-SINK OR SWIM [open]

[ANDREA CAMRYN AMES]

READY FOR THOSE FLASHING LIGHTS
'CAUSE YOU KNOW THAT B A B Y I - I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU L O V E ME PAPA - PAPARAZZI

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The second Andrea had acquainted herself with her room on board, she'd unplugged the clock. Her life had basically been controlled by the thing and this vacation was meant to be for her to "let go, and experience the brilliance and tranquility of the ocean". Or at least, that's what her therapist had told her. Not that she really needed a therapist for valid reason, but hey, if somebody was going to listen to her vent for hours and she didn't have to pay for it, then why the hell not. The verbal purge could actually relieve a lot of her stress. So deciding to leave behind the old, routine Andrea, the new and improved vacationer Andrea had decided to hop on board Poseidon Star and leave her troubles behind.

A lot of people would say she didn't have a lot of troubles to begin with. Her family had spoiled her from a young age, not to mention the Hollywood crew. It was a bit overwhelming at times and often her blabbermouth had gotten the best of her and put her in an awkward position, which somehow would get twisted to make her look better in the end. L.A. was made up of a lot of fake people and she had to be careful what she said. She had a problem with just vomiting out words and not thinking of how they would make her look or seem. She really detested having to censor everything she said when she was in public, because people actually sunk so low as to hiding in your azalea bushes.

If everyone thought her life was perfect, they'd actually be quite wrong. A lot of her emotional issues came spiraling back to one person - Noah. She had never been super close to her brother to begin with. He was a few years older and just had gotten involved with the wrong crowd of people. It would be five in the morning and he would come home smashed. Or it would be two in the afternoon and he would be off somewhere finding someone to pull for him (while he was still underage). And then the cherry on top, when Andrea had stormed into his room one night. She remembered gagging at the strong stench of the liquor that he'd been consuming. It was revolting, and clearly very cheap. The explosion had been quick. He'd gotten out what he'd needed to say and packed his bags and he was gone. Andrea never actually knew where he went. She assumed he went to live with one of his friends, and she'd tried to talk to her parents about it numerous times, but they'd been adamant about keeping her in the dark because this was a burden on her image and she couldn't afford a tarnished rep. Not in this industry.

The memories did burn for awhile, but after awhile she just got tired of explaining to people what happened. Her parents told her he was safe and was living with a buddy. He didn't try to contact her and so she just acted like she never even had a brother. Simple, and actually quite true.

Not that she was going to be sharing her woes with anyone on board this cruise. This was for the relaxed, laidback, non-superstar Andrea. And this Andrea was going to the pool. She didn't have a lot of other options anyway. She could sit in her suite all day and be a hermit, but that hardly sounded appealing. It was too early for a drink (or so she assumed, since the clock was unplugged) and she wasn't hungry. So why not go for a swim? Once the thought had entered her mind, she couldn't shake it. Since no other options were revealed, she packed her bag with all the essentials (sunblock, sunglasses, etc.), changed into her swimsuit, and headed up to the pool.

It wasn't too full. A few people were working on their tans, completely oblivious to anything going on around them. The pool was mostly empty, and a few others just roamed aimlessly around. Andrea was quick to grab a lounge chair, keeping her face hidden behind her sunglasses and floppy hat. No way would she deal with some rabid fan. Not today. After securing her golden brown hair back into a loose knot at the nape of her neck, she went and grabbed a towel and laid it across the chaise. In the process, the wind picked up and blew her hat across the pool deck. She sighed irritably before walking to go pick it up, already slightly annoyed, before she bent down. However, another pair of hands had beat her to it. She glanced up, brushing back a few strands of loose hair to see...

--tagged; OPEN
--words; 798
--lyrics; paparazzi - lady gaga
--music; this photograph is proof - taking back sunday
--notes; first post!!

[EZEKIEL MINOR OSTREUKIENS]

* do you come here much ?
I SWEAR I'VE SEEN YOUR FACE BEFORE.

[/b][/size][/font]
( hope you don't see me flash but i can't help but want you more )[/center]

Whatever had possessed his parents to send him off on a round trip cruise for however long it was beyond any kind of comprehensible reasoning to Ezekiel. Still, it wasn’t like he could complain. Twenty four and, at that point, had still been living at home because he’d not been able to get a place of his own. Why? Because, and if Ezekiel was honest here; he liked to live at home with his parents. They gave him a sense of security that he couldn’t provide for himself. A sense of security against his older brother, Casey; who was the biggest asshole that side of Warsaw. Now, don’t get Ezekiel wrong, he loved his brother. He just wished that he wasn’t suck a dick all the damn time. It was all very well getting pissy with the younger sibling just because he did one little thing wrong; like get the wrong kind of milk. But to take that into their adulthood and constantly wanting Ezekiel to bail him out of jail and other things like that? That just took the cake.

