Paradise

Bonus Chapter: Backyard Bash

**A/N: Holly's POV. ENJOY!!**

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It's Saturday evening, approximately 5 o'clock, and I was sitting in the hotel room watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars in my teddy bear onesie. Please don't judge me, I just love the feeling of being a kid sometimes. I ignored the multiple texts from Seth asking me to go surfing with him. There was no way in the world that he'd ever catch me in the water, and let alone in a bathing suit. (I can't really swim anyways).

My phone chimed once again on the bed, but this time with the song 'Young&Beautiful' by Lana Del Ray. I muted the movie and plugged in my earphones.

"Cleo!" I said cheerfully.

"Hey Holly what are you up to?"

"Ignoring Seth and Watching Star Wars." I replied through a mouthful of popcorn. "How about you?"

"Aww he's bugging you again? I had to stop by the souvenir shop for my parents. I promised I'd get them something while we were here. I'm almost back at the hotel now. " Cleo sounded slightly out of breath. She must have been walking fast.

"How nice." I added. "Remind me to get a trinket for my parents too, it would be a nice addition to their collection of knick-knacks and souvenirs."

"Sure, we can go after the Backyard Bash."

"What Backyard Bash?" I dropped a few kernels on the bed.

"Stephanie just texted me saying she got invited to Raphael's backyard bash tonight." I heard the mini games from the boardwalk in the background.

"That's kind of him but odd since he barely knows her." I finished off the last kernel and picked up the fallen ones. I love the flavor of extra movie theater butter. I sadly threw the empty bag and the fallen kernels into the trash can near the TV. You got away this time little kernels.

"Stephanie said yes immediately and told Raphael that'd I'd be there too." I could hear the dread in her voice.

"What?" Stephanie always caused trouble for her sister.

"She said he had a friend named Alonzo who came to visit just for the weekend from Cuba. Raphael asked Stephanie if i could go because he thought it would be nice for me to hang out with his friend so he doesn't feel alone at the party, since he doesn't know anybody. Before I could reply back, she told Raphael I'D BE DELIGHTED to and then texted me saying it was actually A DATE. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS." I had to take out my earphones due to the rising levels of Cleo's voice. When she gets frustrated she could really jump a few octaves.

"Just tell her to call it off. You have the right to not go." I spoke calmly to get her to relax.

"I tried, but she won't listen to me. You know how Steph is. She gets almost any guy she wants, but never really goes through with the relationship, so what makes Raphael so different? I'm happy that this one seems to be lasting longer, but there's no need to drag me into it too. And I know she knows that I like Jace so this is basically a form of sabotage. Is she crazy? Yea, we'll go with crazy. "Cleo laughed hysterically.

I turned the TV off with a frown and plopped back down on the bed. Guess I'll have to watch the re-run later.

"Wait... so you do like Jace?" I exclaimed once I realized what she said.

"Holly please come with me, I don't want to be around a bunch of people I don't know while Steph is glued to Raphael's side. And I don't want to be awkwardly stuck with whoever this Alonzo guy is." Cleo ignored my question and begged into the phone.