--------------------- Mauritius, Waldorf Astoria ---------------------

- 05.26 AM -

~ Aliyah's POV ~

What a night yesterday was. But I can't believe how they sent us to bed at 10 PM, expected us to be asleep by 10.30 PM and be up by 5 AM the next morning. Fucking psychopaths—oh my bloody days. Luckily for me, I set multiple alarms to help wake me up—and they worked. It was now around 5.20 AM, and I am tired as hell. I got up from my bed and made my way to turn on the lights at an attempt to wake Nadia and Chloé up from their deep slumber.

Immediately after I flipped the light switch turning on the bright light, Nadia threw the blanket above her head, and Chloé face planted into the pillow.

"What the fuck is wrong with youu?" Nadia spoke groggily, her voice muffled.

"Get up. We were supposed to be awake twenty minutes ago." I spoke as I walked across the room, from the door to the bathroom.

"Whoever made this schedule can fight me. We could've literally done yoga at 8 AM earliest oh my days." Chloé whined.

"We can't do shit about that. Now can we?" I responded with a rhetorical question.

"Are you guys gonna shower right now?" Nadia asked rubbing her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden brightness while yawning.

"Nuh-uh. I'll do that after." Chloé answered from right next to her.

"Same!" I yelled from across the room.

- 05.55 AM -

We were finally ready. Dressed in our activewear, faces feeling fresh, and teeth brushed with a minty breath —but still half asleep. (A/N: You can literally call me Shakespeare😼. Nvm 😔 I read back and realised it didn't rhyme mb. Just continue reading.)

Chloé stretched her arms and yawned. "This better be worth it."

"It won't be," Nadia mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go before we're late."

The buggy dropped us off at the lobby, and we made our way down to the oceanfront deck, where the whole grade was already gathering. The sky was still dark, but the sun was rising in the distance. The sound of waves crashing against made the early wake a little less painful and a little more worth it.

A yoga instructor stood at the front, way too energetic at 6 in the flippin' morning. "Good morning, everyone! Let's get started!"

Everyone groaned in response.

"Let's begin with some deep breaths," the instructor said, demonstrating.

I followed along easily. This was nothing new to me—I had been doing yoga for years since I'm an athlete that takes my athletic progress seriously. But when we moved on to more challenging poses, things got funny really quickly.

Mekky wobbled, trying to balance on one leg. "How is this supposed to be relaxing?"

Chloé giggled. "You look like a flamingo."

Meanwhile, Nadia and Nawaf were struggling to touch their toes. "No way my body would bend like this," Nawaf said while struggling.

I moved into a standing split, lifting one leg high with ease.

"Bro, how does your leg even do that?" Nadia spoke, defeated..

I shrugged. "It's not that hard."

From the corner of my eye, I caught Cris watching me. He quickly looked away when I met his gaze, pretending to focus on himself and the poses. But every time we moved into a new stretch, his eyes would come back.

Interesting.

"Alright, now let's try a partner stretch!" the instructor announced.

Chloé immediately grabbed Mekky's arm. "We're partners."

Nawaf turned to Nadia. "Nadia?" Nadia responded "Sure,"

I looked around, but before I could pick someone, Cris placed his hand on my shoulder. "Wanna be partners?"

I blinked, for a second, then nodded. "Sure."

We sat across from each other, pressing our feet together while holding hands. As we leaned back, stretching our arms, his grip tightened slightly.

"You're strong, the hell" he spoke.

"You just have weak arms," I teased.

He sighed. "You wanna fight, argue or do yoga?"

I scoffed "Fine, I'll shut up."

As we moved into another pose, I adjusted my Lululemon Jacket, realizing I had left it unzipped halfway over my sports bra. The morning breeze was cool which made me feel a bit cold in a specific area, but I didn't think much of it—until Cris suddenly reached forward.

Without saying a word, he grabbed the zipper and pulled it up, fully closing my jacket.

