- Thread starter
- #61
I figure when you have 56 chapters that no one could really give a shit. Soooooooooooo here we are....man this chapter is freaking dull.
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CHAPTER 56
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December 28th:
“Dani, Dani, Dani…”
“Kyle, Kyle, Kyle…” Daniela was on the phone to her boyfriend. She laid down on her bed reading through a tour guide book on Hawaii while flicking her dark brown bangs away from her ice blue eyes. “You’ll have fun in Hong Kong.”
“But I feel bad for being away for NYE.”
“You're away for most of the year. I'll be in Hawaii anyway,” She licked her finger before flicking a page. “I wonder if I could go and walk on volcanoes.”
“I don’t know, you in the beaches wearing a bikini….”
“Oh come on, Plonkie,” Daniela scoffed. “You think I’ll hook up with those surfer guys? I’m with family. Relax.”
“I get that but you’re hot.”
“Honey, don’t play that jealously card on me,” She yawned over the phone. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’re going to Hong Kong and a lot of hot women shop there.”
“But Dani, it’s me.”
She flicked through the pages to Maui. “Exactly, you are hot. Have you looked in a mirror? Hello, even Francesca who’s a super hot supermodel thinks you’re hot. What’s not to say that you’ll hook up with some slutty Hong Kong chick.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“Exactly, so don’t play that jealously bullshit with me,” Daniela sternly remarked over the phone. “Have I given you a reason not to trust me?”
“Umm.....”
“Shut up! Anyway I have to call Joel. Call me when you reach there,” She rolled her cell phone closer to herself on her queen sized bed. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“Bye!!!” She hung up and immediately dialed Joel’s cell phone whistling some Britney Spears.
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Somewhere in Los Angeles:
The sound of a cell phone going off made one teenager groan. “Is that your phone?” Joel rolled off a queen sized bed he was on. He looked around the room which was pretty rustic. There were wooden drawers including a big mirror on top. There were wooden tables and the bed was made out of wood. The light pink curtains blew around as he could feel the breeze tickle his face.
“No, it’s your phone.”
“Great…” He muttered to himself as he chucked on a pair of pants and a shirt. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” He could hear Daniela yell over the phone. “You’re supposed to be here. We leave for the airport in 4 hours.”
“Yeah, yeah I’ll be there. See you.” Joel hung up the phone and immediately realized “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” A brunette woman got out of her bed. It was Katherine Russell, Joel’s ex-girlfriend’s older sister. She wore nothing but a white bra and blue satin shorts.
“Not much except I’m supposed to leave for Hawaii in 6 hours and I’ve done no packing.” Joel panicked. “And I’m here in your bedroom not long after I broke up with your sister. I slept with you and I didn’t sleep with your sister. Man, this is crazy.”
“Relax,” Katherine chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re frazzled.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Just have a shower.”
“Can’t, I’ll go home and shower. So…” Joel grabbed his car keys from her wooden bedside table which was on top of a book. He looked at the book “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. How’s the book?”
“It’s fun. Kind of keeps me sane.” Katherine held a hair clip in her mouth as she tied her silky brown hair. “Hawaii sounds fun.”
“You’ve been there?” He asked as he tried to find “Where’s my socks?” He asked looking around her bed to find them. “I had two white socks and I don’t see them anywhere and I’m going to be late and the family is going to kill me.”
“You mean these socks?” Katherine pointed at her feet. He looked down and pouted his lips. “I was cold.” She sat down on her bed and took them off. She threw them at him.
“So…” Joel struggled to put his socks on while standing and talking. “Where does this leave us?”
“Us?” She yawned. “Joel, there is no us. We can’t date.”
“Huh?”
“Cause…” She sat down watching him put on his socks with her arms around her knees. “I’m a head of a sorority and you’re in student politics. I’m a senior and you’re a freshman, and you dated Hannah, my little sister. If anyone caught wind….”
“Then we’ll be screwed.” He succeeded with the socks and then came the shoes. “But it’s not like you’re a teacher and I’m a student.”
“It’s a conflict of interest, Joel. Your party hates sororities and frats and if they see you screwing around with someone of my stature, you know you’ll be kicked out of the party and that will follow us for a long time,” She explained as she got up to brush her hair. “I’m not going to be here for much longer, so it doesn’t matter that much to me but for you…you’ll be known as the guy who got kicked out of a student party for sleeping around. You don’t want that to follow you.”
“Yeah…”
“Plus it’s fun…” She smiled through the mirror as she looked at his reflection. “Just having sex and nothing more. Better than any relationship I’ve had in a while. Is Dani going to Hawaii?”
“The whole family,” He explained. “She's a bit bummed. Her boyfriend is going overseas to Hong Kong and…” He saw the time on Katherine’s digital alarm clock on her bedside table. “11 30 and I’m off. See you later, Kat.” He was about to ran off before giving Katherine a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Enjoy!"
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30 minutes later:
Daniela heard her phone ring. She groaned when she picked it up. The first thought coming into her mind was “It better not be Joel...” but she answered it anyway as she sat right next to a red suitcase. “Hello?”
“Dani!!! Hi, it’s me Jasmine.”
“What do you want?” She asked coldly.
“Dani, I know it’s winter but girl you’re a cold. I’m just saying hi to my friend. Don’t you remember all the fun times we had in middle school? Remember how you got that weird foreign kid’s glasses and sold them off at a pawn store? Classic or that time when we stole from the vending machines and those test answers. Oh remember those popular girls’ perfumes that we stole?”
“That was in the past, Jasmine.”
