The Jurassic Park ride ended up being the highlight of the day. That and having to walk past the ever-growing mob of fangirls that continued encircling the twins and their girlfriends. The crowd was still growing strong after the ride and didn't look like it would be stopping anytime soon, which lifted Nicole and Kate's moods.
The four of them continued to walk around the park, checking out the shops and scenery. But Nicole felt mentally exhausted after the torturous experience of the last ride, and Kate could sense it too. Nicole had missed too many opportunities for sly remarks (which was highly unlike her). So Kate suggested that they all head back to the hotel and chill out for the rest of the night, and with that, they made their way back to the bus shuttles.
Nicole took her usual seat by the window and was too exhausted to care who was sitting next to her. She just needed some music and a little shut eye, and just hoped that whoever was next to her could respect that.
Now that Kate knew Nicole could tolerate Ethan, there was no stopping Kate's progressive meddling with her best friend's love life. After all, there's only a small step from toleration to infatuation. So Kate purposely took a seat in the row behind her friend, giving Ethan the perfect opportunity to take her place.
Fortunately, Ehan got the hint. He really couldn't help it at this point. He didn't feel like he was done protecting her. When he sat down, she already was blasting music, but it wasn't as aggressive as he expected it to be. It was something lighthearted yet melodic with a bit of an edge, like Indie Rock. He didn't mean to stare, he really didn't, but now that he had witnessed what she's like when she's not so intimidating, how could he not?
Nicole finally turned around, expecting Kate to talking about how much she enjoyed her day, but instead, she was met by Ethan's hazel eyes. He mentally prepared himself for some snarky comment about how he should stop ogling her, but Nicole just softly nodded and turned her attention back to the window.
Nicole couldn't help but replay what had happened on the ride. She hadn't experienced that kind of kindness in God knows how long. Maybe he wasn't as annoying as she thought he was. Or maybe she wasn't as intimidating as she thought she was. She didn't know which thought was more terrorizing…
The glare from the window made her face inwards. She could feel Ethan's gaze still fixated on her, so she stared right back. A staring contest ensued. Ethan looked at her in awe. "I can't believe it. She's looking right at me, no eye-rolling, no glaring, nothing. Wait, is she actually… oh my God, I think she's smiling at me," Ethan thought.
Nicole couldn't believe it either. Ethan just looked right at her, no hesitation or fear. It didn't look like he was going to break his stare in this little game of theirs. "You know, he's not as terribly bad looking as I thought he was when I first met him," she thought. He was looking around her face again, doing that analyzing thing he's been doing all day.
"What are you thinking about?" Nicole asked curiously, breaking the silence. Ethan thought for a minute before answering. "You wouldn't like it if I told you."
Nicole rolled her eyes and sighed annoyingly at his response, turning her attention back to out the window. Typical. A guy truly has only one thing on his mind.
Granted, Nicole was right to think that she was on his mind, but what she didn't know was that all he was thinking about was when it would be the next time he could see her. And the time after that. And how close they could become. And how she was on his mind from the moment he woke up to the moment he closed his eyes to sleep. It would be pathetic to let her know any of that, so Ethan kept it to himself.
Nicole turned back to him and boldly asked, "Why do you like me?" There was no point in being around the bush about it it. It was obvious that he did. Even from the moment they first met, she knew he had instantly fallen for her. At the time she was a little annoyed with this, making her question his common sense. But then she remembered her first love and how she lost all of her own common sense over him.
"You have the most beautiful resting bitch face I've ever seen," Ethan said without missing a beat.
A huge grin grew onto Nicole's face as she brimmed with joy. That was both a pleasant surprise and a very good answer.
Ethan started to feel faint. "My God, that smile could end world hunger, create world peace, turn life into a never-ending musical," he thought. Nicole started laughing at Ethan's dumfounded expression. It was like he had stopped breathing again.
Now, any normal person would be upset at getting laughed at but Ethan was definitely not normal, especially when it came to Nicole. He had made her laugh. And it was the most beautiful laugh he had ever heard. It was high-pitched, sudden, and loud. And he was the cause of it. Ethan couldn't help but smile proudly himself.
