Island Vibes

36. one more

"They're nightmares," I said, laughing even though I meant it.

We were at the bar because Brie was working and Noah and Melissa figured it was better to meet there and keep her company since it meant we'd all get free drinks for as long as she was on shift. I'd considered protesting since Brie still put me on edge, but I wasn't about to say no to free stuff, really. Brie might've been mercurial and prickly at the best of times, but she at least hadn't proven herself to be truly wretched.

"They can't be that bad...?" Melissa's tone ticked upwards, as if she wasn't sure – maybe they could be, as far as she knew.

"They're worse than Brie," I teased, feeling brave since I knew Noah and Melissa would protect me if she pounced.

Brie rolled her eyes and tossed the nearest cleaning rag at me, the thing still wet from wiping down the bar. I squeaked and batted it away, Noah and Melissa chuckling at the sight of me flailing with the rag for a second. Brie smirked down at the bar as she totaled up some of their figures for the month, pen to paper, happy that her little stunt had had the desired effect.

"You deserved that," Noah teased. 

"Whatever," I sassed back. 

Melissa swallowed a sip of her cranberry mocktail and shook her head. "You wouldn't be friends with them if they were really nightmares." She raised her eyebrows, dragging us back on topic, proud of her point.

And it was a good point, but still. "Okay, so I love them, but that doesn't stop me from thinking this is gonna be a disaster. Kayla especially," I groaned, "she's always been the jealous type, and I think this whole island paradise thing I've had going for me is gonna tip her over the edge," I said. 

I was teasing. Mostly. Kayla did have a jealous streak, but we really were good friends. She always wanted the best for me – she'd just complain about how the best wasn't happening to her, sometimes, too. 

Honestly, maybe I wanted her to be a little jealous about all of this, anyway. Like, what good was it landing the summer job of a lifetime if you didn't get to show it off a bit, right? Maybe that was the reason I hadn't been telling my friends back home about the more intricate details of my weird non-relationship with Noah.

Brie frowned, pulling a bit of a face, and Noah nudged his empty glass in her direction for a refill of his smoothie before turning his attention back to me. "The more the merrier, I say." Noah shrugged, super chill. "Having a few more of you city girls buzzing about sounds like fun," he chuckled, laughing harder still when Melissa smacked the back of her hand into his arm in teasing reproach.

"What he means," Melissa asserted, giving her boyfriend a smirk, "is that they'll liven the place up. Maluhia is such a tiny town, so new people really make all the difference."

"Although, sometimes it's not a good difference," Brie chimed in, shooting me a cold grin. 

She gave Noah a fresh drink before getting back to the numbers, and Melissa rolled her eyes. "It'll be fun, Callie," she said, something in her tone soothing. "We'll all go drinking and dancing, and if we can get Noah to kiss any of them we can get him to pick up the tab again," she said, her tone hushed as if she was letting me in on a big secret plan. 

Noah grimaced and covered his face with one of his hands, spreading his fingers to peek out at us. "C'mon, how many times are we gonna bring this up?"

"Mm, at least one more," Melissa said, scrunching her nose up apologetically.

I laughed along, glad that we'd all pretty much moved past the awkwardness of it all – Melissa really was a trooper, and the way the pair of them had settled into normalcy again after she'd found out was incredible. I had no idea how things had gone behind closed doors, obviously, but Noah and Melissa were clearly rock solid, as a couple.

They just seemed to be made for each other, really. Both of them were so casual, so cool. Noah might've been having a little freak out, but Melissa seemed to have totally assuaged that. Much as I still thought Noah was cute and charming and fun, I couldn't get over the fact that they seemed to have found their match in each other already. 

When we parted ways after cleaning up another round of drinks and leaving Brie to it, I did feel better about the prospect of my friends coming to visit. Like, maybe I still didn't feel great about it, but I knew I'd probably been worrying over nothing, before. It'd just been a while since I'd last seen them, and the thought of having to merge my past with my present seemed weird. 

Kipuka was like its own bubble. The island itself was so contained, so easy to escape in. I'd been wrapped up in Noah from day one, and he'd proven to be entertaining enough to keep me busy. Toss in his girlfriend, his sister, the café renovations, the island exploration... we'd been so busy. 

I'd barely been in touch with my parents to talk about the café, let alone had more than a sec to say hi to my friends and briefly check in with them all.

I glanced at my phone as I got back to my place, keyrings jangling as I unlocked the door. Two new texts, and both of them were from my old friend Lily.

aloha babe!! quick q, is it overkill that i packed seven bikinis?? court says so but i think she's just jealous bc she literally only owns two lmao

(and one of them is that weird ruffled thing she wore to brad harrington's pool party so does it even count??? it's more ruffle than swimsuit hahaha)

I blinked at the screen and then locked my phone again, shaking my head and smiling. Kayla was one thing, but Lily and Courtney were their own totally separate handfuls. Lily's insecurities were legendary, and Courtney's sharp tongue was a lot to handle. And, okay, of course Lily had also always been there for me, and Courtney was fiercely protective of us all – I promise they were my friends for a reason, but... Courtney and Brie? Lily and Melissa? Kayla and Noah? There wasn't a single match-up I could think of that didn't make me a little uneasy. 

I began to regret having mentioned anything to any of them. They were all so eager to meet one another now, but the best thing I could've done would've been keeping my mouth shut about them all from the start. That way, no big introductions would've felt required. I felt so obligated to bring them all together, to make it work, when in reality I was expecting fireworks. The bad kind.

Gulp.