“See that’s the problem with you. You’re too soft. You said you were going to stir shit up when I saw you in Colorado two years ago but I see you now and it’s like what the hell happened to you? This isn’t the bitch I knew from middle school.”
“I grew up.”
“Don’t believe that, Dani but before you get all angry at me, I want to make a deal. You know how I recorded you saying that you’ll steal that chick’s boyfriend and sleep with him basically to fuck her over because you hated her?”
“I still can't believe you did that.”
“Well you know I’ve not been a good friend, so I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you the tape and yes there is one because I’m nice….I’ll give you the tape if you do my course work for me. See my parents are like Jasmine you have to get good marks and shit because strict Asian parents or whatever and I haven’t because hello hot guys.”
“Get to the point…” Daniela ordered sternly as she clutched her phone with a very tight grip.
“You are so boring. Anyway do my work for me and your friends and your boyfriend won’t find out that you broke up his relationship so you could sleep with him. Does that sound like a deal because I don’t have much to lose but you have a boyfriend to lose.”
Daniela thought about it, mused over it but in the end “Fine…”
“Yay! I knew you would help me. Isn’t that what friends are for?”
“Go to hell….”
“So mean but you know I have a date, so you see you later, hoe.”
Daniela hung up the phone and tapped it against her knee. She couldn’t believe that she trusted Jasmine which such valuable information in the first place. She slapped her head before flinching.
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Two Days Later:
Madison, WI.
It was a cold evening as the snow fell and the temperature kind of also fell. William was sitting watching MTV wearing several layers since the heater broke down. “This sucks.” He exclaimed in annoyance. “This is boring.”
“Well,” Alicia sat down next to him wearing a green turtleneck jumper and grey pants and reading a book written by Hemingway. “I don’t get this. I’m not an artistic person.” She shut the book and threw it on to the small glass coffee table. “It’s not that bad.”
“It is that bad. Kyle’s going to Hong Kong. Kind of funny since my parents are going there. I should have gone with them but no I thought I was too cool to see family that don’t understand why I'm gay and here I am cold as a dead penguin.” Will complained as he picked up the television remote and muted the ads on TV. “Why couldn’t we go on a trip?”
“We still could,” Alicia perked up after getting an idea. “I have a friend that lives in Pittsburgh. How fair is Pittsburgh from Madison?”
“I guess about a 10 hour drive?” He shrugged not knowing the answer.
“Actually…” The dark haired black teen picked up her phone. “I got a better idea.”
“You mean a stupid idea?”
“I’m not Kyle,” Alicia defended herself. “Tony? Hi, what are you doing? Ah huh, ah huh…okay stopped caring but you want to go on a trip? Where? I don’t know Winnipeg? Yes Winnipeg, Canada. Because we’re bored and everyone is out of the country. Fine….” She hung up and threw her phone on to a cushion.
“What did he say?” He asked.
“We’re going to Winnipeg. So let’s surf the net and make some calls for some hotels. Wait…you have a passport with you?”
“My family goes to China a lot, so yeah we do. What about you?”
“Yes, yes I do. Can’t believe we’re going to Winnipeg, Canada. I think we’ve been around Kyle too much but a trip is a trip.” Alicia got up. “Now we have to find a travel agent.”
“Or we can call one.”
"Or that," Alicia picked up her phone and was about to dial. "My parents are you going to kill you."
"They'll kill you for something anyway," Will shrugged. "Get it over with."
"Good point!"
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December 30th:
Location: Maui!!!
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the trees were breezing, it was just another amazing day in Maui. Their resort overlooked the beautiful sandy beaches and the crystal blue ocean. Bette and Sean enjoyed the view but for the other members of the family? They were enjoying the beach.
The beach was sublime; the blue waves were crashing the white sandy beaches as people were either catching some waves, jet skiing, swimming or those that preferred the mainland, they were playing touch football, volleyball, building sandcastles, reading a book under an umbrella or in Daniela’s case, getting some 'tannage'. She wore a red two piece bikini as she watched the waves wearing a pair of sunglasses. She was sitting on a red blanket.
She was approached by a tanned man. “Hey.” He had a tanned chiseled chest and a six pack abs. He had short jet black hair and stood at over 6’3’
“And what do you want?” She didn’t even take a glance at him.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing at the beach alone?” He asked her.
Daniela looked around, she thought the guy was kind of a try hard but normally that wouldn't stop her from jumping all over that but something told her otherwise like a talking cricket on her shoulder with a top hat. “I’m with family and I have a boyfriend and he would say bugger off.”
“Yeah, well…” He couldn’t take the hint even if it was obvious. “Does he have muscles like me?”
“In his brain, loser.”
His friend heard him get shut down. “Oooh dude you got served.”
“Shut up, dude.” He yelled back.
“Whatever…” Daniela got up. “I don’t have time for this. You go find some stupid bimbo to be like you're so strong.” She picked up her blanket and cleaned up sand from her thighs. “Have fun. I’m going to find something better to do with my time.” She walked away from those beach bums. “I wonder if the nature walk is good?” Daniela thought to herself.
Elsewhere, Joel was on a surfboard that he rented. He was trying to paddle himself into the waves. He had a general gist of how to surf after Gisela kind of taught him. The light brown haired teen found a spot and laid down on his surfboard waiting for the waves to hit. Everything was going swimmingly until he saw this amazing surfer in a wetsuit, surfing like a god. Every break was perfect to a tee. He caught a glimpse of her face but nothing more. Joel shrugged and went with it.