Back at the hotel...
"The look…" Nicole panted in between laughs, "The look on his face!" She was doubled over with laughter, leaning onto Kate's body. "They're probably still there!" exclaimed Kate, eyes watering. Neither of them could remember the last time they laughed this hard. It was such a perfect plan. Slip the news of the brothers' fame. Allow it to go viral. Watch the fireworks commence. A perfect way to enjoy a day, don't you think?
The boys had rushed upstairs into their room. Well, Danny rushed them upstairs; Ethan was still in a bit of a daze, probably because of the water. Or Nicole. Or both, really. Anyways, someone had to look out for his health and if it wasn't going to be himself, then someone else should've stepped up to the plate.
So this left the girls alone in the lobby to laugh and reminisce. After the ride, they left the amusement park in relatively good moods. Thankfully, they had saved the Jurassic Park ride for last and with Ethan being the way he was, decided to call it a day. "Besides, everyone knows that the only amusement park that really matters is Disneyland," Kate had told them.
It took them a while to finally get their breathing back in order and their stomachs ached like crazy, but eventually Kate and Nicole were able to settle down. They were at an all-time high. Kate was beginning to feel like herself again; she was able to be close to Jordan, interact with him, and remain completely unaffected. Granted, probably not in the most polite of ways, but it was still progress nonetheless.
Nicole, too, was beginning to feel at ease here, even with Ethan Banks around. In fact, Ethan Harris may have been the specific reason why she was feeling comfortable here. He's done a lot for her. And whether she liked it or not, Ethan was definitely becoming a presence in her life.
Their laughter had turned into sighs. They needed to wait at the lobby for the guys to return. They were veterans of this event and the girls counted on them to know what to do. Besides, it wasn't like they knew anyone else here. "Hey! You two are from twoawkardgirls right?" asked an upbeat voice.
Nicole recognized the boy instantly. "Oh my gosh, it's Tyler Woods," Nicole thought aloud. Kate's eyes shot up after recognizing the incredibly famous YouTuber.
Tyler Woods could've been the face for the entire company itself. He was hilarious, relatable, and entertaining beyond measure. Watching him was like going to an amusement park without leaving your house.
"I knew it was you guys! I'm such a fan," he exclaimed. Nicole couldn't believe what she just heard. Tyler Woods was a fan of their videos. Tyler Woods has watched their videos. And Tyler Woods actually liked their videos. She could've passed out with unadulterated joy at this point.
"Thank you! I'm such a huge fan!" Nicole gushed. Tyler smiled at the compliment. "I'm so excited to meet you guys! I was going to look around for you guys at the convention center tomorrow," Tyler informed.
"We were going to do the same thing!" Nicole exclaimed. The two newly acquainted friends laughed at the adorable coincidence. "I just had to meet the people in charge of BoyZone. Some of your questions are savage!" he exclaimed. A grin broke out on Kate's face as she looked away. "Well, hot guys have had it too good for too long. They deserve a little tough love," Kate winked.
"Truuu!" Tyler agreed in between laughs.
From there, the conversation went well. In the small time span, they discussed favorite videos, collabs, and even ideas. Unfortunately, they were only able to spend a few bits of dialogue for each subject. Tyler looked down at his phone that was blowing up with notifications. "Listen, I have to go, but I'm having a little dinner tonight with some other YouTubers and I'd love it if you guys came. What do you think?" he asked.
The girls couldn't say yes fast enough. This was a chance of a lifetime. Tyler was elated. He told them that they were all going to meet downstairs in the lobby and carpool to the restaurant. Then they swapped numbers, hugged (you know, the usual Hollywood-esque ritual), and out Tyler went; probably off to greet his hundreds of fans or star in a movie or fangirl over celebrities. The usual.
"Yes, you heard it here first folks, twoawkwardgirls just made it into the big leagues," Kate announced as she turned to Nicole, "We're going to Tyler Woods' birthday party!" Kate grabbed onto Nicole's shoulder and the both of them began jumping up and down.
