Stacey startled awake, cold and wet, he flailed, chlorine got in his mouth when he yelled out. He got his feet under him and coughed up water. What the hell? He looked around. There was a deck with white lounge chairs, tables, a bar under an awning. He turned around and looked out at the ocean. Where the hell were they this time? He looked around the pool. There was a bobbing pool mattress floating away from him. How? He swam to the end of the pool and pulled himself out. His guitar case wasn't on his back. Shit. He looked in the water, but it wasn't at the bottom of the pool either. Good, so where is it? He did another sweep of the deck and found it leaning against a table.
"Ha-fucking-ha." He shivered under his breath and grabbed it by the handle.
Okay, so he was on a cruise ship. Hasn't seen one of those, since he was ten. Stacey quickly moved to the exit. He had to find everyone else, because according to Odessa that thing's going to find him wherever they go, and maybe find some clothes too. He walked down a long hallway full of shop windows. All the lights were on and would looking inviting if it wasn't empty. Like the bar...that got totaled by the monster. Yeah, no, not sticking around. He paused when he found a clothing shop and regretted it as soon as he walked in, because it was a Hugo Boss specialty store.
"Fucking."
He backed out and looked at all his other options. The other windows weren't clothing. More so purses and other bags, technology, and other useless knickknacks. He quickly walked down the hall to the end that let out to the center of the ship with shops, restaurants, and bars. He saw other expensive brand specialty shops he was too Cinderella to wear and colorful cruise merchandise without logos on them. He new those stores only had short sleeved shirts and shorts. He wouldn't be caught dead with his skin exposed. He didn't want anyone asking questions. As much as he liked Zoey and Penny, maybe Elron if he acted as a buffer between him and Odessa (at least his taste in music is likable), he didn't want to explain the marks and scars, so he walked back to the Hugo Boss store. He seriously contemplated leaving his wet clothes on, but maybe they had options that didn't make him look like Elron's little brother or his brothers' little brother.
He walked inside, eyes searching for anything white, beige, or black. He knows they have skinny jeans, so his pants were taken care of. He needed a shirt. He passed anything with short sleeves and went towards long sleeves. Wrong color, right color but ugly, no logo please, no, no, more no. How's it this hard to find-he found a simple black long sleeved shirt. Unfortunately he couldn't find it a three sizes too big, they only had his size. Better than wet. He made sure no one was around, then stripped out of his wet shirt, eyes averted from the mirror next to him, he didn't want to look at his failures. The shirt fit tight in the arms, but a little loose in the chest. He'll take it. Then he went for the shoes next. All the options were terrible. They didn't have black lace ups, so he had to settle for slip on boots instead. Looked like shoes Elron would wear if he attempted to go casual. He found black skinny jeans, at least they had something he likes. He almost forgot the underwear, until he unzipped his pants. Right. Soggy boxer briefs won't cut it. He found a pack of three in black and orange. He didn't care. He changed out of the rest of his wet clothes, feeling better now that he wasn't wet. Even though he looked like a pretentious hipster. All he was missing was the hat and glasses. He stuck the extra underwear in his guitar case's outside pocket, then slung his bag on his back and adjusted the straps. Now back to finding everyone else.
Stacey got lost or more so turned around. Not that it mattered when he didn't know where everyone else was to begin with. All he knew was that he was on some floor with cabins. He went down a flight and opened the door when he heard Zoey calling out. It was familiar to when they met in the city. He smiled, happy he wasn't alone anymore. He speed walked to her down the hall. She was with a blonde girl in a hospital like gown he didn't recognize, but apparently they knew each other.
"Zoey, you wouldn't happen to know why we're on a cruise ship, would you?" He stayed several feet from the new person and hoped she wasn't like Odessa.