5 more chaptersssssss! :)
And this is a loooooong chapter. For me, at least.
Sorry about the wait! I do have this story all figured out, so yay, right? More chapters very soon.
Now... read!
25.
Sydney, Australia
The Girl's Suite
December 11th, 7:32 PM
"Take a deep breath." Kristen exhaled the words to herself gently, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She was in the midst of shaving her ankles, and an angry red scrape would not look good. Especially when… her and Derrick…
"Ugh!" Kristen cried, as her hand slipped and the blade gouged out a good chunk of skin. Blood immediately began to flow from the wound, as Kristen half-hopped, half-slipped towards the medicine cabinet to grab a Band-Aid. As soon as the cut was covered with clean tan fabric, Kristen exhaled. Derrick wouldn't mind. She would not be ridiculed. She would be okay.
Instinctively, Kristen reached for the premium container of mango-mint shampoo that the hotel imported from Brazil, but then pulled her hand back. Faintly, she remembered Massie saying something about Derrick being allergic to the smell of mangoes, and just to be on the safe side, she grabbed the safer hypoallergenic shea butter shampoo & conditioner. After a quick prayer to gawd that Derrick wouldn't get hives from faint traces of dairy (although she had seen him eat ice-cream on several occasions), she poured a small iridescent puddle into her hand and raised it to her scalp.
After thoroughly saturated her hair with the glossing products, she slid out of the shower, moisturized to the point that her feet could never find an easy hold on the tile. Kristen caught sight of her messy hair in the mirror, she swore under her breath and wished for the umpteenth time that she could use the electric-current hair brushing and drying thing that was mentioned several times in The Hunger Games. It would make her life so much easier. But, no, of course Kristen had to use the old-fashioned comb and untangling spray method.
When she emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later (convinced that she had lost at least half of her blonde hair from the comb), she clutched at a towel to cover herself, finding that Dylan had stolen the last robe.
"Hey Dyl?" Kristen called. "What're you wearing?" It was a last resort, truly, asking Dylan-I'm-Nikki's-Best-Friend-Marvil for clothing advice, but Kristen needed people on her side. And if Dylan was pissed at Kristen, there was no telling what kind of hell she could bring upon her, mainly through secrets leaked to the alpha. Playing with your leader's boyfriend was a treacherous game, and if Kristen was to succeed, she couldn't have potential traitors within her front lines.
Granted, that meant she had to get rid of Nikki, fast. But, she'd deal with that when she had the opportunity.
"Come into the living room!" Dylan called.
Kristen padded into the living room uncertainly, seeing Dylan posing at the counter. Nikki stood a few feet behind her, looking apprehensive.
Dylan had on a faded yellow tie-front crop top with a white daisy on it, and a few inches of somewhat tanned stomach was exposed before the top of her gray and white pinstriped boxer shorts. Overtop she wore the missing robin-egg short fluffy robe, her flaming hair pulled into two perfect low pigtails. As Nikki cautiously moved to stand next to her, Kristen analyzed her outfit as well. It was nearly the same, except her crop-top was red and had a surfer ironed onto the front in black. Her boxer shorts were navy with little ducks, and the robe was cream. Her hair was braided into a fishtail.
"Nice." Kristen blushed. "Um, mind if I copy you?"
"Not at all." Nikki said, smiling gently. "We'd love to have a third." Kristen's brows furrowed slightly at this, but knitted their way out before detection. Perhaps Nikki wanted her as a friend. Maybe this could work in Kristen's favor.
"Help me pick out something?"
Together, the girls managed to find a pair of plaid boxer shorts and a white v-neck that could be converted into a crop top (with hair ties) in the depths of Kristen's suitcase. By a hurried search of Massie & Alicia's bathroom, they came up with a short sea foam green robe. Nikki offered to do Kristen's hair, to which the blonde agreed after a short deliberation. Her hair turned out to be loose, two braids weaving their way across her hairline and meeting in the back in a braid. It was classic surfer chic.
