Mounting up

Chapter 16

Maui, Hawaii (hotel villa pictured above)

8 hours later, the plane had landed in Maui and I had to be shaken awake. Kayden roughly shook my shoulder. "Wakey-Wakey EllieBellie." He whispered sweetly, and my eyes slowly flickered open, the sunlight making it hard to see.

When I had finally opened my eyes, I saw the concrete runway which was surrounded by endless blue skys, Palm trees and ocean views.
How breathtaking. With a newfound source of energy, I stood up from the seat, grabbed my carry-on bag and followed the Windsor group out to the baggage claim. Being all by ourselves would be weird, but I thought we can handle it.

I held hands with Kayden as we approached the baggage claim. 360 degree views surrounded us through the glass walls and I breathed a breath of fresh air happily. I grabbed my lime green suitcase as soon as it appeared, and then we all looked at each other expectantly. "Usually Mr. Rossi does this part for us..." Paige chuckled as she signalled a taxi.

The taxi stopped happily, and he waved. "Aloha Islanders! Where can I take you today?" He stated pleasantly. "According to our itinerary, can you take us to Aston Kaanapali Villas please?" Taylor chirped from her position in the background. The taxi driver nodded happily "It'd be my pleasure. Say, aren't you guys a little young to be travelling by yourselves?"

Kayden chuckled. "We're from Seattle, we all go to a boarding school called Windsor Preparatory. As a reward for winning nationals, our teachers gave us a 1 week vacation in Maui." He told him as we clambered into the taxi. "What sport?" He asked, as he drove out of the airport; thinking it was softball or soccer maybe.

"Horseback riding." Alyssa told him kindly. A frown appeared on his tan face. "Horseback riding? That's not a sport; it's not even difficult. Here in Hawaii; We don't count Horseback riding as  a sport. Everybody can do horseback riding; even babies!" He reprimanded them. I shook my head angrily. "Well that's your opinion, and we'll respect it; but horseback riding is very hard and dangerous. We risk our lives every time we get on our horses." Paige told him smartly, always the one to come up with good comebacks.

The rest of the drive was ridden with stony silence. When we pulled up to the beautiful villa we would be staying in, he told us "well, have fun, and be safe on those horses." He chuckled at the last bit. A timid bit of laughter tumbled out from us.

The taxi drove off and once again, we were left alone. Crystal blue water in the infinity pools were scattered across the front lawn. A grand entrance welcomed us into the villa, and the Pacific Ocean sat only an arm's length away.

"Wow-" I started to say but got cut off by the rest of the group chiming in "It's gorgeous."
Kayden whispered into my ear sweetly "just like you." I chuckled and kissed his cheek. "You're too sweet." Paige laughed and called from the grand entrance "C'mon lovebirds! Last one in has to sleep on the couch!"

With a glance of competitivy, I sprinted from Kayden's side, raced upstairs, and claimed the last bedroom at the end of the hall. I slammed the door, the hinges banged loudly, and I looked around. It had a balcony over looking the ocean and the backyard. There was a king size bed with a white comforter and dark mahogany posts. A bathroom the size my dorm back at Windsor sat beside the walk-in closet which was the size of two stalls at the barn.

I was so happy I had claimed this bedroom. I unpacked my suitcase before bounding down to the sitting room, which had glass walls, giving us the entire expansive view of the ocean. It was simply breathtaking. "How about we go swimming?" Taylor asked shyly, and gestured towards the numerous pools, jacuzzis and the ocean.

"The ocean might be cold" Alyssa pointed out. "Then let's use the pools." Paige chimed in. With nods of agreement around the room, I ran up stairs to change into a bikini. I picked out a tropical blue bikini covered in leaves and flowers. I had a matching bottom, with a black chiffon cover up.

I clambered downstairs, with sunglasses and a towel in tow. I didn't use sunscreen. Kayden bounded down the stairs in a white and navy striped pair of swimming trunks. "Hey handsome." I smirked softly and wrapped my arms around his toned chest. "You're not too bad looking yourself." He kissed my cheek and we went out to the backyard.

We were joined by Paige, Alyssa and Taylor. Without her usual snotty comment about our coupleness, Paige cannonballed into one of the numerous infinity pools. I leapt in after her, the rest of the group joining us shortly there after.

I frolicked around, occasionally taking in the view of the ocean. Soon after, I was drinking some 7-up in a champagne fluke relaxing in a pink doughnut  floatie. Taylor and Alyssa cannonballed into the pool landing right beside me. I chuckled good-naturedly and splashed them. "Thanks you assholes." I laughed and flicked the wet droplets from my head.

A couple hours later, we stumbled into the kitchen, tired and hungry. Kayden had only swam with us for like half an hour then he went into the kitchen to look through some order-in menus. When we walked into the kitchen, we were greeted by the aroma of Chinese. "Ah nothing like some classic Chinese food." Alyssa sighed, while grabbing a plate for herself.

As we ate the food hungrily, Kayden wondered out loud "I wonder how the school got the money for us to go to Hawaii?"

"As long as they didn't rob a bank, I don't really care." I chuckled. The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement.

As the sun set on Maui, we gazed out towards the beach. "We're so lucky to be here." Alyssa said softly. "Lucky indeed." We echoed back.

Little did we know, not even two weeks later, our lives would become hell.