A few hours later...
Nicole was still at the sink getting ready while Kate waited impatiently at the bed. This was going to be her first time meeting Tyler's crew and she was not about to make a bad first impression. Her hair was hard enough to handle as it is and this Floridian humidity was not helping. After taming all of her curls, she picked up her make-up palette. She decided to go with a neutral brown smokey eye look, as it would complement her LBD dress.
("How do you know about all of this make-up stuff?" a girl asked from the crowd. Other people began nodding and repeating the question too. Harry sighed. "Because I happen to notice when women look different. I'm just a good boyfriend like that," he proudly proclaimed. The women in the audience smiled in response while the men stared at him in shock. This guy was making them look bad. One of guy's girlfriend was already nudging at his side as if to say 'See? You could be like that'. "Aaand, I spend a little too much time on YouTube," Harry quickly added, "Michelle Phan is bae.")
"Nicole, are you done yet?" Kate called out. It was only a couple minutes away from their meet-up time. Her foot was shaking as she fiddled with the sleeves of her dress. Nicole went over her eyeliner. "Almost!" she called out. She could already tell Kate was getting jittery from the sounds of Kate's feet knocking into the bed frame. "Why don't you go down there first and I'll meet you there?" Nicole proposed.
"Really?" Kate asked, sitting up. Nicole voiced her agreement. Kate stood up eagerly. She grabbed her cell phone and strapped on her heels. "Ok! I'll be right downstairs!" And before Nicole could voice a reply, she heard the sound of footsteps scattering out the door and the door slamming shut thus finally leaving her alone to blast her favorite Drake song to get pumped for the night.
Kate nervously walked down the hallway, spinning her phone in her hands. She was about to meet up with famous YouTubers without her channel partner. What was she thinking? Nicole was always the one who actually knew who all of these people were; without her, Kate would end up looking like a complete idiot. She waiting by the elevator door contemplating turning back around, when the elevator opened revealing a well-dressed gentleman.
The man stepped aside, giving Kate room to step inside the elevator. She smiled politely before turning her back to him to face the doors. The spiky-haired blond looked his fellow rider over. Her deep green dress complemented her tanned skin as her long black hair flowed down in slight curls. Her dress flared at mid-thigh, showing a decent set of legs. The blond nodded approvingly. It'd be rude not to at least say hi, right?
"Hi," he greeted, leaning over to her. Kate turned her head politely, but still avoid eye contact. "Hi," she replied. The man leaned over again. "Are you here for the convention?" he asked.
"Yeah. You?" Kate reciprocated, feeling obliged to ask.
"Yeah! I'm Emerson Jones," he introduced himself.
Kate was forced to completely turn around to shake his hand. "Kate Lin," she introduced before turning back around. Emerson took a step forward so that he was beside her now. He let out a short laugh. "Is that your first name or your full name?" he teased. Kate resisted the urge to scoff out loud. As if she hadn't heard that one before. "Both," she replied shortly.
Emerson smiled. He could definitely work with this. The first step to attracting a female is to separate yourself from the crowd.
("Emerson taught me this a while ago. That man is a genius," Harry informed.)
Pro Tip #1: One easy way to do this is by calling a girl by a different name so that she'll always think of you whenever that name comes up. And since Kate was obviously a nickname, all he had to do was give her a different one. "So, Kat, what's your Youtube channel?"
Kate wrinkled her forehead. Kat? Of all the nicknames he could've given her, he went with the one that reminded her of litter boxes? Great. Just great. "I run one with my friend. Twoawkwardgirls? It's pretty small," she replied. Emerson nodded slowly. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember any videos at the moment. But then again, he was a little too preoccupied with thinking up ways to get this girl's number to think of anything else at the moment. "I feel like I've heard of it. I mostly do vlogs, what about you, Kat?" he asked.
"A little bit of this and little bit of that," Kate vaguely replied, "Variety is the spice of life." Emerson laughed (a little too loudly) at the remark. "True. You always should," Emerson paused for dramatic effect, "Spice up your life." He grinned widely, waiting for the pun to sink in.