"Are we ready?" Kristen ventured, sliding her slick hands against her moisturized legs. The brief fun of finding an outfit had eclipsed the complete doom Kristen felt. She had promised to have sex with Derrick, something that she was nowhere near prepared for, not mentally, and definitely not physically. She wasn't Nikki Dalton, who did this all the time. She was Kristen Gregory, straight-A student, mother's daughter, and the conscience of the pretty committee.
"We're so ready." Dylan cried, giddy for all the wrong reasons. "Let's get over there."
Cains, Australia
The Bungalow
December 11th, 8:35 PM
"And for what reason did you do that?" Massie rested her head in her hands, sighing.
"Don't worry. I didn't actually freak out. We ended the date… nicely. He kissed me on the cheek."
"What are we in, the sixteenth century?" Alicia scoffed. "He was ahv-iously freaked out by your freak-out."
"Well, how would you have reacted if your date turned out to be the ex of your ex's now-girlfriend?"
"Not like that, that's for sure!" Alicia giggled, widening her eyes to show she was joking. She had experienced a wonderful night with Nate, even after Massie had come back. There was a spark between them, which even Massie couldn't compete with. And love made even Alicia softer towards the blonde misfit.
"Hey! I did not screw it up." Claire pouted, biting her already-puffy lips to keep from smiling. "In fact, he just texted me."
Caiden: Are you going to go to the beach tomorrow?
Claire: In the afternoon, yeah… I'll be at a yoga retreat until eleven am
Caiden: I'll miss you ;)
After a healthy round of shrieking and fanning her face, Claire finally settled on another text with Massie's help.
Claire: I will too ;) Had a great time tonight, hope we can do it again
"What's going to happen when we go back to Sydney?" Alicia suddenly sat up straight, fear shooting through her eyes. She had the sense to whisper-shout the sentence, but Claire still glanced up from typing.
"Um." Massie yawned. "Leesh, we need ice. Can you come get it with me? I do not want to walk out there alone."
"Yeah, of course." The latina rose to her feet gracefully, leaning over to grab the crystal sphere that served as the ice container. "God this is heavy."
Massie walked in silence until they got to about ten yards away from the bungalow.
"Are you crazy?" The alpha hissed suddenly, Alicia pressing back up against the wall. "First you tell Nate about the Nikki/Cam secret, emphasis on the secret part, and then we finally get a breakthrough and you mention leaving?"
"Sorry. I miss Josh." Alicia blurted. It was the truth, she did miss her boyfriend. In a way.
"Don't worry, Nate's a good stand-in." Massie's lips curled into a smirk, and then, in absence of any response, Alicia started laughing, but stopped when she realized the alpha wasn't joining in.
"It's okay, really. You can have 'em. I have Derrick, but what about you? And Josh?"
"I'll deal with that aspect when I get to it." The beta blurted, running her spread fingers through her dark hair, mentally trying to decide how to wear her hair for tomorrow.
"Just don't get yourself in trouble."
"I won't, and besides, we'll be gone by Christmas, right? We'll never see them again."
Sydney, Australia
The Boy's Suite
December 11th, 8:59 PM
"That was great." Nikki yawned loudly, her sentence echoing around the small living nook. "I love comedy-action-drama-thingies."
Kristen laughed louder than she needed to, suddenly nervous. A yawn usually was synonymous with bedtime. And bedtime at this moment was synonymous with the promise she had made Derrick. His warm hand, wrapped around the small of her back, only served as a reminder of her imminent doom.
"Should we watch another?" Cam poked Nikki in the shoulder jokingly. "'Cause, I know how much Nikki loves these things."
"Oh please. You two were making out the entire time." Josh called, earning a laugh from Derrick and a "yeah!" from Dylan.
"Should we go to bed?" Derrick hinted loudly, his face aiming towards her. "I'm pretty tired actually. You guys could watch another." His grip around Kristen suggested that staying was not an option for her.
"Nah. I'm tired too." Cam mimed rolling around and making out on the couch. "You know how much I love bed."
