Love is like quicksand; the more you are in it, the deeper you sink. And when it hits you, you've just got to fall. – Unknown
I had never been on a plane. The truth was, I was terrified of them.
When Alice had suggested a two-week beach holiday overseas, I had instantly refused. Both her and Rosalie tried to persuade me, as I constantly told them a flat-out no.
So, typically, I now found myself on a flight to Fiji, gripping onto Alice's arm, which had now turned white. Rose sat in the aisle seat to my right, shamelessly flirting with a very cute air steward.
Something clicked above my head, and I jumped out of my chair, hyperventilating.
"Bella," Alice laughed. "It's just the seat belt sign!"
I slowed my breathing and dropped, embarrassed, back into my seat.
Then the plane started moving.
I gripped onto Alice's arm so hard, I drew blood from her arm. My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest, and I could feel my breaths coming out faster with each passing second.
"Look how bad she is, and we aren't even in the air yet!" Rose snickered, the air steward having disappeared.
Alice grimaced painfully; squeaking as the plane finally took off into the air. I was gripping her hand too tightly, but I couldn't let go, I was too scared. The thunderous roaring of the plane filled my ears.
"Ouch," Alice whispered at a particularly hard involuntary squeeze.
A voice came on overhead, explaining procedures during an emergency. I sat stone still, watching the cute air steward Rose had been flirting with demonstrate how to use the emergency life jacket. I made mental notes of where all the exits of the plane were.
After we had been in the air for twenty minutes, the seat belt sign clicked off.
"Bella?" Alice asked. "Can I have my arm back?"
At 10pm, we had already been on the plane for seven hours, approximately half way through our trip. Both Alice and Rose had fallen asleep, looking every bit glamorous with sleeping masks over their eyes. We had already watched Love Actually on the tiny TV screens on the back of the chair in front of us. After that we had spent an hour complaining about how men were never as perfect as they are in movies, until one by one we had fallen asleep.
Now that I was awake, I realised my fear of flying had lessened somewhat. I suddenly felt daring, and pulled myself out of the middle seat, climbing over Rosalie and into the aisle, where I manage to trip and fall headfirst onto the floor with a loud THUMP!
My legs couldn't hold me up after spending so long sitting down, and I pulled myself up slowly, a bright red blush on my face.
Taking careful, shaky steps, I managed to reach the closest toilet. Seeing it was vacant, I slipped inside and hovered over the basin, steadying my breathing. I turned the tap and cupped my hands under the cool flow of water. When enough water had gathered in my hands, I splashed myself, delighting in the feel of the refreshing water.
I glanced at my face in the mirror and groaned. My hair had gone all 'sex hair' while I had been sleeping in my seat, and my face was patchy and pale – the blush finally disappearing from my face.
Knowing I still had at least another seven hours on the plane, I didn't even think about grabbing my make-up. I figured I would fix myself in a bathroom when we landed.
Sighing, I took one last glance in the mirror and pulled the door open, feeling it collide with something hard on the other side. A mumbled curse came from behind the bathroom door, and I froze in fright.
Guiltily sliding out from the bathroom, I looked around the open door, and into the face of a very, very good-looking blond man, who was rubbing his knee.
"Oh god. I'm sorry! I didn't realise anyone was on the other side." I stumbled.
The man stopped rubbing his knee and smiled at me.
"No real harm done," the man said, extending a hand. "Jasper."
Still feeling guilty, I smiled at his formal way of greeting, but stuck my hand out nonetheless. I supposed it was the least I could do after door bashing him in the knee.
"Bella."
"It's very nice to meet you, Bella," Jasper said, releasing my hand. "I'll see you around." He said grinning at me, before turning and walking away.
Shaking my head slightly, I wandered back the way I had come. As I slipped past Rose and into my seat, I felt Alice stir.
"Bella, oh my god. Did you just leave your seat?" Alice demanded.
I nodded hesitantly; waiting for her wrath, instead Alice began laughing.
"But you wouldn't even get up for a stretch with me and Rose before the movie, even when we told you your legs would fall off from lack of blood flow!"
"I needed to go to the bathroom and wash my face," I complained.
Alice just raised her eyebrows at me, laughing.
"Alice, I just saw the hottest guy on my way back," I told her, hoping to distract her from embarrassing me with more jokes about my fear of flying.