However there was something familiar with the glimpse he caught and immediately without hesitation paddled back to shore. He shook his head trying to get some sand out of his hair and excess water. He saw the surfer heading back to shore. “Hey, man you were….” She turned around immediately as Joel talked to her.
“Joel?”
“Silvia?”
Silvia, the lost love. Joel remembered their break-up visibly. She dumped him to pursue a professional surfing career. She had this amazing body, dark brown hair that could be mistaken for black and beautiful green eyes that matched her olive complexion. “What are you doing here?”
“Holiday. What about you?”
“The same. Wow….” She looked at him. “You’re a lot different looking than I remembered. So….” She looked around awkwardly. “How’s things?”
“Good, good….” He felt the same way. “I heard you’ve been doing good.”
Silvia looked at her watch and then could see the crowds. “I have some time; you want to get something to eat?” If anything her Brazilian accent had gotten stronger than he remembered.
"Umm....yeah sure."
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Hong Kong:
It was night time in the bustling metropolis. The buildings were lit up in various bright neon lights that made it look absolutely gorgeous. The bright neon signs painted the city like color and character. Kyle and Gisela were taken aback by how beautiful the city looked at night.
“This is just amazing…” Kyle said breathlessly trying to take it all in. It wasn’t only ascetically pleasing but the city had a lot of character from the British and Chinese cultures blending together. As they walked through the main part of the city, they could see buses, taxis, and cars stuck in what seemed to be perpetually long traffic jams. They walked by several street vendors, cafes, restaurants and stores that seemed to be open for hours on end. There were still several people walking around talking in Cantonese.
“Let’s go like clubbing!” Gisela said with glee. She was wearing a black top and jeans with her blonde hair tied in a bun.
“How about no,” Kyle shut that idea down. “I’m not going to a club with my sister. You know how weird that is?”
“Ewww….” A mental image came across Gisela’s mind. “Any ideas?”
“Well we can go pubbing.” He shrugged while flicking a piece of lint from his loose white t-shirt. He wore them along with chinos.
Gisela looked at him. “Pubbing?”
“Oh yeah pubbing. It’s just basically bar hopping.”
“You Australians are like so weird.” She slapped him on his back. “Great idea.”
“Really?” He rubbed his back in pain. “Was that necessary?”
"Totally, don't be like a baby,” She chuckled. “Let’s go find a pub.”
“Bloody hell that hurts…” He rubbed his back as the locals watched the pair of them interact. “Still a lot of British people…” He saw a few white people walking around. “Guess the turnover wasn’t that quick.”
“Didn’t China get back Hong Kong in like 1997?”
“Yeah.”
“Well it’s not like Uganda in the 70’s. That was total turnover.” Gisela knew her stuff, a lot more than given credit and a lot more than several people.
“Errr…what?” He stood there confused.
“Like as if you don’t know about Uganda’s history in the 60’s and 70’s with like Idi Amin.” Gisela scoffed as they crossed a road just as the traffic stopped. “Where’s like all the good bars?” She asked. “Cause like do we need a taxi or a bus?”
“Can’t say I do…” He was really impressed about his sister’s general knowledge. Kyle filled through a map in his pocket. “Man….” He scratched his head. “Lan Kwai Fong? I heard that areas has several bars and shit. Let’s just catch a taxi.”
“Alrighty!” Gisela and Kyle walked up to a taxi stand. They were behind several people in suits after working long hours, looking tired and dazed. Several cars and buses drive past drowned by the sounds of the chaos among the city. People chatting away, loud Cantonese music, sounds of traffic lights telling people to walk or not, cars and buses driving by, the sound of food being cooked, fried and people walking around. “Taxi!” She called out. "What’s the place again?”
“Lan Kwai Fong.”
Gisela got inside the taxi in the back seat. “You say it.”
Kyle looked at the driver. “Lan Kwai Fong?”
“Okay, okay.” The taxi driver smiled as he turned the knob for the volume. The radio in his car was playing local music which the two tourists couldn’t understand. He smiled at Kyle who awkwardly smiled back. Gisela thought the taxi driver knew where to go but her brother had other thoughts.
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Los Angeles:
“These holidays suck…” Courtney sighed as she was shopping with Chris. “My boyfriend is in Fiji, my best friend is in Hong Kong with her brother, and Joel and Dani are in Hawaii. Did you ring Alicia and Tony?” They were walking side by side window shopping. There wasn’t much to do since the sales were done and it was still the same fashion season.
They walked passed a café. “So how are you and geekward doing?”
“You know I haven’t seen him since 25th and now it’s going to be year 2000. Who spends new years’ in Fiji?” Courtney exclaimed in an annoyed tone. “It’s the worst.”
“Your boyfriend? Isn’t Fiji that place where local girls walk around with their boobs out or was that Africa?” Chris looked down Courtney’s top. “Huh…”
“What?” She asked not realizing where his eyes were.
“Nothing….I’m just saying maybe we should do something,” He shrugged. “I think Thorpe and Muller are going to be in Hong Kong for New Years. Harris and Cooper are gonna be in Hawaii and I think Harrison and Howard are going to be in Canada, so I have an idea!”
“I’m not leaving LA.”
“God dammit, Courtney. Could be headed to New Orleans, New York, Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Burma, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Kuwait, Slovakia…”
“Are you just naming countries now?” She interrupted him.
“The world is a place of things, and Gisela taught me those names. I like Norway because it’s like No….way. Get it?” Chris laughed to himself as they walked towards the food court. The food court was packed. “Slovakia sounds cool and did you know there’s a Slovenia? Crazy.”