And Ezekiel liked cake.

But what he loved even moreso, was the fact that this was a rather big boat and he needed some form of entertainment for the night commencing. Quite a lot of it in fact. Which was why he was standing on top of his bed, peering through the cabin window at the water below and watching a couple of dolphins swim alongside the liner. Unfortunately that wasn’t nearly enough to quench his insatiable thirst for entertainment and adventure. He needed something else; something… more. Something like a trip to a bar or something. Yeah… that sounded like a good idea; it would serve him well until he could find something more worth his time. Not that alcohol wasn’t worth his time, of course. Ezekiel loved his alcohol.

Eventually, Ezekiel tore his attention away from the dolphins and jumped off his bed, landing on his feet with a rather loud, echoing thud, on the floor. Stretching his arms up to the ceiling until his back cracked, the twenty four year old then hunted around his room searching for a shirt. Preferably one that didn’t smell quite like Chanel number five, or Axe. Both, admittedly; were good perfumes and colognes, but neither would be his obvious choice of smell. If anything, Ezekiel liked Old Spice- or, he’d rather smell of chocolate all the time. All the damn time, because he liked chocolate.

Very much.

Pulling a red and black chequered shirt onto his shoulders and buttoning it up, Ezekiel slipped into his lace up Vans (which he never un-laced; which, in turn, defeated the purpose of lace-up shoes to an extent) and ruffled his hair so that it was even more of a mess than it usually did. Adding a small splash of guy liner to his eyes, he quickly glanced in the mirror and checked that he was presentable to the world. Deciding that he was, the Polish male left his room and started a long trek along the many corridors of the ocean liner. It wasn’t too long before he’d stopped outside the pool and breathed in the chlorine air. Taking a huge whiff of it and deciding that there would be a good place to start.

But that also meant that he’d need to go back to his room and get changed into a pair of swimming trunks. Which, was exactly what Ezekiel did. Traipsing all the way back to his room and immediately ridding himself of his clothes and slipping on a pair of swimming trunks and stepping back into his lace-up Vans before jamming a pair of sunglasses on his head. Yes, a swim seemed like the perfect thing to do; even if he did want some alcohol, but that would come later. Nothing said relaxing like a lay by the pool and a swim in the water. Even if Ezekiel hadn’t really swam much before in his life; maybe he’d just stay by the pool and work on getting himself an awesome sun-tan. He was thinking about this as he made his way to the pool; rubbing his nose in thought and almost walking into a couple of people before arriving back at his intended destination.

As he was walking around the pool-side, Ezekiel grabbed himself one of the towels, adjusted his sunglasses a little and continued to walk around the side of the pool. There didn’t seem to be that many people around at the moment, and for this he was glad. It wasn’t exactly a secret; but Ezekiel didn’t actually do too well in crowds of people unless there was alcohol involved. Smiling a little to himself, he was just about to get settled on a lounge chair when something floppy caught the attention of the corner of his eye. Blinking, Ezekiel dropped the towel and moved over to pick it up; noticing that another hand had reached out to grab it at the same time. Brow hues roamed up the body of the female as he straightened himself out and held the hat out to her. Offering her a smile as he did this, Ezekiel opened his mouth to speak. “This must belong to you.” He nodded at the hat he was holding. “Here you go.” He continued to smile at her; there was a sense of familiarity about the woman in front of him, but he shrugged it off for the time being.

WORDS » nine one six
YOU'RE IT » andrea
LYRICS » if we ever meet again , timbaland feat katy perry
OUTFIT » later
MUSIC » none
NOTES » elloooo :3 hope you don't mind me hopping in

[ANDREA CAMRYN AMES]

YOU WANNA GET IN MY WORLD
GET LOST IN IT, BOY I'M TIRED OF RUNNING, LET'S WALK FOR A MINUTE

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“This must belong to you," the boy said as he held out the rather ugly hat. Its only purpose was for her own disguise and it had already almost blown overboard. Andrea wasn't superstitious, but she'd take that as a sign that the hat had to go. As he held it out to her, she returned his smile. "Thank you," she said, hoping her voice reflected her gratitude. The last thing she needed was to run around the pool deck like a chicken with its head cut off and draw attention to herself. The whole plan of today had been to lay low and just do her own thing. Clearly that had gone out the door in the first few minutes. Might as well go with it, then.

The boy in front of her was unfamiliar, just like every other person on this cruise. She hadn't gone out of her way to be a social butterfly with the vacationers or even the staff, but she figured she had to start somewhere. And this opportunity was just too good to pass up. He seemed genuinely nice, his voice sounded slightly foreign and it was really cute, and he was also clearly here for a swim as well. The natural thing would be to strike up a conversation, ask him where he's from, et cetera, but there was a war raging in her mind. She could stick to her original plan, go back to her lounge chair and soak up some Vitamin D. Or she could just be a little spontaneous and, like her therapist also suggested, to live a little. She was used to people giving her scripts and asking her to memorize lines for a movie or commercial. It was nice not to have someone shouting directions in her ear and telling her what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. She was going to do things her way.

