I couldn't stop my mouth from dropping this time.

As soon as the key card unlocked the door and we stepped in, my jaw dropped. The room was huge. We had booked a quad room to save money but I didn't expect it to be this big and luxuriant and jaw-dropping.

We walked through the small passage and through the archway that led to a large living room. The colours were a simple grey and white, the carpet and the couches were unbelievably plush, and there was a single chandelier hanging from the roof and a massive flat-screen TV against the wall. On the other side of the room was a large, round dining table with a glass Lazy Susan and seven chairs around it.

We went through the large door at the end of the room and it led us to the bedroom. There were four single beds—which we were going to join together to create one big bed—a long desk against the wall below yet another flat-screen TV and a massive glass sliding door that led to a balcony.

Beside the TV was a large map of the hotel. I only skimmed through it but saw that there were restaurants, cafés, bars, spa rooms, gyms, a bowling alley and even a games room.

I went to the massive glass sliding door that led to the large balcony and on it was a long cosy seat and a coffee table, but that wasn't what grabbed my attention. It was the view. Directly below me was a large, clear pool and there were several sunloungers and parasols, but further beyond was the beach. Several people were running around, jumping from the hills and into the water, sunbathing, and—

"Oh my gosh," I recognised Serena's shriek and rushed back into the room.

Serena and Faizah were standing by the threshold of another door with their hands over their mouths as they looked into the room.

"Did you find a dead body?" Ally asked as she rushed into the room from the lounge.

Ally and I both approached them to see what they were so struck by only to be struck ourselves. The bathroom was magnificent. The floors were marbled as were the walls, there was a large mirror that took up the space of one of the walls and a massive sink below it with two double-headed taps and two wooden cabinets on either side of the sink. The bathtub was large enough to fit all of us plus an extra person and the shower was equally as large, with tinted windows and three heads, one on the roof and two on the walls. There was also a toilet that was... well, a toilet, but it was enclosed within tinted windows like the shower.

"How can a bathroom be so... wow," Serena asked.

"How did we even manage to afford this?" Faizah questioned.

We spent what felt like 10 minutes admiring the bathroom alone.

****

"Here's what we're going to do," Faizah addressed us as we got ready to go to the beach. "To make the most of this vacation, we need to plan our days."

"Seriously Faiz," Ally groaned.

"You'll thank me once you find that you've done literally everything that this hotel offers."

"I doubt," Ally sighed.

"I went over all the activities they offer," Faizah continued. "But the thing is certain activities are only available at certain times at this hotel, and as a result, some activities overlap with other activities. For example, scuba diving and snorkelling overlap. Windsurfing and kite surfing overlap, et cetera."

"So your point is?" Serena asked.

"I've come up with a timetable," Faizah informed her, earning a groan from each of us, but despite our complaints, we knew that Faizah's excessive organisation and planning would result in our enjoyment, which was why none of us left.

"We go to the beach now for about an hour or two," Faizah began. "Then at 1 pm, we go snorkelling for an hour, after that we go parasailing for an hour, and then we go jet skiing, and once that's done, we can do whatever and relax. But tomorrow—"

"We got it!" I exclaimed. "Tomorrow can worry about itself, thank you very much."

"To the beach we go, beaches!" Ally cheered and rushed out the door.

We followed and entered the elevator with its mirror-covered walls and tapped the button for the ground floor.

"Sunscreen? Check," Faizah checklist as she looked into her beach bag. "Towels? Check. Sun hat? Check. Sunglasses? Check."

"Can you please tick off your list silently?" Ally pleaded.

"It's not just for me you know, it's for you all too," Faizah stated. "I'm the only one trying to look after our bodies."

"My body is perfect the way it is," Ally said, striking a pose.

"I'd like to hear you saying that when you're red all over," Faizah teased. "Zara and I don't need sunscreen as much as the two of you, so you should be thanking me rather than silencing me."

Ally pulled her tongue at Faizah in response.

"I've got everything," Faizah said, satisfied, before putting the beach bag over her shoulder again and fixing her costume.

We were sporting matching bikinis today, as we usually did, and had sarong skirts—of the same pink and green floral print as the bikinis—wrapped around our waists, matched with cute flip flops. Although we wore matching bikinis, they were styled differently. Faizah and I rocked a skirted bottom bikini with halter neck tops, while Ally and Serena slayed sling bikinis.

The elevator doors opened and we wasted no time going through the large glass doors I had seen before in the reception which led to the sea beyond. We walked across the gravel path that skirted around the large pool I had seen from our balcony and made our way toward the sea. I removed my flip-flops as soon as I was on the sand. It was so fine and light brown that it was almost white.

We deposited our belongings under a tree, put on sunscreen as per Faizah's command and then when Ally challenged, "last one into the water buys the first round of drinks!" we sprinted toward the sea.

Once in the water, Faizah complained, "no fair, you caught me off guard."

"I caught all of you off guard," Ally stated. "You're only complaining because you lost."

"But our drinks and all are paid for already," Serena reminded them. "It's all-inclusive, remember?"

"Only things at the hotel are paid for," Ally said. "I'm talking about at a local bar."

"Why go to a local bar when you live in a hotel where there's no doubt a hecka fancy bar?" I asked.

"Because Faizah has to pay for something," Ally replied with a sly grin.

Faizah only splashed her in response.

****

As per Faizah's schedule, we went snorkelling at 1 pm, and I would have stayed in the water for the whole day if I hadn't gotten tired. I tried to ignore it and stay just a little longer, but Faizah urged all of us out of the water, saying that if we got too tired to even stay afloat she wouldn't call the lifeguard.

