Vacation buddy, p.7
Vacation Buddy, page 7
“I won’t be gone long. I need to go talk to Luke.”
“Piper!” Wake protested as I opened the door.
“Just stay here. I’ll be back soon. I promise.” I showed him my cell phone. “Text or call me if you need me.”
I didn’t even wait for the door to shut as I ran down the hallway.
I made it to our secret spot in less than two minutes. However, the spot was empty. Luke wasn’t here. I looked at my Apple watch. 9:13 AM. Maybe I missed him. I started to walk to the Beach Club to see if he was there as Jax walked around the corner.
“Good morning, Piper.”
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I, um…” he gestured to the large spot. “Can we sit for a minute?”
“Sure,” I said. But my stomach instantly knotted. “Is Luke onay?”
I knew that he and his family sometimes stayed in the hospitality suite when dad was working. And sometimes Luke stayed over with Jax when he didn’t want to go home. Which was becoming more frequent according to Hailey, who lived at the same apartment complex.
“Lukes not coming,” he said.
“I had a feeling,” I replied.
“Look, Piper. Just give him some time. You know about his parents?”
I nodded.
“I’m sure he’ll call you soon. Have a safe trip back home, Piper. And oh, hope you had a nice birthday.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I walked away as fast as I could and wiped the tears away that had started to stream down my face. Ever since my first trip, Luke has always come to the spot to say goodbye. This was the first time we didn’t say goodbye.
For once, I was ready to get home and put this whole trip behind me.
Chapter 11
Summer 2018
It has been a year since I’ve seen Luke. We have texted a few times, but I haven’t called him. He still hasn’t addressed the last time we saw each other or what happened during my birthday party with his dad. I don’t want to bring up bad memories for him, so I just pretended like nothing ever happened. If he can do it, so can I.
Ellison and I were at the nail salon getting mani-pedis before I left for vacation in two days. Our feet were soaking in the pedicure tubs. We had already picked out our colors for our feet. I decided to get a pretty lemon yellow color called “Met a Boy as Cute as Can Be” and Ellie got “Never a Dulles Moment” color.
“So have you talked to Luke at all?” Ellison asked, getting her nails painted.
“Just by texting and snapping here and there. I mean last year after seeing his dad cheat and stuff, it hit him pretty hard.” I said. I sipped on a lemonade and tried to relax.
“Wait, has Luke found out about Jamison?” Ellison asked.
“I mean no. He may have seen the Instagram posts of me and him, but I haven’t told him,” I said sipping my drink.
“Girl. No. No. You haven’t told him!” Ellison said, giving me that “Girl no” look.
“Ellie, he is going through a lot right now. I talked to Hailey and she told me that him and Amber broke up and that Jett and Chanel are going through a divorce,” I said, setting down my drink.
“Wow, that’s a lot for him to handle. I couldn’t imagine my parents going through a divorce. I think that would be devastating to me,” Ellie said.
“Yeah, I couldn’t imagine Page and Grant going through a divorce either. I mean, my parents fight sometimes, but it usually blows over fast. And my dad has zero game. I don’t even know how he landed my mom. She is way out of his league. If anyone were to cheat, it would be my mom.” I said. “And she’s too nice to do that”
Ellie laughed. “Yeah, it’s hard to imagine your dad flirting with his secretary or something. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“So, let’s get back to you and Jamison…” Ellie started.
I groaned. I knew what was coming. She was my best friend and knew all my secrets.
“Let me get this straight. You’re going to Orlando to see a guy that you have a crush on, who is a being a player and is going through a lot AND you’re bringing your new boyfriend? Um, good luck.”
“Wow. That’s it? What happened to your sage advice?”
“My advice is to play it cool and just introduce Jamison to everyone and hope for the best. Just let Luke come to you,” Ellison explained. “Does he really expect you to just go back to Georgia and not date anyone and wait around on him? Don’t even get me started on your “pact”. Ellie actually put her fingers up like quotes.
