Page 106 of Mark

I can say no to the peer pressure.

Iwillsay no.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Freya

My brain feels like it’s swelling in my head as another wave of nausea hits me. My feet feel like lead as I make my way to the top deck near the pool. It’s the only place on the damn boat where there is peace and quiet at this time. Either people are inside in the dining hall, or in the patio area that is filled with chairs and tables.

Last night is a blur. None of it is completely erased but I’m only remembering snippets. And some of it, I’m pretty sure I dreamt.

My phone rings, pulling me from my thoughts. I swipe over the call button, and force a smile at my friend.

She bursts out laughing. “You look like shit.”

“I feel worse than I look,” I admit. “I don’t even know how it happens. I swear I’m not going to drink, and the next thing I know, I’m waking up with a hangover.”

“So you’ve not seen your Facebook this morning?”

“My Facebook?” I repeat, which causes her to laugh.

“Go look,” she orders, still laughing.

I click on the app, heading straight to my page, and my eyes widen as I see over twenty videos and nearly fifty pictures.

One catches my attention and I quickly click on it. My eyes widen when I see my mum standing next to me on stage, her arm around my shoulders. Both of us are each holding a mic and singing like our hearts depends on it.

“Oh my god,” I whisper, clicking on the next one.

It’s of me and Max, and just like the previous video, we are both singing our hearts out.

“Holy fucking Christ,” I rasp.

I quickly scroll through them, only getting a quick glimpse of who is in the video. But it’s enough to tell me there wasn’t a person here on this cruise that I didn’t sing with. When I get to the last of the photos, my eyes bug out of my head. Hayden is on her dad’s shoulders, and I’m on Maverick’s shoulders. Both Hayden and I are holding a gladiator stick and we are in the pool, battling it out.

“I’m going to jump,” I whisper, clicking back on the video call.

Summer laughs. “It was so much fun.”

“Fun?” I ask, my brows pinching together. “Why does it sound like you were there?”

“I was in spirit. Charlotte Carter video called me and I spent the night watching the whole show.”

Images of how drunk Charlotte was last night filter through my mind. “Does she know?”

Summer shrugs. “I think at one point, she forgot I was there. But as soon as she started snogging that hunk of a man, I ended the call.”

“Did I really sing with my mum?”

Summer laughs. “Babe, you sang ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’with her. It was so funny.”

“What was I singing with Mark to?” I ask, dreading the answer.

She nods, finding my anxiety amusing. “First one was Barbie Girl. The second song was Dolly Parton’s Island’s in the Stream.”

“Kill me,” I groan, slapping my hand across my eyes.

“It’s actually nice to see you let your hair down with someone other than me,” she admits.

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