Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Thanks especially to iamme for your concrit review and Amy for your editing help (: I always need someone to help me improve!

Proactivity (noun): being proactive means taking control and taking the first steps deliberately. A Rhapsody Seagull is always proactive.

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Rhapsody Academy of the Seas had structure and formalities, but not like other schools had.

For starters, there were few rules and fewer punishments. Nobody was overly concerned about the whereabouts of the students because after all, how far could you go on a cruise ship? Even if there was a punishment assigned to an out-of-line pupil, it usually ended up being a reward (such as being “grounded”—i.e., being confined to your dorm room for a certain period of time and having somebody else bring you your class work) or something silly, like having dress code restrictions (not being able to wear bathing suits as lingerie, having the length of your shorts and skirts monitored, not being allowed to wear tank tops, etc.).

Secondly, the school believed in encouraging the kids to take action themselves. A lot of classes were simply monitored by a member of the staff called a counselor, who was considered a teacher’s assistant and a live-in babysitter for the different grades. If the kids could learn to teach and culture themselves, then that was a far greater reward than a high grade on a written test.

Lastly, Rhapsody Academy worked like any mechanism you could find in your typical house: each part of the school relied on something—or someone—else in order to function correctly. Without the single-sex dormitories, the co-ed ones wouldn’t have the same air of exclusiveness. Without the dozens of Ports of Call that the ship docked at every year, the school wouldn’t be acclaimed as one of the best academies for visual learners. Without the counselors to keep the hundreds of children in check, the teachers would be overwhelmed. And without certain cliques of trouble-making, party-loving kids, then, well, it wouldn’t be Rhapsody Academy of the Seas.

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Wakeley felt a little beleaguered as she stared up at the shining white vessel that was to become her home-away-from-home for the next eight months. Everything from the official-looking blue lettering on the hull of the ship spelling out ‘Rhapsody Academy of the Seas’ to the cliques of girls and guys yelling at each other and waving around their boarding passes screamed, “You don’t quite belong.”

As Wakeley moved through lines where her bag was inspected and her passport checked and her school photo taken, she couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit scared. After all, the only cruise-related thing she had ever done in her life was watch Titanic. Even though it wasn’t rational to fear icebergs while they were still sailing the Gulf of Mexico, Wakeley couldn’t help but worry that there wouldn’t be enough lifeboats when they inevitably crashed and sank.

However, Wakeley’s old fears were nothing compared to the horror of her new bedroom.

Wakeley had been blessed enough to be born into a fairly well-off family that comfortably housed themselves in the Memorial area of Houston, Texas. From the time she was born, she had always had her own bedroom and her own bathroom with her own TV and her own computer. She was not one for sharing living space.

Wakeley’s dorm, conveniently located on Deck Four, was a cramped room about as big as her bathroom at home. Surprisingly enough, the ship’s builders had managed to jam in a couch, a vanity, a tiny TV, several drawers, a closet, and two twin-sized beds with a bedside table between them. Wakeley now knew how her Barbies felt when she used to stick them up her nose at age three.

On the bright side, there was a window.

Wakeley ditched her carry-on bags on the small bed to the right of the room and wandered back to the front of the cabin, scrutinizing a door to her left. To her relief, inside was a restroom stall-sized bathroom. After a quick inspection, she detected a very tiny shower, a sink with a mirror over it, a few more drawers, a toilet, and a dispenser of soap that smelled like both chocolate and lemons. Wakeley promptly scurried in, longing to feel clean after spending an hour driving to the port of Galveston.

After peeing, showering, and bumping her hip against the abnormally sharp corner of the sink five times, Wakeley stumbled out of the miniscule bathroom in a pair of black Nike running shorts and her favorite Alice in Wonderland printed tee from Forever 21, subconsciously rubbing her tired blue eyes. However, the sight awaiting her made them burn even more.

Draped across the couch was a chubby, rosy-cheeked yet otherwise ghostly pale girl with light blond hair wearing skinny jeans, ballet flats, and satiny pink, empire-waisted, sequined top. She looked like a tacky Dancing with the Stars contestant before all the hardcore ballroom dancing burned off the extra fat.

“Hi!” the girl squeaked in an ear-piercingly shrill voice. “I’m Shannon Marquis. I’m your new roomie! What’s your name? Why is only a part of your hair purple? What classes are you taking? I’d be happy to show you around.”

Wakeley winced. She knew that she had vowed to fit it with the normal kids, but if being friends with the normal kids meant being friends with this girl, then Wakeley didn’t want to fit in.

“I’m Wakeley Porter,” she responded coolly, using a soft voice in a discreet way to get the girl to lower her Yorkshire Terrier-like tone. “I’m taking Running, Swimming, Computer Design, Learn-It-Yourself Library, and History and Science of Ports of Call.”

“Oh,” Shannon’s face drooped. “I’m taking Ship-Shape Fitness, Theatre Arts, Consumerism Math and all the basic Science courses.”

Wakeley smiled politely, thinking of the RAOTS Handbook: We require all students to take at least one recreational sport. We want you ship-shape, not the shape of the ship! This girl definitely needed the exercise, she thought nastily.

