Paradise island

3.Sam

At the crack of dawn, Sam's alarm chimed. For a minute, he forgot where he was. But then, streams of pale light filtered into the room, illuminating the koa wood floors and vibrant, tropical interior of their temporary home, and he remembered.

Yeah, baby, heaven.

He bolted in bed. He knew, if they were going to make the day up trip to the North Shore to visit Nate's friend, he'd have to be the one to get all these lazy asses moving. No time to waste. He slinked around the cabana, collecting dried beach towels and tossing them at everyone's faces.

"Time to get up, mofos. Paradise awaits!" Colby groaned. "Let us sleep, you little bitch."

"You can sleep in the car. The convoy leaves between 9:30 and 11:00 AM. Everyone meet outside in twenty minutes!" he ordered. The more doors he slammed, the more lights he turned on, the more the others stirred, grumbled, and rose to their feet.

By the time the sun shone in full swing, they were on the road, Colby driving this time. On any trip, Sam and Colby were pretty good about sharing responsibilities, but Sam was glad when Colby slid into the driver's seat, because he wanted to enjoy the Kauai sights from the passenger side.

It was as beautiful a morning as ever.

From near Koloa, they began their counterclockwise half-circle trip around the island to the farthest point tourists were allowed to go, Hanalei Bay, two and a half hours away. As the rental car lady had told them, a bad flood two years prior had rendered roads to the northwest part of the island inoperable. Only residents were allowed through the construction, and even they weren't allowed unless it was in a convoy.

Sam had no idea what to expect, which made him a little nervous.

He'd understood Colby's concerns yesterday when Nate kept suggesting this side trip to visit Trey. As the guy who planned every detail, made the calls, sent the emails, Sam understood the value of sticking to a plan. Colby was more "go with the flow," but sometimes, for unknown reasons, they switched personalities. This time Colby was more Sam, and Sam was more Colby. Sometimes, you had to trust your gut, let the universe take control, make room for surprises.

"Guys," Nate said from the back seat, halfway to Hanalei. "I know Trey's a little weird, but he's sweet to invite us there. Let's not forget to thank him when we see him."

Sam smirked. Sweet? He remembered the guy as wishy-washy, trying to act bigger than he was. At the time, Sam had felt sorry for him. "Of course we're going to thank him. We're not savages."

Colby gave Sam a side-glance. What have we gotten ourselves into?

"I'M JUST SAYING." Nate went back to working on his iPad for his class assignment. "Glad I brought this. I have so much work to finish."

By the time they arrived at the scuba and snorkeling shop, it was midmorning. Beachgoers were out in full force, toting their surfboards and snapping their flip-flopped feet across the road. Sam was glad he'd gotten everybody up when he had.

Colby pulled into the parking lot and shut the engine off, and they all stumbled out of the car into the scuba shop, yawning, stretching, and waking up for the second time.

The doorbell tinkled. "Can I help you gentlemen out?" the shop employee, an older Hawaiian woman, asked, pen pressed to a notepad. "Hi, a friend of ours rented snorkeling equipment for the four of us.

Trey Weiss is his name?" Sam pressed his palms against the counter and waited while the woman thumbed through an index card box. Guess they do things old-school around here. Colby, partially hidden from the shopkeeper behind a rack of swim- wear, plucked a pink-and-yellow bikini off the rack and threw it over his chest while pursing his full lips. Alex handed him a metal hydro-flask, and