Pro Tip #2: Puns are always the way to a woman's heart. Actually, they're the way to anyone's heart. Kate cocked her head as she let the pun sink in. She turned to look at the genius who created something so wonderful.
("Which is not what she told me, but it's accurate," Harry added.)
"DId you just reference the Spice Girls?" Kate asked, looking amused. Emerson simply replied with a wide grin. Kate rolled her eyes, scoffed, and turned back around. Of all the stupid things she's ever heard…
Finally, the elevator door opened with a relieving ding. Kate took the first step out of the box and tossed a short "bye" over her shoulder before walking away. Emerson casually rested his hands in his pockets as a lazy grin remained on his face. He could definitely hear a smile when she said goodbye to him. If it wasn't for the door opening, he was sure she would've given him her number. But then again, who wouldn't? He was a pro at this!
Once she was far enough away to be seen, Kate took to her phone. She opened up her conversation with Nicole and typed in a few words into the box before quickly erasing it. There was no point in sending anything. If she wanted Nicole to get down here faster, she would have to refrain from distracting her.
So Kate kept on clicking random things on her home screen just to look busy enough to avoid anymore unheeded encounters. "Honestly, Tyler is always late," complained a sweet-sounding voice from close by. Kate looked up from her phone at the source.
The woman must've been in her 20s. She wore white pleated chiffon dress with pearls accenting the top half. Her hair hung down in wide curls accenting the brown-to-blonde ombre. Now, Kate should've just gone up to her and introduce herself; after all, it was obvious this girl was here for Tyler's dinner too, but Kate couldn't. She's seen this girl around before. She was BIG on the YouTube scene and going up to someone of that caliber was quite intimidating.
"He's probably trying to pick a good outfit," her boyfriend, Freddie, replied. Georgiana scoffed. "We both know he probably got distracted by tumblr again," she confirmed. She looked around for a mirror to adjust her hair. If Tyler was going to be late, she might as well put this time to good use. It was while she was looking around that Georgiana noticed our girl in green.
"Oh hello," Georgiana greeted as she approached Kate. Kate froze when she noticed the famous YouTuber approaching her. Luckily for her, her fight-or-flight response kicked her subconsciousness into gear, veering her forward with a smile.
"Are you here for Tyler's dinner?" Georgiana asked. Kate nodded. "Yeah, we're supposed to meet here, right?" Kate questioned, already knowing the answer.
"That's right. We're just waiting for everyone else to arrive," she replied. Her boyfriend came over, looking down at his cell phone. "Alright, love, so Liam and Emerson just got to the lobby," he informed.
It didn't even take a minute for his information to prove accurate. Two boys strode through the lobby, gaining the attention of a few girls as they walked past, but then again, who could blame them. They were attractive guys and any of their millions of followers would testify to that.
"I see we're waiting on Tyler again," observed the gelled hair one. He wore a white and red checkered button-up, black pants, and crisp white vans. Kate looked on approvingly. Ah, another attractive member of this group. Even better. "We would've been here sooner if this one didn't make me wait for him," said Emerson. Kate watched as the familiar blonde went over to give Georgiana and Freddie a hug. As if this couldn't get any worse.
Thankfully, Kate wasn't left alone for long because Nicole sauntered in only a few seconds earlier. Kate nearly pounced on her friend as she entered the circle. Apparently all of these well-off, good-looking people were getting to her. Introductions were exchanged and within a minute, everyone knew everyone else's name. The boyfriend was Freddie Weakes. The sandy-haired, chereked one was Liam Driver. And well, we all know about the ever-present Emerson Jones.
"Now, I guess all we're waiting for is Tyler," Kate surmised. The group seemed a little small, but hey, who was she to judge. Maybe it just meant they were that tight-knit; and joining such an exclusive group significantly improved Kate's confidence.
"Actually, we're still waiting on a few more people," informed Freddie. Nicole and Kate looked around for another group of oncoming attractive people. Obviously, attractiveness was the unspoken requirement of the group as well as critical YouTube fame.
