AllFreeNovel
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I scan the crowd. Everyone in here looks around our age, maybe older. Most people are wearing wristbands, which tells me they’re tourists from other resorts. At the side of the dance floor against the wall is a small raised platform, where club-goers are dancing like they’re onstage.
Not too far from us, a girl is dancing with a guy, moving around with a grace and confidence rivaled by no one else. Her dark braids sway behind her as she spins, and that’s when I recognize her; it’s the girl I saved in the pool Friday night. Her purple bikini has been replaced by a tight black dress, and the guy she’s with seems familiar.
Her gaze meets mine, and she tilts her head to the side as we stare at each other. The guy she’s dancing with notices, then says something to her while pointing at me. Her eyes widen a fraction, then she waves at me.
My legs move on their own accord. It’s been almost two days, and I had wondered how she was. I’m almost halfway to her when a strong hand wraps around my bicep and pulls me to a stop. As soon as I turn around, the hand disappears, and I’m looking up into Adam’s angry eyes.
“Where are you going?” he demands, getting close to me to hear over the music.
“Over there to talk to—”
“You shouldn’t be wandering off by yourself. Not here, and not at any nightclub ever.”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal . . .” It was only a few feet away.
“Come on,” he grumbles, pulling me back to the group as if I’m a child, even though I neither asked nor expected him to babysit me.
I try to shrug him off. “It’s fine, I’ll be right over . . .” but when I look back, the moving crowd swallows up the girl, so I drop it.
When we reach the group, I stand off to the side while everyone talks over the music to each other and dances and drinks.
“What’s wrong?” Faye asks, sidling up beside me and scanning the crowd.
“What? Nothing?”
She sways a little on her feet. “Are you sure? I want you to have fun!”
I don’t want Faye to worry about me, so instead I paste on a smile and wiggle my hips to the music. “I am having fun! Just taking a breather. But don’t worry about me, go talk to Kellan.”
Taking a page from her book, I grab her shoulders, spin her around, and push her toward Kellan who’s talking with Alessio.
She stumbles but catches herself, then struts over to join the boys.
As I continue my search for the girl from Friday, Anaya grabs my hand. She leans in so close I can smell her flowery perfume over the alcohol and sweat in the air. Her brown eyes bore into mine. “You aresopretty. You need to stop shrinking back in corners!”
I shrink back in corners? “Um, thanks?”
“Let’s dance!” she exclaims, chugging the rest of her mixed drink before setting it down on the bar.
Before I can answer, she pulls me by the hand onto the dance floor, bringing Kiara and Priyasha with us. I call out for Faye, but she waves at me and laughs at something Dylan says.
The music is so loud it vibrates through my bones, and we get swallowed up by the crowd as we make our way to the middle of the floor. Anaya releases my hand and before I know what’s going on, we’re all dancing and laughing and having a great time. The music is a mix of Spanish and English songs that are popular back home, so we get to sing along.
Kiara spins me around, then I spin her around, but we lose our balance and slam into someone behind us. The guy turns around, ready to yell at us, but he pauses when he eyes me and Kiara. He says something to Kiara and gestures to the two of us with a suggestive wink, but she just laughs at him, grabs my hand, and pulls me back into our little group of girls. We’re laughing and sweating and singing at the top of our lungs, and after snorkeling, it’s the most fun I’ve had on this trip.
Is this what I was missing throughout high school? Is this how much fun Faye was having at all those parties I didn’t go to, because I was scared that I wouldn’t know anyone there?
As we dance, a few guys try to grab me, but Priyasha throws her arms around me, and we dance together instead. Her brown, caramel-highlighted hair is splayed out over my shoulders, mixing with my sweat, but she doesn’t care. She points at the small stage where some people are dancing. “We’re going to dance up there. Right now.”
Dancing with all these people around is nerve-racking enough. But dancing on stage? In front of a crowd? Where I’d feel all those eyes on me? Yeah, that’ll be a big fat “heck no.”
“Um . . . I’m okay,” I tell her, planting my feet.
“Nope, I’m not taking that answer!” she replies, pulling me with her to the stage.
Kiara, Anaya, and Priyasha get up on stage right as the other people get off. It’s tiny; there’s only room for four or five people to dance around. They gesture for me to come up with them, but I shake my head. People are already staring at them, singing along with them,lookingat them.
Glancing around, I make eye contact with Adam, who’s at one bar with Alessio and Dean. Adam looks from the girls on stage to me standing right in front of it, and his eyebrows draw together in disbelief, as if the thought of me getting up on stage is absolutely absurd. He shakes his head subtly with a straight face, his eyes staring into mine meaningfully.
