Set-up
-noun
A prearranged situation or circumstance, usually created to fool or trap someone; trick; scheme.
Tristan Riverton was reading a book. He was sitting down while reading, which made the entire affair far more comfortable considering the book was an odd shape; nine inches by twelve and a half to be exact. The book was far more like a novelty comic, with text and images spewed across every oversized page. The name of the book, though unimportant to this story was “Tales beyond Imagining: Ten Fantastic Stories of the Unbelievable”.
Considered a geek amongst his own social circles; Tristan was a typical loner at his school. At the age of sixteen, Tristan had dabbled in fantasy novels, anime, and even the occasional game of D&D. Books were one of Tristan’s many escapes from his school life; a life where he was secretly mocked and given strange looks by peers. Today it was very important for Tristan to get away from things, though the constant passersby made that next to impossible. Really it was the passersby that were the reason Tristan needed to get away, he figured if hid in the corner reading for long enough that his torture would finally end. Reading can solve a lot of problems, but this was not one of them.
“Heya cutie.” Came the voice of Stacy Decker, ruefully breaking the bubble of tranquility Tristan had formed around himself. If Tristan were on the Yin side of things, Stacy was the directly opposite Yang. Gifted with a body that even the Greek gods would have wished for, Stacy was not quite as gifted in the intelligence department. Many had joked that Stacy’s brain had been removed to add more mass to her ample bosom; Stacy was the kind of girl who giggled and went along with it. The term ‘Cutie’ was a coddling term she had often used with Tristan in the rare instances when she passed by him. Stacy spent most of her spare time chasing after Tristan’s older sister Angela; a girl even more reclusive than Tristan was. Tristan had always assumed that Stacy viewed his older sister as some kind of challenge; a socially closed girl who Stacy always tried to hang around and cheer up.
What caught Tristan off guard was that he could still feel Stacy’s presence hovering over him; her shadow looming and making his dark corner even darker. “Yes Stacy…” Tristan questioned as he lowered his book and finally locked eyes with her. Stacy was currently dressed in a two piece tanning dress; it looked like two pieces of white satin that remained perfectly in place around her contours. For added dramatic effect, the chest piece had a small frill that was caught in the slight breeze and waved about, mixing with Stacy’s hair. Normally Tristan always had a piece of witty repartee, but Stacy’s current attire teamed with the confident manner in which she placed one hand on her hip had sucked any words right out of poor Tristan’s mouth. Instead the boy simply blinked his eyes a few time adjusting from reading his book to looking over Stacy.
Taking a step forward, the blonde beauty stood over Tristan and giggled down at him for a moment. “You know, for a younger kid you’re kind of sweet.” Stacy commented, once again reminding Tristan of the two year difference in age and grades that separated him from Stacy and his sister. Still quite breathless, Tristan could only open his mouth slightly, another prompt that Stacy took to giggle. “Anyways, I’m looking for your sister. Have you seen her anywhere?”
“Last I saw she was checking out the back area. Actually I think she was just trying to hide from you.”
Stacy’s giggling came to an abrupt stop as she looked down at Tristan with a sudden look of annoyance. “Yeah, whatever. Thanks for the heads up little guy.” With that, Stacy turned and made a pronounced march away from Tristan and back into the sunlit area he hid from. Tristan really wasn’t sure if the waggle in her walk was intentional or not, but he didn’t put it past the girl. For whatever reason, Tristan had surmised that Stacy enjoyed teasing him, perhaps as some kind of ritual for graduating senior students, or just because he was Angela’s brother. In any case, Tristan shook his head and continued reading his book once again.
