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We are in Bali, baby!
This place is so mesmerizing. We just landed and damn, the atmosphere is so calm and serene. It's tranquil. Set amidst the beautiful banana and palm trees, The Grand Hyatt looks gorgeous. Beautiful low cut lawns, flowers decorating the pathway, and an extremely large outdoor swimming pool. The low rise building is situated near the Bali sea beach which is a major plus point of this trip.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ridge's voice grabs my attention. I tilt my neck to my side to make eye contact with a beaming face, dimples on display. He throws his arms around me, giving me a kiss on the forehead.
I mirror his smile with my own. "Very beautiful."
"Come on students, assemble near the lobby." Ms. Sinclair, the incharge of this trip announces, clapping her hands together. Quietly, we all follow her instructions and wait for her to continue. "All the rooms will be assigned to you on sharing basis. Three in one room. I'll speak out the names and they will step forward and grab their room keys."
I look at my friends in excitement, grinning as I catch their eyes, hoping that we get together or at least our rooms are next to each other. Erica looks at me, giving me a reassuring smile, indicating that everything's going just fine.
Soon enough, Ms. Sinclair starts calling out everyone's names starting from boys. Ridge, Bruce and Ashton are in one room and Eric, Neil and Tanner are in the same room. I guess Erica was the one to assign the rooms because she was not so subtly giving Ashton a thumbs up. Ridge gives me a kiss on the head and heads towards the direction of his room with the boys.
Emilia, Erica and I were placed in the same room while Trish, Kiara and Faye were in the other room. Faye looked at Erica in confusion, her mouth open wide but she got over quickly and got up with the others to walk towards their room silently. She looked a little awkward, walking with Trish and Kiara. Maybe because she doesn't really know them?
Shaking my head, I walk towards Erica, giving her a big grin, enveloping her in a big hug. "You did all this arrangement, didn't you?"
She throws her head back and laughs. "I made a few unnoticeable changes, nothing much."
"You sneaky bitch. I love you." Em jumps on her back, laughing loudly.
"I love you too." She grins at her, then looks at me. "Come on. Let's go. Our fluffy hotel bed is calling our name. I can hear it."
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After we were all settled in our respective rooms, we were told to take rest for the next few hours and then come down to the pool for the pool party. Our school sure outdid itself. Pool parties, DJ, drinks( non alcoholic, but still) and games.
I head towards the section where the fruit punch is kept to pour myself some. I excuse myself from my dancing friends to make my way through the crowd to see that someone is mixing something in the fruit punch. I place my hands on table with a slight bang, startling him.
He looks up from the drink, his eyes widening, grin slipping from his lips. I give him a small smirk, crossing my arms under my chest. "What's that?"
He scratches the back of his neck, giving me a sheepish look. "Uh, alcohol?"
"Alcohol as in?"
"Vodka?"
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Only one bottle? That's a little less, isn't it?"
He looks at me as if I've asked him to give me his kidney or something. He opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it again. I laugh at his reaction, taking the bottle from his hands, emptying the contents into the pitcher. "I don't think one bottle is enough."
"I have two more." He answers, looking at me with nervousness.
"Then get them fast." I mutter, mixing the contents with the big serving spoon in the pitcher. He obliged, the bends down to get something from under the table. Two bottles of whiskey.
Together, we mix the alcohol in the innocent fruit punch. "You sure do come prepared."
He chuckles. "What's a party without alcohol?"
"Right." I nod, pouring myself a glass. I take a sip from the punch, my taste buds relishing in the sweet taste of fruit mixed with the bitter taste of alcohol. It's refreshing.
My eyes wander around the crowd to see if anyone noticed what we just did to find that everyone's too busy dancing and playing to notice our sneak show. My eyes abruptly fall upon a brooding Bruce standing at one corner of the pool, near a tree. I frown in confusion, taking in his sad and dejected facial expression. I excuse myself, taking leave from the guy and walk towards Bruce, wanting to know what dampened his mood. He lifts his head up, when hr notices me coming towards him. But, he doesn't give me a smile, he just lets out a sigh, crossing his arms across his chest. I stand right in front of him, hands on my waist, staring at him with a questioning look.
"What?" He asks, "Do you need something?"
"Yes. Why is your mood so down today? It's a party, you should be happy. Not standing in the corner with a brooding face looking as if someone killed your dog." I counter.
He rolls his eyes at me. "I don't even have a dog."
"That's just a figure of speech dumbass." I physically face-palm, giving him an eye roll. "Now, tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing." He shakes his head. "Just not in the mood to party today."
"Don't lie to me. Something's wrong. I know it." I refuse to believe that Bruce is not in the mood to party. This means something big has happened.
He takes a deep breath, running his hands through his hair and gives me a small smile. "You're very stubborn."
I smile at him. "So I've been told."
"Look at that." He points his fingers behind me. I turn around and stand by his side to see what he's talking about. But all I see is people dancing on the floor. I look at him, confused.
He rolls his eyes, then points in the direction where out friends are dancing. "Look at Erica's right."
