TW: Mentions of a suicide attempt, it does pertain to the storyline however.

  The ship was well on its course and most of the guests had retired from the dock and went off to explore what the boat had to offer. Jared and Rich set off to find out where the third class was and where exactly they would be bunking.
 
  “Let’s see, apparently we are supposed to be right around… here!” Jared pointed to one of the many open rooms along the halls. They peeked inside seeing it was a very tight quarters consisting of two bunk beds and a tiny space between the two.

  “Wow, looks like we’ll have to get real friendly with whoever we’re rooming with.” Rich commented.

  “That would be us.” A voice sounded from one of the bunks. The boys turned their attention immediately towards the new voice. “I’m Michael and that’s Jeremy.” One of the strangers stated, pointing over to another in the corner trying to organize their baggage.  

  “Oh. It’s a pleasure guys, I’m Jared and this here is Rich.” Jared introduced them. Rich waved.

  “Hope you guys enjoy your time on here, third class has more to it than meets the eye.” Michael smiled.

  “We definitely plan on exploring the heck out of this place.” Jared grinned eagerly.

  “Speaking of which, we should probably get going!” Rich added. “I wanna see everything!”

  “Well then we better get to it!” Jared waved bye to Michael and Jeremy before him and Rich took off. They went back up to the top deck and looked out at the waves. It felt so great out here, the sea spray, the breeze, absolutely perfect. He was positive it’d look even better from the very top deck.

  “Let’s go to the very top.” Jared smiled at Rich who nodded excitedly. They raced each other to the very front of the boat, past the captain’s quarters and to the very tip of the ship’s bow. The sun was shining brightly over the blue water and it went on for forever it seemed. Jared went to the very front and embraced the wind. “I’m king of the world!” He shouted in pure joy.

  “Hell yeah!” Rich fist pumped. In that moment it seemed like they had such a bright future ahead of them.

*        *        *        *

  After they had come down from the top of the deck Rich had dashed off to explore and make friends with the other third class passengers. Jared went to the side of the deck to watch the waves made from the boat.

  No less than just one deck above, Evan ventured out to observe the scenery. They had gotten settled in their room and he would admit it was a very nice place to be staying, not to mention this boat was massive. So many rooms and so many people from all around. He enjoyed being here right now but he knew it wouldn’t be long before Zoe found him and took him back to his mom and whatever other rich person she would have found to mingle with.

  As he was looking down at the deck below, he caught sight of a boy. Could it be the one from earlier? It must be. Evan’s suspicions were confirmed when he caught his eyes again. He could tell that the other boy wanted to say something to him, and would admit to finding that love struck look on his face kinda cute… Not to brag, but Evan was used to receiving stares like that from lots of people. Of course he was never interested in anyone, he wanted someone who would understand him. He was intrigued however by this stranger...

  Jared smiled a little up at Evan, quite surprised that he found him again. There was something about him, he just had to know who he was. A girl appeared beside the boy and took his arm and just like that, they were gone.

  “Good luck getting with him.” Someone said catching Jared’s attention. A girl was there following his gaze. “He seems a little out of your league, no offense.”

  “Who is he?” Jared asked.

  “His name is Evan I believe. He’s apart of the Hansen family which I don’t know if you know them or not, but they’re pretty rich. I’m Alana Beck by the way.” The girl extended her hand for a shake which Jared accepted.

  “Jared Kleinman.” He introduced. Rich came bounding from down the deck.

  “Hey, you’ve met Alana! I was talking to her earlier.” He smiled.

  “She was just telling me about Evan.”

  “Who’s Evan?” Rich was confused.

  “I think your friend here has got it bad for one of the first classes!” Alana teased.

  “Wait, you’ve already found a crush? You move fast.” Rich nodded.

  “What? No- I just want to get to know him is all.” Jared blushed lightly.

  “Good luck even breathing the same air as him. How are you gonna even do that when they clearly want us to keep separate?” Rich shook his head. Jared sighed, he didn’t consider that.

  “Maybe I can just- catch him out one day and talk to him. Y’know, hang around the top and see if we run into each other. I don’t have to interact with anyone else if they don’t want me to.”

