"A shark? What? Where? This has nev-"

Josh stopped talking abruptly and screamed, his shaking arm pointing at the water.

"There really is a shark!" he yelled.

The chaos got worse. The fire got larger, more people were running, everyone was screaming. Ray yelled out, "Guys hold on, the shark is saying something!"

Everyone looked over the edge of the boat. Sure enough, the shark was speaking. It called out, "There's a shark? Where? Oh no, let me on!"

Silence. Did the shark really just speak? They looked closer at the shark. It waved it's arms around.

"Please! Let me on, you said a shark's coming!"

"You're... you're not a shark?" Gerard said hesitantly like an alien.

"No! But you all yelled that there was a shark in the water! Now help me on the boat so it doesn't eat me alive!" The not-shark yelled.

Tyler threw a life ring into the cold waves as Ray explained to the creature that they only thought he was a shark and how there wasn't actually one. The shark grabbed on and Tyler pulled him up into the boat. "You're not a shark!" Tyler said. "You're a giraffe!"

The giraffe smiled. "I'm a man and my name is Dallon. Dallon Weekes. I was late to get to the dock since I got stuck in traffic. I saw the boat leave and I swam after it."

"Oh! Good thing there's not actually a shark then! Joe would have peed his pants." Pete said, relieved.

"Too late..." Joe whimpered.

"Y-you swam all the way to get us? But, we've been sailing for forty five minutes!" Josh said in shock.

Dallon shook like a wet dog and the water that came off of him put out the fire. "These long legs come in handy!" He said.

Tyler and Josh led him downstairs to show him his cabin. The passengers gradually went back to their previous activities. Well, everyone except Joe who was still in the fetal position on the ground.

"Get up, Joe." Pete said.

"Hey, hey, hey! You gotta be gentle!" Patrick said. He knelt beside Joe and softly whispered to him while carefully rubbing his back. Joe calmed down fast with Patrick's presence, most people did, and soon enough he was able to breathe normally.

"So where's this vending machine I heard of?" Pete asked. "I'm starving and maybe food can help Joe get back to normal."

"Good question. Let's explore the boat more." Andy suggested.

The group of four got up and headed for the door leading to the inside of the second floor. After some exploring (and no luck finding a vending machine) the boys found out more about the ship. The second floor had an indoor section and an outdoor section. The inside consisted of a dining area, bathrooms, a lounge, and a locked room labeled "SPOOKY GYM". Outside on the second floor you could find two side decks, a back deck, and a large front deck which was locked at the moment too.

"Wow this place is pretty spacious! Still not exactly what I imagined by 'cruise ship' but I like it!" Patrick said.

"Me too. I'm just bummed that dinner isn't until 6:00. It's 4:12 right now, we have so long to go." Pete whined.

"Is food all you think about? Let's find that vending machine for a snack, okay?" Andy said.

They headed downstairs carrying Joe who hadn't quite fully recovered from the shock of the "shark" yet. They found out that the bottom floor held five cabins, a locked roomed labeled "GAME ROOM", a living room type area, and a vending machine. Finally.

"Thank god we found this thing, I was getting hungry too." Andy said. He stood back and observed the odd vending machine. Just then, Ray came up behind them smiling.

"Oh hey guys! I'm Ray. Mind if I check out the food options too?"

"Oh of course Ray! I'm Patrick. That's Pete, there's Andy, and uh, that's Joe buy he's um, struggling right now." Patrick said, making room. He shook hands with Ray.

"Huh. This is definitely a strange vending machine" Pete said, confused. He read the top. "TB SAGA. I wonder what that could mean. It looks like mainly Mexican foods. Nacho Bell Grande, Cheesy Gordita, Greasy Taco, Chalupas, Beef and Cheese In a Taco Shell. Huh. Wow. And they have a Crunchy Shell. Like, a plain old shell? A seashell? A taco shell? Oh and they have Beefaroni too."

"Aw man, I'm vegan. I'm too cool for this crap. I'm out" Andy said, walking away.

"Well, I am definitely going for the Beefaroni. I love me some fresh Chef Boyardee, that's for sure." Ray said. He slipped a dollar into the machine. He waited for a second before the machine spat the money back out. An automated voice came through a hidden speaker on the vending machine saying, "MORE MONEY MORE, MORE, MORE!"

Ray sighed and put a five dollar bill in the slot, mumbling something about overpriced food these days. The machine said, "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?"

He put a ten dollar bill in only to be told he needed more. A 20 wasn't good enough either. Things got creepy when he pulled out a 50 dollar bill.

"COME ON RAY, BRING OUT THE BENJAMINS!" The machine yelled.