The book continued to be Tristan’s one escape from the hellhole his parents had inflicted on him and Angela. When their school had been randomly selected out of several hundred to win an all inclusive cruise, most of the students at Tristan’s school were thrilled. Both Tristan and Angela loathed the idea of going out to sea for a full week, but when their parents insisted, going so far as to ground them for all of summer, the two had no choice. Now the two, along with their entire school were somewhere in the pacific, supposedly meant to enjoy sun and the amenities of the cruise ship. Since neither Tristan nor Angela tanned (it was anathema to Angela), and neither wanted to participate in group activities, the cruise was a sentence of purgatory to both the siblings. Even the sight of a barely clothed Stacy hadn’t shaken the dreariness of this voyage from Tristan’s mind, and the imaginative boy fell deeper and deeper into his novel.
Off in the distance, the sun began to set.
›
Not too far from where young Tristan read his intriguing book of imaginative tales, Gina Porter lay back on a tanning bed. Coincidently in the same grade as Tristan, Gina shared several classes with the geekish teen, though she didn’t even know he existed. Right now Gina was in a similar state of torpor as her unknowing classmate, though her inactivity was not due to her desire to be hidden; it was due to her own laziness. Since coming aboard the cruise ship, Gina had loved ever moment of being waited on hand and foot. She had momentary spurts of disappointment when she had to walk long distances or wait in line for some of the ships amenities, such as their expert masseuses. After indulging in everything the ship had to offer, Gina now lay back as the sun began to set.
With at least another hour before she would need to return to her room for a change of clothing, Gina stretched her body along the tanning bed. While lacking the body of Stacy Decker, Gina was still an attractive girl in her own right. Her body had recently surged into development with a small but well proportioned chest and just the slightest bit of chub to give her an aura of ‘cuteness’ that many people noticed but just as easily forgot. Gina didn’t really care about her own looks, not really taking into consideration the opinions of others. The teen girl spent much of her spare time lounging about, often wasting entire nights just sitting at a computer desk typing away on her instant messengers or carelessly reading random websites. Right now Gina planned on enjoying the extra time she could comfortably waste away doing nothing.
Disturbance found its ugly way to Gina in the form of Laine Duncan. A family friend since Gina had been a child, Laine was in the eleventh grade; a grade above Gina. Gina’s own sister Martha was in the twelfth grade and also hung out with Laine on occasion. Gina enjoyed occasionally spending time with Laine, as the girl often spoiled Gina and bought her snacks or treated her to a movie or dinner. It’s not like Gina was poor, instead she feigned being a penny-pincher to have things handed to her, and poor Laine often fell into her trap. Laine sat on an open bed beside Gina her face sparkling with a beautiful smile that gave Gina the immediate impression her friend had some event planned for the two of them.
“No.” Gina didn’t even give Laine a moment to explain, enjoying her own immobility too much to sacrifice it for one of Laine’s schemes. “Whatever it is, I don’t even want to hear it. I’m quite happy where I am right now thank you very much.” Gina continued her protest, eyes covered by wide sunglasses, making Laine uncertain if she was even looking at her while shooting down her would be idea.
“Oh come on Gina, there are some really cute seniors taking a swim in the pool at the front of the boat. I can’t go there by myself; I’d look like an idiot.”
“No.” The word summed up Gina’s attitude summarily. “If you want to go ogle pool boys then go ahead. I’ve got at least another hour of rest and relaxation before I have to move.” By now Laine was certain that Gina wasn’t even looking at her; subtle blinking motions gave away as much. Gina partially enjoyed the control she exerted over her friend right now, and felt like pushing a few more buttons for good measure. “Look… why don’t you go talk to my sister? She’s a senior, probably even knows a few of those guys. You might even get an introduction.”
Laine’s jaw nearly fell off before a reply eventually sputtered out. “What? Your sister can’t talk to boys at all! I mean don’t get me wrong, I love Martha… but she’s such a stickler. Besides, last time I saw her she was reading over university books. Come on; we’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves out here, right?” If Gina had a reply, it only came in the form of her toes quickly wiggling under the descending sun. She smiled as Laine compared her to her sister in a better light, and might have even considered going just because of the compliment, until she stopped wiggling her toes and relaxed once more.
“No. Sorry, but I’m just too comfortable here. How about another time?”
