was Cascata Romeo but I was called Cassie for short, just like my brother's real name is Rocco Romeo but Rocky for short.

I jumped into the shower while I continued to pick myself out from my family. I kept thinking when I realized that the water wasn't warming up.

"Rocco!" I screeched. The little brat had used up all the hot water. I was boiling mad at him, he could just be so annoying! I was lost in thought again and didn't realize the water had suddenly become burning hot.

"Weird," I mumbled. As I calmed down the water cooled down to a more comfortable temperature. It must've been my imagination, but it seemed like my emotions could control water sometimes.

I remember we were at the beach when I was little once. I got so excited. I'd wished the waves were a little bigger so I could use my new boogie board and they did get slightly bigger. Almost like a I had a connection to the water.

I finished up in my shower before wrapping up in a towel and doing the same to my hair. I stepped out of my steamy bathroom and into my cold room. My room was almost all different shades of blue, my favorite color. I was in love with how there could be so many variations on the one color.

I walked over to my closet and picked out a white sundress. Living in California in the summer time I had to pick something lightweight, and preferably white because it reflected sunlight. I pulled on my sundress and blow dried, brushed, and pinned back my hair with cute little flower clips.

"Cascata, you better get down here or we'll leave without you!" I heard my mom yell. I rolled my eyes like a typical teenager and grabbed my suitcase.

"Coming!" I yelled back while running down the steps with my suitcase following close behind. Each thunk excited me, one step closer to vacation. To excitement. Yes, as cheesy as it is.

My dad took my suitcase and loaded it into our grey Trailblazer. I followed after him to the car along with Rocky while my mom made sure we had everything and locked up the house. Dad was just starting up the car as she finally got in.

"Next stop, Sunset Cruises boarding dock!" My mother said happily. Rocky cheered while I merely chuckled at their excitement. Don't get me wrong, I was excited too, just not like them. We started the half hour long drive to the cruise dock.

My brother and I spent this car ride just like any other. Looking out the window and singing to some of the songs that came onto the radio. I was a music freak, so I knew the words to most of them. I always brought my iPod with me too, I even kept in in a waterproof case, so I'd have music whenever.

"We're here," my dad said with a grin. Rocky cheered and struggled to unbuckle his seatbelt, he always had the one that got jammed. I undid his seatbelt then mine and we both hopped out of the car.

The boarding dock was a huge building. It almost resembled an airport to me because you walked up to the gate for your ship, handed over your luggage and ticket, and got on the ship. That's what I heard at least, this was my first cruise.

"Cassie, take your brothers hand and stay close," my mother warned. She was always a little overprotective. Going into third grade Rocky thought he was too old to hold hands with his sister so I simply put my hand on his shoulder, a compromise we made not long ago.

As we checked in I scanned the crowd for our boat to see if there were any other teens. I saw a few, so I was relieved I'd have the chance to make a few new friends.

"Look Rocky, I see a few kids your age," I told him as he was getting a little fidgety considering he couldn't see anything.

"Where? I wanna see!" He shouted, drawing a little attention.

"Not so loud. Wanna sit on my shoulders?" I asked. He nodded eagerly. That was another thing that set me apart from my family. I was a few inches taller than everyone, we were a rather small family. Rocky was still small enough to sit on my shoulders.

I crouched down and he climbed onto my shoulders. When I stood up he could see everywhere. My dad gave me a high five for occupying Rocky. He could be a handful to say the least.

"Cassie, time to board," my mom commented. I nodded and began walking towards the ship.

"Before we get on, look at that ship real quick," Rocky told me. I looked where he was pointing as we walked.

"Which one?" I asked in confusion.

"That one!" Rocky responded and pointed again. He leaned a little too far into his pointing and fell of my shoulders.

"Crap!" I hissed. I turned around to see a stranger who looked about my age holding him.

"Gotta be careful little buddy," he told him. I looked at the stranger carefully. He was a boy my age with defined features and slightly pale skin. He had freckles on his cheekbones, dark sunglasses, and short fiery red hair.

"Thanks for catching my little brother," I said shyly. He nodded and set him down, Rocky ran to me.

"No problem. Hey, are you on Sunset Cruises too?" He asked suddenly. I nodded.

"Yeah. Are you?" I asked back. He nodded too.

"Yep. So, if I'll most likely see you around what's your name? Mine's Kyden," Kyden answered.

"Cascata, but you can call me Cassie. I have to go, but I guess I'll see you around," I added. He nodded and turned back to the people I assumed he was related to. He also stood out, just like me.

