A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews and viewing of my story! It is much appreciated. Keep on reading and keep on reviewing please! It keeps my creative juices flowing and helps me to put the story parts in perspective.
The next morning, everyone hopped on the elevator to go down to the dining hall for breakfast. They were all feeling refreshed and reenergized after a good night's sleep. The two schools were integrated for a few days to get to know each other, and they were able to work it out to go to both the luau and the concerts together at the end of the vacation.
Bailey and Nikki had gotten a head start on knowing each other the day before and they went out to the sundeck of the hotel while talking more about what to expect from their time in Hawaii. They had already eaten breakfast so they decided to kill time by playing Uno at a table.
"Have you ever been here before?" Bailey asked.
"I haven't," Nikki replied. "But a lot of my friends had with their families and I was so jealous of them. Now I can finally say that I have. What's it like in Kansas?"
"It's very quiet and rural. I live on a farm with my parents and nine sisters. When I was old enough, I couldn't wait to get out of there and get away from farm life. It was nothing but chores all day and overprotective folks, plus a controlling ex-boyfriend. So I applied to Seven Seas High and was successful. I couldn't be happier there."
"I like living in Maine. My brother graduated three years ago and he's been studying abroad in South Africa for the past year. He'd better bring me back World Cup tickets. Anyways, I graduate next year and I hope to attend University of Southern Maine for psychology."
"But this is a nice getaway. It's beautiful here, don't you think?"
"It sure is. I've only seen pictures and it's nothing like the real thing."
A brunette girl about their age in a bathing suit and dripping wet from the ocean called to Nikki and raced up to her. "When do you want to go in for our movie hour?"
"In about 15 minutes or so," she answered. "Bailey, this is my roommate Samantha. Samantha, this is Bailey, from the other school that's here."
"How are you?" Bailey asked, shaking her hand.
"I'm great, thank you." She turned back to Nikki. "Can Brendan come have dinner with us?"
"Of course."
"Thanks, Nikki. We'll see you there." Samantha went back to the beach to play some more.
"Who's Brendan?" Bailey asked.
"Her boyfriend. They've been together for over eight months and they just can't keep their eyes or their hands off each other."
"Longer than Cody and I have been together. You have a boyfriend?"
"Nope. Happily single right now. I don't want to deal with all the heart tugging of a relationship right now. There's plenty of time for it later."
In the dining hall, Cody sat down with his lunch with his friends and talked about what to do for the afternoon. "I think we'll be going to the Pearl Harbor exhibit tonight and then a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center tomorrow."
"I can't wait for the cultural center," Woody replied. "It''l be cool to see what Hawaiian culture is really like."
Marcus grabbed himself some lemonade and sat down with them, carrying a sandwich with him. "How long will we be at the Pearl Harbor museum again?"
"I'm not sure what time we'll go. I'll have to double-check with Moseby," Cody answered. He got up to get seconds and went straight to the pasta station.
"Another pasta salad, please," he asked the chef.
"You really liked it, huh?"
"Sure did. All those fruits make it exceptional."
"Coming right up."
To his left at another station, Jim Flynn took his spot in line and put food on his tray. He was with his friend and Cody heard something that made him pay attention to their conversation.
"You didn't see the girl I encountered yesterday evening down here, did you?" Jim asked his friend.
"No I didn't," he answered. "What's she like?"
"Light brown hair, brown eyes and she had the sweetest voice you've ever heard. She told me she's taken, but I hope I can win her over."
"You'd better be careful, man. You've been down this road before and it's come back to bite you every time."
"I just hope this one will be different and I anticipate that it will be."
What? Are you kidding me? Cody thought to himself. That description sounds just like Bailey. No it can't be. She knows better. And he's with that other school that's here, so it's gotta be a girl from there.
"Here's your fruit salad, buddy," the chef said, handing the bowl to Cody who was totally preoccupied with listening to Jim's conversation. "Buddy!"
"Huh?" He snapped back and accepted the salad. "Thank you. Sorry about that."
"No problem. Enjoy it."
Cody had a palpitating heart as he walked towards his table. Jim and his pal had all their food and walked behind him while continuing to talk. Cody slowed down and moved to the side in order to listen better.
"I gave her my phone number and told her to give me a ring sometime while we're here." He noticed Cody slowing down in front of him and got impatient. "Hey man, you wanna speed things up?"
"Sorry. I was just getting croutons."
"Well don't waste my time doing it," he rudely said and went to eat with his friend. Cody just got his salad accessories and sat back down with his buddies.
"What took so long?" Woody asked.
"I got sidetracked at the station over there."
"Well, we have a lot of planning to do for today. So don't go wandering off too much," Marcus warned.
"Speaking of getting sidetracked," Zack said out loud looking at the entrance to the dining hall. Nikki was on her way in to get a drink and bring it back to her room. He got up and darted towards her.
"Can I have a Pina Colada smoothie, please?" she asked the lady working the dessert station.
"Hi, beautiful," Zack greeted her.
"What's happening?" she greeted back, but not too enthusiastically.
"I came up here to get sweet stuff just like you are."
"Go ahead. I'm all ordered."
"Dessert isn't the kind of sweet stuff I'm looking for right now."
Nikki knew exactly what Zack was getting at now. She was a shrewd young lady. "I don't think so, pal. There are lots of better girls here to pursue besides me."
"You say that now, but just wait until later. You'll change your mind." Zack maintained his smile and mischievous voice."
"Dream on, dude." She grabbed the smoothie and went back upstairs for her movie hour with Samantha.
"She's hot," Zack told himself. "She'll come around, I know it."
Then Bailey came in for lunch along with some other people from the ship. She got some food and sat down with her boyfriend.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" she asked him.
"I told the guys I'm not sure what time we'll be going to the Pearl Harbor Museum tonight. I know that we'll be at the Polynesian Cultural Center tomorrow."
"The school from Maine is going there too. Maybe you can meet my new friend, Nikki. She's stationed on my floor and we've bonded quite a bit since we've been here. She's really great to get to know."
"That would be nice. She seems sweet."
"She is."
"Bailey," Jim called from behind. She turned and saw him come towards her. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," she replied, trying not to sound cold.
"Well just so you know, we're going to be at the museum tomorrow, so maybe..." He abruptly turned his attention to Cody. "Hey, weren't you the slowpoke who walked in front of me in the salad bar?"
"Yeah, I guess I was," he answered.
"Why did you really slow up?"
Flustered, Cody simply said, "I just did, I don't know."
Bailey saw Cody was uncomfortable so she spoke up and softly and sympathetically let him down. "Jimmy, Cody and I are dating now, so I'm not on the market."
"Yeah, she's been my girlfriend for seven months now," Cody couldn't resist adding. "Come on, Bailey. Let's get ready for tonight's field trip."
"Sure, Cody." She finished eating and went upstairs with him.
Jim went back to his dessert at his table and did some thinking. His friend couldn't help but cringe as he saw a big smirk come across his face.
A/N: More to come hopefully sometime in a couple of weeks.
