Style Squad

Liam King

Sonja lead us into the lobby, which was also a separate building. "Hiya! I'm Sonja Sontin, and I have with me the Style Squad girls and their families! We have rooms reserved, I'm sure?"
    
The girl behind the counter smiled and nodded. She handed us our room keys and showed us (on a map!) where the building our rooms were in, where the restaurants were, and she gave us a list of hotel activities.
     
"It's Elisa's birthday in two days!" Joey said to the lady.
    
She grinned at the three year old, then looked at me. "Happy birthday!"

I smiled softly and followed Sonja to our rooms.

***

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Lexi exclaimed when we went into the room. I'll admit, it was the fanciest hotel room I've been in, ever. It was a suite, with a full kitchen and living room, two bathrooms, two bedrooms (four beds in all), and the most luxurious balcony ever! It was huge, overlooking the beach and pool areas. Vera found out that there was a full Starbucks downstairs too!

I walked into the living room, looking around in wonder. "This is where we're living for the next four days!" I said, sitting on one of the two sofas in the living room.

Vera sat next to me. "This is gonna be the best few days ever!"

Lexi giggled. "Totally! You're gonna have a great birthday, Elisa!"

Desperate to turn the conversation away from me, I started talking about Vera and Sandra's birthdays instead. "I feel like we'll all get away for you guy's' birthdays too. Sandra and Vera, your birthdays are four days apart!"

Sandra blushed and nodded. "I'm December 2nd."

"And I'm the 8th!" Vera added.

"And I'm January 30th," Lexi said.
    
And we started talking about our birthdays and what Sonja could possibly have planned for us.

***

I ended up sharing a room with Lexi. We basically spent our whole first day in Key Largo roaming around and exploring the resort.
    
Here's what happened today:
    
So, after we got settled in our rooms (our families, too) we went down to the pool area. I was wearing a light pink bikini, with matching sunglasses. I didn't make this at Style Squad, obviously. We haven't started selling swimwear yet. We talked to Mr. Crimson, and he said we'll start selling them during Spring Break.
    
So, we're putting on sunscreen down at the pool. And suddenly, a group of squealing girls run over to us.
   
"OMG! You're Style Squad!"
    
"I saw you guys is Fashion Forward Magazine!"
   
"I memorized your Starbucks orders!"
     
"You guys are my favorite celebrities!"
     
"Elisa, you're prettier than Marcella Diamond!"
      
That last comment shocked me. There's no way I'm prettier than Marcella.

      
We took photos and signed autographs. I felt so... popular. That's something I've never really felt.

We hung out by the pol for a bit before we noticed them.

Paparazzi.

A mob of them, cameras and all.

Sandra whispered to me. "We're not even real celebrities. Why are we signing autographs and being stalked by paparazzi?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."
     
The paparazzi spotted us and shouted. "They're over there!"
    
And they started running towards us, cameras flashing.
     
Our first reaction?
     
Run.
     
It was just like the movies, when the paparazzi chase the pop stars.
     
However, instead of hiding in an alley, we ran into the children's splash pad. And, again, like the movies, the paparazzi ran right past us.
     
And we were all wet.
     
"Ugh!" I exclaimed. My sun hat was soaked. I took it off of my head and wrung it out. Lexi, Sandra, and Vera came and joined me.
     
Via, Sam, and Joey came running over to us. "What happened, Vera?" Via asked.
     
Lexi picked up Joey while Vera explained.
    
"...and now we're here," Vera concluded, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear.

Just then, one of the hotel employees came running over to us. "We're so sorry about that, girls! The paparazzi have been kicked off of the premises," she said, giving us towels. "How about we make this vacation the best one ever?" She asked.

I looked at her name tag. Melissa.

"Um, thanks, Melissa!" I said.

"You're welcome! How about you girls go freshen up? The owner of this hotel, Mr. Owen King, wants to meet with you girls. Come to the lobby whenever you're ready! Take your time!" Melissa winked at us and walked away.

Sandra looked at me, puzzled. "He wants to meet us? Why?"

"I don't know, but I just got nervous." Lexi gave Joey a kiss on the forehead and set him down on the ground.