“Whatever.” Laine’s response was curt, about as direct as the “No’s” that Gina had thrown her way. Standing up Laine looked around the deck for a moment briefly spotting Stacy Decker as she passed by, but paying little heed to the popular could-be model. “But you owe me later Gina! We’re totally gonna have a blast on this trip!”
“Yeah… Sure…” Gina’s response was slow coming out as she drifted in and out of semi-consciousness, enjoying her laid back position far too much. She didn’t even notice when Laine eventually walked away, simply closing her eyes and giving her shoulders and toes the occasional roll and wiggle respectively. This trip was shaping up to be quite a good time for Gina, really it was all she wanted in life; the ability to simply lounge about and have other people worry about her needs. She internally hoped this trip would never end.
She did have to get up sooner than expected. Incoming cloud cover removed any hint of heat from her comfortable little rest.
›
At the back of the cruise ship Angela Riverton paced around. The older girl didn’t have a lot else to do on this apparently luxurious cruise than to do the occasional walkabout. For one thing, Angela hated water, and thus swimming, and even more than water she hated darkened skin, so tanning was out of the question. Angela was somewhat of an enigma at her school, fairly short with noticeable bust; she often dressed in blacks to match her long black hair, a contrast to her pale near vampiric white skin. The word ‘goth’ had floated around her like an out of place stigma during her initial years in school, but it had long since faded; Angela was no goth girl, instead she was her own girl.
Pacing along the back end of the ship, Angela was thinking about a conversation she had recently had with one of her teachers about ancient cultures. The discussion had been on the subject of former tribes that had inhabited islands in the region they were now sailing. Not really a geek in the typical sense, Angela enjoyed reading about lost and ancient civilizations, always interested in hearing how cultures would handle different situations. Something in the back of Angela’s mind always wanted to hear more about other places and other people, and after she gathered enough information, Angela tried to adopt what acceptable traits she could from that culture. On occasion Angela could be seen wearing random tribal bracelets, strange footwear, and the irregular earring. When she was forced into it, Angela would play video games, and often force her opponents to wait while she decided on a suitable name for her character; with titles ranging from the simple ‘Shaka’ to elaborate euphemisms like ‘Cle0p@tra’ or ‘Sir P0wnz@lot’.
“Ange!” The near screeching voice of Stacy Decker broke the serene barrier Angela had put around herself while walking. The nickname of ‘Ange’ was something only Stacy used when talking to her and Angela hated it with a passion. The least a person could do was to use your full name when speaking with you, but Stacy was too oblivious to common courtesy. Angela only bothered to turn and feign a quick smile before Stacy had moved right in front of her, looking down as she always did. Even with her current black leather boots, Angela only came up to about five foot five, where Stacy just in her two-piece stood easily a full foot taller than Angela. “Hey, I’ve been trying to find you for like… all day!”
Angela’s smile twisted into an unsure look as she slowly raised her eyes to meet up with the statuesque Stacy. “Not really. You talked to me for an hour at lunch. Then you met up with me again about two hours later when you were deciding what to wear.” The facts were presented with the barest of emotion, a not to subtle hint of Angela’s annoyance, but a fact that Stacy was unable to clue into. Instead of being offended as a normal person might have been, Stacy kept her brightly glowing smile up, even widening it as Angela finished.
“I know, but it felt like all day. I mean, like… well you know, it’s kinda boring if you don’t have anyone here to hang out with!”
“You have plenty of people you can hang out with Stacy. You’re the most popular person in the school after all. Just look over there.” Angela gave a wide sweeping hand gesture to a group of men off near the opposite end of the railing, clearly gawking at the two girls. In her own mind, Angela assumed they were talking about who had the bigger chest, an assumption that had she placed a bet on, she would have won. Stacy just shrugged and giggled for a moment, going so far as to turn and look directly at the group before giving them an excited wave. Had she not been so transfixed by Stacy’s obliviousness, Angela may have tried to escape at that moment, but her better senses were lost.
