Third Chances - Chapter 6
Daphne
Someone pushing my shoulder woke me up. I groaned in my sleep, trying to ignore it. I was used to sleeping alone. Which meant I always spread out like a starfish in bed.
"Move over," Layla said and pushed me again, this time with both hands, forcing me to roll over.
"Ow!" I yelled as I fell off the bed. I landed with a thud on the wood floor.
I reached down to grab my hip and noticed four gold bracelets on my wrist in addition to the one I always wore.
What the heck? I stood up and looked over at my sleeping friends.
Oh my God. Had they robbed a jewelry store last night?
I didn't remember them coming back. They had plenty of time to become jewelry thieves.
Crap! The evidence was all over me. Why did they put the evidence on me?
I tried to unclasp the bracelets but there didn't seem to be any visible latch. I can't go to Costa Rican prison! I tugged on the bracelets, trying to break them off. And then it hit me. These were the gold bracelets that were part of the bracelet game.
And there wasn't just one of the terrible bracelet on me, but four. Which meant I'd be expected to do four borderline inappropriate things throughout the day. No. I stared at the bracelets in horror. "What did you guys do?"
My question was greeted by someone snoring in their sleep. I tried to pull the bracelets off my wrist as I stood up, but they wouldn't budge. It was bad enough having one of these stupid bracelets to deal with. But four? No, no, no!
"Layla, I asked you not to let them draw a mustache on my face!" I pulled the covers off of her. "This is so much freaking worse!"
"What are you talking about?" she mumbled.
I shoved my wrist in her face. "You put your stupid bracelet on me. All of you did." I pulled the covers off of the bed that Kristen and Alina were sharing.
Kristen sat up. She looked at my wrist and started laughing.
"It's not funny." I felt like I was about to cry. I tried to get them off again, but to no avail. What the hell are these things made of?
"I'm sorry," Layla said. "But I really don't remember doing that. I don't actually remember much from last night." She rubbed her hand against her forehead.
I glared at Kristen.
"Don't look at me." She put her hands up, feigning innocence.
"I know it was you, Kristen. Now help me get them off."
"That's not how it works. Guys have to swipe their cards against them. It's part of the game."
"Which is exactly what I don't want to have happen."
Kristen shrugged. "It looks to me like you're going to have a fun day. I'm totally jealous."
"Then you should wear all of them instead. Help me get them off." I held my wrist out.
Alina giggled. She had pulled the covers back up over her head.
"Alina!" I pulled the covers off of her. "Did you do this to me?"
"Maybe?"
I pressed my lips together. It was her bachelorette party. I shouldn't be mad at her. But I was pissed. She knew that I thought the game was inappropriate.
"Don't look at me like that," she said. "You left me with these two crazies last night! And it seemed like appropriate payback for you not having to lose your bracelet last night."
"Payback would be two bracelets then, not four."
"Ok, Miss Math Teacher. I'm sorry! I was drunk."
"Drunk isn't an excuse for torturing someone."
"But it's my bachelorette party."
I sighed. "Can someone please just try to get them off?"
Kristen crawled to the end of the bed and grabbed my wrist. After looking at them for just a few seconds, she gave up. "I think the clasps are only activated by those cards. Sorry, babe."
"You guys are the worst." I pulled my wrist away.
Kristen smiled. "I think this will actually be good for you. Besides, we're all in relationships and you're not. It makes sense for you to wear all the bracelets."
"It was your boyfriend's idea to send us here. Maybe he wants you to do all these things. So you should be the one wearing all of them."
She laughed. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind. But really, enjoy it. I think the game is really for the singles here. Anyone up for a swim?"
"After I get some Tylenol and a glass of water," Layla said.
"I'm sure Momma Bear has some," Kristen said and scooted off the bed.
I grabbed the bottle of Tylenol I brought and tossed it at Layla. "Just for the record, payback's a bitch, girls."
"Oh, come on," Alina said and gave me a hug. "Kristen's right, you're going to have so much fun all day. And after that thing at the ITAs, Bryce gets really jealous of other guys. I was going to ask you to wear my bracelet for the rest of the trip anyway."
"You know, you could have just said you wanted to watch a movie with me last night. Then you wouldn't have gotten stuck with the two crazies. No offense."
"None taken," Kristen said as she pulled on a bikini that barely covered anything.
"Thanks for the Tylenol, Momma bear," Layla said.
I bit the inside of my cheek. It hadn't taken that nickname long to spread.
"But we're in Costa Rica!" Alina said. "I can watch a movie any night back home. I am sorry about the bracelets, though. If I was sober I never would have done it, you know that. Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not mad, I'm just nervous about all the awkward things guys are going to make me do all day.
" I had just gotten a great idea. Maybe I wouldn't have to do anything weird at all.
Javier seemed like a reasonable guy. I'm sure I could just explain the situation to him and he'd let me at least remove the extra three bracelets.
"You guys go on ahead. I'll meet you at the pool later.