I froze. "Uh... what are you doing?"

He shrugged, looking me in the eye. "Just... fixing it."

I raised a brow. "Fixing what, exactly?"

Cris scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Nothing. Just... now it's better."

I stared at him for a moment, putting a smug look on my face. "Mhm. Sure."

He was a bit flustred, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he just sat back like nothing happened.

The session ended with one last deep breath, and everyone laid on their mats, exhausted as others packed their stuff up stacking the mats back in place, and heading back to their villas.

"That was torture," Mekky groaned.

"That was fun," I corrected, standing up.

Cris stretched his arms. "Nuh-uh, I agree with Mekky."

"Because you sucked at it," I teased.

He scoffed. "I did just fine."

"Sure." I chuckled, walking off to get some water.

As I did, I felt his gaze on me again.

~ Cris's POV ~

As everyone started rolling up their mats and grabbing water, Mekky and I stayed back, stretching out our sore muscles. My shoulders were killing me. Yoga was definitely not as easy as it looked.

"You good, bro?" Mekky asked, smirking as he watched me roll my shoulders.

I let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, just didn't expect yoga to be this hard."

Mekky chuckled. "Yeah, sure. That's totally what's messing with you."

I folded my eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "I mean... you spent half the session staring at Aliyah instead of actually doing yoga."

I scoffed. "No, I didn't."

Mekky raised a brow. "Bro, everyone saw it."

I ran a hand through my hair. "She's really flexible, okay? It's hard not to notice."

Mekky laughed. "You mean it's hard not to stare at her."

I stayed quiet for a second before mumbling, "Shut up."

Mekky whispered. "Nah, but real question. What was that whole jacket moment? You deadass zipped it up for her like some protective boyfriend."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know, man. They were just there, and it was distracting."

Mekky continued grinning. "Distracting, huh? Ohh, I get it now."

I groaned. "Bro, I swear to—"

He cut me off. "Nah, nah, it's fine, I get it. You were just being a gentleman," he said, making air quotes.

I argued. "Exactly."

Mekky chuckled. "You're so down bad."

I turned away. "I'm done with this conversation."

Mekky followed, still laughing. "You like her, bro. Just admit it."

I didn't respond. But the way my jaw clenched and how I tensed up told him everything he needed to know.

- 07.38 AM -

I had just gotten dropped off by the buggy at the villa. Once I put in my keycard and opened the door I was met by Nawaf and Mekky chilling on their bed scrolling through their phones. They immediately look up to see who just walked in.

"All that time and you guys haven't freshened up yet?" I sighed, tossing my keycard on the nightstand bottle in hand. "Nawaf bro, you're on our bed all sweaty,"

Nawaf barely looked up. "Acting like you're about to invite a girl over or something."

Mekky teased. "Or maybe just one specific girl."

I rolled my eyes and kicked off my shoes. "You both need to shut up."

Nawaf stood. "We could. But where's the fun in that?"

Mekky sat up, still grinning. "Anyway, what's the move, Cris? You just gonna keep staring at Aliyah like a creep, or are you actually gonna talk to her?"

I gave him a confused look. "I do talk to her."

"Yeah, but not in the way you want to," Nawaf added.

I scoffed. "You guys are actually the worst."

Mekky ignored what I just said. "Look, we're thinking of taking Chloé and Nadia out. A little double date. Which means Aliyah's gonna be alone."

I raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And that means you finally have time to make a move," Nawaf said. "Without any distractions or excuses."

I exhaled, considering it.

Mekky set a hand on my shoulder. "Now, what you do with that time is up to you."

"Just don't fumble," Nawaf added.

I scoffed. "Like I would."

Mekky smirked. "Bro, you fumble every time you look at her for too long."

I scoffed and grabbed a fresh pair of clothes from my suitcase. "I hate both of you."

Nawaf laughed. "Yeah, whatever. Now go shower. You got work to do."

