Chapter 3~
Less than an hour later, I am laying by the pool with my best friend the queen, sipping an ice cold mango smoothie on a comfy pool chair in my brand new bikini I bought specifically for this trip. Life is good.
"So I've gotta ask," Rose starts out slowly. "What did you do your hair?"
I laugh. When Rose saw me last, my hair was brown. Now it's almost black with blue, pink and purple streaks and bangs hanging low over my eyes.
"I take it you don't like it?" I tease.
"I didn't say I didn't like it." Rose tries to be as diplomatic as possible. "I was just trying to understand it."
I laugh and she laughs too and then we lean back so that she summer sun hits us in the face and washes over our shoulders. Life doesn't get much more perfect than this.
I look out at the pool and catch a gorgeous reflection in the rippling water. I lower my sunglasses to get a closer look.
"Who is that?"
Rose follows my gaze to the hot guy with dark hair and tan skin standing on the other side of the pool wearing nothing but black swim trucks. Those abs are ridiculous.
"That's the royal pool boy, Armando," Rose says.
"He works for you?" I question. "How old is he?"
"Eighteen," Rose replies.
I risk another glance across the pool. Armando pulls out a long-handled net and is slicing it through the water. He catches my gaze this time and holds it. I offer a flirty smile and he nods in a way that's formal and sexy all at once. Okay, maybe Costa Luna will be good for more than just my tan and friendship with Rosie.
It's not every day that you get woken up by a splash of sunshine and your best friend saying, "Wakey, wakey Princess Carter. And yes, that's an order."
I groan and cover my head with a pillow. Rose laughs.
"I brought chocolate chip waffles," she says, which is enough to get me out of bed any day.
As I open my eyes, she lifts the canopy surrounding my bed and sits down by my feet, breakfast tray in hand.
Ed stumbles in holding a tripod like a gun and wearing nothing but plaid boxers. "Who's there?"
"Ed, it's just us." I try not to laugh.
"Oh." He looks surprised to see me. "I figured…I mean…there's no way you'd actually be up before nine."
Rosie laughs and I throw a pillow at Ed. It misses him, of course, which is somewhat disappointing considering my softball pitching records in middle school.
Suddenly Ed and Rosie seem to realize at the same time that Ed is standing in the doorway in just his underwear. Ed turns beet red.
"Hi Rosie."
"Good morning Edwin." Rosie fights to keep a straight face.
"I'm going to go put on some clothes," Ed says.
"You should probably do that," Rose agrees.
Ed backs out of the room, then Rose and I hear his pounding footsteps run up the hallway. We both laugh as soon as he's out of earshot.
"It is sweet that he is so protective of you," Rosie observes.
"Yeah, I mean, we're best friends." I shrug as I use the fork and knife on the tray to saw off a section of waffle.
"You're still just friends?" Rosie questions.
"He's dating Brooke now." I make a face.
"The Brooke who was so mean to us when I went to your school?" Rosie frowns.
"One and the same. Apparently she's 'changed.'" I make air quotes.
"Well Ed has good judgment," Rose says. "Maybe she really has changed."
"Ha! Right." I pour myself some orange juice from a crystal pitcher.
"I changed," Rosie points out.
"That's different," I argue, already knowing it's a losing fight.
Rosie's got a heart of gold. She probably would have given Hitler a second chance if he had asked politely. Not me. I would have shot him dead on the spot.