Pretty In Pink

(36) Bikini, Batootie, And Lani

***

"I think... Lani is border-line genius," Tait sighs contently. His honey-almond hair, currently in a cute little man-bun on top of his head, bobs around slightly. Because of the water it looks a few shades darker. Shaping his face, though, are loose strands of his usual colour which feather about it freely.

I dip my fingers into the water as my arms hang over the edge of my tube, floating down the lazy river called Castaway Creek. After a full-on day of thrill rides, water rides, and of course, kids rides, a relaxing float is just what we need to top off the day. I can just feel all my stress melting away into chlorine nothingness the longer I sit here with my butt jammed in this tube.

On second thoughts, will I be able to get my butt unjammed?

Pah. Let's leave future problems for the future.

Anyway, Lani rented us out a riverside Cabana - something she's done every other time we've come here - and with it came the usual buffet styled lunch. I'll be honest here and say that it was the highlight of my day.

"Border-line? This kid wants a black eye, doesn't he?" Lani scoffs, then proceeds to kick a baby tidal wave of water at Tait. Emerald eyes flash with glee as he attempts to spin in his tube and protect his face from Lani's onslaught of water.

"Knock it off, would ya?" Frowning as usual, Elijah lifts his leg, and in one effortless shove, puts a few more feet of distance between him and Tait. "The fact you're still bouncing with energy exhausts me more, you twit," Elijah grumbles.

"Leave him be, Elijah. He probably ate too much sugar again," Marc smirks as his tube bumps into mine. "Hi, hun." I grin back at him in reply.

"What are you, a kid?" Lorenzo snorts. "Getting on a sugar high is very childish, and not manly at all." He brushes his hair from his face, running his fingers through it as he does, imitating some models I've seen from several of Jamie's countless magazines.

The previously calm waters are kicked up as a water fight ensues, initiated by Lorenzo's teasing. Connor, the only person other than myself who didn't get dragged onto the battlefield, floats closely beside me. "I really can't hate them," he mumbles so quietly I almost don't catch it. A little voice in my head tells me he was talking to himself, but I ignore that bugger.

"Why would you hate them?" Slowly, Connor turns to face me. He stares at me for a few seconds, looking genuinely bewildered, before shaking his head at me, grinning.

"Trust you not understand," he says, but I sense no malice behind his words.

I shrug off his comment as I notice the entrance of the river not far ahead of us. It's almost as if it triggered the sudden urge I get to use the bathroom. I wriggle and writhe in my tube, trying to get my butt unstuck. How embarrassing would it be if I couldn't get out? Seeing that I'm nearing the golden gates of the exit, I scramble about more urgently, not wanting to miss my exit now and have to go for round two down the river while busting to go to the bathroom.

If that were to happen, I think I'd end up climbing out from the side - tube and all - out of desperation.

All of my struggling and I'm rewarded with no results, but I do manage to make a lot of noise and attract a lot of attention.

"Squirt... Are you ok?" Elijah questions, sounding confused.

"I," I wriggle to one side, "am," I wriggle to the other side, "FINE." This time I shove as hard as I can and still get nowhere. Giving in to the tube, my limbs go floppy and lifeless against it. "Sorry guys. I tried," I sigh grumpily, watching as we finally approach my pit stop.