“Shut up Chris…” Courtney sighed as she pushed some of her red hair away from her right ear. Chris in all his glory continued to stare at Courtney’s breasts. Still unaware, the woman asked “What are your plans?”
“Dunno I guess since most of the team has gone back home, I’ll probably think of something.” Then an idea clicked in his head. “There’s this hockey game in Anaheim, we could go there and then to Disneyland to celebrate New Year’s.”
“Is Disneyland even open in New Years?” She asked kind of feeling the idea. They were sitting down and while the aromas of fried chicken, potato chips, Mexican food and the strong scent of Chinese food whiffed through the air.
“I guess we could always check,” Chris shrugged. “What do you think?”
“I like it.” She smiled. “I’ll book the tickets and stuff.”
“Alright, this should be rocking. Maybe next year everyone else will be here. Y2K and we gonna celebrate it in style.”
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Location: Maui!!!!
“It’s just weird seeing you again…” Joel couldn’t believe that his ex-girlfriend aka the one that got away, was sitting right in front of him. “So….how’s life?”
They were sitting inside a wooden dingy little hut like restaurant. Everything was practically wood even most of the kitchen. It brought a nice, quiet, old atmosphere to it. “Life is good,” Silvia nodded slightly. “How are you? What are you doing now?”
“Now? I’m at UCLA, college life. I’m here with family…that’s about it.” He shrugged while tapping away to the local music. “Life good?”
“Life is good.” She repeated.
“I’m sorry, it’s just weird seeing you after such a long time. I don’t know…” He bit his nails. “Look I’m going to jump into it. I missed you, you were like this awesome woman in my life.”
“What about now?”
“Well….” Joel thought about all the women in his life. “There was Chloe, she’s was odd but she moved to the mid-north, her dad was a principal. Then there was Maria, she was ummm…kind of like perky but she went North Carolina and there was Hannah. Now Hannah was great but she was a bit too involved in politics and go arrested in a protest and finally there was Katherine…” He explained. “But she’s Hannah’s older sister and part of a sorority which Daniela is involved in. Now the problem is that I’m part of a political party that hates sororities and frats, she’s a senior and I’m a freshmen….and if anyone caught wind, we are doomed.”
“Sounds like you’ve been through a lot. How’s Daniela? I always liked her. She was spunky. Last time I heard she and that guy were dating.”
“Well she and him broke up ages ago, she’s dating Kyle. You remember Kyle Thorpe?”
“Yeah, he was that geek.”
“Well his mother married Gisela’s father and he’s not a geek anymore. He dated Courtney, you remember her?”
“Yeah.”
“And he also had an affair with a supermodel in Italy. Really hot, I met her when he and I went to Australia for a trip.” Joel continued to bite his nails. “Yeah, things have changed.”
“Wow! It is just like a telenovela. So you and Gisela never dated or did anything?” Silvia remembered how close they were to each other.
“No, no, nothing happened between us. We're good friends,” Joel explained waiting for something to eat. It was going to be a long wait since the whole place was crowded. “But man….I mean you just being here….wow. How long are you here for?”
“A couple of days. You?” Silvia gazed into his blue eyes.
He gazed back at her green eyes. “Until the 2nd of the new year. So what does that leave us?” He asked as he took her hand.
She looked down and seemed hesitant. “What about Katherine?”
“It's very open,” He let go of her hand. “I mean it’s your choice.”
“What’s the harm? A couple of days of a whirlwind romance? It does sound fun.” She smiled at him. “Let’s do it.”
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Hong Kong:
Gisela and Kyle were walking through Lan Kwai Fong. The bright neon signs lit in front of their faces, signs that said ‘Cheap Alcohol’ or featuring ‘so and so’. The street was filled by partygoers, those that were heading for a great time after work, tourists, or those that had nothing better to do in their lives. The area was a cobble-stoned maze full of bars, nightclubs and restaurants that intoxicated the senses. There were people screaming, singing loudly, dancing, or being harassed by con-artists dressed as monks.
Gisela bobbled her head to the infectious beat from one of the nightclubs. “Like come on Kyle, I wanna dance.”
“C’mon Gissy, I want to drink…” Kyle felt his arm being grabbed by her.
“Don’t be a geek, Kyle….”
“Hey, I’ve seen you guys before.” An Asian woman appeared before the squabbling siblings. “Weren’t you guys at the Christmas party at Daniela’s house.”
“You know Daniela?” Kyle raised his eyebrow.
“And Joel?” The blonde teenager looked at the woman.
“Oh yeah, Daniela and I go way back. She and I were the best of friends back in the day. You guys must be her friends! I’m Jasmine Wu.” Jasmine introduced herself with a smarmy grin on her face.
“I guess. I’m Gisela and this is my brother Kyle.”
“You know Daniela?” He was skeptical. “She never told me about you.”
“Silly Dani, she’s like that you know. I’m surprised she hasn’t told you about me because we have history together. You must be the boyfriend and wow she is lucky, you are so hot and that’s not the booze talking.” She laughed. “I better go before my cousin rips up that nightclub. See ya!”
“She’s never said anything about a Jasmine?” Gisela looked at Kyle who was really in deep thought and skeptical. “You good?”
“Yeah, I know. Dani tells me everything. Why didn’t she tell me about her?” He thought out loud. “Whatever, probs not a big deal. I'm keen to get plastered.”
“PARTY!” Gisela yelled out loud. She was met with a raucous of cheers and ‘Wooos’
“Alright!”