~ Aliyah's POV ~

- 02.53 PM -

The sun was scorching as we made our way to the beach, and the sand was hot as hell under our feet. I raised my sunglasses and glanced at Nadia and Chloé, who were already gassed up about how we were going to dominate the sandcastle competition.

"You guys do realize this is supposed to be fun, right?" I scoffed at them.

"Yeah, but we're still gonna win," Chloé said confidently, tying her hair up.

Nadia nodded. "Exactly. No mercy."

I laughed, shaking my head as we reached our area. Some people were already starting on their castles, digging holes and piling up sand.

As we got to work, shaping the base of our castle, Chloé casually mentioned, "Oh, by the way, Nadia and I won't be around tonight."

I raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

Nadia grinned from ear to ear, tossing some sand aside. "Because someone asked me out on a date."

I blinked. "Who?"

She sang happily. "Nawaf."

I gasped dramatically. "Shut up! And you didn't tell me earlier?!"

She just laughed while Chloé giggled. "Same goes for me. Mekky asked me out, so I'll be busy, too."

I placed a hand over my heart. "Wow. My own best friends, abandoning me for boys. Betrayal."

Chloé rolled her eyes. "You'll survive. Besides, you'll probably be too busy to miss us." She said suggestively.

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't start."

Before they could tease me more, a voice interrupted.

"Aliyah."

I looked up to see Brielle standing there, arms crossed.

"What do you want?" I asked bluntly.

She gave me a fake smile. "Just thought I'd warn you."

I raised an eyebrow. "warn?"

Her fake smile dropped. "Stay away from Cris."

I just tilted my head folding my brows. "And why would I do that?"

"Because he's mine," Brielle argued. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but it's pathetic."

I scoffed. "Bitch, Like he notices you." I added, "And Cris isn't a piece of property. And I'm not doing anything, so I don't know why you're concerned."

Brielle rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You're desperate. Throwing yourself at him like that, wearing his hoodie, acting all shy around him. It's embarrassing."

Before I could respond, Chloé fought. "Are you a retard or something? Aliyah is anything but shy around Cris."

Nadia let out a small laugh. "Brielle, if Cris wanted you, he'd be with you. But clearly, he's not."

Brielle's got pissed. "You guys are so—"

I cut her off. "Bothered? Yeah, we can tell." I gave her a bittersweet smile. "Must suck knowing he doesn't even look at you like that."

Her jaw clenched. "Whatever. Just don't say I didn't warn you." With that, she turned and stormed off.

Chloé exhaled dramatically. "Ugh, she is so bitter."

Nadia chuckled. "If she's this mad now, imagine when she finds out Cris actually likes Aliyah."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the way my heart skipped a beat at that. "Let's just focus on our sandcastle, please."

Chloé smirked knowingly. "Yeah, sure. For now."

after the weird tension from Brielle's little meltdown, we got back to our sandcastle. Chloé and Nadia worked on the details of the base while I focused on shaping the towers. The sun was getting hotter, and my back was already covered in sand, but we were determined to win.

"Okay, so we need seashells for decoration," Nadia said, brushing sand off her hands.

Chloé nodded. "Mhm. And maybe some seaweed for that whole realistic castle ruin vibe."

I stood up, stretching since my joints were sore from kneeling and squatting the whole time. "I'll get them."

As I walked toward the shoreline, collecting small shells, I could only hear other teams laughing and yelling. Some of the guys were getting way too competitive, I swear they could find a way to compete during anything, acting like this was some kind of world championship.

On my way back, I passed Cris, Mekky, and Nawaf's team, and of course, Cris had to say something.

Cris glanced at our sandcastle and smirked. "Didn't know you were an architect. You building that for the competition or just to impress me?"

I scoffed. "That's cute. You should focus on your own before it collapses."

He chuckled. "I would, but I keep getting distracted."

I rolled my eyes, hiding the way my stomach flipped. "Try focusing for once, then."

"Not my fault there's better things to look at."

