"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" I yelled staring at the rattling doorknobs.
"Hanna," Spencer said running into the room with Toby ttrailing behind her. "Are you okay."
"There's...someone...outside," I finally spat out.
"Do you want me to check?' Toby asked. He was shirtless as usual.
"No!" I yelled. Then I thought about it. "Yes...please."
We all cowered up again the door while Toby unlocked the patio. I sucked my breath in as he jiggled the handle. He finally opened the door and we saw two figures arguing in the shadows. They turned to look and the light shone on their faces.
"Caleb?" I called out.
"Uh," he breathed. He pointed to Lucas who was standing out in the cold with him. "I had to...Lucas..."
"Just come inside," I said finally breathing a sigh of relief. The two of them walked in closing the patio doors behind them. Spencer and Toby snuck off while I tried to slide back under the covers only to find Lucas and Caleb taking a seat on the bed.
"Dude," Caleb told him, "I thought you were staying with family."
"Guys!" I sat up. "Can you not do this at five in the morning? California doesn't even have good sunrises."
"Sorry," Lucas said quietly as they slipped out the door.
"Hey," I called out one last time. "I'll deal with you two later."
Then I crawled back into bed and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later to the sound of everyone bustling around in the kitchen. I should have had Lucas and Caleb close the door after they left. I grabbed a sweatshirt and threw it on over the lacy bra and boy shorts I was wearing. That's when realization hit that Toby, Lucas, and Caleb had seen me wearing a bra that totally showed some nip. I didn't really care about Spencer. We've been friends so long that we've seen everything about each other. I guess Caleb had seen everything too, but it was under different circumstances. I tried to shake the thought from my head as I wandered into the kitchen.
"Good morning," I smiled taking a seat at the bar.
"Hey," Emily said taking a seat next to me. "You okay? I heard about last night."
"It was just a scare," I told her. I looked around the room. Lucas and Caleb were nowhere to be seen. I noticed Danielle and walked toward her. "Hey."
"Hi," she smiled.
"Do you know if Lucas is awake?" I asked her.
"Yeah," she smiled weakly. "He and Caleb went out early this morning."
"Can you get them to come back?" I asked. "I need to talk to them."
"Uh sure," she paused pulling out her phone. "I'll text him."
"Thanks," I said walking back toward the stove to make myself some eggs.
Ten minutes later Lucas walked in the door with Caleb in tow. I saw them and was instantly furious. Then the feeling passed as I saw everyone clear the room. It was like they were parting the friend sea. Lucas didn't even turn to go to his room. He simply walked right up to me.
"I'm sorry," he told me.
"I just wish I hadn't found out about it at five in the morning wearing my underwear," I said slowly.
"I didn't know," Caleb explained. "Lucas just told me to come."
"Lucas," I turned to him. "Why didn't you tell me about your little plan."
"Because you would have said no," he said.
"Damn right," I replied. "This is supposed to be a vacation for me. Away from this whole Ali business, away from my parents' weird love triangle, and away from crazy Ian."
"I don't mean to interrupt," Spencer said walking back in the kitchen, "but we're trying to rent a boat for tomorrow and I need a headcount to get an estimate. Will it be nine people or ten?"
I just glared at her and I think she got the message.
"I'll just say ten to be safe," she smiled walking away.
"Can you explain to me what you were thinking?" I asked Lucas.
"Hanna," he sighed, "I drove to Arizona to pick up Caleb and you didn't even give him a chance. I figured you could meet him here and work it out and at least get some closure. You owe me that."
I sighed deeply. I kind of did owe him that. I mean, we'd be even now that I invited him and his girlfriend to share a bed in a mansion in Los Angeles but I at least needed to give Caleb a chance this time around. I watched as Lucas got up and left. I turned to Caleb.
"Can we talk?" I asked.
"That's why I came here," he smiled that cute little smirk of his.
"Come on," I led him to my bedroom where we both took a seat on the bed. I turned to him.
"Look," he said before I could get a word out, "I didn't know you were going to be here. Lucas told me to meet him in LA. The thought of you being here didn't even cross my mind. He set us up. Trust me, I didn't want to see you again like this."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I got a job," he replied. "I turned eighteen last month and found a really great job and I'm going to school. I was saving up to move back to Rosewood and make things right between us. I didn't think Lucas would pull a stunt like this."
"How long did it take you to get here?" I asked.
"Twelve hours," he said, "and three buses."
"Stay," I said. "There's a pull out couch in the den. We've got to be out Saturday morning."
"Thanks," he smiled. "I guess this is just like the good old days."
"Huh?" I was confused.
"You know," he smiled. "Me crashing on the couch."
"Yeah," I laughed, "maybe we can upgrade you to the guest room soon. Come on, I'll show you you're new quarters."
I got up from the bed to show Caleb the room but suddenly the doorbell rang. I ran to answer it. I opened the door to find Surfer Riley standing on the porch wearing just a pair of board shorts and carrying his board.
"Hey," he smiled. "I hope you don't mind. I never got your number."
"Uh," I glanced away from him toward Caleb. Then back to Surfer Riley. "Come in."
Caleb glared at him as he stepped into the foyer, yes the house has a foyer. I smiled weakly.
"Uh Caleb, this is Riley," I said. "Riley, this is Caleb. I think everyone else is at the beach or in their rooms."
"Speaking of which," Caleb said interrupting. "I'll go find mine."
"Did I come at a bad time?" Riley asked following me into the kitchen.
"No," I said quickly but really, I meant yes. I pulled out two glasses and offered Riley a drink. He wanted orange juice. Caleb really liked orange juice. I sat down next to Riley. "So, what brings you to our humble abode?"
"I was hoping you would join me for dinner tonight," he said. "I'll pick you up at seven."
"Uh...yeah," I smiled. "Sounds great"
I walked him to the door and we said goodbye after he kissed my cheek. I didn't know how I felt about Surfer Riley yet. He was cute, that was for sure, but this whole Caleb surprise had my mind going insane. I headed to the shower to clear my head and when I was done I picked out my cutest bikini before I headed to the beach with the girls.
"Do we have sunscreen?" I heard Spencer checking things off her list. "Towels, house keys, tanning oil, beach chairs, unbrella..."
"Can we please just have fun," I begged.
"Fine," she smiled. We all grabbed our bags and headed for the door like a fucking parade of Rosewoodites. We found a nice empty space with plenty of room for all of us and Spencer began setting up something that looked like a cabana. I looked at her. "How are we going to get any sun?"
"You shouldn't spend more than twenty minutes out of every hour in the sun," she explained. "Trust me, in this heat, you'll be happy I brought this."
"Sure," I sighed. I grabbed my towel and walked out of the shade of her monster canopy. I lied down in the sun and fell right to sleep. When I woke up again, I was sweating bullets and Hanna does not sweat. At least not in front of boys. Cute surfer boys.
"You're awake!" Aria smiled when she saw me.
"Do you guys want to go in the water?" I asked.
"Yeah," Samara chimed in. "We were just thinking of that."
"Race you!" I winked jumping up and running to the water.
I ran through the shallow end and dove deep first into the waves. The cool water felt great against my hot skin and I felt all of worries disappear. I stayed down as long as possible until I finally needed air, but suddenly something pulled me down. My left foot was tangled in a web of seaweed and I couldn't get free. The more I struggled the worse it became. I felt my lungs filling with water and then everything got fuzzy.