Wakeley yawn-shrugged, already losing interest. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Sharon, but I gotta go to the New Student tours. See ya!” Wakeley grabbed her room key and flip-flopped out of the cabin, letting the heavy door slam behind her, but not before Shannon could yell out, “My name’s Shannon, not Sharon!”

Wakeley rolled her eyes and headed for the spacious Atrium (which was also located on Deck Four), where the New Student tours were meeting on the marble steps that led to Deck Five and the Edelweiss Dining Room. She joined a cluster of about seven new kids, all looking half-scared, half-awed, along with three counselors (which was what they called the part of the teaching staff that didn’t teach, according to the Handbook) and two other girls. One had curly-wavy Taylor Swift hair and bright blue eyes while the other girl was tall with straight, dark brown hair and blue-green eyes. Both were toned from sports and exercise, and both had bored-and-over-it expressions plastered on their flawless faces. Wakeley assumed that they were just helping out.

As soon as Wakeley joined the group hovering on the marble steps, one of the counselors bounded up to her.

“Hi!” the girl cried, her green eyes bright and her brown ponytail waggling. Wakeley fought the urge to roll her eyes again. Who knew that so many annoying people would go to or work at this school? “I’m Michelle, and I’m one of the Ninth and Tenth Grade counselors! Are you Wakeley? Because if you are, then we’re all set to go on the tour!”

Wakeley let out a small sigh. “Yes, I’m Wakeley,” she responded, annunciating every word. Michelle scribbled something on her clipboard, gave Wakeley another sunny smile, and headed back up to the front of the group. Wakeley promptly tuned her out and inspected her fellow new kids.

One was a short girl with a light tan, big circles under her bulging brown eyes, and poofy, wavy red hair; another was a tall, pale boy with ocean-blue eyes and abnormally long hair who was talking to an equally tall girl with dried-out dirty blonde hair and an acne problem; three were Asian boys; and the last one was a porcelain-skinned, medium-height girl with a mane of crazy, curly brown-blonde hair who was smacking her Stride gum rather loudly. Wakeley slowly began to shuffle towards her to introduce herself when one of the volunteers cleared her throat.

Wakeley whipped around. The brunette girl was motioning her closer.

Once Wakeley reached her, the girl began to softly whisper in her ear.

“Don’t talk to her. Once you get her started, she won’t shut up. Her name’s Brooke,” the brunette confided. Wakeley gratefully smile-thanked her just as Michelle announced that the next few minutes were ‘get to know you time’.

“I’m Wakeley,” Wakeley stated, taking the opportunity to introduce herself. “I’m from Houston.”

“Like Houston, Texas?” Taylor Swift-hair girl asked, her eyes lit up with interest. “That’s cool. Do you own horses? Do you ever ride them to school? Oh, and I’m Nicole, by the way.”

Wakeley giggled. “Houston’s actually a really big city. The horses would get slaughtered during rush hour if anyone dared to ride them on the roads. Are you from Canada?” Nicole and the brunette gave knowing smirks.

“You can tell, can’t you? Leslie’s from Canada, too,” Nicole replied, gesturing towards one of the blonde counselors. “She’s a Ninth and Tenth counselor.”

“And I’m Kathryn,” the brunette said. “I’m from Alabama, though.” Wakeley nodded, instantly thinking of the Weird Al song ‘Constipated’.

“Is it true that it’s legal to marry your first cousin in Alabama?” Wakeley asked.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. “Yup, just like it’s true that over fifty-six million rats live in New York City.”

Wakeley gave a small smile. She liked these girls already.

“Okay, so Paul and I are going to give you adorable little seventh and eighth graders the tour while Leslie, Nicole, and Kathryn are going to give Connor, Morgan, Brooke and Wakeley their tour. Time to split up!” Michelle shrieked. Wakeley lifted her eyes to the glass dome ceiling in silent thanks that she was getting away from the uber-annoying counselor.

“Looks like you three are getting along nicely,” Leslie noted as she headed over to the small group, and then directed them towards the elevators.

Nicole grinned. “Yeah, this is Wakeley from Houston.”

Leslie nodded. “So nice to meet you, Wakeley. I like the purple streak.” Kathryn and Nicole nodded in agreement while Leslie shuffled everyone into the glass-sided elevator and pressed the Deck 11 button. “Watch out for Michelle, though. She’s not annoyingly happy all the time.” A dark look passed over Leslie’s eyes as she smoothed down her royal blue staff polo.

While Leslie began her welcome-to-Rhapsody-Academy spiel, Nicole poked Wakeley’s arm.

“What table are you at for dinner?” she whispered. Wakeley silently checked her Sea Pass, which was a combination school I.D. and room key. Other than her name being misspelled, the card stated that she was at table 200.

“Table 200,” Wakeley whispered back. Kathryn and Nicole’s eyes lit up.

“That’s our table, too,” Kathryn murmured. “So we’ll be seeing you at dinner.”

A deep feeling of contentment spread over Wakeley as she shyly twirled her purple hair streak. Yes, being plain old Wakeley Porter was working out just fine.