Before the boy turned away from her, she decided to just go for it. "Hey, if you've got nothing better to do it, you could always come swimming with me," she offered, a small smile playing at her lips. Okay, so she really was trying to be friendly instead of creepy, but if he'd come to the pool anyway, he might as well have a little company. It's not like he even knew who she was and even if he caught on, who the hell cared. This ship was swarming with celebrities. It wasn't such a big deal anyways.

While he seemed to be deliberating, she placed her hat underneath the leg of a nearby chair so it wouldn't blow away again (not that she really cared anymore) and lifted her sunglasses on top of her head. She didn't even have any makeup on, which made her even more unrecognizable. Good, she thought with a smile. She didn't wait for him to make up his mind. Instead, she stepped over to the edge of the pool and, judging its depth, decided it was shallow enough that she'd be able to stand. She climbed in and let the water surround her body, only rising up to the middle of the stomach. She looked back over her shoulder at the boy and smiled. "I didn't catch your name."

--tagged; ezekiel!
--words; 548
--lyrics; promiscuous - nelly furtado ft. timbaland
--music; tonight - lykke li
--notes; of course not :D also sorry it's so short, i'm getting sick and my creativity isn't so sharp :Z

[EZEKIEL MINOR OSTREUKIENS]

* do you come here much ?
I SWEAR I'VE SEEN YOUR FACE BEFORE.

[/b][/size][/font]
( hope you don't see me flash but i can't help but want you more )[/center]

Ezekiel hadn’t really noticed before then, but that was one rather ugly hat- and he’d seen a lot of hats in his twenty four years of existence. This one, however, just took the biscuit so to speak. He wondered briefly why the female in front of him would ever want to be seen dead in a hat like that, but pushed the thought clear out of his mind and concentrated on just giving it back to her. It wasn’t exactly his place to be judging the state of people’s hats because he’d worn some pretty wacky stuff in his life before. That, and Ezekiel wasn’t really a judgemental person. It was, of course, the female’s choice about what she was going to wear and when and where she was going to wear it.

Smiling as he handed it back to her, Ezekiel nodded as she thanked him and straightened himself out a little. A hand came up to the back of his head and ruffled the back of his hair some. There was a little familiarity about the woman in front of him, and whilst he couldn’t seem to place his finger on it, he just shrugged it off as seeing her somewhere on the boat before. Well, that was highly inevitable. He’d be seeing the same people on the same boat everywhere and every day. There was no chance of him seeing a person that he wouldn’t recognize by the end of the trip and heck maybe he’d even make a few more friends whilst he was doing it. This most certainly was a far-cry from his time at Eisley preparatory school. Maybe if he saw a few of the people he’d actually gone to school with, he’d have a lot more fun. As it was, Ezekiel had only managed to see Kaitlin; but only for a brief moment. She’d changed though; that much he could tell. At school she’d had red hair, now she was blonde and a whole lot thinner than she used to be.

He hmm’d to himself as he thought of a conversation to strike up with this young lady. Unfortunately he couldn’t think of anything even remotely witty to say back to her other than ‘you’re welcome’, and was just about to turn away to leave her to her own devices when she spoke up. Mentally Ezekiel jumped for joy that she’d been the first to start conversation; normally he was incredibly bad at that and usually ended up saying some irreversibly stupid. Smiling, he listened to her words and took a couple of seconds to mull over the invitation of a swim. It seemed interesting to him; he’d deal with it. If they stuck to the depth that he was comfortable with then all would be good with the world. And, effectively; Ezekiel’s safety.

Nodding, he licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak. “Sure.” He said at first, glancing at the water and shifting his weight to the balls of his feet a little. How hard could swimming really be, anyway? It seemed to Ezekiel that all one had to do was make sure you stayed afloat and not panic if you started to sink, because that would only make things a lot worse. Boy, was he fucked if the boat sank. “I’ll gladly keep you company, miss.” Ezekiel spoke softly in his Polish accent, smiling at her and ruffling his hair back to some degree. He’d never turn down an invitation to be around some beautiful woman.

Watching the woman for a moment as she slipped into the pool, Ezekiel tried to memorize everything that she was doing so that he could put it into practise. He smiled as she slipped into the water, for one fleeting moment he thought she’d misjudged the depth of the pool and rocked backwards ever so slightly onto the heels of his feet. However, once he saw that she was safe and that the water only came up to the middle of her stomach, Ezekiel let out a small breath and edged towards the edge of the pool. Slipping out of his Vans, he carefully threw them across the pool to his lounge chair and sat himself down on the edge; dangling his feet into the water. There, he just continued to watch the woman and the other people in the pool, carefully studying their actions and thinking of an effective way to not sink.

