% CHAPTER 42 %

It was not an easy feat waking those girls up at 5 in the morning. Whitney kicked me in the face. Taylor nearly punched my nose in. They are fierce undercover warriors. That's what they are.

I hold an ice pack to my face as I make breakfast. Tay jogs down the steps and greets me. Her face shows genuine concern and she cups my jaw with her hand.

"I am so sorry! I was half asleep. You can't blame me." She shrugs and winks at me before walking off.

I sigh. That's the best apology I'm gonna get. "So did Whit already take off?"

"Yeah. She's grabbing her bags and then Isaac is going to give her a ride to the beach." A mischievous smile is settled on Taylor's face. I give somewhat of a concerned look.

"What? Is everything okay?"

"It's just fine actually." Her grin stretches wider, going from ear to ear now. She then cuddles into my side. "I just can't wait for the beach! Oh so Whit is like the best friend ever! She bought me a Little Mix cd and can you say excited?! Because I can say excited..."

We leave the house at 6 o'clock. While on the road, we eat breakfast and listen to that girl band called Little Mix. Can I say lame? If Taylor would have heard me say that, I would be six feet under for even saying 'lame' and 'Little Mix' in the same sentence. She's obsessed.

"Oh my gosh! Crank it up Bret! It's Wings by Little Mix!!" She starts to sing to the song. "Mama told me not to waste my life! She said spread your wings," she flaps her arms like a bird, "my little butterfly!" She belts out more lyrics and I groan.

"This is torture!" I say.

Tay swats at my arm. "You're ruining a perfectly good song Bret! Come on sing with me!" She mumbles to the beat in the passenger seat.

When we finally make it to the beach, Taylor skips out of the car, obviously in a happy mood. Me, not so much. I've heard enough Little Mix to last me my whole life. I'm done. I just hope she doesn't go for One Direction. Then I'll be screwed. I'd have to break up with her because that's something I can't live with... I'm only joking. If Taylor started liking One Direction, I would probably let her listen. I wouldn't be able to do anything. Gosh women these days have their guys in check!

At around 9:30, we meet up with everyone at the town mall.

"How was everyone's drive?" Vic asks. She had been riding with Isaac and Whitney.

We all nod our heads. "It was good," I reply, "other than the fact that I'm never listening to a girl band called Little Mix again."

Everyone chuckles. Gwen gasps. "Little Mix?! I LOVE them!! How can you not?"

"Nope, they are a pain in my rear end. Anyone who likes them should trip over thin air and fall in a mud puddle," I say with a proud smile.

Gwen smacks her lips. "Please. That all you got?"

"Oh no I got tons Gwen." I stick out my tongue at her and she crosses her arms dramatically.

"Well as much as I am enjoying this scene," Aaron wraps his arm around Gwen's waist, "we need to check into our rooms."

"What hotel are we even going to be staying in?"

Jake brings a flyer out of his pocket and holds it in front of the group. "This one. I've got it all covered already. Girls in one room, boys in the other." Groans come from the majority of the group. "Hey it wasn't my first choice, but after MUCH convincing from VIC, we decided it was the best choice. If you have any complaints on the matter, talk to Vic about it."

Isaac steps forward and takes his cousin's arm in his. "Victoria let's go to that ice cream parlor. We need to talk..."

When they aren't in hearing distance, we all laugh. Wow, Isaac really wants to share a room with one of the girls. As long as it wasn't Taylor, I was okay with it.

"Let's go up to our rooms so we can have some fun!" Connie squeals and we all follow her.

Gwen stops and turns back around. "And just leave them?" She asks.

Aaron gently pulls her along. "They'll be fine. They are cousins after all. REAL cousins." He gives Taylor and I a pointed look. We unconsciously grab for each other's hands, searching for a comfort zone. Then Aaron and Gwen turn and follow the rest of the group.

"Let's just follow them," Taylor says and we trail behind hand in hand.

***

I give Taylor a warning look, urging her not to say anything yet. I didn't want anyone to know until we actually got to the beach and played in the water or sand or something. She ignores me though, seeing as she is completely wasted. I'm not too sober myself.

"Okay we really are together."

Isaac sets his hand out in front of Jake. "You owe me a 20."