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I'm really half asleep.....
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CHAPTER 56
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December 28th:
“Dani, Dani, Dani…”
“Kyle, Kyle, Kyle…” Daniela was on the phone to her boyfriend. She laid down on her bed reading through a tour guide book on Hawaii while flicking her dark brown bangs away from her ice blue eyes. “You’ll have fun in Hong Kong.”
“But I feel bad for being away for NYE.”
“You're away for most of the year. I'll be in Hawaii anyway,” She licked her finger before flicking a page. “I wonder if I could go and walk on volcanoes.”
“I don’t know, you in the beaches wearing a bikini….”
“Oh come on, Plonkie,” Daniela scoffed. “You think I’ll hook up with those surfer guys? I’m with family. Relax.”
“I get that but you’re hot.”
“Honey, don’t play that jealously card on me,” She yawned over the phone. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’re going to Hong Kong and a lot of hot women shop there.”
“But Dani, it’s me.”
She flicked through the pages to Maui. “Exactly, you are hot. Have you looked in a mirror? Hello, even Francesca who’s a super hot supermodel thinks you’re hot. What’s not to say that you’ll hook up with some slutty Hong Kong chick.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“Exactly, so don’t play that jealously bullshit with me,” Daniela sternly remarked over the phone. “Have I given you a reason not to trust me?”
“Umm.....”
“Shut up! Anyway I have to call Joel. Call me when you reach there,” She rolled her cell phone closer to herself on her queen sized bed. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“Bye!!!” She hung up and immediately dialed Joel’s cell phone whistling some Britney Spears.
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Somewhere in Los Angeles:
The sound of a cell phone going off made one teenager groan. “Is that your phone?” Joel rolled off a queen sized bed he was on. He looked around the room which was pretty rustic. There were wooden drawers including a big mirror on top. There were wooden tables and the bed was made out of wood. The light pink curtains blew around as he could feel the breeze tickle his face.
“No, it’s your phone.”
“Great…” He muttered to himself as he chucked on a pair of pants and a shirt. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” He could hear Daniela yell over the phone. “You’re supposed to be here. We leave for the airport in 4 hours.”
“Yeah, yeah I’ll be there. See you.” Joel hung up the phone and immediately realized “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” A brunette woman got out of her bed. It was Katherine Russell, Joel’s ex-girlfriend’s older sister. She wore nothing but a white bra and blue satin shorts.
“Not much except I’m supposed to leave for Hawaii in 6 hours and I’ve done no packing.” Joel panicked. “And I’m here in your bedroom not long after I broke up with your sister. I slept with you and I didn’t sleep with your sister. Man, this is crazy.”
“Relax,” Katherine chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re frazzled.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Just have a shower.”
“Can’t, I’ll go home and shower. So…” Joel grabbed his car keys from her wooden bedside table which was on top of a book. He looked at the book “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. How’s the book?”
“It’s fun. Kind of keeps me sane.” Katherine held a hair clip in her mouth as she tied her silky brown hair. “Hawaii sounds fun.”
“You’ve been there?” He asked as he tried to find “Where’s my socks?” He asked looking around her bed to find them. “I had two white socks and I don’t see them anywhere and I’m going to be late and the family is going to kill me.”
“You mean these socks?” Katherine pointed at her feet. He looked down and pouted his lips. “I was cold.” She sat down on her bed and took them off. She threw them at him.
“So…” Joel struggled to put his socks on while standing and talking. “Where does this leave us?”
“Us?” She yawned. “Joel, there is no us. We can’t date.”
“Huh?”
“Cause…” She sat down watching him put on his socks with her arms around her knees. “I’m a head of a sorority and you’re in student politics. I’m a senior and you’re a freshman, and you dated Hannah, my little sister. If anyone caught wind….”
“Then we’ll be screwed.” He succeeded with the socks and then came the shoes. “But it’s not like you’re a teacher and I’m a student.”
“It’s a conflict of interest, Joel. Your party hates sororities and frats and if they see you screwing around with someone of my stature, you know you’ll be kicked out of the party and that will follow us for a long time,” She explained as she got up to brush her hair. “I’m not going to be here for much longer, so it doesn’t matter that much to me but for you…you’ll be known as the guy who got kicked out of a student party for sleeping around. You don’t want that to follow you.”
“Yeah…”
“Plus it’s fun…” She smiled through the mirror as she looked at his reflection. “Just having sex and nothing more. Better than any relationship I’ve had in a while. Is Dani going to Hawaii?”
“The whole family,” He explained. “She's a bit bummed. Her boyfriend is going overseas to Hong Kong and…” He saw the time on Katherine’s digital alarm clock on her bedside table. “11 30 and I’m off. See you later, Kat.” He was about to ran off before giving Katherine a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Enjoy!"
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30 minutes later:
Daniela heard her phone ring. She groaned when she picked it up. The first thought coming into her mind was “It better not be Joel...” but she answered it anyway as she sat right next to a red suitcase. “Hello?”
“Dani!!! Hi, it’s me Jasmine.”
“What do you want?” She asked coldly.
“Dani, I know it’s winter but girl you’re a cold. I’m just saying hi to my friend. Don’t you remember all the fun times we had in middle school? Remember how you got that weird foreign kid’s glasses and sold them off at a pawn store? Classic or that time when we stole from the vending machines and those test answers. Oh remember those popular girls’ perfumes that we stole?”
“That was in the past, Jasmine.”