"What? How does it know my name?" Ray exclaimed, suddenly very scared."

"Uh, I don't know, maybe Tyler and Josh programmed our names into it ahead of time?" Patrick said, his anxiety rising.

"NOPE. WRONG, STUMP. THINK AGAIN." It replied.

Patrick squealed in fear. Ray violently shoved a 100 dollar bill into the money slot, grabbed the Beefaroni that fell and ran upstairs with Pete, Patrick, and Joe, terrified of the vending machine.

"There you are Ray! Why are you out of breath? Where were you guys?" Frank asked, puzzled.

"Vending... machine... creepy... knew our names..." Pete said panting.

"See! It pays to be vegan!" Andy yelled from across the deck.

"Did we get our forks? You can't eat beefaroni without forks." Ray asked.

"Well no, you're the only one who got a a meal. I'll come with you to get a fork from the evil machine if it even has one and I'll try to get something too." Pete answered. The pair left downstairs.

Seconds later, Josh came down the staircase from the captain's quarters up top. "Hey everyone! I hope you've been enjoying your time here so far at T&J Cruise Compamy. Dinner will be served in about an hour and a half in the dining room. Also, in case you haven't noticed, some rooms have been locked. I just unlocked them all so if you wanna explore before dinner, go for it. Just remember, the top floor is off limits."

"Sir? Do you have a can opener?" Ray asked, having just come up the stairs with Pete.

"Oh yes, I always keep one on hand for emergency situations like this." Josh said, beaming. He pulled out a can opener from his back pocket and opened Ray's Beefaroni can.

"Thanks, sir!" Ray said, digging into his Beefaroni.

Pete stared at his food wrapper. He got a "greasy taco." It would either be the best thing he ever had, or the worst. He peeled back the wrapper and pulled out the taco. His fingers were already covered in grease. He cautiously took a bite and grease exploded everywhere. He was covered in it, so was Ray who stood four feet away, innocently enjoying his Chef Boyardee.

"I... I think I'm gonna eat this... in the shower. And then take one afterwards..." Pete said, inching away and slowly heading downstairs to his cabin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4:45 P.M. At the game room
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is the game room?" Gerard asked, very confused.

He, Frank, Ryan, Brendon, Ray, and Patrick all stood in an empty room, observing the few games. By "game room" the all assumed a room with some TV's, and a whole bunch of video games. Instead, they were greeted by some measly board games and no surface to play with them on.

"Hey I see a small TV in the corner. Maybe there are video games to play with on there." Pete said

The group walked toward the TV. Sure enough, there was an Atari and two consoles hooked up to it.

"Atari? That thing came out in 1972! Do they even make them anymore?" Brendon asked.

"Who knows and who cares! Look, I see one of those life size Jenga games!" Frank said, excited.

"Woah they have Monopoly Jr.!"

"Hungry Hungry Hippos!"

"Chutes and Ladders!"

"Operation!"

"Twister!"

Everyone stood around the games, realizing the game room wasn't so bad after all. After a tough decision, they settled on playing the giant Jenga set. As the tower grew larger, they soon found out they were all too short to reach the top.

"Aw man! Now what?" Patrick said.

"Oh hey look! It's the giraffe from before! He could help us!" Gerard said.

He stepped out of the room and called Dallon over who happened to be walking by. "Hey giraf- I mean, hey Dallon! Wanna play with us?"

"Gerard that sounds creepy!" Frank hissed.

"Sure, I'd love to!" Dallon said, eager to make new friends.

Dallon looked at Brendon. "Holy crap." He whispered under his breath. Wow. That man was... Wow! He felt himself melting in the presence of Brendon's hotness. Ryan noticed Dallon staring and stepped a bit closer to Brendon, protecting his husband. Ryan looked up at Brendon only to see he was staring right back at Dallon. Ryan turned red and pinched Brendon's arm a bit, snapping him back into place.

"Hello? Gir-Dallon? Brendon? Ryan? Are any of you listening to me?" Gerard asked.

"Oh, uh sorry. So, how do you play Jenga?"

"So you can play, we just also need you to pick us up and help us reach the top when we pull out a block." Gerard said, after he explained the rules.

Dallon nodded, getting lost looking at Brendon again. He felt like he was... melting. Yes, that was the word. He was.. melting in the presence of Brendon. He felt a warm, nice fuzzy feeling as his surroundings disappeared and all he saw was Brendon. He was so calm in fact, he almost didn't hear Gerard's high pitched scream.

"OH MY GOSH! DALLON IS LITERALLY MELTING INTO THE FLOOR!"