Alex woke up and looked around blearily. He rolled over and rubbed his face. He felt his cheeks, for the first time they were slightly scratchy so he got up reluctantly to shave. As Alex was trying to remember what Ian had said when he taught him how to shave he kicked his trunk and guitar case which wobbled slightly then proceeded to fall directly onto his foot. "OW!!! JESUS!! What the-?!" He rubbed his toe furiously and growled swear words under his breath. When he looked up and caught sight of the trunk and case he cheered up a little bit. "Finally! A decent holiday" He whispered. He stumbled to the bathroom where he shaved. As he looked in the sink at the blob of shaving cream with little specks in it he began to feel quite grown up. He looked in the mirror at his now smooth face and checked his hair. He never bothered to cut it. Well, very rarely. His blonde hair was naturally straight like Ian's but Ian cut his short. Alex's was slightly longer and had a fringe that hung over his right eye. He smoothed it down until he was satisfied, cleaned the sink and walked out. On the landing he ran into Jack who looked ready to be admitted to a psychiatric ward. She didn't do mornings. Her hair stuck up in all different directions and she wore a pair of shorts with a long RSPCA t-shirt over the top.

"Hey Jack. Beautiful day huh?" He said with a smile.

"Shut up or I'll pin your head to the wall" She replied. She scowled at him then turned to face the side of Alex's face and rub at his ear.

"Jack! Geroff!"

"Alex hold still. You have shaving cream on your ear, OH MY GOD YOU HAVE SHAVING CREAM ON YOUR EAR!!"!!" She stroked his face lovingly.

"Yes Jack" Alex clapped sarcastically. He smiled at her and she reluctantly smiled back.

"Aw my baby Alex shaves!!" She placed her hands together in front of her lips like she was praying then clapped her hands. "I need to go find Ian. IAN?! ALEX SHAVES NOW!!!" She staggered off still under the influence of sleep shouting for Ian. Alex shook his head fondly and went to get ready. He pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt he left out and stuck a pair of trainers on. They all piled their cases in the porch an hour and a half later and waited for the taxi. The ride to the airport was uneventful but not boring all the same. Alex stared out the window at the passing traffic whilst Jack and Ian managed to have a real conversation about what appeared to be the difference between manual toothbrushes and electric toothbrushes. By the time they all finally got to the airport Jack and Ian were on to the subject of tomatoes. It always amazed Alex how well Ian and Jack got on. She wasn't really the housekeeper anymore. She was just Ian's and Alex's best friend now. They were always laughing and playing drinking games together. Jack usually ended up the most drunk whilst Ian just sat on the stools laughing at her trying to complete bizarre dares.

The plane ride was uneventful as well. Except for the brief moments of turbulence but Alex wasn't focusing on them. He was too busy trying to prize Jacks claws off his hands before they broke his bones. She didn't like turbulence. The scenery from the plane was amazing. They were flying over Florida now Alex could see sun and pools everywhere. He was listening to his MP3. He had an I-pod touch. He flicked through his songs until he found the one he wanted and settled into his seat to soak up the last few minutes of flying. Before he knew it even with his headphones in Alex could hear Jacks American accent screeching "Here we go here we go HERE WE GO! ARGH!" "Hmm" Thought Alex. "We must be landing. Sure enough he looked out the window as the plane thudded to the runway. When the time finally came for them to get off the plane Alex had lost all feeling in his right hand. After they had picked up their luggage they wondered over to a short pink man in an Hawaiian shirt. Unfortunately for them out of the six people waiting to give rides to people coming off the plane, they got the cab driver who talked non stop. The half hour ride was mind numbingly boring. Alex had his I-pod glued in his ears and was unaware of everything until Jack punched his arm.

"OW!!! HEY! What the -"

"We're here!!!" Alex grumbled and rubbed his arm as he stepped out into the blistering heat. He only noticed the hotel after he had taken his trunk out the car. He stared at the fancy white building. It was long and 3 stories high. Each room had a balcony painted in blue. The steps in front of the hotel where clean white marble and although Alex couldn't see the pool he could already hear the children laughing and playing.

"Woah." Said Ian simply. Alex nodded and smiled at Ian. They left Jack outside to struggle with her overflowing cases and walked up to the reception. There was a young girl with pigtails and the hotel uniform behind the desk. She was smiling broadly but the smile looked painted in. Alex thought she must have been like that all day because she looked at the guests as if she wanted to jump out from behind the desk and attack them with a pen.

"Hello! Hola! Bonjour and Guten tag!" She said. Ian replied in English. "Oh!!! You're from England!!!" She sounded delighted to hear Ian's accent and Alex smiled to his self. She pronounced it 'Engerlind'.

"Yep. Indeed we are and we have 3 rooms under the name 'Reding'." The girl squealed again and quite literally punched the keyboard with enthusiasm. She then handed them booklets on the hotel and their room keys. She also gave Alex a manual and his life guard uniform. He started tomorrow. They walked upstairs and dumped their stuff in their rooms and met downstairs in the restaurant but Alex didn't sit down. "Where are you going Alex? Asked Jack. She was sipping a pina colada and looking quite at home.

"Oh I'm just going out to have a look at the pool."

"Ok be careful" She warned. But Alex could see she wasn't paying much attention. She was too busy staring at the guy doing water aerobics. Ian looked distracted by this. Alex stepped outside and stared around the pool. Already he could see German and other foreign people. He thanked his lucky stars he spoke so many languages. He saw two American kids playing catch in the pool whilst their mum wore a cowboy hat and filmed them on an old cam recorder about the size of a cinder block. He also saw a girl with long hair the color of a conker. It looked almost red in the sun. He could only see the back of her head. She was playing with a girl who looked about 5. He could see her face but the older girl was turned away talking to her. He looked about for a bit more and wondered round the side of the hotel. It was all inclusive so he picked up an ice cream and walked slowly back to the hotel restaurant. Just in time as well. Ian and Jack were just ordering their dinner.

"Oh hey honey." Jack greeted him warmly and he stood behind her chair and hugged her from the back. She put a hand on his arm. "What do you want for dinner?" Alex just said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Chips please." The American waitress looked kinda stunned.

"Oh… that's… unusual for dinner." But she wrote it on her pad anyway. Then it hit Alex.

"Oh no, sorry. I mean fries." The waitress laughed and nodded and walked away. Alex sat down opposite Ian.

"So what did ya see?" He asked. He looked worriedly at Jack who was sipping another pina colada and looking spaced out. Alex stifled a laugh as she wobbled in her chair. Jack could not handle alcohol but when she tried it was as funny as hell.

"Oh nothing. Just walked round the pool and got an ice cream. This place is massive!" Ian nodded. They ate their dinner and Alex had to bite his lip again as Jack stumbled up the stair. Her excuse for drinking was "I'm on hoooooooliday!". Finally they made it up the stairs and went their separate ways. He wore just his boxers to bed. As he stared at the roof of his room Alex wondered how the rest of the holiday would go. If Jack gets as drunk as she did today again it's gonna be hilarious…