The Pretty People

CHAPTER 18

     After checking my e-mail, I logged onto my facebook. For my status, I wrote: "I'm in Miami, bitch. :)" I played mall world and then I headed back to the hotel room to get ready to hit the beach. I scanned the plastic card at the door, and the red light turned green once the card was scanned. I opened the door. Melanie was sitting on the bed, surfing channels on the TV, changed into a lemon yellow tube top and white denim shorts. "Hey," she said, looking up from the TV. "Hi." Where's Sadie and Tiffany? "Tiffany is changing in the bathroom, and Sadie's on the balcony." Melanie said, nodding towards the balcony door. "OK." I said, sitting down next to her. "So what are you watching?" "Nothing much. I'm trying to find something I like." she said. The bathroom door creaked open and Tiffany said, "Hey Rachel! Are you gonna change? Because I'm all set." "Nah. I already have my bathing suit under my clothes." I said. "Okay; guess this means we can go now!" Melanie said, leaping off of the bed. Sadie and Melanie's mom came into the room from the balcony. "Are you girls ready?" Melanie's mom asked. "Yup." Melanie said. "Ok, let's grab everything and go then!" she said, getting her huge straw tote bag filled with snacks, soda cans, beach towels, sunscreen, and probably a lot more things. I slung my purple houndshooth backpack over my right shoulder, with the other strap hanging down. We walked down to the beach, which only took about five minutes. When we arrived, I shaded my eyes with my hand. The beach was really pretty. The water was sparkly and the prettiest shade of turquoise. The sand was soft and beige. I took off my flip flops and held them in my hand. "Wow." Melanie said. "This place is so cool!" "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tiffany said, kicking off her gladiator sandals and running in the sand. We found a spot pretty close to the ocean, but far away enough so that we wouldn't get washed away. Melanie's mom laid out 4 towels for us, while she sat on a beach chair underneath the rainbow colored umbrella. "We're gonna go to the ocean." Sadie announced, with Tiffany at her side. "OK." Melanie said, lying on her back. I had my hair curled into beachy waves, which spilled onto the towel when I lay down. I took my i-pod out of my beach bag and played Katy Perry's "California Gurls," even though we were in Florida, but hey, it was kind of the same vibe. I shut my eyes and plugged in my earbuds, making sure to turn over every few minutes on the towel. Once the song was over, someone said, "Hey, remember me?" when I looked up, Justin was standing in front of me. "Oh hey! You're Justin, right?" Obviously he was; I just didn't know what to say. "Yeah. And you're...Rachel?" "Ding Ding!" I said. Justin smiled. "So, are you enjoying the beach so far?" he asked. "Yeah. First time here; How about you?" "I came here yesterday. It's a nice beach." "Yup." I said. "Wanna go down to the ocean?" he asked. "Sure." I turned to Melanie, unaware that she was staring at us the whole time we were talking. "Have fun." Melanie waved. We walked down the beach towards the glimmering ocean. It felt awkward. "Just wondering, how long are you staying in Miami?" Justin asked me. "We'll be leaving Sunday morning." "I see. My friends and I are heading back home Saterday evening." I couldn't think of anything else to say except for, "Oh." Then, a guy in dark green camoflauge swim trunks came over, holding a boogie board. "Hey, man." he said. "Hey." "Who's this?" he asked, smirking at Justin. "This is Rachel. We bumped into each other the other day. She lives in the hotel room next to us. Rachel, this is my friend, Hunter." "Hi." I said. Hunter nodded. "Where's Jake?" Justin asked Hunter. "He went to buy us some italian ice." he said. "Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes." Justin said. We walked into the ocean. I never go in too deep; only up to my knees, since I don't know how to swim and I would hate to get soaked in cold water, although the ocean water today was nice and warm. We didn't say anything for about a minute, which felt like a really long time, and finally, Justin said, "Is this your first time in Miami?" He probably didn't know what to say, either. "Yeah; what about you?" "I came here last year with my family over the summer." he said. "Oh." "So... you doing anything else today besides the beach?" "Not really." I said. "Would you like to come over to our hotel room tonight? We're having a little party. You can bring your friends, too." "I'll have to ask." "Okay. If you can come, be there at around 6. Anyway, I better head back now. See you tonight, hopefully." Justin said, walking to where Hunter and Jake were. As I walked back to where my friends were, I realized that I didn't have any way to contact Justin. But then again, his hotel room was right next to ours. I ran towards Melanie, kicking the white sand behind me. Melanie took off her Dolce and Gabanna sunglasses and smiled at me, like she witnessed everything that just happened with Justin and me; and she probably did.

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     Melanie's mom said it was fine to visit Justin's hotel room-as long as we were back by 9:30. We didn't tell her it was a party, we just said we were visiting a few of his friends there, which wasn't entirely a lie. "What do you think?" I asked Melanie, Tiffany, and Sadie as I stepped out of the bathroom in a pastel pink bodycon skirt paired with a flutter-sleeve blouse and black peep toe wedges. I didn't know if it was just me, but I felt a little too dressed up to just go to a party next door from us. "Pretty!" Melanie said, who was rocking a leopard print bodycon dress and red heels herself. Sadie and Tiffany nodded in agreement. "I'm really good at braids," said Sadie, "I should do your hair!" "Okay." I said.

     By the time we were ready to go, my final look was the same outfit, but I decided to swap my wedges for my favorite pair of comfy ballet flats at the last minute. Sadie did a waterfall braid in my hair, which I've never seen or heard of before, but it was super pretty. "Have fun girls!" Melanie's mom called out from the balcony. As we left, I checked the digital clock on the nightstand. The red digits read exactly 6:00 pm.

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Sorry I haven't posted in SO long! I guess I kinda lost interest for a while, but I'm back and ready to post more chapters so keep on reading! <3