He watched. All he could do was just stand there and watch as other woman and children were being loaded onto the boats. For a split second, Lance thought about being selfish and finding a way onto one of the boats. But that wouldn’t be right, and he knew that. That’s what kept him in the same spot, doing nothing but thinking about Hannah. He prayed she was safe.

        Everyone just left him alone. The look on his face was a dangerous one. If you knew Lance, you knew that when he was like this, it was better to leave him be. Unless you wanted your head cut off.

        Joey, Chris, and Justin stayed by a pair of the lifeboats, just in case. They would let Lance know right away if there was anyway he could get on one.

        What was happening was finally starting to hit everyone, especially all the men. They could lose their lives, but most men just cared about getting their wives and children off the ship safely. They didn’t seem to care much about their own lives.

        “I’ve never seen him like this,” Joey said. He stole a glance at his best friend who continued to just stare off out at the water where Hannah had sailed from under half an hour ago.

        They could all see the sadness and unhappiness in Lance’s eyes. It was like he didn’t think he was going to make it off the ship alive. It was like Lance a lot lately to think negatively. But when he finally had found some happiness, it had been destroyed by some stupid piece of ice in the middle of the ocean, who decided to destroy people’s lives.

        “Me either.” Chris couldn’t imagine what Lance was going through, but he was pretty scared about the thought that he may die. All the dreams that had been about to come true were coming to an end. What if he never got to record? That had been his dream since he had been at the age of three.

        And what about the friendship that had been formed between the five of them? It was hard to face the truth. None of them wanted to leave each other. They had become like a family, though they weren’t blood related.

        Lance and JC were now sitting beside each other on one of the vacated chairs. Though they were trying desperately to console each other, it was obvious that nothing was going to work.

        Justin saw from the distance that one of the boats down the ship was being occupied by several men. “Hey guys!” he said. “That boat over there…”

        Joey’s eyes lit up, but nobody’s lit up quite like Lance’s did. There was a glimmer of hope and for the first time since Hannah’s departure, he smiled.

        “What are we waiting for?” Lance said, already up on his feet. “Let’s get on that damn boat and get away from this place.”

        There was just one problem. And her name was Janine. She was coming towards Lance, her scarf tucked around her neck and her heavy jacket keeping the cold out.

        “Lance, there you are! I can’t find a boat. You have to help me find a boat! I can’t die, Lance. I can’t!”

        “Leave me alone,” Lance muttered and tried to push past her.

        “Lance. Please.” She grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. “You have to help me. Please,” Janine begged.

        Lance shook his head. “Sorry, I have a boat to catch.” Proud of the way he handled her, he followed Joey and the rest of the guys towards the other end of the ship.

        “You…You…” Outraged, Janine followed behind them without them knowing.

        A gun shot was fired four times just as they reached the life boat. The officer holding the gun in the air had caught the attention of all the passengers around.

        “No more men! We’ve allowed three men on. That’s it! Please, now only women and children,” the officer yelled. “Only women and children!”

        “Shit,” Chris muttered. He turned to Lance, whose face once again turned into a frown. “I’m so sorry, man. But we’ll find another boat, I promise.”

        “We won’t find another boat,” Lance said. “So don’t say that we will. I’m not going to get off this damn ship. I’m never going to see Hannah again!” He didn’t know where to go. He just wanted to jump and end his life quickly. He didn’t want to wait around just to die.

        “Joey, you stay here with Lance and JC,” Chris said. “Justin and I will split up to find another boat.”

        “Why does Joey get to stay?” Justin complained. “My feet are tired. Get Joey to go and find a boat.”

        “Justin can stay,” Joey said. “I’ll go down the other side of the ship and look for a free boat.”

        Knowing that right now they were wasting time, Chris just nodded then headed down the ship while Joey searched the other side. Everyone began to pray for a miracle. The priest that was on the ship was gathered along with several passengers in their life belts as the ship began to tip sideways, and they were praying.

        As the minutes went on, Lance got quieter and quieter. He refused to talk to Joey or JC. He would just stare at the ground. His head to pop up whenever the ship made another sound like it was going to break in two any second.

        Justin wished he could do something to help, but he knew there was only one thing that would help Lance. And unfortunately, the only thing that could be done now was to just hope for the best.

        JC looked as lost as Lance did. Neither of them spoke a word, not even to each other. They were going through the same thing, after all. You’d think they would at least try to console each other.