"Come on, Cascata!" My mom yelled. Oh great, my full name. I grabbed Rocky and ran with him to the ship, still slightly distracted by Kyden.

When we finally caught up with my parents we were able to board. We walked up the plank and were greeted by the captain.

"Welcome to Sunset Cruises, I hope you enjoy your stay and trip to Hawaii," he greeted. We all mumbled thank you and continued to walk on board. Once we were on I let go of Rocky.

The lobby was amazing. It was warm colors with a magnificent chandelier and a huge check in desk. We all walked over to the fancy check in desk and as our parents got our room and room keys Rocky and I continued to marvel at the ship. You could see the elevators to take you to other parts of the ship and a grand staircase. The staircase took you to the floor above us which had overlooking walkways. Those rooms led to rooms for kids to hang out in, grouped by ages.

"Ok guys. Let's go to our rooms. After that you guys can come to the pools with us or go to the kids clubs," my dad informed us.

"Shouldn't their be a lifeboat drill?" I asked skeptically.

"Relax, the odds of this ship sinking are very small," he replied back as we started walking.

"That's what they said about the Titanic," I mumbled, too low for anyone to hear.

Sure this boat probably had enough lifeboats. Still, it's a little strange they didn't have a lifeboat drill. I'd never been on a cruise before though. Instead I read up on them. That was the nerdy side of me. And the worried side of me.

We made our way up to the room. It was actually pretty quick considering we didn't have to lug around all of our suitcases, even though we were on one of the higher decks. We walked inside the small cabin where our bags were already. It had a tiny living room with a mini fridge and microwave, a master bedroom with its own private bathroom, and other bathroom off of the room for Rocky and I to share.

"The rooms cool, can we go to the pool now?" Rocky whined. My dad nodded and he did a little dance. Rocky loved to swim. He wanted to do it for competition when he grew up.

"Can I go to the kids club like you offered?" I wondered aloud. My dad nodded and I did my own little victory dance. Time to start enjoying the cruise.

We all left together, but I got off at a different floor than them. The floor right above the lobby. I walked around until I saw the teen club. I walked in and there was a lot to do. Board games, computers, twister, art table, and even a tree-house like club house. It was amazing. Just a place for teens to hang.

"Told you I'd see you around," a voice said behind me. I turned around to see Kyden standing there.

"Maybe you're psychic," I suggested randomly. He chuckled.

"You believe in psychics?" He asked skeptically. I noticed now he wasn't wearing glasses. His eyes were actually a normal shade of blue, not sapphire like mine.

"Why not? I mean, maybe it's just the power of coincidence, but who knows?" I countered. He slowly nodded his head side to side, kind of mulling it over.

"Ok, that explains it," He concluded. I was looking around at what I wanted to do and I assumed Kyden was doing the same thing.

I really didn't know what to do. So many choices. Most of them did require two people, and I was pretty much a loner.

"Hey, wanna play a game?" Kyden asked me. I grinned widely. I wasn't really a loner after all.

"Sure. What game do you wanna play?" I questioned. We looked around the room for a moment before I saw my favorite board game. "Chess?"

"I love chess!" Kyden responded excitedly as we walked towards the checkerboards.

"You can go first," I told him.

"Youngest first. How old are you?" He countered.

"I'll turn sixteen tomorrow," I responded as I continued to set up.

"Me too! What time?" Kyden asked.

"4:56 in the morning." He would probably end up going last.

"No way..." He trailed off as he stared at the board.

"What?" I asked nervously. Was there something weird going on? I didn't want to lose my only friend over something stupid like this.

He suddenly looked back up at me. "I was born at the same exact time."

I was surprised. The odds of this were very, very, very slim. I did say I believed in psychics. This could be some weird fate thing.

"You can just go first," Kyden said finally, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded and made my first move with my pawn.

There wasn't a timer, but we made each of our moved pretty quickly. Just because we were quick doesn't mean we were rushed or sloppy. We always countered each other. We were so into the game that when I looked up occasionally I could slowly see a small crowd gathering.

Soon, I had his king cornered and there was no escaping. "Checkmate!" I cheered before capturing his king. Kyden grinned and put out his hand.

"Good game, you were an excellent opponent," he said as we high-fived.

"Yeah, good game! That was awesome! Nobody in my family plays," I told him. He looked surprised.

"Really?" He asked. I nodded and noticed the crowd dispersing.

We were almost done with putting away the chess pieces when my phone buzzed. Kyden heard it and nodded, silently offering to finish up. I whipped out my phone and saw a text from my dad.

