Beauty and the Beat

Beauty and the Beat (14)

On the third and final day of the trip, I was not going to step foot on the beach.

Nothing good would come from it, I was sure. I didn’t know how many friends those goons had, and I wasn’t going to risk running into any more of them. I didn’t even like the beach all that much anyway.

But I was going nuts, staying in my boring hotel room all by myself. Freya wanted to stay with me, but I told her to go and have fun. I didn’t want her field trip ruined just because I had gotten myself into some trouble.

About halfway through the day, I decided that I wasn’t going to stay in the hotel room any longer. I was going absolutely crazy and I needed some fresh air. So after I finished getting ready, I made my way out of the hotel.

I wasn’t exactly sure if I could leave the hotel and go anywhere but the beach, but I could have feigned innocence if I got caught. We hadn’t ever been told that we couldn’t leave, and that was what I would say if a teacher found me. Unless that teacher was Ethan, because then I wouldn’t have to explain myself at all.

As if on cue, the bus rolled to a stop right in front of the hotel. I got on without a second thought, even though I had no idea where this bus would take me.

After paying the bus fair, I took a seat near the front. I didn’t know where I was going, but that didn’t matter to me. I’d get off on either the next stop, or the one after, depending on where we were going.

When I noticed the girl across the aisle eyeing me, I immediately felt nervous. I had gotten really tired of people watching me after those first two days.

When she saw that I had caught her staring at me, her face lit up. “You’re the girl that got into a fight on the beach yesterday!”

Oh, crap.

Knowing my luck, she’d be friends with the guys I had either got arrested or fought—though they got arrested too, and now I was going to have to deal with something else I didn’t need in my life.

“You’re so cool,” she giggled, and this was not something I was expecting. “I’ve never seen a girl beat up two guys before! I would have been so terrified if I was in your place! I never would have been able to fight against guys!”

I was not expecting this sort of praise from her, so I had no idea what I was supposed to say. I didn’t know if she wanted me to say anything back to her or not, so I only smiled and thanked her.

When I saw that the next stop was right outside a park, I knew that it was my time to get off. So I said goodbye to the girl and made my way off the bus. A park was the perfect place for me to just sit down and relax, away from everyone and everything. I’d be able to breathe out in the fresh air.

I smiled to myself when I saw an empty bench. I immediately sat on it before anyone else could, leaning back and closing my eyes the second I did so.

This was relaxing. No one was around me, and I could hear the birds chirping and the water from the fountain running. I could have fallen asleep here, if it was safe to do so.

“You do know you’re not supposed to leave the hotel to go anywhere but the beach, right?”

At the sound of this voice, I almost jumped six feet into the air. I spun around, clutching onto my chest as it rose up and down. Ethan bit the inside of his lip to stop himself from laughing.

“How did you find me?” I demanded.

He shrugged, hopping over the bench and taking a seat next to me. “I saw you leave. I followed you.”

Of course he did. Because there was no way I was allowed to have a moment to myself. Ever since I fell off the cliff, I was never allowed to be alone. It got even worse after what happened the next day at the beach. If it wasn’t Maxxon, it was Bennett. If it wasn’t Bennett, it was Ethan. If it couldn’t be any of the boys, it was Freya.