“Thanks bestie. What would I do without you?”
“Where do I start?” Ellie laughed.
After the nail salon I said goodbye to Ellie and went home to pack my bags. I walked into my room and sat down on my bed. I really wanted to call Luke. Clear the air before I got to Orlando. Normally, we would Facetime before I left for my trip.
Why not? I picked up my phone and looked for “Vacation Buddy” in my contacts. Yes, that’s what I really had him listed as in my phone. LOL
I hit the call button and it started to ring.
“Hello?” I heard a female voice say. That voice did not sound like Chanel, Amber, or Elyssa. I hung up the phone. Who was that? Why did a girl answer his phone? I am one of the only people who knows his password and that he trusted to go on his phone. However, it has been a year since I’ve seen him. I could only imagine how much has changed since then. Honestly, it kinda scared me a bit. What if Luke wasn’t the same person I met five years ago?
I decided to shake it off and get to packing.
I put some music on and opened my closet to grab my purple suitcase out.
After a few minutes of throwing my clothes in the suitcase and picking out more outfits and bathing suits out, I heard a faint knock on the door.
“Piper! Jamison is here.” I heard my dad yelling from downstairs.
“Okay! Send him up.” I yelled back.
“Six feet!” My dad yelled. “Door open!”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, dad!”
I soon heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Then my door opened and Jamison, my boyfriend walked in. He was tall, had dark brown eyes, with short blonde hair and a sweet smile. He was really just overall a gentleman. After Luke didn’t show up to say goodbye last year, I just moved on. Jamison is the polar opposite from Luke.
Where Luke is into music and bands, Jamison loves sports. He plays soccer, lacrosse and is on the swim team. Where Luke is a player, Jamison actually has a lot of girls that are friends - but he’s not a big flirt. He’s super sweet and genuine. Both are good looking and have their own qualities - good and bad. If I ever had to choose….I don’t know what I would do.
I met Jamison at school. I go to a private academy and Jamison transferred to our school in the middle of the school year. His parents own a chain of fast food hamburger joints throughout the southwest and they put their headquarters in Atlanta. I heard they signed a big deal with Coca-Cola and got a ton of money. Even though he drives a Audi convertible, Jamison doesn’t flaunt his wealth like most kids at my school do. I’m secretly hoping for a new Jeep when I finally get my license, but I would gladly take anything they give me.
“Hey Babe,” Jamison said, walking over to me and giving me a hug that ended with a small kiss.
“Hey, I'm just packing to get ready for our vacation. Are you excited?” I asked.
“Yeah I am. Umm... Are you planning on hanging out with Luke while we are there?”
Jamison knew all about my past with Luke and how we became friends at twelve. I just didn’t tell him about our pact. That was kinda secret between Luke and I. (Well, and my best friend Ellie. I told her everything.) Jamison acted like it was no big deal that I had a guy friend that I saw every summer. But I think he was a little jelly.
“Well, of course, that is one of the main reasons me and my family go to Barefoot Bliss. To see Luke and his family,” I explained to him again for the hundredth time.
“Alone?” Jamison asked.
“Yeah, probably. Why?” I asked him.
“No reason. I was just wondering,” he said, walking over to my desk and sitting in the chair.
“Jamison, there's no reason to be worried,” I repeated, then my phone started to ring. It was Luke calling back.
“Yeah, no need to worry.” He picked up the phone that was laying on my desk, took one look at the caller ID and then handed the phone to me.
“Hey! I mean it. He’s like my family. You're my boyfriend, there's a difference,” I said grabbing my phone from him.
“Okay, okay! I trust you. Promise.”
“Good. Now quiet,” I said, answering the phone.
“Hey Luke!” I said.
“Hey Piper. Did you call me?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, I did. Just to see how you were doing, but some girl answered it and I just hung up.” I got a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really hoped it wasn’t Amber that answered his phone.
“Yeah, sorry that was one of my friends,” Luke said.