        The thought of never seeing Lisa again gripped JC. He grabbed the back of his neck and shook violently. Lance snapped out of his own thoughts long enough to recognize that JC was acting a little crazy. A little out of the ordinary. Well, what did he expect? Him to be up and dancing because his life was in shambles?

        “It’s okay, man.” Lance rubbed JC’s back in comfort. He needed a little himself too, but he knew JC, and JC just wasn’t the type of guy to offer comfort when he was in pain.

        The ship made another cracking sound. JC winced and looked down at the ground.

        “I just can’t believe this,” JC muttered, then lifted his head. He met Lance’s teary green eyes. “We’re never going to see them again, are we?”

        Lance knew that he couldn’t really answer that, because he himself didn’t know what was going to happen. But the odds of them getting off this ship alive was getting slimmer every second.

        “I don’t know,” Lance said finally. “But we’re going to do our best to make sure we do see them again. We can’t give up now.”

        Lance’s words helped JC a little, but he still refused to give a small hint of a smile. “I promised Johnny I would be his father,” he whispered. “I don’t want to break that promise.” JC’s eyes were tearing up again. He stood up with determination set in his eyes. “I’m not going to break that promise.”

        Lance thought back to the promise he had made to Hannah just a few hours ago. They were going to be together forever, he had said. And now that JC was ready to fight, then so was he. Lance stood up too, and contemplated in his mind what their next step would be.

        “I can get you guys on a boat,” a soft voice said from behind them.

        “Janine?” Lance actually looked happy to see her. “You would help us get on a boat?” he asked.

        “I’d do anything for you,” Janine said. “I don’t want to see anything happen to you. I love you, Lance.”

        Her words were sincere, and Lance could sense that. But what if there was a price too heavy to pay to get the help he so desperately needed?

        “What do you want us to do?” JC asked. That was actually the first time JC had one kind word to say towards Janine for a long time.

        “Here.” Without another word, Janine pulled off the scarf from around her neck and passed it to Lance. “Put this around your face,” she demanded. “This way they’ll think you’re a woman.”

        “They’ll think I look like a woman just if I wear this thing?” Lance didn’t bother waiting for an answer. He threw the scarf over his face. You couldn’t tell whether he was a man or a woman.

        JC looked at Janine. “What about me?”

        She tossed him a shawl that was tucked inside her life belt. “Put this around your face. Wear it like a hat,” she instructed. When JC got it perfectly in place, she nodded her head. “Now you look like a woman.”

        JC didn’t know what to say. The woman he thought he would hate forever had just most likely saved his life. At a loss for words, he gave her a brief hug.

        “Thank you,” JC said. “You have no idea how grateful I am for this. Let’s just hope this works.”

        Lance noticed that not many boats were left. Two that he could see. But there were still probably more on the other side.

        “I don’t understand,” Lance said. “Why would you do this for us?”

        “Believe it or not,” Janine said, “I want what is best for you. I realize now that I made a big mistake trying to break you and Hannah up.” Lance swore she was getting emotional. It wasn’t something you saw everyday. “You go, go be with her. She needs you, Lance.”

        JC and Lance began to walk down the ship to find the first available boat. “Aren’t you coming with us?” JC called when he realized Janine wasn’t following.

        “No, you guys go. I have some business to take care of.” Janine waved from her spot. “Good luck, guys.”

        Lance and JC waved back. They wanted to hang around to show her their appreciation, but time had been wasted enough already.

        “We have to find the guys,” JC panted and he stopped. He could see Joey in the distance. “Joey!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

        Joey, who’d been trying to find JC and Lance since they’d disappeared out of Justin’s sight, began running towards his friends.

        “What are you guys doing?” Joey demanded. “Chris told you to stay with Justin.”

        “Justin fell asleep.” JC shrugged. “We didn’t think he’d notice.”

        It suddenly occurred to Lance that they had nothing to disguise Joey, Chris, and Justin. He shared a knowing glance with JC and they both sighed.

        “What?” Joey asked just as Chris and Justin caught up to them.

        “Why do you look like a girl?” Justin asked.

        Chris and Joey found JC and Lance’s new looks amusing as well, but they didn’t laugh. They knew there was some reason for the transformations.

        “We have these disguises so we can get on a boat,” Lance said quietly. “Now we have to find one for you guys. Then we can get off this ship.”

        “But we better hurry,” Chris said. “I heard from a few officers that there are very few boats left.”

---