“But sleep is necessary,” I tell her. “You enjoyed yourself enough yesterday,” I add.
She shakes her head. “Yesterday has passed. It’s a new day. Let’s conquer it.”
I give her an incredulous look. “You’re scaring me.”
“Why? How?” She asks, confused.
“You’re too upbeat right now. You’re usually less upbeat. What’s going on? Is it the water?” I basically have to force Mercedes out of bed every day for class. The fact that she’s the one waking me up now is just plain weird.
“I’m properly motivated,” she responds.
I sit up. “And what’s your motivation?”
“The beach. Mexico. Food. Hot guys,” she lists, counting each thing with her fingers.
“School doesn’t motivate you?” I ask.
She gives me a look that conveys more disgust than words ever could.
“Yeah, I know, I know. I realized how stupid it was when it left my mouth. You can’t blame me though. I just woke up,” I add in my defense.
“Well, get fully up. I’ll go shower and then we can go have breakfast and go bathing suit shopping,” she tells me, informing me of today’s itinerary.
“What do you want to do today, Ari?” I ask myself out loud.
She rolls her eyes. “I know what you’ll say. It’s why I didn’t ask.”
“Do you?” I ask.
She nods. “You’re going to say you want to stay in. Or that you don’t need more bathing suits, which is crazy because you only have one and no one can have too many bathing suits.”
“I’ve survived with one for a while,” I tell her. “You are right about wanting to stay in though.” Especially now that I know Kayden is at the hotel next door.
“Did you really pay for the flight and hotel to just hang out in a hotel room? We could’ve done that back home. We have to enjoy ourselves,” she tells me.
I feel bad making her have this conversation every day. “It’s just now…” I start trying to justify my sudden party-pooper demeanor.
“You don’t want to run into him again,” she finishes for me.
I nod.
“We can skip their hotel; we never have to go back there. But we can’t lock ourselves up,” she says. She’s not being unreasonable.
“But what if I run into him?” I ask. I wasn’t prepared the first time. Though I don’t think a second encounter would be any better.
“If you run into him again, you will keep your head held high. You’re a badass woman. You’re strong. And you will not succumb to the pressures of any man,” she tells me, and I smile at her choice of words.
“Can’t let him ruin my vacation,” I say, agreeing with her.
She jumps up on the bed. “Exactly! You owe it to yourself to enjoy your time. Maybe more so now.”
“Fine, let’s do this!” I tell her.
After breakfast, we come back into the hotel room to grab a few things and head out. I grab my water bottle on the way out and try to not be a coward. I’ve jumped into freezing cold water on a dare and survived. Seeing my ex is not the end of the world.
Granted, I didn’t actually mean to jump into the water. And said ex jumped in after me and made sure I was warm. He also made sure I had a place to sleep.
And then you guys broke up, my mind tells me, reminding me to stay on topic.
I’m a bit nervous about going out today, but we can’t waste our vacation because of my fear. I won’t let Kayden ruin my fun. I’m more determined now than I was when we got here to make the best of my time here.
He sure is.
As long as I avoid the hotel next door, I should be fine. We have our own private beach. If Mercedes wants to meet cute guys, she’ll have to settle for whichever ones are at this resort.
8 Ari Cole
“So there’s this nightclub we have to check out,” Mercedes tells me as we walk out of the restaurant. I look at her suspiciously.
“Is that why you had me dress up?” I ask, wearing the dress she put in my suitcase for me.
She nods. “I figured if I told you we were going to a club you’d put up a fight. But if I said we were going to dinner somewhere nice I could convince you to put on the dress I packed for you” she tells me.
I pull down the dress Mercedes gave me no choice but to wear. She wouldn’t let me leave the hotel room until I had it on. She even did my makeup. She wanted me to feel pretty and sexy on the outside. Wanted me to be fierce, those were her words. It’s definitely not something I’d willingly wear. This dress is showing a little too much skin. “Why are you like this?”
“You mean awesome,” she says, smiling at me.
“Devious,” I tell her.
“Well, I was able to get you out today, so I wanted to make sure I could keep you out.” She’s not wrong. I would have said no to going out dancing if she had told me about it.
We’ve already walked up and down the streets of Mexico today bathing suit shopping and getting a few unnecessary things along with some souvenirs for Mom and Dad. I could’ve stayed in the hotel room for the rest of the night, but Mercedes said we had to try this amazing restaurant, which was nowhere near our hotel, and I said yes. I wanted to try more authentic food and not just the food they give us at the resort. I was also sold on far away from the hotel because it meant no chance of running into he-who-shall-not-be-named.
“How far is this place?” I ask, determined to just get it over with. This will probably be the first and last time I wear this dress and these heels, so I may as well make the most of it. Plus, it’s dancing. I love dancing.
