The whistle blew a long hollow sound as the ferry approached the island. So many of the boys gathered at the edge of the ship that it seemed like it might tip over. Jake and Sam were among the boys eager for the first look at the island. They had just entered their second year of high school and were off, like the others, for spring recess. The gasps of awe and disbelief at the glowing paradise echoed across the deck of the boat.
“Can you believe this place? It looks too good to be true,” Jake shouts over the boys. Sam tries to respond, but just nods and gestures to the center of the ship, where it’s considerably less noisy. “I’ve never considered an internet banner add before, but I’m sure glad I bit into this one,” Jake laughs. “Do you think they’ll really let us do anything we want?” Sam asks skeptically. Jake shrugs, “probably will have some rules, you know, for safety, but other than that, they say anything goes.”
The ship pulled through a narrow pass of rock and shear cliffs all illuminated with bright neon lights and projected images of rides and food. The whistle blew once more as the ship cleared the cliffs and pulled into a large docking area. Sam and Jake moved toward the front of the ship, where a large gangplank waited to be lowered. Then someone pushed their way passed them toward the front, “Out of my way, losers.” Jake looked up and saw the tall, scruffy looking teen, “Oh man, it’s Lewis, how did he get on? And that means probably-“ Jake can’t finish as two other thugly looking teens push passed following Lewis. “Matt and Nathan,” Sam scowled, “Well, I guess I’ll just wait here on the boat.” Jake grabs hold of Sam and mock slaps him. “Dude, come on, this is gonna be great, there’s like 200 people on this boat, so that’s like what… 3 in 200?” Sam shakes his head, “It’s 3 in 198, you can’t count us in the number.”
Jake thinks, “Well, that’s still unlikely that he’ll single us out.” “Are you kidding?” Sam starts, “he singles me out of 500 students at school. I’m not going.” Jake sighs, “Sam, don’t prove Lewis right, don’t be a loser. This is gonna be a night we’ll never forget. I promise.”
Sam nods, and the gangplank lowers with an enormous clatter of cheers and yells.