Connie does the same to Aaron. He shamefully gives away a twenty dollar bill to her and she takes it.

"Much obliged," she says with a grin.

"Hold up!" Taylor yells. "You guys were making bets on us?!"

Isaac shrugs. "Well come on, you were bound to get together soon! I mean its sort of obvious. And what better way to make money?"

"Well..." If Taylor was sober, she would have clonked him upside the head, but for some reason she paused and she began to look puzzled. As soon as she saw the beer bottles Aaron was bringing in, her eyes lightened up. "Ooooo..."

Aaron laughed. "I think you've had enough beer for the night missy."

"But..." She turns over to me and brings out her puppy eyes.

My breath hitches in my throat. Oh please God, please don't let her spell take ahold of me! I close my eyes as I exhale. "Half a bottle more, but no more!"

She squeals and reaches for another bottle, but Vic seats away her hand.

"Now he may not he able to resist your charms sweetly, but I can and you are NOT having any more."

"What bout me?" Whit slurs, giving a slight hiccup and leaning in to get another beer.

Isaac smiles goofily as she arches her back to where he can see her cleavage. "You know what? Beer sounds good. Let me get some too."

"Oh quit it!" Vic says and slaps away both of their hands. "You pig Isaac! I can't believe you're taking advantage like this!"

"What do you mean?"

"You were so eying her up!"

"And so what if I was? That's not taking advantage as long as I'm not touching her and you know for a fact that I wouldn't do that."

"Do I know that?! I suggest we all go to bed now. It's getting late and we want to get up early so we can head to the beach."

Everyone sighs and gets up, brushing the grass off of their clothes. We were out back in the little garden of the hotel.

Aaron nudges me. "Come on Bret. Let's get to the room. The girls will take care of Taylor and Whit."

I nod and follow him up. The boys would all be in a room together, but since Aaron and I were the first to go to the room, we were definitely claiming the beds for ourselves. The other boys just had to suck it.

If only Luca could have come. I would have really liked that. We would have probably ended up staying up late and watching Spongebob Squarepants til 3 in the morning. We could have gotten all of the guys in on our "bad habits."

After entering the room, we watch a little late night tv before slipping under our bed covers.

"Night Bret."

"Night Aaron."

I'm about to go to bed when my phone starts to ring. Aaron shoots me a funny look and I shrug. Who could be calling me this late at night?

I pick up my phone, and when I see the caller ID, a smile comes to my face. Only this person would call me this late at night, that's who.

"What's up?" I immediately say into the phone after I answer it.

"Hey dude," Luca says. "We haven't talked all day. I need your advice."

"Okay, what's up?"

"Last night, two women called me up on my phone from Goodwill. They said their names were Tracy and Ana. Do you know them?"

I give a confused look, even though he can't see me. "No, how the hell would I know two ladies from Goodwill?"

"Well, I don't know. Supposedly I did stuff with them... And the weirdest thing is, they want me to come over to the store to pick up a thong I supposedly left over there. I need your help buddy. I swear I don't know these girls!! The worst part is they're sisters! And they think I did them both!"

I can't help myself. I immediately burst out laughing. "Dude, haven't you ever considered that it could have been a prank call?"

"No. Who would prank call me?"

"Uhh, people that have your phone number..."

"Damn it Bret! You're supposed to be helping me here!"

My eyes roll of their own accord. "Just forget about it. They won't call back, trust me. If they tried, they'd probably be laughing so hard you'd find out who it is. You don't have to worry about it."

"Okay, whatever you say man."

"Kay. Night dude."

"Night."

All I think as I drift off to sleep is I miss the warmth of my girlfriend beside me. Hey wait, didn't Whit sleep over at her house last night? And doesn't she have Luca's number because he gave it to her a while back? Hmmm.

****

unedited

whoo! 42nd chapter. I've been working like all day on this. Even during school I've been sneaking around to write a little more on my mobile app. That's how important getting this story on Watty Awards is to me! Even if I don't make it that far on there, it would still be a pleasure to have one of my stories on Watty Awards. This one was the closest to being finished!

so please help me out by voting, commenting, and following! Thanks! It's much appreciated.

LIZZIE