“Oh okay.” One of his friends. Really Luke? A friend? Like he couldn’t come up with a better answer. I know when you lie, even if I can’t see your face. I know.
“Yeah, I was in the pool and they-” Luke started.
Jamison cleared his throat loudly and I motioned for him to be quiet.
“Is Ellie there or is that Wake?” Luke asked.
“Ummm,” I said looking at Jamison.
“Piper, who was that?” Luke asked.
I wasn’t quite ready to tell him about Jamison. That was something that I wanted to do in person.
“Rule number two, remember? Don’t ask questions,” I reminded him of our pact.
“That’s kinda sus,” Luke replied. “But whatever. You’re right. No questions.”
“I can’t wait to get to Orlando,” I said, quickly changing the subject.
“I can’t wait to see you,” Luke said. He got quiet for a moment and lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “Piper, I have missed you.”
“Well, I will be there in two days,” I said, matching his tone.
“I don’t know if I can wait that long,” Luke said in a flirty way.
“Well too bad, I have to get back to pack-” I said, until Luke interrupted.
“We are still on for our annual dinner?” Luke asked.
“Yes, of course. I’ll see you soon,” I said, hanging up the phone after saying goodbye.
Jamison was sitting on the floor looking at the cute bathing suits that I had packed.
“See nothing to worry about,” I said sitting down on the floor next to him.
“I know. I’m not worried. Are you all packed?” Jamison asked.
“Yep,” I said.
“However, I am worried that you don’t have enough bathing suits packed. Exactly how many do you have? ” he asked, picking up a black and white polka dot bikini.
I snatched the suit from him and threw it back in the suitcase before zipping it up.
“Haha. I have exactly enough.”
The next couple of hours, Jamison and I talked about what we are going to do on vacation. He wanted to go out to dinner the night before birthday party and that was the night of mine and Luke’s annual dinner. I just said maybe. I didn’t feel like arguing with him about the dinner. He just wouldn’t understand why that night was so special to me. I would wait until we got to Orlando to tell him
After Jamsion left, I got on my pajamas and laid down on the bed. I looked at Instagram and saw Luke had deleted every photo Amber was in. I also saw some photos of Jett had been deleted, too. Now most of his Insta is of me and him throughout the years of us at Barefoot Bliss. I finally went to bed and tossed and turned all night, wondering how in the world I was going to introduce Jamison and Luke?
***
My alarm clock went off, I turned it off and the first thing I thought of was Luke and how excited I am to see him. I got my suitcase and headed downstairs. We picked up Jamison and headed to the airport. Once we landed in Orlando, we got an Uber and finally made it Barefoot Bliss where I had met my vacation buddy, Luke.
“We’re going to head down to the Beach Club!” I yelled to my mom while she was checking in. Our room was ready yet, so I wanted to go say hello to everyone while I could. “Come on Jamison let’s go!”
“Miss Piper has returned,” Jax said as we walked past the pool area. Jax was sitting in one of the lifeguard chairs watching a group of kids coming down the slide. He eyed Jamison suspiciously as we strolled by.
I waved over to him. “Good to be back!”
“Hey! Look who returned to us,” Hailey said, wiping down the bar. “Whatcha want, Pipe? Sweet tea?”
“I’ll just have water for now.” I looked around the bar area to see if Luke was around. “I feel like I haven’t been here in forever.”
“Who’s your friend?” Hailey asked, smiling at Jamison.
Jamison wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “I’m Jamison.”
“He’s my boyfriend.” I gave Hailey a sly smile.
She raised her eyebrow. “Boyfriend, huh?”
“Piper!” Chanel yelled from the other side of the bar. She walked over to us. “My turn to say hi.”
I pulled away from Jamison and gave her a hug.
“How have you been?” I asked her.
“A little better than Luke. He has been acting up since you have left. I am hoping you can knock a little sense into that boy,” Chanel said, pulling away.
“I will be happy to knock a sense into him,” I said laughing..
“Who is this handsome man?” Chanel asked.
“This is Jamison, my boyfriend. Jamison this is Chanel, Luke’s mother,” I introduced them as Jamison wrapped his arm around me again.
“Nice to meet you, Jamison,” Chanel said, holding out her hand.
“You too.” Jamison said, shaking Chanel’s hand.
“Piper! Jamison! The room is ready. Hey Chanel, pool later?” My mom said walking towards us.
“Of course. Piper, I think Luke will be here a little later this afternoon,” Chanel said as we started walking away.
“Really? We will meet you guys back down there once we get settled,” I said.
We walked to the hotel room. Jamison,Wake, and my dad were sharing a separate room next door to our suite. It had a connecting door between the two suites. I unpacked and put on a tomato red two-piece bathing suit and black lace cover up.
I walked down to the pool with my family and Jamison. I can’t wait to see Luke. Wake, Mom, and Dad sat next to the pool with Chanel, while me and Jamison walked over to the Beach Club. I saw the back of Luke’s head and Hailey behind the bar.
“Hey Piper. Jamison,” Jax said walking by.
“Hey Jax,” I said.
Luke turned around a huge smile formed across his face.
“Piper!” Luke said, standing up and hugging me.
“Hey Luke.” I said, hugging back.
“I have missed you,” Luke said, pulling away.
“I’ve missed you, too. This is Jamison.” Jamison put his arm around me once again.
“Hey Jamison. It’s nice to meet you. I'm Luke,” Luke said sitting back down. Jamison and I sat down next to Luke.
“Piper, what would you like to drink?” Hailey said.
“Blueberry lemonade please,” I said.
“I'll have water,” Jamison said.
“So Piper, how did you guys meet?” Hailey asked, setting down our drinks.
“Well, I had liked Piper for a while and one day I just went for it and started talking to her,” Jamison explained.
“Yeah, I ended up grabbing his number and we started talking.” I added.
“I love that,” Hailey said.
“So Piper, what do you want to do for our annual dinner?” Luke asked.
“Talk about this later?” I asked. I just needed to talk to Luke one-on-one about our dinner thing.
“Yeah, of course. What are you guys doing tomorrow?” Luke asked.
“Probably going to the park and riding some rides,” Jamison replied.
“Yeah, and probably come back here and swim for a bit.” I added. “You know, the usual stuff.”
“Luke, I know you and Piper like to go to the park together at least one time when she’s here. Would you like to join us tomorrow?” Jamison said, smiling towards Luke.
I looked over at Luke and gave him that “Please say yes” look.
“I would love to!” Luke said smiling.
“Awesome. You guys wanna get into the pool?” Jamison asked.
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Luke answered.
“Hey that’s my line!” I punched Luke on the shoulder. “Last one in is a rotten egg!”
I took off my cover up and we all ran to the pool. Before we reached the pool I felt Jamison pick me up and run over to the pool. Before I knew I was thrown into the pool. I looked up and started laughing as Jamison jumped in after me. I snuck a look at Luke who had a jealous look on his face, but he soon started smiling and jumped in next to us. We sat in the pool watching Wake go down the slide, talked, and had a good time.
“Hey boys, I am thirsty, I'll be right back. Stay here!” I said getting out of the pool.
“Okay, we’ll be here.” Jamison replied blankly.
“Can’t promise anything!” Luke said jokingly.
“Hey Hailey,” I said after I sat down at the bar. I started chuckling thinking of how Luke had been acting.
“What’s so funny?” Hailey asked.
“Luke being his usually stupid self,” I replied.
“Are you sure Jamison is the one you want to be with? Does he know that Luke was your first kiss? Also answer truthfully, no sugar coating things,” Hailey said. She knows me too well and knows how I like to skirt the truth sometimes.
“Jamison kinda thinks he was my first kiss and not Luke,” I said. I am kinda scared of how Hailey is going to react to this news.