  “Could work. Just be careful, usually a guy like that already has someone in line.” Alana advised. Jared shrugged knowing that she was most likely right, but still, he had hope.

  “Come on, Alana knows all the cool places on this boat. Will you show us?” Rich asked her. She smiled nodding eagerly.

  “Sure thing boys. Follow me!”

*        *        *        *

  “Don’t be nervous honey, you’ll have a great time.” Heidi insisted as she fixed Evan’s outfit. “Remember what all of this is for. It’ll make sense in the end, trust me.” He sighed looking at them both in the mirror.

  “I know mom… it’s just- Zoe’s great and all but I don’t know if it’s going to work out. I mean, we’re a million worlds apart-“ Evan tried to explain.

  “Now now I don’t want to hear you talk like that. All these doubts are going to get you nowhere. We’re going to dinner tonight and you need to put on a happy face for me ok?” She gave him an encouraging smile. Evan sighed and reluctantly nodded.

  “Ok…”

  “Great. I’m proud of you already.” Heidi beamed starting to head out.

  “Oh… good.” He answered unenthusiastically following after her. The dinner was quite boring in Evan's opinion. He was practically forced to sit there and listen to his mom chat it up with the other rich folks while he stayed quiet and looked pretty with his fiancé on his arm.

  “And I'm so excited for Evan and Zoe. Don't they just look adorable together?” Evan stiffened as his mom called them out.

  “Oh I'm so excited to be a part of your family Ms. Hansen! Evan is such a sweetheart.” Zoe beamed kissing his cheek. He tensed more when he felt her hand rest suggestively on his leg under the table. He shot her a look but she returned it quite innocently.

  “Y-yeah, it's gonna be great.” Evan stuttered out trying to remember to breathe.

  “You're going to be so happy together.” One of the other ladies commented. “Nothing like being hitched!”

  “Oh yes, Ev here will find a nice job while I tie down the house.” Zoe grinned going on about their future. Evan hadn't thought much about how real this was becoming. The more he thought about it the more it scared him. The idea of being tied down to someone he didn't really have feelings for, providing for a family, Zoe most likely wanted kids… he was suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. It all felt too soon. It wasn't fair, his mom was practically giving him away for her own reasons. Sure he wanted to help his family but not like this. Couldn't she see he'd been struggling? That he wasn't happy? Of course she didn't, no one did. He was practically invisible.

  Evan wanted to disappear right now, his free hand fidgeting with the table cloth. Everyone else was smiling and talking while he was having a panic attack. “I-I need some air.” He managed to get out, standing up.

  “Evan sweetie what's wrong?” Heidi looked over at him.

  “E-excuse me-” He turned away from them all tears pricking his eyes. He needed to get away. Evan quickly left the too crowded room, everything closing in and the dizzying feeling honing in. As soon as he was out on the deck he bolted.

  Meanwhile, Jared was pacing around the top deck practicing what he was going to say to Evan once he ran into him ‘accidentally.’
“Oh hey, didn't see ya there. The name's Jared Kleinman. No no, the insanely cool Jared Kleinman.” He grinned. “Ugh no that's stupid!” Jared frowned sighing. “How am I supposed to-” He was cut off by someone running by him in quite the hurry. He looked after the stranger recognizing them. Was that Evan just now? Where was he going? Not knowing if it was real or not Jared decided to humor himself and follow where the person had run to.

  Evan wasn't even sure where he was going. His lungs hurt and he was struggling with every breath, the cold air slicing against his tear stained cheeks. He made it to the end of the boat, the very tip, gripping the railing tightly. For a moment he looked down at the swirling waves choking slightly, before coming to terms with his situation. The boy shakily lifted himself up and over the railing until he was on the other side, feeling the sea spray hit him. All he had to do was let go, and he wouldn't have to do anything anymore.

  Jared finally caught up to where he hoped Evan went, trying to see him. He spotted the boy and his eyes widened when he saw him positioned on the edge. He quickly stepped out towards him.

  “Don't do it!” He called to him. Evan froze not knowing anyone else was out here.

  “Don't come any closer o-or I'll jump!” He nervously snapped. That wasn't a risk Jared wanted to take.

  “Please- do you really think it's a good idea to be taking a swim right now? You seem like a smarter person than that.” He tried to sound as calm and casual as he could.

