I had no idea what Alani was doing. Was she flirting with the instructor or just being her kind self? I hoped she was only being kind, but my gut told me otherwise. She kept on giggling at everything Ben said, causing my fingers to curl into fists. After taking a long deep breath, I managed to get through the surfing lesson.

I learned that I was not the best surfer in the world. I could barely stay on my board for more than two seconds without falling into the water.

I didn't care, though. I just wanted to get away from the instructor and Alani. They kept on talking during the entire surf lesson, but what could I do about it? I wasn't her boyfriend. I had no right to feel jealous.

Alani and I didn't talk the entire ride home. Nobody noticed, though.

"What else are we doing today?" Nelson asked as soon as we walked through the door to our rental house.

"We could go on a helicopter or hot air balloon ride?"

"Let's do that!" Nadia exclaimed.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Why not both?" Nadia said eagerly.

"Okay, then. Let's do both."

Alani and I headed upstairs to get showered and changed for our next adventure. Once we got into our room, we realized we had an awkward situation before us. Alani and I usually showered together, but we were sort of in a rut right now, and I was still trying to distance myself from her, so I didn't think that was a good idea.

"Um, do you want to go first?" I asked her.

"Okay," She said before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door. I winced, not knowing how to make her less mad at me. It was true that I was being cold and distant toward her recently, but I couldn't help it. I had realized that I wanted so much more than friends with benefits with her, but that could never happen. I was in danger of my feelings growing even stronger than they already were, which is why Alani and I needed to change our behavior towards each other.

After Alani was done in the shower, she came out dressed and started getting ready in the mirror next to the window. Once I finished showering, I got ready myself and walked out of the bathroom to find Alani on her phone, smiling.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah. Nothing."

"Well, it has to be something."

"Stop being nosy."

"I'm a nosy person," I shrugged.

"Fine. If you must know, I'm texting Ben."

"Our surfing instructor?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah."

"You got his number?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Because I liked him."

"I thought we said that you and I were exclusive," I said, feeling slightly hurt that Alani was looking at other guys. Was I not enough? That was a stupid question. Of course, I wasn't enough. I couldn't give her a real relationship, which she deserved and needed more than anything.

"We're just talking, River," She said, setting down her phone, leaning against the wall, and crossing her arms.

"Just talking?"

"Yeah. You might be new to this idea, but sometimes people can talk without having sex or being in a romantic relationship," She said.

"I know that," I said.

"Then you shouldn't care that I'm talking to him."

"I don't," I lied. I knew that even if Alani knew that they were just friends, Ben might not be on the same page as her.

"You sure?" She asked.

"Yes," I lied again.

"Good. Let's get going then," She said before walking downstairs.

The drive to the helicopter/hot air balloon place was torcher. Alani wouldn't stop texting Ben the entire time, and I had to pretend like I didn't care when in reality, I cared a lot.

We decided on going up in the helicopter first. We all scrunched into the flying machine and put our headphones on. As we took off, I looked down at the world below. Everything looked so tiny from up there in the sky. It made me realize how little my problems were in the grand scheme of life.

After enjoying the helicopter ride, we went up in the hot air balloon. I wasn't scared of the helicopter at all, but the hot air balloon was a different story. I mean, it was a balloon holding us in the air. I think I had the right to feel uneasy.

Nadia went nuts with excitement when we were in the hot air balloon. It was her first time riding in one of those things, and Jess had to calm her down.

I was relieved when we landed back on the ground.

Overall it was a pretty awful day. I did have fun in the helicopter, but the rest of the day sucked.

When we got back to the house, everyone agreed that we should go for a swim in the pool. I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed, but I gave in since everyone else insisted that I join them.

I was mainly exhausted from stressing out about my feelings for Alani. I didn't know what to do about them, but what I did know was that I was treating her like crap, and I didn't like it at all. What I didn't like even more than that was how we were acting toward each other recently. I liked it better when we were friends with benefits. We were actually friends then. Ultimately, I decided that I would have to apologize to Alani and try to get things back to normal while pushing my feelings down and ignoring them, hoping they would go away.

"Alani?" I said as we walked upstairs to change into our swimsuits.

"What?" She said.

"Can we talk?"

"I guess," She said as we walked into our room. I sat on the bed and started talking.

"So, I just wanted to say that I am sorry about the way I've been acting recently. You didn't do anything wrong, and I know that I'm treating you like you did. I have been in a funk, and it's over now, so I was hoping we can stop acting this way around each other."

She was silent for a moment before a big smile spread across her face. She ran and jumped on top of me, causing me to fall back in the bed.

"So, that's a yes?" I asked.

"Yes. I was worried you wanted to stop being my friend," She said before kissing me.

"I'll never stop being your friend. You're stuck with me," I said, and I hoped with all my heart that was true.