“See that’s the problem with you. You’re too soft. You said you were going to stir shit up when I saw you in Colorado two years ago but I see you now and it’s like what the hell happened to you? This isn’t the bitch I knew from middle school.”
“I grew up.”
“Don’t believe that, Dani but before you get all angry at me, I want to make a deal. You know how I recorded you saying that you’ll steal that chick’s boyfriend and sleep with him basically to fuck her over because you hated her?”
“I still can't believe you did that.”
“Well you know I’ve not been a good friend, so I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you the tape and yes there is one because I’m nice….I’ll give you the tape if you do my course work for me. See my parents are like Jasmine you have to get good marks and shit because strict Asian parents or whatever and I haven’t because hello hot guys.”
“Get to the point…” Daniela ordered sternly as she clutched her phone with a very tight grip.
“You are so boring. Anyway do my work for me and your friends and your boyfriend won’t find out that you broke up his relationship so you could sleep with him. Does that sound like a deal because I don’t have much to lose but you have a boyfriend to lose.”
Daniela thought about it, mused over it but in the end “Fine…”
“Yay! I knew you would help me. Isn’t that what friends are for?”
“Go to hell….”
“So mean but you know I have a date, so you see you later, hoe.”
Daniela hung up the phone and tapped it against her knee. She couldn’t believe that she trusted Jasmine which such valuable information in the first place. She slapped her head before flinching.
---------------------
Two Days Later:
Madison, WI.
It was a cold evening as the snow fell and the temperature kind of also fell. William was sitting watching MTV wearing several layers since the heater broke down. “This sucks.” He exclaimed in annoyance. “This is boring.”
“Well,” Alicia sat down next to him wearing a green turtleneck jumper and grey pants and reading a book written by Hemingway. “I don’t get this. I’m not an artistic person.” She shut the book and threw it on to the small glass coffee table. “It’s not that bad.”
“It is that bad. Kyle’s going to Hong Kong. Kind of funny since my parents are going there. I should have gone with them but no I thought I was too cool to see family that don’t understand why I'm gay and here I am cold as a dead penguin.” Will complained as he picked up the television remote and muted the ads on TV. “Why couldn’t we go on a trip?”
“We still could,” Alicia perked up after getting an idea. “I have a friend that lives in Pittsburgh. How fair is Pittsburgh from Madison?”
“I guess about a 10 hour drive?” He shrugged not knowing the answer.
“Actually…” The dark haired black teen picked up her phone. “I got a better idea.”
“You mean a stupid idea?”
“I’m not Kyle,” Alicia defended herself. “Tony? Hi, what are you doing? Ah huh, ah huh…okay stopped caring but you want to go on a trip? Where? I don’t know Winnipeg? Yes Winnipeg, Canada. Because we’re bored and everyone is out of the country. Fine….” She hung up and threw her phone on to a cushion.
“What did he say?” He asked.
“We’re going to Winnipeg. So let’s surf the net and make some calls for some hotels. Wait…you have a passport with you?”
“My family goes to China a lot, so yeah we do. What about you?”
“Yes, yes I do. Can’t believe we’re going to Winnipeg, Canada. I think we’ve been around Kyle too much but a trip is a trip.” Alicia got up. “Now we have to find a travel agent.”
“Or we can call one.”
"Or that," Alicia picked up her phone and was about to dial. "My parents are you going to kill you."
"They'll kill you for something anyway," Will shrugged. "Get it over with."
"Good point!"
--------------------------
December 30th:
Location: Maui!!!
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the trees were breezing, it was just another amazing day in Maui. Their resort overlooked the beautiful sandy beaches and the crystal blue ocean. Bette and Sean enjoyed the view but for the other members of the family? They were enjoying the beach.
The beach was sublime; the blue waves were crashing the white sandy beaches as people were either catching some waves, jet skiing, swimming or those that preferred the mainland, they were playing touch football, volleyball, building sandcastles, reading a book under an umbrella or in Daniela’s case, getting some 'tannage'. She wore a red two piece bikini as she watched the waves wearing a pair of sunglasses. She was sitting on a red blanket.
She was approached by a tanned man. “Hey.” He had a tanned chiseled chest and a six pack abs. He had short jet black hair and stood at over 6’3’
“And what do you want?” She didn’t even take a glance at him.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing at the beach alone?” He asked her.
Daniela looked around, she thought the guy was kind of a try hard but normally that wouldn't stop her from jumping all over that but something told her otherwise like a talking cricket on her shoulder with a top hat. “I’m with family and I have a boyfriend and he would say bugger off.”
“Yeah, well…” He couldn’t take the hint even if it was obvious. “Does he have muscles like me?”
“In his brain, loser.”
His friend heard him get shut down. “Oooh dude you got served.”
“Shut up, dude.” He yelled back.
“Whatever…” Daniela got up. “I don’t have time for this. You go find some stupid bimbo to be like you're so strong.” She picked up her blanket and cleaned up sand from her thighs. “Have fun. I’m going to find something better to do with my time.” She walked away from those beach bums. “I wonder if the nature walk is good?” Daniela thought to herself.
Elsewhere, Joel was on a surfboard that he rented. He was trying to paddle himself into the waves. He had a general gist of how to surf after Gisela kind of taught him. The light brown haired teen found a spot and laid down on his surfboard waiting for the waves to hit. Everything was going swimmingly until he saw this amazing surfer in a wetsuit, surfing like a god. Every break was perfect to a tee. He caught a glimpse of her face but nothing more. Joel shrugged and went with it.