"Finally, here come the boys," Liam pointed out. Kate's and Nicole's faces couldn't whip towards that direction fast enough.
Imagine a slow motioned turn. Their eyes widened as the blurred details of the missing crew began clearing up. Styled brown hair. A sharp black blazer. A fitted charcoal button-up. Award-winning smiles. And two sets of mesmerizing blue-green eyes.
Both of the girls' mouths dropped open. "Shit," each of them thought. And by each of them, this also includes the boys. They stopped right in front of the girls, eyes wide and mouths closed. They stood face-to-face in silence; each unable to recover from the realization.
Liam and Emerson went over to greet the two boys, not noticing their shocked faces. "Took you long enough, Banks," teased Emerson as he gave Ethan Banks a hug. The boys were knocked out of their daze to greet everyone in the group respectively. "Well, Ella took a little while," Ethan nervously laughed.
He did not expect to see Nicole here. This was his crew. Sure, Tyler was a bit of a social butterfly, but he's only been here two days! How the hell did he meet every single person in this convention already?
"Nice to see you again, Georgiana!" Ella greeted. Ethan winced internally at Ella's voice. She was definitely not going to be happy about this. Georgiana, Ella and Jo exchanged hugs. Georgiana turned to the other two girls, " Oh, this is Kate and-"
"Nicole!" squealed Jo as she wrapped her up in a hug. Nicole stood there, hands stuck to her sides, and smiled politely. "I didn't know you were coming to Tyler's dinner!" she exclaimed.
"I didn't even know you were friends," muttered Ella, arms crossed.
"Well, we met him in the lobby and he invited us to dinner," Kate informed.
"Wait, you guys already know each other?" Georgiana asked, looking between all of them.
"Are you kidding? We're practically best friends," Jo chimed in.
Jo grinned widely as she squeezed Nicole's arm which was encased in a firm grip thus leaving her unable to escape. "Hellooo guys!" Tyler's voice rang out. The group turned their focus onto the final, and most important, dinner guest.
While everyone took this time to crowd around their fashionably late host, Jordan glanced over to Kate. This was getting ridiculous. Sure, YouTube was a niche kind of group, but there shouldn't be this much overlap. He didn't even know they were friends. Ethan and Ella were conversing with Georgiana and Freddie while Jo was latched onto Nicole. He was on his own.
After taking a breath, Jordan went over to Tyler to wish him a happy birthday. Kate looked down at her feet while the two men hugged. Tyler looked over from Jordan to Kate with a smile. "Jordan, this is Kate. Kate, this is-" Tyler gestured to the model in the dark grey button-up.
"Jordan Banks," Kate finished. There was something about the way his name felt on her lips. It'd been years since she's last seen him, hell, even spoken of him. It felt foreign in her mouth. And yet, it rolled off her tongue as if she's said it so many times that she's explored every possible inflection, syllable, and letter.
"We've met," she clarified. Tyler cocked his head, curious to hear their "how we met" story. Kate just smiled and stared directly into Jordan's eyes. Apparently the paralyzing effect from last night had finally worn off. She had found her sense of self; and it was starting to freak Jordan out.
"We should get going if we're going to make that reservation," Freddie reminded. Jordan quickly turned to Freddie, thankful for the interruption. Kate looking at him like that was beginning to rattle his nerves. It was just too direct. At least when she was paralyzed, he didn't feel like she was staring down his soul. Jordan quickly followed behind Ethan who was talking to Tyler about some new video as they led the group out.
They had reserved a large private booth for the entire group. Tyler naturally sat in the middle with Georgiana on his right and Ethan on his left. Beside Ethan sat Ella (of course), followed by Jo, Jordan, and Liam. On the opposite side sat Freddie, Nicole, Kate, and Emerson, respectively.
Which meant that Kate was going to have to try to handle loverboy over here while also trying to hang with the cool kids. "You've ever had this before?" Emerson asked, leaning in far too closely. Kate sat straight in her seat with her arms crossed on the table. "Nope,' she replied.
Emerson was a bit surprised she wasn't pulling back, but that was sort of expected from the Pick-up Line Pro. It took him a while to finally place her, but after seeing her face, it was easy.