Alice took the bait, hook, line and sinker.
"Really?" she cried. "Where? What did he look like?"
I quickly told her how I had opened the door, and hit him in the knee. "Then, he shook my hand, said his name was Jasper, told me it was very nice to meet me, and then turned and went back to his seat."
Alice smiled dreamily as I told her what Jasper looked like.
"Ohh!" she squealed, waking Rose. "He's on the same plane as us!"
Rose groaned and turned to Alice. "Whose on the same plane as us?"
"Jasper," I muttered, feeling my face get red again.
"A really hot guy Bella met," Alice explained, and then continued what she was saying before Rosalie interrupted. "That means he's going to Fiji too!"
I laughed at Alice's eagerness towards meeting a hot guy.
Rose snickered at Alice as her eyes glazed over.
"So, Bella, got out of your seat did you?" Rose teased.
I glowered at her and switched my TV screen on, hoping to find a good movie to distract me.
"Girls!" I cried triumphantly. "John Tucker Must Die is on."
Both Alice and Rose switched their TV's on and shoved the headphones over their ears without another word. From the first time we rented John Tucker Must Die for one of our movie nights, it had been a collective favourite. We had spent hours, jokingly plotting the demise of guys using the same method from the movie, if one of them was found cheating on us – which happened a few times to Rose in particular.
We sat in silence throughout the movie as the night grew steadily into the early hours of the morning. I found my eyes dropping, and I easily succumbed to sleep.
I awoke later, unsure of how much time had passed. I leaned forward groggily, feeling stiff and gross. I looked over at Rose and Alice; they too were asleep. I peered at the overhead TV screen, wiping the sleep from my eyes. We only had half an hour until we were landing. I reached into my purse, and dug through it, finding my small make-up bag. I figured if there was even a remote chance of running into Jasper once more, I needed to at least freshen up. I stood up and headed back to the bathroom, praying not to run into Jasper again. I feared I looked even worse than before.
Smiling, I saw the bathroom was vacant, and I hurried inside, locking the door behind me. I placed the small make-up bag on the tiny counter and woke my face with some water. I then managed to put on foundation, a little bit of eye shadow and blush, a coat of mascara and some nude lipstick, before zipping up the make-up bag and continuing my 'business' in the bathroom. I took a final once-over of my face, and sighed. It was good for me - considering I was on a plane and had just woken up. But my face was nothing like Rosalie's flawless looks, or Alice's electric beauty.
This time, I opened the door slowly, hoping not to 'door bash' anyone else's knee. When I took the all clear, I jumped out of the toilet, and collided with something hard… and warm.
Two muscular arms went up around my shoulders to my back, protecting me from falling backwards onto my behind. My face came within inches of a deep, faded blue t-shirt. A deep rumbling came from this man's chest, as I pulled back and looked up to his face, my cheeks scarlet, to find that the rumbling was laughter. A very handsome, very tall man held me in his arms.
I quickly stepped back, feeling his arms drop from my back, to swing back to his side. I raised a hand to my head, feeling it becoming woozy with all of today's events. I ran the hand through my hair, which only helped with the sex hair look. Woops.
"I am so sorry," I breathed. "Terribly, terribly sorry." I seem to be making a habit of this, I thought grimly.
The man smiled at me, slightly teasingly.
"Name's Emmett," he said.
"Bella," I croaked. What is this, Déjà vu? I screamed to the gods.
"Well, Bella. It would seem to me that you are headed to Fiji..." Emmett said playfully, a grin danced across his face. "What island are you staying at?"
"Um, Treasure Island," I said, my mind having gone blank to the 'never talk to strangers' phrase.
The smile on Emmett's face widened, if that was possible. However, it wasn't a sleazy smile. It was definitely an 'older brother' teasing type smile. "What a coincidence!" he boomed. "That's where we're going."
"We're?" I asked, becoming sucked in.
Emmett chuckled. 'Edward, Jasper and I."
"J-Jasper?" I stammered. Damn. "Emmett, this was nice meeting you and all, but I've got to go… maybe I'll see you at the island."
Emmett laughed at me again. "Sure thing, Bella."
I turned quickly away and headed back towards my seat, my red face giving the incentive for Alice and Rose – who it seemed had woken up while I was gone - to begin assailing me with questions.
"Oh my gosh, Bella!" Rose hissed, giggling. "Did you see Jasper again?"