However there was something familiar with the glimpse he caught and immediately without hesitation paddled back to shore. He shook his head trying to get some sand out of his hair and excess water. He saw the surfer heading back to shore. “Hey, man you were….” She turned around immediately as Joel talked to her.
“Joel?”
“Silvia?”
Silvia, the lost love. Joel remembered their break-up visibly. She dumped him to pursue a professional surfing career. She had this amazing body, dark brown hair that could be mistaken for black and beautiful green eyes that matched her olive complexion. “What are you doing here?”
“Holiday. What about you?”
“The same. Wow….” She looked at him. “You’re a lot different looking than I remembered. So….” She looked around awkwardly. “How’s things?”
“Good, good….” He felt the same way. “I heard you’ve been doing good.”
Silvia looked at her watch and then could see the crowds. “I have some time; you want to get something to eat?” If anything her Brazilian accent had gotten stronger than he remembered.
"Umm....yeah sure."
---------------------------
Hong Kong:
It was night time in the bustling metropolis. The buildings were lit up in various bright neon lights that made it look absolutely gorgeous. The bright neon signs painted the city like color and character. Kyle and Gisela were taken aback by how beautiful the city looked at night.
“This is just amazing…” Kyle said breathlessly trying to take it all in. It wasn’t only ascetically pleasing but the city had a lot of character from the British and Chinese cultures blending together. As they walked through the main part of the city, they could see buses, taxis, and cars stuck in what seemed to be perpetually long traffic jams. They walked by several street vendors, cafes, restaurants and stores that seemed to be open for hours on end. There were still several people walking around talking in Cantonese.
“Let’s go like clubbing!” Gisela said with glee. She was wearing a black top and jeans with her blonde hair tied in a bun.
“How about no,” Kyle shut that idea down. “I’m not going to a club with my sister. You know how weird that is?”
“Ewww….” A mental image came across Gisela’s mind. “Any ideas?”
“Well we can go pubbing.” He shrugged while flicking a piece of lint from his loose white t-shirt. He wore them along with chinos.
Gisela looked at him. “Pubbing?”
“Oh yeah pubbing. It’s just basically bar hopping.”
“You Australians are like so weird.” She slapped him on his back. “Great idea.”
“Really?” He rubbed his back in pain. “Was that necessary?”
"Totally, don't be like a baby,” She chuckled. “Let’s go find a pub.”
“Bloody hell that hurts…” He rubbed his back as the locals watched the pair of them interact. “Still a lot of British people…” He saw a few white people walking around. “Guess the turnover wasn’t that quick.”
“Didn’t China get back Hong Kong in like 1997?”
“Yeah.”
“Well it’s not like Uganda in the 70’s. That was total turnover.” Gisela knew her stuff, a lot more than given credit and a lot more than several people.
“Errr…what?” He stood there confused.
“Like as if you don’t know about Uganda’s history in the 60’s and 70’s with like Idi Amin.” Gisela scoffed as they crossed a road just as the traffic stopped. “Where’s like all the good bars?” She asked. “Cause like do we need a taxi or a bus?”
“Can’t say I do…” He was really impressed about his sister’s general knowledge. Kyle filled through a map in his pocket. “Man….” He scratched his head. “Lan Kwai Fong? I heard that areas has several bars and shit. Let’s just catch a taxi.”
“Alrighty!” Gisela and Kyle walked up to a taxi stand. They were behind several people in suits after working long hours, looking tired and dazed. Several cars and buses drive past drowned by the sounds of the chaos among the city. People chatting away, loud Cantonese music, sounds of traffic lights telling people to walk or not, cars and buses driving by, the sound of food being cooked, fried and people walking around. “Taxi!” She called out. "What’s the place again?”
“Lan Kwai Fong.”
Gisela got inside the taxi in the back seat. “You say it.”
Kyle looked at the driver. “Lan Kwai Fong?”
“Okay, okay.” The taxi driver smiled as he turned the knob for the volume. The radio in his car was playing local music which the two tourists couldn’t understand. He smiled at Kyle who awkwardly smiled back. Gisela thought the taxi driver knew where to go but her brother had other thoughts.
--------------------------
Los Angeles:
“These holidays suck…” Courtney sighed as she was shopping with Chris. “My boyfriend is in Fiji, my best friend is in Hong Kong with her brother, and Joel and Dani are in Hawaii. Did you ring Alicia and Tony?” They were walking side by side window shopping. There wasn’t much to do since the sales were done and it was still the same fashion season.
They walked passed a café. “So how are you and geekward doing?”
“You know I haven’t seen him since 25th and now it’s going to be year 2000. Who spends new years’ in Fiji?” Courtney exclaimed in an annoyed tone. “It’s the worst.”
“Your boyfriend? Isn’t Fiji that place where local girls walk around with their boobs out or was that Africa?” Chris looked down Courtney’s top. “Huh…”
“What?” She asked not realizing where his eyes were.
“Nothing….I’m just saying maybe we should do something,” He shrugged. “I think Thorpe and Muller are going to be in Hong Kong for New Years. Harris and Cooper are gonna be in Hawaii and I think Harrison and Howard are going to be in Canada, so I have an idea!”
“I’m not leaving LA.”
“God dammit, Courtney. Could be headed to New Orleans, New York, Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Burma, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Kuwait, Slovakia…”
“Are you just naming countries now?” She interrupted him.
“The world is a place of things, and Gisela taught me those names. I like Norway because it’s like No….way. Get it?” Chris laughed to himself as they walked towards the food court. The food court was packed. “Slovakia sounds cool and did you know there’s a Slovenia? Crazy.”