I gave him an unimpressed look. "You're ridiculous."

"And you're blushing," he teased.

I sighed and walked away before he could see me actually smile.

When I got back, Nadia and Chloé were both grinning. "He's so obvious," Chloé whispered.

"Can we please just finish this castle?" I groaned.

With the final touches, our masterpiece was complete. It actually looked really good.

"Alright, time's up!" One of the teachers announced.

We all stepped back as the judges went around, inspecting everyone's castles. There were some decent ones, but I wasn't worried. Ours had detail, structure, and flair.

Finally, they reached ours, nodding in approval.

"This one has great use of natural materials, and an impressive design," one of the teachers said.

The three of us glanced at each other and smirked

After a few minutes, the results were announced.

"And the winners of the sandcastle competition are... Team Aliyah, Chloé, and Nadia!"

We screamed, jumping up and down as the other teams groaned.

"I told you!" Chloé cheered, high-fiving me.

"PERIOD!" Nadia celebrated.

"With a 'T' at the end!" I added.

I looked over at Cris, who was just smirking at me. "Alright, you win this one."

I raised an eyebrow. "And the next one. And the one after that. And the next after that. And the one after—"

He cut me off and chuckled. "Alright, We'll see about that."

As we were still celebrating our win, someone stepped up beside me. I turned my head slightly and of course, it was Trevor.

He said, smirking. "Didn't know you were such a pro at building things."

I rolled my eyes. "Trevor."

"What?" He shrugged. "You know, you still owe me for that s'more last night. Maybe I should start collecting payment now."

"Owe you?" I scoffed. "For a s'more? Be serious."

He grinned. "Alright, how about you and me, tonight? Just to catch up."

I crossed my arms giving him an unimpressed look. "I am catching up, with my friends."

Trevor chuckled. "C'mon, don't act like you don't miss me at all. I know you, Aliyah."

Before I could shut him down properly, I felt the presence of someone behind me.

"She's busy," Cris's voice spoke from over my shoulder. His tone was casual, but his facial expression? Not so much.

Trevor glanced at him, then back at me. "Didn't know you had a bodyguard now."

I sighed, already over it. "Trevor, just drop it."

He held his hands up in surrender, letting out a small laugh. "Alright, fine. But, you change your mind, you know where to find me."

He glared at Cris before walking off.

Cris stared after him, then turned to me, raising an eyebrow. "You serious with that guy?"

I let out a tired sigh. "Don't even start."

Cris muttered something under his breath before nudging my arm. "Come, let's go celebrate our win."

I chuckled. "You mean my win?"

He rolled his eyes but didn't argue.

As we started walking back toward the group, Cris nudged me again, a smirk forming on his lips.

"You know," he said casually, "if you wanted a guy's attention so bad, you could've just asked me instead of entertaining Trevor."

I scoffed, giving him a look. "Entertaining? Oh please, I was two seconds away from telling him to fucking drown himself in the ocean."

Cris laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Mhm. Sure. Looked like he had you hesitating and thinking for a second."

I stopped walking right in front of him, turning to him with an amused smile. "And what if I was thinking?"

His eyes flickered over the features of my face before he leaned in slightly. "Then I guess I'd have to make sure you're thinking about me instead."

My breath caught for a split second, but I quickly covered it with an eye roll. "You wish."

Cris just smirked. "Oh, but I don't need to wish."

And with that, he walked off toward the group, leaving me standing there, flustered. I think I may have gained a certain type of feeling for this specific boy. 

↜-------------------------------------↝

A/N

I'm actually on a roll, you can't even lie. Real ones know I don't upload this often. It's getting kinda scary guys. 😭

But anyway, I'm actually really gassed about the next part, Y'all are going to ENJOY it SOOO MUCH. At least I hope so, I've actually been thinking abt that specific part since I started the book omds.

But an almost 3,000 word chapt? You best applaud me.

bYEee 😘,

Words - 2,793