Guys throwing horrible pick-up lines at girls were common on YouTube, but a girl going up to "hot" guys with viewer submitted questions gained a lot of attention; especially when that girl would commonly slip in horrible, punny pick-up lines into every interview. The comments section alone was hilarious. And they knew it too.
Viewer-suggested pick-up lines were commonly slipped into those interviews. It was just one large, interactive punny mess. Now that he was in the same room with her, Emerson just couldn't help himself. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"It's pretty cool, they toss the food in the air, set it on fire and whatnot. It's a really good show," Emerson informed. Kate smiled politely and nodded. Emerson rapped his fingers against the table. Usually, he would've just given up; no point in trying to hit on a girl who wasn't interested. But this girl was the Pick-Up Line Pro, all he had to do was draw it out. "It's really fun. I mean, choosing between this and Disney World would be a toss-up," Casper casually stated. He looked out the corner of his eye for a reaction, but found none.
"How's the weather treating you, Banks? Must've been a while since you've been out here," Liam asked Ethan. Ella smiled and placed a hand onto Ethan's arm. "Well, we did vacation in Italy a while ago, and the weather is pretty similar. So it's not that bad," she laughed.
Nicole resisted rolling her eyes. Vacation in Italy. How sweet. She'd bet that he probably spent all that time tanning her pale-ass skin. "But the humidity! I mean, California has heat, but it at least it doesn't make you feel all sticky. Right, Nicole?" Tyler asked.
Nicole sat up straight in her seat. "Uh, yeah," she looked around to notice all eyes on her, "It's so annoying. But it was worse in Jamaica." Georgiana's eyebrows perked up at this information. "You've been to Jamaica? How is it? I bet it's beautiful," she asked.
"Yeah, and it's hot. And you get hit on a lot. By practically everyone, honestly," Nicole replied.
Nicole went on to tell them about the awkward solicitations she had received. She got hit on by the bellboy, locals, the lifeguard, etc. And it wasn't even like "oh, you're so pretty that every guy hits on you" it was just that every guy is thirsty enough to hit on any girl there, especially tourists. "Which one was the worst one?" asked Liam.
"Hmm...probably that one time that one of the lifeguards at the resort tried to start a conversation about my love life in front of my family. Yeah, that wasn't the best approach to getting my number…" She looked out to the crowd and was met with mixed expressions of laughter and confusion.
Jo was really enjoying this. The last time she heard a funny pick-up line story was that one time her friend Amy was hit on by a guy at a carnival who kept trying to guess her weight and phone number. He was only off by a couple digits too! Which, by the way, did not make Amy happy. Word to the wise: always guess low. She bet someone as pretty as Nicole got hit on a lot too. In fact, wasn't she getting hit on today by that one guy? What was his name again? She could swear she's heard it before…
"Oooh, what about that one guy that's always staring at you?" Jo inquired about. NIcole's eyes grew wide in size. Why Jo thought it was a good idea to bring up the babbling idiot would continue to puzzle her for the rest of the night. But it sure did get the attention of everyone else at the table.
Tyler and Georgiana seemed to be the most enthusiastic over this news. "OMG who?" they both exclaimed. Maybe if she just shrugged it off it'd work. Denial is always the answer. "No one?" she replied.
"You know, the one that's always following you around. He kinda looks like a lost dog or something," Jo elaborated.
Nicole glared at Jo from the other side of table. She should've known this blonde was trouble the moment she saw that jovial little face of hers. "No waay!" Georgiana exclaimed.
"I don't know who you're talking about?" Nicole continued.
"I don't even know who he is, but I ship it already," Tyler announced.
"Imma say no to shipping right now?" Nicole rejected.
"To Ethan!" Kate toasted, raising a glass in the air.
Nicole whipped around to supposed best friend with widened eyes. Wasn't she supposed to be on her side here?! Georgiana, Tyler, Freddie, Emerson, and Liam all jerked their head to Ethan Banks at the table in shock. "Ethan?!" they all yelled.