I sat down and put my head in my heads for a moment, before telling them about Emmett. "And then he asked me where I was staying in Fiji." I told them sadly, reflecting upon my embarrassment. "They're staying at Treasure Island too."
"They're?" Alice squeaking, not even trying to hide the wicked smile that spread across her face.
I nodded slowly. "Emmett and Jasper-" I heard Alice let out a low squeal next to me. "-and someone else called Edward, I think it was," I finished.
Rose grabbed my hand excitedly, "Bella, there are three of them… and there are three of us…"
Alice squealed again as the seat belt light clicked on overhead, sending me back into my fearful state.
As Alice, Rose and I walked off the plane the incredible heat hit me. The air was sticky and humid, not like the weather back at home.
After we collected our bags and jumped into a taxi, a soaring sense of pride washed through me.
"I actually travelled on a plane!" I told Alice and Rose cheerfully.
"Oh my god, Bella," Rose rolled her eyes, smiling. "You're such a loser!"
I cracked up, feeling myself becoming elated.
I let my eyes watch the surroundings that flashed past us on our way to the cruise ship that would take us to Treasure Island. When the taxi slowed down, Rose paid the man while Alice and I grabbed our bags from out of the boot of the car, surprised they had all fit in there in the first place. We walked over to the ticket booth, and Alice dug through her bag before pulling three tickets out. We passed through and waited at the dock.
"How much longer?" Rose whined.
"The Cruiser leaves here at 10am," Alice said. "We have twenty minutes."
I sighed, it was only 9:40am, and it was already hot and sticky.
"I have an idea!" Rose cried, excited. "Let's make a pact. We each have to step outside our comfort zones, and do something that we are afraid to do."
Alice grinned, "I'm so in!" She placed her hand out flat in between the three of us. Rose's hand quickly shot in on top of Alice's. They both turned to look at me. Knowing there was no way they would let me out of it, I sighed and put my own hand on top of Rose's.
"Fine," I grumbled.
"While on the island of Treasure," Rose began, putting on an accent that had both Alice and I giggling. "We three do solemnly swear to put ourselves out into the unknown, let loose, enjoy ourselves and try or do something we are petrified of doing. Now, say I"
"I," Alice giggled.
"Aye, aye!" I cried, lapsing into giggles of my own while Rose fought to keep a straight face.
"The eye's have it!" Rose burst out, sending us into a laughing fit.
By the time 10am rolled around, the dock was packed with people waiting for the cruise ship. We had been forced up the far end as people began flocking down once the boat arrived.
When it became clear the boat was at least double story, Alice beamed. "Top floor girls?"
Rose nodded, and pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses from her bag, sweeping them over her eyes. "Let's go!"
We handed our luggage to two boys who were working on the cruiser. I followed Alice and Rose as they climbed the stairs to the top deck, grinning at the view. We quickly claimed three chairs at the rail and spread out our things as we soaked up the suns rays, closed our eyes and listened to the gentle thud each time a wave hit the side of the boat.
"Do you think that Jasper and Emmett and their friend are on the cruiser?" I asked with a grin.
Alice looked at me, a bright sparkle in her eyes, which had me laughing. The three of us sat in the sun happily until the cruise ship left. Once the boat was skimming over the water, it got cooler, for which we were all glad.
"I'm going to go grab a soda, does anyone want one?" I asked, my throat parched.
Both Alice and Rose nodded eagerly. I hopped up and walked back inside, the air conditioning hitting me in a forceful wave. I walked over to the small bar with chocolates and fizzy drinks to order three sodas.
After I paid the man behind the bar, I glanced around the top floor. It wasn't very big, what the boat lacked in length and width it made up with height.
A male voice came over the loud speaker, announcing that we would soon reach Bounty Island. Since we had already passed a couple of islands, we would soon be at Treasure. I grinned and headed back out onto the deck. I handed a can of drink each to Alice and Rose and told them we would soon be there.
Half an hour later, the boat slowed down as it reached Treasure Island. The three of us hopped up, almost squealing, and ran down the stairs. Two small speedboats had drifted over to pick up newcomers to the island. One of the boats had three suitcases in it already, and they weren't ours. A gasp from Alice made me pull my head away from the direction of the boat.
"What's wrong Alice?" I asked, concerned.