After a moment he released his grip on the side of the pool and slipped into the water. A small gasp escaped his lips at the temperature and he flailed and splashed for a brief moment before remembering that he could stand and that when he did, the water only came up to his waist. Looking down rather incredulously, Ezekiel smiled. Yeah, he could definitely deal with this. Then the woman mentioned that she didn’t know his name; he looked at her, smiled politely and answered. “Oh, that’s because I never gave it; how rude of me.” Shifting over to her in the water; arms up as he tried to keep them out of the water he extended an arm to her. “My name is Ezekiel, miss; and yours?”

WORDS » eight seven zero
YOU'RE IT » andrea
LYRICS » if we ever meet again , timbaland feat katy perry
OUTFIT » later
MUSIC » none
NOTES » aww, that's okay! c: sorry it took so long to reply though

[ANDREA CAMRYN AMES]

'CAUSE SHE'S SO H I G H, HIGH ABOVE ME
SHE'S SO LOVELY, SHE'S SO HIGH, LIKE CLEOPATRA, JOAN OF ARC, OR APHRODITE, SHE'S SO HIGH, HIGH ABOVE ME ; FIRST CLASS AND FANCY FREE SHE'S HIGH SOCIETY

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Andrea positively beamed when he accepted her invititation. She was used to getting what she wanted, yes, but somehow there always that nagging worry in her mind that she'd be rejected. Failure was her biggest fear, and that went hand in hand with rejection. She felt like there was always this standard that she needed to live up to. She was constantly under pressure and she had learned to adapt to that environment. She worked well under that pressure and didn't think much of it. Being on the cruise and in the midst of all these regular people (despite a handful of other celebrities) was a whole different type of pressure. She feared that people would see that she was on this cruise and she wouldn't live up to their expectations somehow. They wouldn't think she as pretty in real life, or her personality lacked lustre. Andrea didn't want to let people down, and if somebody rejected her, she felt like she wasn't living up to expectation.

Except Ezekiel had accepted her request.

He didn't exactly know her to be able to judge her but still it gave her a small boost of confidence when he followed her into the water. The turquoise water reminded her of back home. At her house in Florida there had been a pool, but when she moved to L.A. she much preferred the ocean. She had spent days on the beach when she was younger, collecting seashells and building sandcastles. She had been ten, and while some people thought it might be childish, she had missed out on a lot of her childhood, so she never wasted an opportunity to take a little part of it back. Although the pool wasn't like the beach at all, it still brought back the memories of the hours she would spend playing in the water.

When Ezekiel hopped into the water, she was torn out of her reverie. The water felt a lot colder than it actually was because their skin had already been exposed to the sun. Instead of prolonging the cold sensation, Andrea preferred to just get it over with quickly, as she'd learned from past experience. But Ezekiel seemed rather tentative about the whole thing. She cocked her head as he walked towards her in the water. "You okay?" she asked as a precaution. If he didn't like water, by all means that was fine with her, but he had accepted her request in the first place, right? Maybe he was hesitant because the water was so chilly at first.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ezekiel," Andrea said cordially. He spoke so formally that she felt obligated to speak the same way. However, it didn't work as well for her because she didn't have a dashing accent. When he asked for her name, Andrea almost considered lying. Things were so normal and simple, and she didn't want to ruin it. She could become anyone she wanted really, maybe Margaux or Sarah or Veronica. But he seemed to be honest and quite sweet and the thought of lying to someone with that amount of (so-far) genuine kindness was like kicking a puppy. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. So when she spoke, it was the truth that came out of her mouth. "I'm Andrea," she said, extending her hand to shake his. There really was no need for surnames.

The water was beginning to feel warm to her skin and so she took a few steps backwards and raised her chin to the sunlight, letting the tips of her fingers create ripples on the surface of the water. She lowered her chin and surveyed him curiously. She still hadn't been able to quite place his accent. It sounded very similar to Russian. "I'm sure you get this a lot, but if you don't mind my asking, where are you from?" she asked curiously. This probably made her sound very oblivious to the different cultures of the world, but it's not like she wasn't interested in learning. He was very different to her, as she hadn't met a lot of people like him before, least of all in L.A.

In L.A. she'd met a lot of strange people. There really wasn't a city quite like it. It was certainly diverse in people and there was never a dull moment. However it was quite huge and crowded and Andrea preferred her home in Kissimmee, Florida to the fast-paced congested California city. Thinking of the smoggy city made her appreciate the salty air of the ocean. It was almost refreshing, and a lot cleaner than she was used to. She was finding more and more reasons to enjoy this cruise.

--tagged; ezekiel
--words; 783
--lyrics; she's so high - tal bachman
--music;let the drummer kick - citizen cope
--notes; oh no problem! (: