Suddenly, Holly felt utterly disconnected from her friends, as if there were more than just miles separating them. Meghan and Jess were off having their safe, happy Disneyland adventure; they'd never understand South Beach.
Numbly, Holly assured Meghan they could catch
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up later. Then she pressed end and looked down at her phone as if it were a ticking bomb. Should she call Diego and suffer through a tense, nauseating explanation of how Holly had misread his signals? Hell, no. But her other options -- calling her parents, or even Grandma Ida -- seemed no better.
Holly felt something snap inside her. Screw it all. She was sick of being Ms. Dutiful -- forever returning calls, always apologizing, acting prim and proper. I'm not that Holly anymore, she thought fiercely. She wanted to be sassy. Edgy. Kaitlin had called her a badass that morning; maybe it was high time Holly started acting like one.
Holly turned off her cell phone, then slammed it shut with such force it slipped from her hand and landed on the sidewalk, the battery snapping off. Holly grinned. Whatever. She'd fix it later. Or not at all. This way, nobody could reach her; her room in the Flamingo didn't have a phone. Holly gathered up the battery and phone and buried them deep in her tote bag. She'd ask Grandma Ida for a loan another time. And for now she was simply going to pretend she'd never gotten a single message. She was on spring break, and she simply refused to be bothered. Holly Jacobson was overdue for some serious fun.
***
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Around eleven that night, Holly eagerly waited outside Yacht with her fake ID in hand, the afternoon's voice messages long forgotten.
"You look great," Kaitlin assured Holly as they approached the muscle-bound bouncer manning the velvet rope. "Definitely twenty-one."
"That's the plan," Holly said, grinning. She was wearing her new silver-and-pink tube top, a silver miniskirt, and platform sandals. Kaitlin had done her face, so Holly's lids were sparkly with pink eye shadow, and there was glitter on her cheekbones. Her hair was loose, and she wore dangly silver shell earrings. The outfit was borderline trashy, yes, but Holly felt adult and alluring, if a little nervous
Tossing her shoulders back, Holly strutted up to the bouncer and handed him her free pass and, with a flourish, the ID. As the bouncer shone his flashlight on the small card, Holly put one hand on her hip and struck her most mature pose, trying to quell any lingering nerves.
"Go ahead, beautiful," the bouncer told her, motioning toward Yacht's entrance.
Holly's heart soared. Beautiful! To think she'd once been that scared, shaky girl stranded outside Ohio's. Holly smirked at the memory as she and Kaitlin headed inside.
Yacht was designed to look like a two-level luxury
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ship, complete with porthole windows that overlooked the ocean, and bartenders dressed as sailors. The bottom level, to Holly's delight, was open-air; tiki lamps burned around the perimeter of a private boardwalk, and people were grooving to house music under the sweeping night sky. Next to the wraparound bar was a hot tub where people were stripping down to their undies or bikini bottoms and splashing right in.
Still glowing from her velvet rope triumph, Holly grabbed Kaitlin's hand and led her into the crush of dancers. Holly threw her arms in the air and moved her hips to the pulsing beat, giving herself over to the rhythm. She and Kaitlin had been dancing for a while when Holly noticed two guys watching her from the bar. One of them, a tall, slender African American boy with a wide smile gave Holly a slow, approving once-over.
This time, Holly didn't assume that the boys were checking out another girl. They think I'm hot, Holly thought, feeling a rush of confidence. Boldly, she winked at the smiling boy, and he nodded back at her, lifting his drink in appreciation. Boys are easy, Holly realized. What was I always so nervous about? Twirling around, she noticed another boy, right on the dance floor, who was blatantly checking her out. And when he sidled up to dance with her for a bit, Holly didn't stiffen up or shy away Instead, she danced close to him, reveling in the attention.
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"This place is amazing!'' Holly shouted to Kaitlin, after her partner had left her for the bar.
"There's Daisy!" Kaitlin shouted in response, pointing across the boardwalk. Holly looked over in surprise. There was Daisy, not only with Jonathan but with Aaron and Thomas as well. Holly noticed that the twins in particular were dressed well; they must have made the extra effort to get into Yacht. The Flamingo kids were admiring their surroundings but hadn't yet noticed Holly or Kaitlin. What's Alexa doing tonight? Holly wondered fleetingly Then she shoved the thought away.
"Let's make fun of them for paying the cover!" Kaitlin cried, bobbing in Daisy's direction. Holly started to follow her, but then she felt a hand on her arm and heard a boy exclaim, "Hey, Bikini Chick!"
Holly turned to see Surfer Guy from the beach. His hair was in a ponytail and he wore a white linen shirt and wide-legged hemp-colored pants. "It's Shane," he reminded her with a smile.
Holly glanced over her shoulder. She couldn't make out Kaitlin's red curls in the sea of people, and she'd also lost sight of the other Flamingo kids. Holly figured she could meet up with them later. Besides, she decided, Shane was much more interesting.
"Tell me your name again?" Shane asked as she turned back to him.
Holly felt a flash of annoyance that he didn't
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remember; he'd seemed so focused on her yesterday. She thought back to their accidental kiss, and her pulse quickened. She let her eyes linger over Shane's lips for a minute, wondering what it would be like to kiss him for real. Suddenly, Holly didn't feel so socially inept anymore.
"You've forgotten me already?" she asked with a bubbly laugh, surprised at how much she sounded like Alexa. "I'm so insulted!"
"Oh, come on. At least give me a clue," Shane said, his face breaking into a grin.
"Well, it starts with an 'H'...." Holly murmured, lowering her lashes. Am I flirting? she wondered. Having never officially flirted before in her life, she wasn't quite sure. But, in any case, whatever she was doing felt terrific.
"Heidi?" Shane guessed. Holly shook her head. He grinned and kept trying. "Hannah? Heather? Uh, Hepsaba?"
Holly giggled. "Nope, nope, and nope," she purred.
"Oh, dude ..." Shane said in mock frustration. "Okay. How about I buy you a drink? Then will you tell me?"
Holly's knee-jerk reaction was to refuse his offer, but suddenly her whole don't-let-boys-buy-you-drinks plan seemed stupid to her. She was trying to save money, wasn't she?
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"I'll see how I feel," Holly teased, but she gave Shane a smile that clearly meant yes.
He led her to the bar, where they perched on stools. Shane ordered a frozen strawberry margarita for Holly and a Jack and Coke for himself. Holly took a careful sip of the margarita. Cold, frothy, and sweet, the delicious drink tasted more like candy than alcohol. Holly took a bigger swallow, enjoying the slight burning sensation in her throat.
"Holly," she told Shane, still sipping her margarita. "My name is Holly." She had always felt that her name was too cutesy, better suited to a pigtailed little girl. But revealing her name to Shane breathed new life into it. "Holly" suddenly sounded like the sultriest name in the world.
"Knew it," Shane said, hitting a hand to his forehead.
"Sure you did," Holly taunted, downing more of her margarita.
They continued their banter for a while, and soon Holly's glass was empty. When Shane offered to buy her another, Holly hesitated only a moment before accepting. Her cheeks were warm but she wasn't dizzy. I'm not drunk at all! she thought. I must have really high tolerance.
Her second margarita arrived, and Holly took a giant gulp. Okay, maybe her head was the slightest bit
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spinny. She and Kaitlin had gone out to dinner that night at the Sushi Rock Café, but Holly, conscious of her cash supply, had only ordered miso soup. Now, she was wondering if she should have had more food
in her stomach before she started guzzling margaritas. Wasn't that one of the rules of smart drinking? Holly wasn't sure, but it didn't matter now. She held her glass up, admiring the drink's vibrant pink color.
"It matches my shirt!" she told Shane, exploding into giggles.
"I like your shirt," Shane said softly, running a finger down her midsection. Holly's heart leaped.
A gaggle of rowdy college girls in matching halter tops swarmed the bar, loudly demanding shots. Holly glanced over at the girls, remembering her humiliation at not knowing what body shots or even tequila shots were. It was time to redeem herself, she decided, swallowing most of her margarita.
She turned to the girl next to her, whose long, wavy blonde hair made Holly think momentarily of Alexa.
"Are those tequila shots?" Holly asked the girl as the sailor-bartender set several shot glasses filled with amber-colored liquid on the bar.
"Southern Comfort and lime juice," the girl replied, as her face turned an interesting shade of green. "Actually, do you want mine?" she asked Holly with a
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hiccup. "I feel kind of sick." Without warning, she turned and fled the bar, most likely in search of the nearest bathroom. None of her friends followed her.
Holly felt so loose and carefree from the two margaritas that she didn't think twice about picking up the girl's abandoned shot glass. "Cheers!" the other halter-top girls toasted her. Holly clinked her shot glass against theirs and tipped her head back, swallowing the tangy, sour drink in one go. Whoa. Her mouth felt like it was on fire. The bar in front of Holly seemed to tilt, then right itself.
"I can't feel my feet!" she confessed to Shane in a slurred whisper. He chuckled and slowly ran his hand down her back.
The DJ took a break from techno and started spinning vintage Madonna: "Into the Groove" -- one of Holly's favorites. The halter-top girls squealed in appreciation, and the ringleader, a busty brunette with a flower tattoo on her arm, cleared the shot glasses away, and promptly hoisted herself up onto the bar. She began dancing in her spiky heels, flinging her curly hair around. Quickly, the other girls followed suit. They all started shaking it on top of the bar, as the other clubbers cheered them on. Holly clapped her hands, watching the girls in awe.
"Get up here, babe!" the brunette shouted to Holly
Holly slid off the stool, flushed with a sense of
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belonging. As soon as she was on her feet, she felt how insanely drunk she was. But the fuzzy, swaying sensation made her feel as if she could do anything. She handed Shane her little bag and, with his help, climbed up and joined her newfound friends atop the bar.
"Live out your fantasy, here with me!" Holly shouted along with the song, dancing wildly. People whose faces she couldn't make out were pointing at her and whistling. This is like a fantasy, Holly thought foggily. From where she stood, the energetic crowd, the hot tub, and the boardwalk swam together in a happy blur. When the song ended, Holly wobbled in her platforms, suddenly worried she might fall.
Shane, clearly seeing she was in trouble, took Holly's hands, carefully guided her off the bar, and handed her bag to her. Holly, needing all the support she could get, grabbed on to Shane's arm. She was only mildly surprised when he smiled, lowered his face, and kissed her. So this is what it's like to kiss a random boy in a bar, Holly thought as Shane's tongue touched hers. But it didn't feel cheap or skanky. It felt... yummy. Holly stood on her tiptoes, her lips eagerly responding to Shane's.
She heard Shane's breath quicken as his hands roamed around her waist, up under her tube top, along her back, and over to her breasts. Holly gasped,
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instinctively pushing his hands away and jerking back. Shane had just unwittingly attempted to go where no boy had gone before.
"What's wrong?" Shane asked, confused. "Aren't you up for some fun?"
Abruptly even through her drunken haze -- Holly understood Shane's impression of her. He'd only seen Holly at the volleyball game and bikini contest and, most recently, atop the bar. He simply assumed she was an über-confident girl who had no problem letting boys grope her. He'd never known the other Holly.
"I -- I don't want us to do more...." Holly mumbled, drawing back from Shane. She could feel some of her old shyness slipping over her.
Suddenly, somebody on Yacht's upper level turned on a giant foam machine, spraying the crowd below with white, frothy bubbles. Holly shrieked as the foam hit her in the face, and then she slipped and almost fell. When she straightened up, she couldn't see Shane anywhere in the soapy madness. Holly felt a stab of panic, and elbowed her way out of the bar area, past people having foam fights and making out. She was maneuvering past the hot tub when a shirtless, obviously plastered guy darted across Holly's path. Before he reached the Jacuzzi, he took off his pants and boxers. Then, totally
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naked, he plunged into the water with a shout of triumph.
Ew! Holly thought as the others in the hot tub shrieked and whooped. I have to get out of here. Desperately, she searched the foam-covered crowd for Kaitlin and Daisy, or any of her Flamingo friends. She felt enormously relieved when she spotted Aaron hovering by one of the tiki lamps, drinking a Sam Adams. He caught Holly's eye and waved her over.