"I gotta go. Time for dinner, apparently we're assigned to eat with a few other families so we don't wanna show up late and make a bad impression,"'I explained. He nodded and put the last piece away.

"I better get going too. Bye!" He told me as I walked off. I waved and got on the elevator back to the room.

When I got back my mom was brushing Rocky's hair. My dad and Rocky had changed, presumably because they had been at the pool and didn't want to put in their old clothes, but my mom and I stayed the same.

"Brush your hair. Also, one of the clips is falling out," my mom instructed before handing me the brush when she was done with Rocky. I did as I was told and before doing one final look over my mom declared us ready.

We all exited the room and walked toward where we were going to be eating tonight, our restaurants were switched up throughout the cruise.

"Welcome. Last name?" The A guy in a waiters outfit asked.

"Romeo."

"Follow me."

We followed him and were led to a square table that seated sixteen. It was an odd setup, and even thigh I knew we would be eating with other families I was still a little surprised to see someone else sitting at our table. It was another family of four, also with a daughter my age and another daughter Rocky's age. The girl was sitting at a seat closet to a corner so I sat at the seat on the other side of that corner.

"Hi. I'm Cassie. I guess we'll be sitting with each other for the rest if the cruise so what's your name?" I asked with a smile. Time to make new friends.

"I'm Solana but you can just call me Ana. I love your dress by the way!" She responded happily.

"Thanks. I love your braid, it looks really intricate," I complimented back. She nodded and was about to speak when her little sister tugged on her shoulder.

That's when I noticed it. She stood out too. They were all slight people with small feature. Her's were especially delicate and perfect, smooth skin without blemishes like me even though she had a slightly paler skin tone. Everyone eating with her also had dark brown eyes black hair but she had very light blue eyes tinted grey and long straight blonde hair.

"Thanks and sorry about that. So, how old are you?" She asked.

"I'm going to be sixteen tomorrow," I responded with a sense of déjà vu considering I had just gone through the same formalities with Kyden.

"Same! That's crazy. It's also crazy that we stand out from our families. That's your biological family too, right? Don't mean to pry, just a nasty habit," Ana said. I nodded and jumped when I heard the chair next to me scraping against the floor.

"Gee, you're jumpy," Kyden murmured as he took his seat. I blushed and looked back at Ana who raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh! Uh... Solana, this is Kyden. Kyden, this is Solana but call her Ana." They greeted each other and I remembered something. "She also has the same birthday as us."

Kyden furrowed his eyebrows. "What time?" I knew where this was going.

"I don't remember. Sometimes before five in the morning," She mused thoughtfully.

Kyden looked at me. There was no way. "Would you recognize it if you heard it?" I asked. She nodded.

Kyden cut in, "4:56?" She nodded and smiled.

"Yeah! That's it!" Kyden and I exchanged looks. We both knew it was best not to tell her now.

Our talking was interrupted when another (final) family sat down with us. This one also had a boy our age. He sat down next to Kyden and a little boy sat down next to him. They all had light brown skin and dark brown hair. Except for one. The boy our age. His hair was light brown and his eyes were amazing shades of green with a little bit if gold.

Kyden decided to be out going and tap him on the shoulder. "Hi, I'm Kyden and this is Cassie and that's Ana."

The boy turned around and smiled. "I'm Keb." He had a soft voice, and seemed like a shy and timid person. He didn't look that way, as he was dressed in a bright green hoodie with black stripes, but I wasn't going to judge a book by its cover.

The little boy tugged on Keb's sleeve and the two began using hand signals to communicate. I was the only one to notice it as Ana and Kyden were talking about something I didn't pay attention to. Sign language was more interesting to watch. When the little boy was satisfied with their conversation I spoke up. "Keb? If you don't mind me asking, why do you use sign language?"

"Oh! Leo is deaf," He answered. I nodded in understanding before the little boy started to talk to Keb again. I watched them and was fascinated. Suddenly the little boy, Leo, spoke up.

"It's nice to meet you," He told me. I smiled and nodded. His voice sounded unnatural, forced. It probably was.

"It's nice to meet you too, Leo. Are you having fun on your cruise?" I asked him. He looked to Keb and he began to sign what I had just spoken.

Soon Leo signed back. "Sorry, he's still learning to speak and read lips. He said the cruise is ok, but it's kind of hard because of his... Difference from the other kids." I nodded and was about to responding when Ana's little sister began speaking to Leo in sign language. She acted as a translator for the other little kids.

"What are you guys doing after dinner? " Kyden asked Keb and I. I shrugged and looked to Keb who shrugged too.

