Page 23 of If They Knew

15

THEO

Sunlight floods the room, waking me. I stretch and yawn, then reach over to snuggle with Julie, like I try to do every morning. I’m not surprised she's not in bed. “Julie, are you in here?” I call out, thinking she’s out on the balcony. There’s no response. “Julie?” Still no answer. Where is she?

I grunt, not wanting to get up. Lying in bed, I feel the sun’s warmth on my skin. The balcony door is cracked open a few inches and the cool breeze sneaking in every few seconds sends a chill through me. The wind whistling softly against the sliding glass door relaxes me. For a brief moment, my body is completely at ease, forgetting I’m stuck in the middle of the ocean. My calm is shattered when someone pounds on the door.

“Are you dressed?” Tyler asks. Before I have time to answer, I hear the door open and slam shut. “I'm coming in.” His voice echoes through the room. I don’t bother getting up. If he wants to talk, he can come find me.

Tyler makes his way over and sits on the bed beside me.

“Where's Julie?” he asks.

“I'm not sure. She was gone when I woke up,” I answer, yawning and stretching. “Have you seen her this morning?”

“The last time I saw her was the middle of the night and she was in the hallway.”

“In the hallway?” I ask, making sure I heard him correctly.

“Yeah. Kelly and I were up late last night, and we heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, Julie was standing there. It was weird, she said she was just taking a walk to stretch her legs, but Julie’s weird so it really isn't that surprising.”

“Well, it’s not like she could have gone too far. Maybe she couldn’t sleep.”

“If I spot her, I'll let her know you're looking for her. Kelly and I are heading up to grab breakfast. Want to join?”

“No, I'll wait a bit and see if Julie shows up.”

“Alright, suit yourself. We’ll catch you later,” Tyler tells me, shutting the door.

I roll back in bed again and gaze up at the ceiling. I think back over the past few weeks. Julie hasn't been getting much rest lately. I also remember her mentioning that she usually ends up at the library if she's not in bed when I wake up in the morning.

Reading before bed has been something she has done for as long as I can remember. Now that I think about it, she told me she prefers reading in the library window. She said that at night, when the sky is clear, the moonlight illuminates her book. She also said the balcony is cold and the window in the library doesn’t open, so there’s no breeze. The only way to find out is to get out of bed and go look for myself.

When I step off the stairwell onto the 6th floor, the library’s glass doors are propped open with a chair. The closer I get, the stronger the smell of mildew becomes. I really hope Julie isn’t reading in here every night. If she is, Mary is going to have her hands full, because there’s no way this mildew isn’t making her sick. As I walk through the library, I spot discoloration along the edges of almost all the books, a clear indication of how long we’ve been stuck at sea. Looking over at the window, I find Julie sleeping. I watch her sleep for a few seconds. Her strawberry-blonde hair hangs off the side of the window seat. She is sleeping so peacefully. Her chest slowly rises, then falls. I wonder what she is dreaming about?

On the floor beside her, there are books scattered everywhere. When I get closer, I realize they’re books about famous disasters and biographies of survivors. Bending down to tidy up, I spot a single sheet of paper and I recognize Julie’s handwriting right away. Picking it up, I read the bold letters ‘Getting rescued plan,’ with a list of checked items underneath. The list includes the things Julie and I have checked and rechecked multiple times: the lifeboats, communications, emergency gear, and so on. Then I see a little star scribbled with a small note: “Find a book that teaches how to build a boat.”

I slowly stand up, holding the paper in my hand. I gaze at Julie sleeping. Seeing her cuddled up in the porthole window with the sunrise shining through makes me smile. She’s so beautiful. As I walk toward her to wake her, I trip over a book, and she startles awake.

I watch her eyes look to the paper in my hand. Panic washes over her face. She springs up and then jumps down from the porthole window. As soon as she stands, she reaches for the paper and snatches it from me. Her eyes dart around like she is searching for something. I watch her eyes grow wide. I turn to look at what caught her attention, but before I do, she grabs me and pulls me in for a hug.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been myself, I’ve been driving myself mad trying to figure out a way for us to get off this ship,” she says, holding me tight. I gently rub her arms to soothe her. She soon lets go, grabs the books stacked in the window, and turns to walk off. I step up into the window where she was sleeping and the second I turn around, Julie trips over the same thing I did, and her stack of books slams onto the floor.

“Are you alright?” I ask, leaping down from the porthole window to help. She waves her hands, shooing me away. A sheet of paper lies on the floor. When I reach out to pick it up, she snatches it away.

“I’m fine,” she growls, and I take a step back. What the fuck?

She frantically picks up all the books like she’s had shots of espresso and they’re just now kicking in. Did I do something to piss her off? Why is she acting like this?

“It's okay to write what you wrote,” I say, gently touching her shoulder.

She turns to look at me with a crazed look in her eye. “What did I write?” she quickly asks. I point to the paper in her hands. She glances down, reading it.

“The rescue plan you snatched from my hand.”

“Oh, right,” she says, turning back to pick up the remaining books.

“You don't have to hide it from me, babe,” I say. “It’s not a crazy notion or anything. We all desperately want to get off this ship.”