“Shut up Chris…” Courtney sighed as she pushed some of her red hair away from her right ear. Chris in all his glory continued to stare at Courtney’s breasts. Still unaware, the woman asked “What are your plans?”
“Dunno I guess since most of the team has gone back home, I’ll probably think of something.” Then an idea clicked in his head. “There’s this hockey game in Anaheim, we could go there and then to Disneyland to celebrate New Year’s.”
“Is Disneyland even open in New Years?” She asked kind of feeling the idea. They were sitting down and while the aromas of fried chicken, potato chips, Mexican food and the strong scent of Chinese food whiffed through the air.
“I guess we could always check,” Chris shrugged. “What do you think?”
“I like it.” She smiled. “I’ll book the tickets and stuff.”
“Alright, this should be rocking. Maybe next year everyone else will be here. Y2K and we gonna celebrate it in style.”
-------------------------
Location: Maui!!!!
“It’s just weird seeing you again…” Joel couldn’t believe that his ex-girlfriend aka the one that got away, was sitting right in front of him. “So….how’s life?”
They were sitting inside a wooden dingy little hut like restaurant. Everything was practically wood even most of the kitchen. It brought a nice, quiet, old atmosphere to it. “Life is good,” Silvia nodded slightly. “How are you? What are you doing now?”
“Now? I’m at UCLA, college life. I’m here with family…that’s about it.” He shrugged while tapping away to the local music. “Life good?”
“Life is good.” She repeated.
“I’m sorry, it’s just weird seeing you after such a long time. I don’t know…” He bit his nails. “Look I’m going to jump into it. I missed you, you were like this awesome woman in my life.”
“What about now?”
“Well….” Joel thought about all the women in his life. “There was Chloe, she’s was odd but she moved to the mid-north, her dad was a principal. Then there was Maria, she was ummm…kind of like perky but she went North Carolina and there was Hannah. Now Hannah was great but she was a bit too involved in politics and go arrested in a protest and finally there was Katherine…” He explained. “But she’s Hannah’s older sister and part of a sorority which Daniela is involved in. Now the problem is that I’m part of a political party that hates sororities and frats, she’s a senior and I’m a freshmen….and if anyone caught wind, we are doomed.”
“Sounds like you’ve been through a lot. How’s Daniela? I always liked her. She was spunky. Last time I heard she and that guy were dating.”
“Well she and him broke up ages ago, she’s dating Kyle. You remember Kyle Thorpe?”
“Yeah, he was that geek.”
“Well his mother married Gisela’s father and he’s not a geek anymore. He dated Courtney, you remember her?”
“Yeah.”
“And he also had an affair with a supermodel in Italy. Really hot, I met her when he and I went to Australia for a trip.” Joel continued to bite his nails. “Yeah, things have changed.”
“Wow! It is just like a telenovela. So you and Gisela never dated or did anything?” Silvia remembered how close they were to each other.
“No, no, nothing happened between us. We're good friends,” Joel explained waiting for something to eat. It was going to be a long wait since the whole place was crowded. “But man….I mean you just being here….wow. How long are you here for?”
“A couple of days. You?” Silvia gazed into his blue eyes.
He gazed back at her green eyes. “Until the 2nd of the new year. So what does that leave us?” He asked as he took her hand.
She looked down and seemed hesitant. “What about Katherine?”
“It's very open,” He let go of her hand. “I mean it’s your choice.”
“What’s the harm? A couple of days of a whirlwind romance? It does sound fun.” She smiled at him. “Let’s do it.”
-------------------------------
Hong Kong:
Gisela and Kyle were walking through Lan Kwai Fong. The bright neon signs lit in front of their faces, signs that said ‘Cheap Alcohol’ or featuring ‘so and so’. The street was filled by partygoers, those that were heading for a great time after work, tourists, or those that had nothing better to do in their lives. The area was a cobble-stoned maze full of bars, nightclubs and restaurants that intoxicated the senses. There were people screaming, singing loudly, dancing, or being harassed by con-artists dressed as monks.
Gisela bobbled her head to the infectious beat from one of the nightclubs. “Like come on Kyle, I wanna dance.”
“C’mon Gissy, I want to drink…” Kyle felt his arm being grabbed by her.
“Don’t be a geek, Kyle….”
“Hey, I’ve seen you guys before.” An Asian woman appeared before the squabbling siblings. “Weren’t you guys at the Christmas party at Daniela’s house.”
“You know Daniela?” Kyle raised his eyebrow.
“And Joel?” The blonde teenager looked at the woman.
“Oh yeah, Daniela and I go way back. She and I were the best of friends back in the day. You guys must be her friends! I’m Jasmine Wu.” Jasmine introduced herself with a smarmy grin on her face.
“I guess. I’m Gisela and this is my brother Kyle.”
“You know Daniela?” He was skeptical. “She never told me about you.”
“Silly Dani, she’s like that you know. I’m surprised she hasn’t told you about me because we have history together. You must be the boyfriend and wow she is lucky, you are so hot and that’s not the booze talking.” She laughed. “I better go before my cousin rips up that nightclub. See ya!”
“She’s never said anything about a Jasmine?” Gisela looked at Kyle who was really in deep thought and skeptical. “You good?”
“Yeah, I know. Dani tells me everything. Why didn’t she tell me about her?” He thought out loud. “Whatever, probs not a big deal. I'm keen to get plastered.”
“PARTY!” Gisela yelled out loud. She was met with a raucous of cheers and ‘Wooos’
“Alright!”
=====================
I'm really half asleep.....