"Kyden and I are planning on going to the kids club, wanna join?" Ana asked. Before Keb could answer I butted in.

"Together?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows like I do to my friends back home when they talk about crushes and all that stuff. Both Kyden and Ana started to blush.

Keb saved them from any further joking from me by adding in, "I'll come. What about you Cassie?" I nodded. I'm sure my parents would let me.

Soon the waiters came and we all ordered drinks then food. All of the families talked to everyone. Ana's little sister and all of Keb's family acted as translators so Leo could join in with the conversation. My parents did say yes so immediately after dinner all of us walked towards the kids club to hang out.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Kyden asked. I looked around and my eyes saw the clubhouse.

I pointed to it and asked, "Have any of you been up there?" They all shook their heads and I suggested that.

We all headed over to the tree house. Kyden climbed the ladder first and began up, followed by Keb then me then Ana. I was so focused on climbing that I didn't noticed Keb and Kyden had stopped moving, causing me to run into Keb. "Hold on, minor interruption."

Kyden continued to climb and entered the treehouse while Keb stayed still. I looked to Ana who just shrugged. Pretty soon Kyden stuck his head out of the trapdoor saying, "You can come up now." We did as we were told. Inside it was larger than it seemed. It had arcade games and a pinball machine. There was a window looking over the rest if the club, and then in the back there was a door that led to a rope bridge that led to other rooms.

"This is so cool!" Ana gushed. I nodded in awe before we split up a little to go play different games. I started off with a classic, Frogger. I was deep into the game, blocking out the world around me.

"You're good at this game," a voice said behind me. I jumped, losing the game. I put on a glare before turning around to face none other than Kyden.

"You need to stop doing that!" I exclaimed before crossing my arms like a little kid. He laughed at me before leaning against the arcade game next to me. I noticed his red hair was looking crazier than I last saw him. "What happened to your hair?"

"He told me not to mess with his hair, so I did," Keb informed us, poking his head around a game. Kyden rolled his eyes like a child. I tried to read his emotion through his eyes, to see if they told me if he was joking or not, but they held absolutely no emotion whatsoever. "Oh, also Ana wanted to know if you guys wanted to come with her to explore the rest of the treehouse?"

Kyden nodded and I nodded too. Keb gave us a thumbs up and we all walked to the door where Ana was bouncing on her feet. "Someone's excited..." Kyden began but I gave him a light hit on the arm, making him act hurt.

"Which way should we go?" Ana asked. We had walked across the rope bride thingy and had come to a Y-shaped end of the current rope bride that led to two other bridges. To the left was a similar clubhouse and to the right was another clubhouse that was in the shape of a boat.

"Right." Ana nodded and led the way inside. The rope bridge connected to a "dock" which we stepped onto. I had to grab the railing because we all realized that's not only was it shaped like a boat and dock, it rocked like real ones did. We made out way into the boat and gasped.

"Ok, now this is paradise," Keb said in awe. Kyden nodded as we took it all in. It was decorated like a captains helm, with computers to steer a "ship" and periscopes. All in all, anything an aspiring captain could imagine to role play.

"I'm gonna go to the other clubhouse," I told the group. The boys nodded, while they enjoyed this it wasn't my thing.

Ana piped up too, "I'll go with her." I don't even think the boys noticed we left.

The other clubhouse was my cup of tea. It was a quiet zone with books to read and other things to do, but I was drawn to the books. It said you could check them out as long as you signed a sheet. I was impressed with the honor system. I grabbed a book and sunk into the closest beanbag chair. Apparently I fell asleep reading because next thing I know I'm being woken up by my friends.

"What's going on?"I asked groggily while ribbing my eyes. The clubhouse was empty. Keb was looking extremely nervous and Ana wasn't looking too good either.

Kyden finally spoke up, "It's getting late so we should probably get back to our cabins."

"And there's a huge storm outside!" Ana blurted out nervously before slapping her hand over her mouth.

"Then we gotta get going," I said seriously. I stood up and we all hurried out of the kids club.

We were about to go across the open main deck when Keb spoke up, "Is there a way to get to our rooms without going over the freaking outdoor deck in a huge storm?"

"Relax," was all that Kyden replied. We walked out onto the deck, it was pouring rain and thunder and lightning was off in the distance. The four of us were making our way across the deck when it started rocking crazily. Suddenly, a huge wave crashed across the deck.

Kyden cursed.

Ana screamed.

Keb shouted something.

But I couldn't hear them.

All I could hear was the wave crashing.

And all of us falling.

Overboard.