Ethan sat there frozen in seat. Is this where it all comes out? At a restaurant surrounded by all of his friends? Ethan's entire body remained stagnant and tense. He was too scared to even look at anyone right now, especially Ella, who was probably about to pee herself right about now.
"Ethan! That's his name!" Jo blurted out. She knew she's heard it before! "No, it's not!?" Nicole tried to say, but nobody was really listening to her at this point. Thankfully, Kate was quick to alleviate the situation and put everyone's minds at ease. Well, everyone except for Nicole, that is.
"No, Harris! His name is Ethan Harris. Oo! Ya'll wanna see a picture?" Kate offered. She pulled out her phone and looked through her most recent pictures. Nicole leaned all the way across the table to Kate who was engrossed in her phone. "Why do you have a picture of him?!" she hissed. Kate didn't even look up. "I don't have a picture of him. I have a picture of the both of you," she casually informed. Nicole's eyebrows shot up. Great! That's even worse!
Nicole couldn't believe this. Her best friend was about to show a new guy to a guy she barely knew and a guy she hates plus his girlfriend who are only a few feet away. Perfect. What a wonderful day today has turned out to be!
Kate passed the phone to Tyler. He was the birthday boy after all. Freddie and Georgiana crowded around him. "How come I can only see the back of his head?" Freddie complained. He was really hoping to catch a glimpse of this guy's face. Hey, who knows? Maybe he knew the guy!
The picture was taken from behind of some ride. They could only see the backs of the two figures, but it was easy to identify one of them as Nicole. Nicole's head was buried into the man's side as the man's arm was wrapped around her. The seats covered most of their bodies and the man was facing straight on, making it impossible to identify any facial features.
"Cause I was sitting behind them on the ride," Kate informed. The ride seemed to be in some tropical location and the seats had some sort of waterproof bags attached to the back of them. "What ride? Cause she seems really scared. She's clutching him like they're headed off to their death," Georgiana asked.
Ethan Banks leaned over ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of the photo. Granted, he couldn't see much at the angle he was at, but the red-orange tint of the seats reminded him of something. Suddenly, it clicked. The Jurassic Park ride! So that's what she was doing. While he was appeasing an endless line of fans, who just made Ella even angrier by the way, Nicole was off snuggling up to some guy.
Where'd she meet him anyways? She's only been here a day! Even though he shouldn't be the person speaking against short courtship periods, but this was still a surprise. She was by Kate the whole time on the bus, so she must've met this mystery man in the couple of hours after the bus and before the ride. Unless it was one of those other guys on the bus?
Ethan looked over to the girl he thought he knew. Would she come to Florida with a guy? She still looked relatively the same. No big changes. Her clothes were more plain than usual. It was a regular black dress. Even her make-up was more muted. He wondered if he had anything to do with that- Wait, wait a minute. Is she...is she BLUSHING? Exactly who is this guy anyways?!
Before his jaw hit the floor, Ethan felt a nudge on his left. He looked over to see Ella's eyes narrowed onto him. Ethan shook the blush out of his head. He took Ella's hand in his which quickly placated her. He was on thin ice already and was not about to risk falling through and getting hypothermia tonight.
Tyler pulled the phone closer to his face. "Oh my gosh, she is!" he redirected his attention to Nicole, who he was looking at in a whole new light now. "Damn girl." Nicole winced. "I'm just going to excuse myself to go to the bathroom. Nobody look for me, I'll be in a stall, I promise," she excused.
Nicole stood up to leave, but neither Kate or Emerson got up to let her out. Nicole looked down to her friend and was met with an innocent blank stare. She glared at the little faker. Kate was doing all of this on purpose and she was definitely going to get revenge later. Georgiana's hand guided Nicole back down. "Oh calm down, it's not that big of a deal," she eased. Nicole sat back down after realizing she had no other choice. "Yeah! The back of his head looks cute, so it'd make sense why you'd be holding onto him like that," Tyler replied.
