Playing With Lightning

Welcome to Pieza

“Welcome Madam,” a lady said as we stepped off the plane onto the tiny runway. She was small and had a silky accent I couldn’t place. “Welcome to the Pieza Islands, I hope your stay here is enjoyable.”

“Thank you,” I let her put a necklace of fresh flowers around my neck and followed a guide through the airport and to a dingy looking bus. It was boiling, my clothes were literally sticking to me after the cool plane temperature.

Most of the other passengers had jumped straight onto another plane after the stop over and headed off to some other wonderful location, but we were among the few that were headed to a resort for a week on this small exotic paradise.

The resort was about five minutes from the airport. That was the benefit of such a small island, everything was so close. It was a fairly modern building, decked out with all the features a beach resort is expected to have.

“Alright, we’ve got three rooms,” Max took charge as we stopped in the lobby, holding up three rooms keys. “One for the girls, and we’ll split up into the other two.”

“How about we go up, freshen up and get changed,” Siva suggested. “We’ll meet down here in, say 20?”

We split off when we reached our three adjoining rooms. My mouth literally fell open when the door swung open. It was a fairly open, bright space, with one wall made completely of glass looking out onto a balcony and an amazing beach view. I immediately bagsed the bed closest to this side of the room, dumping my stuff and running into the bathroom to get the first go at the shower, which was about twice the size of my one at home.

I came out feeling refreshed and enjoying the hit of the air conditioning against my skin. Tay went in after me while I slipped on a pair of yellow and white polka dot bikinis, a pair of denim cut offs and a lacy white singlet. I fished my white thongs out of my case and pulled my hair back up into bun.

Tay came out and put on something similar, except her bathers were floral and her singlet was pink and floaty. We threw our phones and other essentials into a canvas bag and went back downstairs to wait for the boys. How was it possible that we got ready before them?

While we were leaning against a wall in the lobby, we were watching the people that walked past. We gained a couple of winks from a group of tanned, incredibly fit boys that walked past.

“What a shame you’re taken,” I elbowed Tay as they passed.

“More for you, right?” She laughed and I winked jokingly. We ended up both laughing for really no reason at all, and when the boys came down, we must have looked pretty much insane.

“Once you’re done,” Jay said warily, like he might need to call a mental institution any minute. “We were going to head into town, take a look around.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tay nodded, taking Nathan’s hand. “Lead the way.”

Town was really a couple of streets that went in a kind of wonky circle, maybe it could be classed as a triangle, I’m not entirely sure. There were a few restaurants, a hospital, some banks and stuff like that, and a shitload of shops. There were shops selling everything from clothes to jewellery to furniture, and almost everything was homemade.

“Oh my god, I’m in heaven,” I sighed as my eyes ran over all the goodies. “I’m going to need a serious retail session, and soon.”

‘We’ll come in tomorrow and spend all the boys’ money?” Tay suggested and the boys just rolled their eyes. Hey, that wasn’t a no.

The people of Pieza were so incredibly hospitable, a strange contrast to most people back home. They would offer us things for free and give us any help we needed. We ended up having lunch in a cute little restaurant that served local dishes.

“I think I’m in love,” I said simply as we walked back to the hotel for some down time. “I’m so coming here when I’m old and just staying here till I die.”

“Lovely,” Tom wrinkled up his nose and I just shrugged and kept walking.

We ended up all sitting around in Nathan and Jay’s room. They’d been put together because everyone had an idea that Nathan and Taylah would be all PDA and Jay didn’t understand the rules of ‘nose goes’. I was lying on stomach on Jay’s bed with my feet up in the air, reading a book and humming along to Tay’s iPod that had been plugged into a set of speakers.

“Look, I’m already darker,” Tay said excitedly, holding out her arms. She was on the other bed with Nath, the two of them sitting against the headboard.

“Yeah, and it’s not fake for once,” I gave her a thumbs up and she threw a pillow at me. Rude. My phone beeped a few times and, picking it up, I had notifications from instagram from people liking and commenting on the pictures I’d posted when we’d gotten back in the range of the hotel’s free wi-fi.

There were a few pictures of Tay and I, some with each of the boys and some of just the scenery. They’d gotten an insane amount of likes and comments already. Oh the joy of fame by association.

A couple of my favourites I’d posted onto twitter as well. The boys had the same idea, much to my displeasure when they’d posted pictures of everyone sleeping on the plane. And yes, this included me lying on Jay looking like I’d escaped from a zoo and been shot with a tranquilizer gun.  

There were the usual comments about how cute we were together, and how we should get together, and I couldn’t help blushing a little bit as I read them.

Quit it brain, I scolded myself. It’s just Jay. This has been happening for years, and you’ve always just laughed it off.

But, you can’t deny he’s cute, another little voice argued. Plus, he’s pretty much the sweetest guy you know. You could definitely do worse.

Oh you’re no help!