The Ex & The Why

two.

THIS SUCKED.

       Elisa had been staking out in her assigned cabin (The term didn’t even justify the luxury of the place. Flat screen TV’s in the living room and both bedrooms, a mini bar, a fridge stacked with anything Elisa could even dream of and water beds – which admittedly had scared the hell out of Elisa when she first plopped down on hers.), peeking through the blinds as she watched Mason talking to another girl.

       There had to be some order in this universe that made ex-boyfriends who were completely jackasses worse off than the girl, but scowling down at the aforementioned ex-boyfriend, she wondered if the universe was so cruel as to make him look even sexier.

       She hadn’t noticed it in her first two encounters (the distance and the dark being a disadvantage), but now that the streetlights lit up the outside of the cabins, Elisa noticed that Mason had dyed his hair. Well, partially. He had gotten highlights – his normally dark hair was now lined with blonde streaks.

       Of course he got highlights, Elisa thought bitterly, glaring down at the two. She pulled away from the blinds, letting them snap back into place. Leave it to Mason to make his comeback classy not trashy.

       Really, it was no surprise, but the annoyance flaring up in Elisa was. She brushed it off as the fact that the program was getting to her, but a small part of her briefly wondered if it was because she didn’t think of it first. She shunned that thought more than the former.

       “This is ridiculous,” she said to no one, but even as she said it, she grabbed her hoodie and pulled it over her head. Glancing over at the clock on the wall, she saw that there was still an hour and a half till curfew.

       Good, she thought, exiting her cabin through the back door (one rendezvous with Mason in one night was enough for her). Now, where the hell can I get a drink around here?

       Five minutes later, Elisa had managed to follow the faint noise of cheering and finally she stumbled into a party that was just getting started. Her first instinct was to find someone she knew, but when her hopes of Luke or Jordan being there were shattered, she trudged over to the nearest tiki bar and pulled herself up into one of the chairs.

       “What can I get ya?”

       The bartender had slid someone towards the bottom of the bar their order and then immediately turned to Elisa, an easy smile on his face.

       “Uh…”

       Sure, Elisa came here to drink, but she soon realized that she didn’t know alcohol – as in at all – and she was pretty sure being vague wouldn’t help her situation at all.

       “Surprise me?” Elisa said, except it came out more like a question. The bartender laughed and bent down, disappearing from Elisa’s view. She fought the urge to lean over and see what he was doing.

       He emerged only a second later with a cup and a bottle. Pouring the beverage into the cup, he slid it towards her.

       “What is it?” She asked, wrinkling her nose as she peered at the fizzing liquid. Then, realizing how juvenile she must have sounded, she retaliated with, “I mean, how much?”

       “It’s Coke,” the boy said, his top lip quirked in a half smile. “And it’s free of charge.”

       Elisa was glad it was night and the only light was from the torches that circled the party, because she was pretty sure her face was as crimson as the red solo cup in her hand.