I follow his line of vision to see Trish, dancing and laughing, with a - boy? Oh my god, that's why he's so upset. Trish looks like she's having the time of her life, laughing at something the guy says in her ear.
"I'm tired of pretending that I don't like her. I hate seeing her getting this close to other guys when it should be me standing next to her, making her laugh at my silly pointless jokes." He whispers, sitting down on one of the bean bags kept by our side. I mirror his movements, taking the seat next to him.
"At least you admit that you like her." I reply, a smile forming on my lips.
He chuckles humorlessly, shaking his head. "As if that's not obvious by now. Everyone except for Trisha knows that I like her. Hell, even her mom is rooting for us to get together."
Then, why don't you tell her that? I want to ask him that question but I refrain because I know confessions have never been easy especially when you don't have a clue about how the other person feels. But what Bruce doesn't know is that Trish likes him too. She may not admit that out loud but I've seen the way she looks at Bruce. With adoration and longing. But she's scared. That I can tell.
"So, what do you like about her?" I ask instead.
A small smile lights up his entire face. "Everything. I like her smile, her eyes, her hair. I like her personality. I like the fact that she never backs down from annoying me, it keeps me on my toes all the time. I like that she never backs down from a challenge and never hesitates from speaking her mind. I like her confidence." He sighs loudly, before continuing. "The only thing that I don't like is the fact that she's dense. She's never realized that I've had feelings for her from the past three fucking years. Since the day she joined our group."
Wow.
His monologue made me realize one thing. "You don't like her, buddy."
He blinks up at me in confusion. "What? What do you mean by that?"
"You love her." I tell him, my lips curling up in a big smile. "You're in love with Trish."
He stays silent for a moment, not really saying anything. I can see his chest heaving up and down, his eyes still. He starts taking deep breaths, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "Holy shit. Fuck. I'm in love."
"Happy realization." I giggle, patting his back.
"Oh my god, how the hell did I not see this before?" He whispers, running his hands up and down his face. He stands up abruptly, making me stand as well. He looks at me, biggest of the smiles taking over his face. "Thank you for making me realize that." He wraps his arms around me in a bear hug.
I laugh at his reacting, returning his hug. "I didn't do anything."
He pulls back, grinning. "But you did."
"So, will you talk to her now? Tell her how you feel?" I ask him.
He worries his bottom lip, running his hands through his hair. "I don't know. I just realized that I love her. And it's all very new to me so I thing I'll take it slow. This is all very overwhelming."
"Right." I nod.
"But first, I need a drink. Even if it's the boring fruit punch." He pinches my cheeks. "Thanks Lydia, I love you."
And then he's off, running towards the opposite direction. I chuckle at his antics. "I love you too, idiot."
"I go MIA for a while and you profess your love for someone else?" Ridge's amused voice captures my attention. I turn towards my right too see my handsome boyfriend walking towards me.
"Hi honey." I laugh, placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey sweetheart." He greets me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "So, what were you guys talking about?"
I put my arms around his neck. "I just made Bruce realize that he loves Trish."
He raises an eyebrow at me. "He was clueless about that? Even I know the fact that they both love each other."
I shrug my shoulders. "He's an idiot. Trish is an idiot. That's why they both love each other."
He chuckles loudly, dimple on display. His fingers are mindlessly rubbing circles on the back, which is exposed due to my blouse riding up a little. "So, what's he gonna do about it?"
"He said that he wants to take things slow. It's overwhelming, according to him." I scoff. "I told you, he's an idiot."
"Why do I get the feeling that you have something up your sleeve?" He gives me a scrutinizing look, licking his bottom lip. "Do you have a plan to bring them closer?"
"How did you know?" My eyes widen. He was absolutely right, I had a few ideas in my mind that I was thinking about executing to bring these two clueless idiots together.
"I know you more that you think." He lifts one of his shoulders in a shrug, pulling me close to him, eliminating any space between us. "Plus, you had that look in your eyes that screams the fact that you are about to do something dangerous."
My lips tilt up in a smirk. "I have a plan. And I have a feeling that it's gonna work in our favor. But I need everyone's help."
"I'm game. What's the plan?" He questions.
I explain the plan to him, not missing out on any details. After I'm done, I wait for his reaction. "So?"
His face lights up. "I like this plan. A little cliche but I think it might work."
"Good." I untangle myself from his arms and take hold of his hand instead. "Come on, we have some arrangements to make."
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Hello beautiful people! How's life?
Mine's pretty boring and stressful because I have an exam on Saturday, but here I am, on wattpad, updating because I'm stupid like that lmao.
Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter! And if you did, make sure you vote and comment and share this story with your friends. I'd really appreciate it! :)
Also, I'd really like to say thank you. Thank you everyone for still sticking with my story. I know this book is not the best our there, there are better books but still the 40 views I get makes my day. So thank you for the love and support. Each one of you are the best, All the silent readers! THANK YOU <3
Next update is gonna be soon.
Till then,
Stay Happy <3