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“Hi, my name is Natasha, and I want to welcome you all.Before you go in, there are a few things I want to go over.You’ll have sixty minutes to solve all the puzzles and find your way out.Stay in the designated areas and don’t use force to move the objects because if you break something, you will be charged.We can hear everything you say, so call out if you get stuck, and a team member will give you a hint.And if there’s an emergency, stay calm, and we’ll come in immediately.”

“Does I have to go to the bathroom count as an emergency?”Charlie whispered to Amy, who stifled a laugh.

“No, it doesn’t,” Natasha said, then continued.“The theme of tonight’s escape room is the sinking of theTitanic.Are you ready?If not, I don’t care because here we go!”Natasha opened the door.“The timer starts the moment I close this door.”

As Charlie and Amy were about to walk into the room, Charlie noticed the two men were also heading in.

“We aren’t together,” Charlie said to Natasha.

“Oh no, did I double book again?”Natasha said, looking panicked.

“Again?”Charlie said.Then turned to Amy.“Are you sure you want to go in there?We may very well sink.”

“We’d be happy to join these women,” one of the men said.

“Oh, thank you,” Natasha said before Charlie or Amy could reply.“If the owner—my dad—finds out I screwed up, he’s going to fire me.Again.”

Charlie shot Amy a look that she hoped relayed, ‘Let’s get out of here right now and get that drink.’Charlie just wanted to hang out with her friend, but she didn’t have the interest to be social with men she didn’t know.

“It’s fine.We love meeting new people,” Amy said.

Either Amy didn’t understand the look I was giving her, or she could’ve been pretending not to,Charlie thought, then sighed.I need to get this people-pleasing thing under control.

One of the men, wearing a navy T-shirt and distressed jeans, gestured to the women to indicate they should go in first.Charlie and Amy entered, and as soon as the men crossed the threshold, the door slammed behind them.Charlie jumped.

“Tell me that wasn’t intimidating,” Charlie said.

The room was dimly lit and divided up into various sections of theTitanic.One area was decorated as a first-class passenger cabin, another as a lower-class bedroom, and the crew lounge.There was even a chandelier that hung precariously over a replica of the main dining room section.

A loud voice came over a speaker, which Charlie recognized as Natasha.“The timer is on; you have sixty minutes, so you better get moving,” she said, then tried to do her best evil laugh but failed to pull it off.

Charlie felt her stomach clench.A ticking clock made her anxiety begin to ramp up.It would have gotten a firm hold on her if the other guy, who had a ponytail and was wearing shorts with flip-flops—even though it was cold—hadn’t admitted that he was feeling nervous also.

“I’m Collin,” the guy in the navy shirt said, “and this weirdo is Colby.”

“I’m Amy, and this weirdo is Charlie,” Amy said.

“She doesn’t look that weird to me,” Collin said.

“Thank you?”Charlie said.

“Stop talking.We need to solve these puzzles, or we’re going to drown,” Colby said, his voice vibrating with either excitement or doom.

“You do know there’s no water here, right?”Collin said.

Amy suggested they start with the puzzle in the first-class cabin section.It was a word puzzle that they needed to solve to open Lady Duff Gordon’s trunk.They had to figure out what the initials RMS meant that precededTitanic.Each one of them called out a guess.

“It’s Royal…I can’t remember what the M stands for,” Collin said.

“Mail,” Charlie called out.“Try Royal Mail Ship.”

Collin did, and the trunk opened.Amy cheered, and they all high-fived.Inside the trunk was a clue to the next puzzle located where the lifeboats were.The group would have to figure out how many passengers would fit into the remaining lifeboats after all the women and children were boarded first.

“I’m one of the many women who are good at math,” Charlie said, stepping in front of the others.

“Good, because I’m one of the many men who stink at it,” Collin said.

“He’s lying.He aced all his classes,” Colby said.“He even went on to AP Calculus.”