“Yeah I guess…” Stacy spoke as she continued to wave, her volume diminishing as the long hand wave ended. “But you’re so witty and fun Angela! I really like hanging out with you.” Finishing her sentence, Stacy turned to once again loom down on short Angela. “And I know you enjoy hanging out. I mean without me you’d just spend your day’s home alone reading and not getting out.” Stacy’s words had nailed exactly what Angela really wanted, but unlike her brother she really didn’t want to be a complete social outcast, so she would continue to put up with Stacy Decker for a bit longer.
“I guess… So what did you want?” Angela asked just as Stacy’s gaze turned away from her. Angela knew Stacy’s penchant for ‘shiny thing’ and indulged for a brief moment and turned to look at whatever had caught Stacy’s eye. There was the briefest moment of silence between the two girls as they gazed out across the main deck of the ship, past passengers and objects alike until they saw it. “Oh shit. Is that a storm?”
›
As the boat rocked from side to side at the onset of the oncoming storm, Josh Chambers and Martha Porter sat together in Martha’s room. The two senior students were both very alike, though Josh was seventeen, a year younger than Martha. In fact Josh had been skipped ahead a year of school, thus explaining his younger age compared to most seniors with whom he shared classes. Both students were A+ material, and constantly vied for top grades in their shared classes, and both constantly worked and studied to maintain their top tier level of knowledge. The two shared several physical attributes as well; both were relatively skinny and nondescript, meaning their only source of popularity within the school dwelled from their respective intellect. It was only natural that the two studied together and generally avoided the greater mass of their high school. The general assumption was that the two were dating, but that was a terrible misconception as there was one fundamental difference that kept them apart.
Martha footed herself deeply in the realm of science, believing that everything had a logical explanation, and that for every problem there was a scientific solution. Josh followed the teaching of science, looking to it as an aide to most problems, though his true footing was in his Christian faith. It was Josh’s religious beliefs and upbringing that constantly had the two butting heads, especially when the topic of history was ever brought up. Martha was careful to never insult Josh’s beliefs, but she made it abundantly clear that she was not a believer in divine acts or the presence of angels and demons. Originally the divide had been a hot topic between the two, though now they would take the occasional potshot at one another, testing the other’s beliefs for the briefest of moments and only in jest.
“I do say. This boat is rocking quite a bit.” Josh’s British accent was barely audible over the crashing of waves outside. Martha tried to ignore her companion and continued reading her book (which for those of you who are interested was a university level physics book; the particular passage on consistent motion). “Really Martha, I do think it’s … rude outside at the moment.”
“Listen Josh, it’s just a bit of moving water alright? Now can you help me with this next equation or not?”
Josh always took Martha’s challenges as something he had to do. Somewhere in his mind, Josh knew the two were always going to be together in some fashion, likely not married, though perhaps teachers at the same school. Examining the sheet of paper Martha had passed to him earlier, Josh began scribbling on it; filling the paper with various equations and values. It took only a few seconds before the process was complete and Martha snatched the paper back to examine the results.
“Huh, good work. Did God show you how to do this?” The jab was intentional, and well mannered. Josh simply gave a smile and nodded, not wanting to give his opponent the satisfaction of an answer. Putting the equation down on a nearby counter, the two sat around quietly pondering the next portion of their textbooks. Josh’s mind wandered as he thought of a way to get Martha back for her ‘God’ comment.
The sound of a loud cracking followed by a great rumble interrupted the two and their racing minds. “I believe that was lightning Martha.” Josh spoke clearly, placing his own textbook on Gina’s bed, the bed which he had been sitting on. Immediately after, Martha lowered her own book and looked out the nearby sealed window, seeing the now black sky and rain beginning to slowly pelt down. As the wave intensified, Martha’s eyes reacted to a flash of light and quickly blinked before another loud crashing sound rumbled through the room. On cue the rain intensified and the outside became a washed blur as the showers drowned out everything.
“Oh shit… where’s Gina?”