Grateful to see a familiar face, Holly impulsively flung her foamy arms around Aaron as soon as she reached him.
"Where is everyone else?" she cried drunkenly
"They headed over to Nerve," Aaron replied, returning her embrace. "I told them to wait for you, but..." He shrugged and gave her a sympathetic smile.
Holly pouted. Kaitlin had abandoned her? "They could've told me they were leaving," she huffed. "Those ..." She searched for the perfect word to sum up her frustration. Holly rarely cursed, but now she felt it was necessary for the occasion.
"Assholes," she and Aaron spoke at the exact same instant. Then they glanced at each other in surprise and cracked up.
"Jinx," Aaron told her, linking his pinkie with hers.
Holly grinned, completely forgetting her hostility
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toward Aaron from the night before. They suddenly seemed exactly on the same wavelength.
"Should we go catch up with them?" Aaron asked, still hanging onto her pinkie.
Holly closed her eyes against the boardwalk spinning around her. "I want to, but I'm ..."
"You're ... ?" Aaron prompted gently.
"Trashed," Holly said, opening her eyes. Once again, she and Aaron burst out laughing.
"If I laugh, I get more dizzier," Holly explained, clinging to Aaron's arm.
"'More dizzier?'" Aaron teased, setting down his beer bottle. "Come on, let me walk you back to the Flamingo. You're in no shape for another club."
Aaron took hold of Holly's hand. As he led her away from the crush, and out of Yacht, Holly felt a rush of gratitude toward him. He was so sweet to have waited for her, and such a gentleman to be walking her home, Holly thought as she swayed along at his side. When they entered the Flamingo lobby, still holding hands, Aaron said to Holly, "I think Kaitlin and those guys didn't want to bother you because they saw you kissing someone."
"They did?" Holly squeaked, her cheeks burning with shame.
"Yeah," Aaron went on, his eyes dancing. "And we all saw you up on the bar."
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"No!" Holly cried, pulling her hand out of his grasp. "Oh, my God! I'm so embarrassed."
"Why?" Aaron asked. He took a step toward her and put his hands on her hips. " I enjoyed watching you. Come on, dance for me again. Right here."
"No!" Holly shrieked. "You can't make me!" Giggling, she turned and tore toward the back exit that led to the pool. Aaron followed her, their laughter echoing through the empty lobby.
The pool's surface shone diamondlike in the bright moonlight. Holly skidded to a stop, then whirled around to see Aaron approaching her.
"Do it, Holly," he teased. "Come on. Get into the groove, " he sang, moving his shoulders to the beat.
&
nbsp; "You're making fun of me!" Holly exclaimed, blushing madly. She walked backward, holding her hands up and dropping her bag. "Don't... come ... near ..."
Suddenly, Holly lost her already shaky footing and fell over into the pool. She screamed as she hit the water, and went under. She resurfaced, gasping, her drenched clothes plastered to her body.
"Look what you did, Aaron!" she spluttered, but she was laughing. The pool water was almost cold enough to sober her up. Almost.
"Oh, calm down," Aaron snorted. "It's no big deal. Look, I'll do it, too." He took off his Polo shirt and his pants, carefully removing his wallet from his back
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pocket and setting it on the nearest chair. Then he kicked off his sandals and dove into the pool wearing only his boxers, sending up a great splash. Holly screamed again, paddling away from him.
"Shh," Aaron said, swimming up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders.
"Get off me," Holly said, but she didn't really mean it. Aaron had big hands and long, tapered fingers that felt so nice against her skin.
"I wasn't making fun of you," Aaron murmured into her ear. His breath was hot on her neck. "I think you are so sexy, Holly."
"You do?" Holly asked giddily, floating around to face Aaron. Sure, she'd suspected that those boys at Yacht tonight -- and Shane thought she looked good. But to actually hear a boy say it was something else entirely.
She and Aaron bobbed up and down, their legs brushing underwater. Anticipation made Holly's skin quiver. She wanted him to touch her again.
"Uh-huh," Aaron replied, his voice velvety. "I thought that from the first minute I saw you."
Holly smiled, remembering how she'd opened the door in her bathing suit to see Aaron and Thomas.
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