  “Y-you don't even know me.” Evan refused to look at Jared, trying to ignore him.

  “Maybe not, but what I do know is that water is freezing cold. It won't feel nice when you hit, judging if you even survive the fall-” Jared took a slight step forward. Evan bit his lip anxiously thinking about it. It probably wouldn't feel pleasant. “Plus I wouldn't appreciate it much either.”

  “H-huh?” Evan was confused.

  “Because I'd have to go in after you.” Jared proceeded to start taking off his first layer of clothes which consisted of his jacket and shoes.

  “What are you doing?!” Evan glanced at him in disbelief. Was this guy seriously undressing right now?

  “I told you I'm going after you. Now would you really make me do that?” Jared cautiously moved closer, almost within reach.

  “Well… I wouldn't want you to get wet..” Evan answered slowly having second thoughts.

  “That's nice of you. Why don't you come on back and we can talk about swimming another day huh? What do you say?” Jared asked him calmly. Evan nodded shakily after a moment.

  “O-ok… yeah.” He took another glance at the dark water below before he slowly started to turn back around. He started to come back over but his foot slipped causing him to fall with a yelp. Jared's eyes widened and he quickly rushed forward grabbing Evan's arm and holding him tightly so he wouldn't go down.

  “Please don't drop me!” Evan pleaded looking down and having a mini heart attack. He didn't want this anymore. “Help!”

  “I've got you, don't worry! It's going to be ok.” Jared tried to reassure him trying to get a better grip. Evan squeezed his eyes shut his heart hammering in his chest as he lost his grip on the railing. With a final tug Jared managed to finish pulling Evan up and over and they both went toppling to the ground earning a small squeak of pain from the distressed boy. They laid there a moment catching their breath, Evan still hyperventilating.

  “Hey- it's ok.. you're safe now.” Jared told him comfortingly. He realized how close they were, the other boy almost on top of him and their faces a few mere inches from each other's. They made eye contact. Suddenly a flashlight beam was on them.

  “Hold it right there! What's going on here?” It was one of the ship officers. “What exactly do you think you're doing?” Jared realized how bad this looked. Evan on top of him and half his clothes discarded. The other boy quickly scrambled to his feet pulling Jared up as well.

  “Evan? Honey is that you?” He recognized Heidi's voice as her and Zoe came running.

  “Evan! Are you alright? We heard screaming-” Zoe went over to him worriedly. She paused a moment seeing Jared and taking in their appearance. “Evan what-”

  “He saved my life!” Evan blurted. A pause as all eyes fell on him. “I-I was at the edge of the deck, getting some fresh air. I wasn't holding on very good and the waves.. I-I just, fell… so yeah.” The lie left his mouth. “This boy..” He looked at Jared questioningly.

  “Jared.” He smiled meeting Evan's gaze.

  “...Jared. Saw me and immediately came to my rescue. If it hadn't of been for him then… well I'd be dead.” Evan's voice faded to a whisper.

  “Oh honey-” Heidi went to him and hugged him tightly. Zoe continued to look over Jared, clearly judging the situation. She didn't like the way he was looking at Evan.

  “We're thankful that you're alright baby.” She hugged Evan next before looking at Jared. “Thank you so much for saving my fiancé's life. Now we really should get you back inside, it's freezing out here.” She insisted casting another glance at Jared. Evan nodded still trying to process what had happened. He also couldn't stop thinking of Jared's eyes.

  “W-wait!” He stopped. “Shouldn't we um, find a way to repay Jared? Thank him? He did save me after all…” He looked down slightly not seeing Zoe's reaction.

  “Oh. Of course, how thoughtless of me!” She casted a steely gaze at Jared taking a moment to notice his attire and then smiled. “Please, why don't you join us for dinner tomorrow? It would be a pleasure to have you.” She knew very well Jared wouldn't fit in with the rest of them. Maybe it'd teach him to stay away from what he clearly couldn't have.

  Jared considered it a moment before nodding. “Ok. It would be my pleasure. I'm glad you're alright…?”

  “Evan.” The boy looked at him a second, a small smile tugging at his lips.

  “...Evan. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jared felt his heart skip a beat, ignoring the daggers being directed at him from Zoe's stare.