Josh reacted by standing up and walking over to Martha who still looked out at the indecipherable outside world. “Perhaps we should walk the halls and try to find her?” His calm accent soothed Martha enough for the intelligent girl to regain her composure. She turned and gave a nod before brushing Josh aside and heading towards the door. Opening it with some effort, Martha stepped out into the hall, only to be pushed back briefly by a group of running freshman. Soaking wet from what was likely the rain above, the young students chuckled and laughed as they passed Martha, the slight smell of liquor floating in the air around them. Finally waiting for them to pass Martha pushed on with a sour look of disgust on her face.
Following dutifully behind, Josh came up behind Martha and kept up the brisk pace the girl had set. By the time they were two thirds of the way down the hall another group of teens rushed past, soaked to the bone in dripping rain. There was an awkward moment as the group met with Martha and Josh, each turning in the same direction until Martha paused and let the three teens pass. “I thought it was common courtesy to move to the right.” Martha muttered under her breath to Josh as they continued on.
“Courtesy is a lost art, or so I am told.”
Martha smiled to her friend’s quick response, and moved to the right as they reached the steps leading to the deck and another student passed. Neither of the two recognized the freshman who passed by, but they were impressed that he knew the ‘rule of right’. The young boy was in fact Tristan Riverton, escaping the upper deck with his book carefully concealed under his shirt to prevent damage. He made with all haste to his own room, eventually finding relative shelter from the storm. Martha and Josh pushed on up, finally coming to the shut panel that opened onto the main deck of the ship.
Pushing open the panel, Martha was assailed by strong winds and a torrential downpour of rain. Soaked in a matter of seconds, Martha re-adjusted herself and began scanning the deck for her little sister. Visibility was poor, worse than poor, it was only possible to make out the outlines of other passengers and that was only good within maybe ten feet. Martha caught glimpses of running passengers, some obviously heading towards her. When another group did come by she didn’t recognize any of them and didn’t pay heed as they went by pushing past herself and Josh to the cabins below. As the group passed, Josh came up beside Martha clinging to the side of the panel for support.
“It’s impossible to see out here, let’s go back in. She probably just roomed with a friend.”
Replies formulated in Martha’s head, but her eyes answered first, seeing the body outline of what could only be her sister along the railing of the ship. “She’s over there, let’s go.” Martha let go of the panel and trudged through the onslaught of rain as though she were walking through snow. Josh desperately held onto the panel and watched as Martha headed towards her younger sister. The man wanted to cry out that moving unsupported along the deck was a terrible idea, but no words came to his mouth. Instead nature answered for him.
At first there was a brilliant flash of light. In that moment Martha Porter could clearly see her frightened sister clinging to the railings garbed in what seemed to be her now soaked housecoat. Josh made out two other along the back of the ship, also clinging to the railing. Were he not so fixated on Martha’s plight he may have gone to help them. Not a millisecond later a deafening boom and shockwave rocked the deck. Everyone’s eyes closed for that moment and their heads receded hoping to cover their ears from the sound. When Martha’s eyes opened her sister was gone, and as she looked at the railing she screamed out for her. Then she felt the ship begin to list, as she tried to move forward Josh had already come up and grabbed her, forcing her back into the cabin. Martha’s screams of protest were drowned out by the sounds of the storm.
As Martha was hurled down the open panel a new sound came from the ship; a long cracking as plastics and wood broke apart. To Josh he could see tears along the upper deck as the ship began to literally break apart, much like that scene in Titanic where the boat broke in two, except this time the split was running down the middle. Water pooled seeped into the hall below and Josh frantically moved to the other side of the panel, closing it as he entered. Holding firmly onto Martha, no words were spoken between the two, Martha only sobbed as she leaned against the wall for support.
Doors along the hall began to open as people peered into the hallway, some began to move out looking to assist Josh with the hysterical Martha. No one made it, instead the hull cracked and the hall literally ripped apart, filling the boat with water, and throwing people into the ocean depths. Flung out together, both Martha and Josh quickly lost consciousness in the unimportant particulars that followed.