I need to stop by the front desk first anyway. "
Alina shook her head. "Nope. You're coming with us. You already ditched us last night." After seeing the expression on my face, she added, "just hide your wrist under your towel. You'll be fine."
"Fine. But we're going to the least crowded pool."
"Deal."
I grabbed my swimsuit out of my suitcase and went to the bathroom. I quickly got ready and applied tons of sunscreen. If I didn't have four bracelets on my wrist I would have been so excited to go to the pool. I tried not to think about it as I left the bathroom.
"What. The. Hell. Is. That?" asked Kristen.
I turned to look at her. "What the hell is what?"
"That thing on your body."
"It's a bathing suit. Obviously. Stop being weird." I lifted up my towel and draped it over my arm to hide all the bracelets.
"No."
"No what?"
"I'm not going to the pool with you dressed like a granny. You'll scare away all the hot guys."
"Help me out here, Alina."
"I'm sorry, you know how much I love you," she said. "But Kristen is right. It looks awful. Whatever possessed you to buy that?"
"I wear it to the gym all the time to swim laps."
"We're not swimming laps. We're lounging around, tanning, and flirting with strangers," Kristen said with a smile.
"Maybe you are. I brought SPF 50 sunscreen so I don't end up with skin cancer. And I'm certainly not flirting with anyone. They might see my bracelets."
"I bet there's a gift shop here that sells swimsuits," Layla said. She grabbed the pamphlet off the dresser and skimmed through it. "There's one near the Jaguar's Den. Let's go check it out and see."
"Perfect. Shopping then to the pool." Kristen linked her arm in mine and pulled me out of the room.
"Can we at least stop by the front desk first? I need to ask Javier a question." The four of us stepped onto the elevator.
"Sure. Maybe he can point us in the direction of their sexiest bathing suits."
I rolled my eyes. Getting a bikini wasn't going to help hide my bracelets at all. My best shot was blending in. But I was almost certain it wouldn't come to that. Wearing four bracelets had to violate the game's policy. Javier would let me take them off.
The elevator doors opened and I walked over to the front desk. Javier was standing just where he had been the night before.
"Good morning, ladies," he said. "Did you have a good first night?"
"Excellent," Alina said. She gave me a sympathetic smile.
"Javier, I was wondering if there was a way to remove these bracelets." I held out my wrist.
He smiled. "You seem to be enjoying the game very much."
"No. Not really. My friends pulled a prank on me. And I know that it's just a silly game, but I'm sure wearing four bracelets breaks the rules."
"The rules actually don't specify if an individual is willing to wear her friends' bracelets."
"But these were put on me by accident last night..."
"Once the bracelets are put on, they can only be removed by completing the actions on a gentleman's card."
"I know that's what you say." My friends had wandered over to the activity board. I leaned forward slightly and lowered my voice. "But between you and me, there's another way, right? Like a master key kind of thing? Maybe you could help me out?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, the only way to remove the bracelet is to swipe a card against it."
"Could you maybe just swipe some of the cards back there against these ones then?"
Javier got a serious look on his face. "I'm an employee of this establishment. I'm not allowed to partake in the game."
"I don't mean play the game. I just mean swipe the cards against my bracelets. I'm not going to do anything on the cards. Or maybe I can just get the extra three removed? Maybe there's someone I can talk to about the rules of the game?"
"Stop harassing Javier," Kristen said. "We were wondering where to find the sexiest bikinis for sale."
"Of course." Javier seemed excited to talk to someone else.
I tuned him out and peered over the counter. I could see the stack of cards sitting right there. If I could just grab one...
"Great," Kristen said. "This way, Daphne." She grabbed my arm. "We just signed up for a ton of awesome activities."
I had forgotten all about the activities.
Now I was stuck with four bracelets and I didn't have a say in anything we did all week.
I wanted to be able to let all this go and have fun, but right now all I wanted to do was go home.
Especially when we stopped outside a store that had the sluttiest bikinis possible displayed in the window.
Apparently bachelorette parties were not my thing.
"Oh my God," Alina said.
"What?" I turned to look at her. I assumed she was going to talk about the slutty bikinis, but she was staring down the empty hall.
"I swear I just saw..." her voice trailed off. "Never mind."
"No, who do you think you saw?" I asked. This distraction was just what I needed to get out of purchasing two pieces of fabric that had no business being called a bathing suit.
Alina laughed. "That guy that just turned the corner down there looked just like Professor Hunter."
"Stop making fun of me," Kristen said and lightly shoved her shoulder.
"No, I swear, I just saw a guy that could have been his twin."
"Ha. Ha. You're just trying to get me to run down the hallway and act like a crazy person."
Alina shrugged. "I'm not saying it was him. It just looked like him. I probably just imagined it."
"Let's follow him," I said, hoping to take advantage of the distraction. "I can't believe he's here too! What a strange coincidence. It must be fate, Kristen!"
Kristen laughed. "Nice try. You're not getting out of buying an age appropriate bathing suit. That way missy," she said and pushed me into the store.