We only stayed in for an extra ten minutes.

After returning the snorkels, we made our way to the parasails. Luckily, there was a parasail boat available and all fueled up so we didn't need to wait. The boat driver scanned our tags before allowing us onto the boat. Faizah and Ally were the first to be strapped on. They were both screaming once up in the air, Ally's screams were that of enjoyment throughout, while Faizah's were that of sheer terror, before eventually turning into enjoyment as well. Serena and I went next, and I had to admit that the first few moments were terrifying, until they weren't. Serena—like Ally had—dared to pull out her phone and take pictures.

From then, we randomly interchanged until our boating adventure time was finished.

After that, we started making our way to the jet ski floating docks when Faizah suddenly went from a casual stroll to a full-out sprint in the direction of the jet skis. Ally followed suit and it took Serena and me a second to realise why. Out of the 15 jet skis they had, there were only four available, and there were already two guys at the docks waiting to get life jackets.

Serena and I glanced at each other before sprinting after them, but they were too far ahead to catch up to. When we reached them they were already on the docks, panting.

"I didn't lose this time!" Faizah triumphed.

"That is so not fair," Serena panted.

"Yeah, you caught us so off guard," I argued. "Let's go back and do a proper race."

"It's fine, the skis can fit two people," Faizah said. "We can ride together."

Beside me, Serena snorted. "Sorry," she apologised. "It's just, no offence, but neither of us wants to ride with either of you."

"Why not?" Ally asked, clearly offended.

"Riding with you will put our lives at risk," Serena explained to Ally before looking at Faizah. "And riding with you will put us to sleep."

"If anything, I'd rather drive or be driven by anyone but you two," I admitted.

"Fine," Ally huffed then turned around and walked toward the guys, but before we could protest, she called, "excuse me."

The guys both turned around and I felt myself go still, my breath catching in my throat. Elliot and Reed both had caps on which was probably why we hadn't noticed them before, and they were both shirtless which was just... wow.

Ally blatantly looked them up and down, Faizah offered them an awkward wave, Serena just remained still beside me, and I tried to keep my attention anywhere but on either of their bodies, but alas, my eyes betrayed me and slowly began lowering while focused on Elliot. Past his jawline, down his neck, and settling on his breathtakingly toned body. I forced my gaze up again. No way was I going to be caught ogling him.

I suddenly felt conscious. Sure, we were all in bikinis and, sure, my bikini covered more of my body than Ally's, for example, but I was still aware of all the skin I had exposed.

"Well, hello," Ally greeted, eventually raising her gaze back to their faces. "Fancy meeting you guys here."

"Ally, right?" Reed asked.

"The one and only," Ally smiled. "Anyway, would you guys mind sharing your jet skis? Zara and Serena would rather ride with you guys."

"No!" I denied. "Ally!"

"What?" She asked innocently.

"That is not true," I said, waving my hands in a denying gesture and accompanying the movement with an awkward chuckle. "We can just ride after you guys."

"Speak for yourself," Serena interjected. "I want to ride today, and if that means I have to ride with one of them, so be it."

By 'one of them' she clearly meant Reed.

"Well, I'll wait," I said.

"That you can't," a man suddenly told me, and judging by the life jackets he emerged with, he was the man who managed the docks. "The ride lasts an hour, and it will be 4 pm in an hour which is when the tide changes from low to high, and it's dangerous to jet ski when the tide is high."

"I don't mind."

"You will when you're dead," he said, laughing at his own joke before handing Elliot and Reed a life jacket each. "But even so, 4 pm is too close to sunset."

"I don't mind that either."

The man chuckled again, "you will when you're dead, sweetie."

"What if the sun decides to set at 7 pm," I asked. "Can I ride then?"

"There's still the tide," the man pointed out.

"Then I'll come back before the sun sets when the tide changes back to low."

"See you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow?"

"It takes 6 hours for the tide to change from high to low," the man explained. "And at least the sunset will be a distant memory."

"So what, should I come extra early?" I asked.

"Jet skiing is only available from 10 am to 4 pm," the man told me. "No earlier, no later."

"Then—"

"Zara," Elliot cut me off. He walked toward me and extended his life jacket in my direction. "Here. I can ride tomorrow."

"No way!" I denied. "You beat me here fair and square."

"Great!" Ally appeared beside Elliot. "Then ride with him." She took the life jacket from him and held it against my chest, forcing me to hold it.

"No," I denied still.

"You can trust him, Zara," Reed suddenly joined the conversation. "He's driven jet skis several times."

"That's not why she's denying," Ally said with a sly grin.

"What other reason could there be?" Reed asked.

"She's kinda—"

"Nothing," I interrupted before Ally could say anything that gave me a valid reason to kill her.

"Okay, we're done listening to them," Serena said before leading Reed toward the jet skis and grabbing a life jacket of her own. "See ya'll on the waves."

"Right, why am I still here?" Faizah asked herself before donning a life jacket and taking off.

Ally took the life jacket she had forced into my arms and gave me a purposeful look before leaving, which left Elliot and me on the deck alone.

"Ya'll gonna ride?" the man on the deck asked. "Or should I allow all the people looking at the last jet ski approach?" I looked back and saw others looking in our direction. "The only reason they're not coming is that they think you're hopping on. So, are you?"

I looked up at Elliot then and found him already looking at me.

"So?" He began, "What do you say?"