Before Ethan could get a better look at this "cute back of the head", Tyler passed the phone back to Kate. She put the phone back in her bag, noticing Ethan Banks' flash of disappointment. Ugh. Even when he had no right to butt into Nicole's life, he was still trying to get unnecessarily involved. Whatta jerk. And speaking of jerks, why not sneak a glance at the king jerk of all jerks right across the table?
"He looks different," Kate observed. This shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, after all, they haven't seen each other in a couple years. He must be about 23 now. He looked...good. Apparently some things don't change.
His hair was still the same style, but years of being in the sun made the ends slightly lighter than the rest. It was styled into that coiffed updo that he loved to play with. Honestly, it seemed like he couldn't go one minute without touching his hair. As if it being out of place did anything to hamper his attractiveness.
His jawline was sharper; it must be because all that leftover baby fat was nearly gone now. Even his smile was different. It used to take up his entire face as the corners of them twitched with mischief. As she watched him react to Georgiana's comment, she saw that familiar twitch, but the smile didn't reach the corners of his face anymore. It was as if something was stopping it from growing too wide, too carefree. It was like he was holding himself back.
But out of all the little nuances, the one thing that struck Kate most were the blue-green eyes fixated on whatever drew Jordan's attention. "They used to be brighter," she remembered.
Back then, the colors would drastically change with whatever mood he was in or whatever clothes he wore. They adapted to seamlessly complement whatever environment that surrounded him. They were the perfect accessory and he knew exactly how to use them.
She didn't even get a look at them the last time she saw him; her eyes were watering up and the colors had blended together to form a pale, almost greyish version of what they used to be. She remembered because it reminded her of the grey clouds in the sky that day. In fact, that whole day was grey. Or maybe it was just because that's how she felt. As if the light inside her was blown out by a gust of wind and she was left with only a faint whisper of what it used to be.
Ugh. She hated how stupid she sounded whenever she thought about that day. It was better to just push it away and keep it locked up for as long as possible. After all, it's worked all this time, right?
And now, here she was, face to face with those eyes, alive with color, every bit as intimidating as they were before. Kate casually looked across the table to try and catch another glimpse of those eyes, but all she saw was the deep brown top of his head as Jordan picked at the food on his plate.
As he looked up to listen to one of Tyler's stories, a couple strands of his brown hair flopped over his forehead. Kate scoffed aloud. Figures. Even with noodles halfway into his mouth, Jordan Banks was still as picturesque as a model ripped from a Calvin Klein ad. Yeah, some things really don't change.
Kate was deeply in these conclusions as everyone else at the table talked more about Nicole's mystery man. It's was due to the severe thinking of these thoughts that Kate looked over Nicole's rising anxiety. And with rising anxiety came malicious ideas.
"Soooo Kate, what about you?" Nicole loudly inquired. Kate smiled nervously as she felt the spotlight shift onto her. She glared at Nicole from the corner of her eye. Nicole smiled smugly. If she was going down, you bet your sweet ass she was not going down alone.
Kate laughed nervously, "No, no, no. I've sworn off Youtubers for now. Still recovering from the last time I got badly burned by a Brit," Kate confessed putting both hands up in the air. She was secretly proud of that alliteration. Alliteration is amazing, nearly as great a rhyme; not quite as catchy or wonderful, but a flavorful garnish to good dialogue.
The table fell silent. Nicole stared at her best friend in shock. Of course she wanted revenge, but she did not expect her friend to set herself on fire. Everyone's eyes widened, fixated on the still delirious party member. Finally, one of them just had to ask. "Wait, you've dated British YouTuber?" asked Freddie.
"Do we know him? Cause we pretty much know all of the popular YouTubers from the UK," Liam replied.
"Yeah, did you date him secretly?" Georgiana asked.
"Oo a secret relationship? You've gotta tell us what happened," Tyler prodded.
The spotlight has made its appearance once again and this time, it's intensity felt like the illuminated figure was standing on the damn sun. The table waited with bated breath to hear this epic story of this doomed relationship; and nobody was going to take a 'no' for an answer. Kate scanned the table only to see eleven pairs of eyes staring right at her. Yup. She was screwed. Royally screwed.