"How am I going to fit all my luggage into one speedboat, as well as yours and Rose's?" Alice asked, looking at one of the boys we had handed our luggage to when we got on helplessly.
The boy shrugged, pulling our suitcases from the pile.
"Look, I'll put this one on with the guys, and you can just grab it when you reach the island. There's plenty of room in their speedboat." He explained.
Alice nodded hesitantly, watching as one of her bags was loaded into the first speedboat.
"Cheer up Alice, it's not going to fall in," Rose murmured as the three of us turned back to the pile and grabbed the remaining suitcases. We dragged them over to the side and I noticed that the first speedboat had already departed.
I handed my suitcase over to a man, who passed it to someone in the boat, and I climbed in awkwardly, praying I wouldn't slip and fall in.
I shuffled to the centre of the boat once I was certain I wasn't going to go into the water. Two panels of glass were stuck to the bottom of the boat in the middle, and I could see schools of fish and coral in the pale blue water.
Once Alice and Rose were seated next to me, the speedboat took off at an alarming pace, sending my hair whipping around my face. I sighed and pulled an elastic from my purse, tying my hair up. The cruise ship had pulled away, and was headed in the direction of a very close island.
I stood on the short, portable pier Treasure Island had, calming my breathing at almost falling head first into the clear ocean. Rose and Alice stood next to me, their bags being lifted out of the boat.
Once all of us had our bags, we pulled them up the white sand beach, grinning from ear to ear. Five or so Fijians, who obviously worked at the resort, stood in front of a sign that read 'Bula. Welcome. Treasure Island Resort, Fiji'. One of the Fijians was playing a guitar, while the others were singing a welcome song.
We beamed at the Fijians as they finished their song. The one who had been playing guitar handed it to the person next to him, and ushered for us to come with him.
We followed him up a concrete path, with coconut trees and a mini golf course on either side of us. God, it was so beautiful. He led us inside to a small bar, with a TV screen held up in the corner. He sat us down and handed us a juice each.
"On the house, ladies," he said. "Welcome to Treasure Island Resort. You have a booking for Hale?"
Rose nodded, "Yep."
The man smiled, "Good, good. If you would like to come over to reception and fill out a few details?"
Rose nodded and followed the man, leaving Alice and I sipping on the juice.
"Oh man, this is so great!" Alice cried, as we both start laughing. I took a look around, noticing a restaurant attached to the bar on the other side, several gift shops behind me, as well as a general store, and a bathroom to my right.
"I'll be back in a sec," I told Alice, taking my purse with me into the bathroom. I didn't know what had come over me, but I wanted to fix my make-up. Alice would have taken the mickey out if I'd told her.
When I was done in the bathroom, I walked back over to the bar, where Alice and Rose were standing waiting, a key in Rose's hand.
"Room 45," Rose told me as we walked out of the bar, following a path around the island. When we found a sign to room 45.
Palm and coconut trees were everywhere, making it very shady and cool along the path. The bureaus were on the white sand of the beach, which I could feel getting trapped in my shoes.
When we reached the front door, Rose unlocked it, and we filed inside. I quickly claimed the single bed at the back of the room, while Rose and Alice dumped their bags on the double. I started unpacking my things in the closet at the end of my bed.
"Lord!" Alice cried. "Look how small this bathroom is!"
Rose and I hurried into the bathroom and gaped. The counter was tiny, and so was the rest of the room.
"It's okay, suck it up girls. We can manage." I said, hoping to convince myself as well.
Rose and Alice nodded as we left the bathroom, and began searching the rest of the room.
Suddenly a scream echoed through the room, followed by the sharp slamming noise of a door. I spun around, wide-eyed to look at Rose, who was standing, breathing heavily, at a wooden door near the sliding glass door.
"What happened?" I cried, rushing over.
Rose's brow creased, "There was a man standing in the doorway. It gave me a fright." She whispered.
Alice began laughing, "You opened the interlocking door to the next room!"
I pushed past Rosalie, pulling the door open, to come face to face with Emmett.
A/N: so It's a bit cliché, I know :) but that's what makes it fun. I haven't been to Treasure Island in a few years, so some of my memory is a bit sketchy.
LINKS TO PICTURES OF TREASURE ISLAND, ETC. WILL BE POSTED ON MY SITE
Next chapter will be the flight from the guys perspective. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review. xx take risks