"Cam!" Nikki smacked him. "Please!"
Dylan chortled as she rose, collecting her robe from where she had left it on the floor. "The pizza is making me sleepy."
"Not too tired, I hope." Josh winked, shaking his thick black hair free of popcorn pieces and random candy Dylan had deposited there.
Soon enough, the living room was being slightly straightened out by Nikki as Dylan headed into the kitchen to grab glasses of water for everyone. It was clear, even without saying it, that everyone knew what everyone else was going to end up doing tonight. Kristen's stomachache got worse with every tick of the clock.
How am I going to get out of this? How are Dylan and Nikki so casual about this? Am I in a house of insane people? Should I call the police? Wait, is this even illegal? No, probably not, because neither of us are over 17, and it's not minor without consent or whatever. But we're in Australia! What am I going to do?
"Alright!" Derrick yawned. "I think we're going to head off. You guys?" He accepted the glasses from Dylan, gulping thirstily at one of them. Kristen took small, panicked sips from the other, as if it would be able to save her.
"Have fun, D." Cam whisper-shouted, as Nikki dragged him off into the first room on the right.
"See ya tomorrow!" Dylan called before disappearing into the second room. Derrick's room was on the very end, with a red painted door. Kristen suddenly started imagining everything malign that was red. Blood. The Devil. Lobsters. Stop signs. Hearts.
Derrick's room was very nice, nicer than Kristen's even. A sculpted scarlet (of course) fabric headboard presided over his California king bed strewn with different black blankets and black pillows. The floor was hardwood with a gray fluffy rug, which matched the ceiling. A flat-screen TV stood against one wall, which his silver MacBook air was charging underneath.
"Like it?" He whispered, smiling. "Bathroom's over there, if you need it."
Too nervous for words, Kristen nodded and dashed into the aforementioned room. There, she sat on the closed toilet seat for a good five minutes and shook. When she finally got herself together, she stood up, took off her robe and hung it on one of the posts. Then, she analyzed herself in the mirror.
Blonde hair messily braided into an intricate design framed a sweaty, pink face. Her skinny-but-muscled arms shook, while her lips curled into an unhappy frown. Couldn't Derrick see she didn't want this?
Or were his wants over-clouding her needs? Her needs to stay wholesome, and not become someone like Nikki?
"Hey, K? You ready?"
"Yeah." She stammered. "I'm coming."
Cains, Australia
The Girl's Bungalow
December 11th, 9:32 PM
"Have you guys heard from Derrick or anything?" Claire looked up from her laptop, looking over to the open patio slider, where Massie and Alicia lay, half in and half out.
"No." Massie giggled, covering her mouth. "Do you want dirt on Nikki or something?"
"Yeah, actually." Claire blushed. When she noticed the girls' dirty looks, she shrugged. "It's interesting."
"I'll text K & D."
"I can text Josh."
Bwoop. Bwoop.
Thirty minutes later…
"Still nothing?"
"Nope." Massie and Alicia said in unison.
"Kristen always has her phone, though." Claire blurted, eager for information. "Do you think they went to bed early?"
"Please, Dylan's bedtime is, like, never." Alicia gently rolled into a chest-stand on the soft bed, stretching and cracking her back. It was her routine before bed. Apparently, she just couldn't sleep if her back was in the wrong position.
"Maybe they were tired." Massie quipped.
"What would they be tired from?" Claire took it farther.
The question went unanswered for a while, each girl contemplating it.
"I have no idea."
Whoo! I finally got this one out. It was a struggle, believe me.
So what do you think? Are you excited for the sequel? Please leave me a review about your opinions, since I love hearing about them so much!
I'm going to try and finish this story this week(end), as I HAVE NO MORE FINALS (!), but I do have a ton of dance, so I'll try! I'm leaving on tuesday next week for the outer banks (if anyone reads Sand & Feathers, that's where it's based) so maybe I'll have a strike of inspiration there and try and progress on that story too.
Okay. Blurt over.
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