The burning orange dot at the end of her cigarette penetrated the night, and as she exhaled, it seemed like a nighttime cloud was passing through her lips. It was thin and swirled as it went away into nothingness. The night was dark, ebony almost, but he couldn't help but find himself entranced by the colors of the night. He had already acknowledged the most prominent colors, but further glancing had a glorious mix of silver and caramel as the danced across her skin. Her lips, around the cigarette, were of a subtle peach hue, and she herself was a vision in lavender.

"Paul?"

Her eyebrow arched quizzically as she pulled the potential cause of death away from her mouth. The beat of his heart was slow but heavy, the speed increasing rapidly just as his panicking did. What kind of creep just stood and watched a girl by herself? A pervert, he answered to himself. "Paul?" That snapped him back, although the red tint to his skin made it clear that it was fairly embarrassing that it had taken him two times to hear. What color did it look like from where she stood? Lavender like her dress, he guessed.

"You're not cold out here?" Paul shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket awkwardly and drifted to the spot where she stood, kicking small stones along the way. Her focus was over the top of the water of the pool she stood before, almost in a daze. "It's like an invisible blizzard. One minute it's warm but then it just gets colder and colder until you just go numb. I think I'm in the frostbite stage." The humor in her answer was evident in the chuckle that followed it. Paul himself got a laugh out, and whether it was from nervousness or his amusement that she did have a sense of humor, it didn't matter.

A laugh is universal.

"Paul?" There it was again. Maybe it was just him letting her words echo through his skull. His head was so empty at that moment that it could have flown away, and he wouldn't have been surprised. But no, it was in fact her saying his name once again. "Kristal?" Lighthearted in the way that he was bracing himself for something terrible, he looked at her, almost afraid to know why she felt it necessary to call for him again. "You closed the door." The once zoned out, smiling girl was now fully aware and frowning.

"You closed the door." Once again the echo idea pranced through his head but was shot down like before. Kristal was marching to the glass door in her stilettos, and he was surprised that such a small woman could be so full of anger and attitude. Not as much of a threatening gesture as it was a cute one. "There was a rock right there. I put it there to keep the door open. The pool house is closed, and we're stuck here now. I thought you were one of the smart ones."

"And I thought you weren't a brat."

Kristal huffed at his retort, fully prepared to scratch his eyes out if necessary, but the most she knew she was capable of was slapping his arm and having a fit. It was entertaining to see her in her panicking state. Different people reacted differently, and he assumed that she was the type to think the worst when things went awry. "Look," Paul said, pointing his finger. Kristal followed it to the fence and frowned. "No gate."

"We're fine." Processing what he meant by that, Kristal's face and reaction both morphed slowly. First there was confusion, and then there was rejection. "Get it out of your head right now. If you think that I'm climbing that fence, you've fallen way too many times. No. End of story." Her rambling continued though it fell on deaf ears. Paul had wandered to the fence and was observing it closely. Getting a good grip on the top of it, he attempted to pull himself up, his feet assisting in his effort.

Making it halfway, he dropped to the ground.

"It's only six feet, six and a half at the most." Kristal mouthed a shortened version of her answer. No. "I'll carry you. You just let me do the work." Not waiting for her answer, Paul bent over and put his arm around her knee. "Paul!" she warned, her eyes growing wide as he stood up and went along with his plan. "Put me down. You go and climb the stupid fence, but I'm staying right here until the manager wakes up. It's only five more hours. I don't want to die climbing a fence."

"Kristal," he began, pausing to adjust his grip on the top of the wooden fence. "Climb on my back and keep your hands around my neck. I promise I won't drop you, but if I do, I'll make sure I fall first." Nervously, she decided to just go along with it and get it over with. If she was going to die trying to get out she was going to have a death grip on his neck as she fell. "Just relax." His voice was at a near whisper.

Her eyes closed as she took another drag of her cigarette and tossed it behind her into the pool. The soles of his shoots scraped against the wood, and she could feel his shoulder blades digging into her arms as he began to climb. Of course she was terrified, but the cool breeze was soothing as it rubbed against her skin. "Almost done," he said, attempting to relax her as he went over the top. Paul could feel her legs tighten around his waist. A jump without a warning and they were on the other side.

"You can let go now."

Kristal finally opened her eyes to see the glaring fence and the side of the hotel. Her legs were the first to release the hold as she slid down and smoothed out her dress. "Great. Now I can go back to my room and go to sleep. It's too late already. Jillian and Michelle want to leave early in the morning." Her heels tapped against the sidewalk as though someone was skipping stones on concrete. Disbelief could have been one way to describe Paul's expression.

"No thank you?"

Kristal turned to look at him, shaking her head. "Thank you for getting us locked in?" Paul ran his fingers through his dark locks of hair as he watched her leave. As annoyed and frustrated as he was, he was just another man. Who in their right mind would look away? Soon enough he followed suit and retired to his room to get a decent night of sleep.

Just as he closed his eyes, a delicate knock at the door told him that sleep could wait.