Westside || Jonah Marais

• ONE •

❝ P I N K Y P R O M I S E ❞

Amity Reano sits in her bed, utterly alone and still rather confused.

This vacation had been one she was looking forward to all year. It had gotten her through all of the struggles of her fourth year in med school, and brightened her day when she thought about all the fun she and her best friend, Beatrice, would have.

After all, renting a hut on the coast of Bora Bora for two weeks is something tons of people dream of. It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

But, Beatrice - or Bey, as the girl preferred to be called, didn't show up at the airport yesterday. And she didn't bother to call or leave a text explaining why she wasn't there. She never even let on that she wouldn't make it to their annual vacation. She had planned it all out right alongside Amity, despite being hundreds of miles away. She seemed just as excited.

Amity sighs, pushing all thoughts of Bey's mysterious absence away before climbing out of bed.

Being by herself was not about to stop her from having fun. She will face the day head on, instead of hiding out in a hut to worry about someone that obviously wasn't worrying about her, and have the best fourteen days of her life.

<<>>

Amity sits at a breakfast bar on the edge of a beach, surrounded by people but still managing to feel completely alone. Pushing her scrambled eggs around on her plate, her thoughts can't help but to stray back to a certain girl.

But, she couldn't help it. Anytime she saw a cute top or overheard someone else's conversation, she would turn, wanting to share the information with a person that wasn't by her side.

Instead, every time she did so, she was met with the sight of a man she's never seen before, quietly enjoying his breakfast burrito. He had to have noticed the amount of times she's glanced at him by this point and she was thankful he was polite enough not to call her out on it.

"And here is your Berry Bora smoothie," the bar's only worker states, sliding a tall glass over to her and effectively distracting her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, there must have been a mix up," she quickly apologizes, pushing it back to him. "I didn't order a smoothie."

"Don't worry," he flashes her a perfectly whitened grin - which was a great contrast, to say the least, compared to his tan skin. "Cute lonely tourists get one on the house."

Before she can say anything, he's off to tend to the next patron of the breakfast bar, which was probably a good thing. The compliment caught her off guard and had her thoroughly flustered.

Amity lived a life that most people referred to as dull or lonely, though she didn't really mind it. For nearly ten months a year, medical school kept the girl buried in notes, classes, studying, and finals; which left little to no time for flirting. She kept to herself, conversing with barely any people outside of her professors.

Every year, when summer hit, it always took her quite a while to get adjusted to more social interaction than what she was used to. It usually resulted in awkward encounters such as this one. With no best friend to help her decide on a witty remark, she sits there and sips on her smoothie silently.

The blond haired man next to her leans over, startling her. "Ten dollars says he's using that exact pickup line on her."

She follows his line of vision, nearly choking on her drink as she sees the worker sliding a smoothie over to another rather pretty girl a few seats down.

"I guess I owe you ten dollars," she chuckles, turning back around to the stranger. "I'm Amity, by the way."

"I'm Corbyn," he introduces himself, shaking her hand. "And by the way you kept looking at me, I highly doubt you knew that."

She blushes furiously, quickly hiding her face in her hands, but he doesn't give her a chance to explain herself.

"Don't worry, not many people can resist staring at such handsomeness." Corbyn can't help but to laugh as her blush deepens.

"It's not like that," she mutters, too embarrassed to offer any further explanation. "I didn't mean to."

"Relax." He nudges her arm, failing to hide his amusement from her. "Tell me, what brings you to this island?"

Like he had hoped, changing the topic works as she slowly pries her fingers away.

"Promise to stop teasing me?"

"Pinky promise."

Linking pinkies with the solemnest expression the two can muster, Amity's blush soon disappears as she starts to talk, vaguely explaining her summer plans while keeping a certain someone out of all of the details.

As she finishes, Corbyn nods slowly, processing it all as an idea begins to take place. Shooting her a mischievous grin, he gets up, motioning for her to follow suit.

"Excuse you," she states, crossing her arms indignantly. "I was rasied not to go anywhere with strangers."

"You know my name, therefore I'm not a total stranger," he retorts, not bothering to look back. "Come on, I thought you wanted to have the greatest summer ever?"

As badly as Amity wanted to remain stubborn and stay at the breakfast bar as her newfound friend walked away, she couldn't help but to admit that he had a point. If she was being completely honest with herself, she would need the help of a local if she was going to to have the time of her life.

"Slow down," she huffs, grabbing her phone off the bar and jogging to catch up to him. "You have really long legs."

With no idea what she's getting herself into, Amity falls into step with Corbyn.