"Aline, you are a bitch!" Sydney screams into the phone. She was always the hysteric one, the one with anger issues. "How dare did you speak to Marcus like that?"
"I have the right to speak to him, however I want," I reply, not even raising my tone. I am not wasting my energy on her.
"You don't, you little..."
"Listen, if you called me because of that, you can go back to kissing Marcus's ass! I am on a holiday and it would be great if for once, you fuck off!"
With that, I end the call. She called me again, but I switch on the airplane mode. I need to change into my swimsuit, but I don't want to do anything right now. I could cancel plans with Martin...
No, he will think that I am annoying and unstable. I need to keep my promises. I drag myself across the room to my suitcase to get my swimsuit and beach things. I decided to bring my white bikini, because it's my favorite one.
I quickly put it on and throw on the clothes that I have been wearing previously. While gathering my things, I get a message on Facebook, from my mom, asking me if I am alright. I quickly reply her, telling her that I am fine. It's not like she cares about me that much.
As I exit the room, I notice Martin standing near the elevator. He is looking at his phone, rapidly typing something. I creep behind his back and shout Boo! By his face expression, I can understand that I was able to scare him, or he is just a good actor.
"How did you know my floor?" I ask, as the lift opens the doors.
"Well, it's my floor," He answers and presses the button for the ground floor.
"Really?" I am kind of shocked. Martin Garrix lives in the same hotel as me and on the same floor.
"Yeah," he says, chuckling. We exit the lobby and head to the beach. We walk in silence.
I can already hear music coming from Ultra. I wonder if Martin is going to go to Ultra, do DJs have perks at music festivals or something?
"Martin," I call, waiting until he turns to me, "are you going to Ultra?"
"Yeah, I guess," he responds quietly. "Wanna come with me?"
Wow, this is a bit unexpected.
"Is that possible?"
"Of course, as long as you are with me, you are going to be fine."
"I would love to come."
"When do you want to go?"
"Well, I sure wouldn't want to miss Tiesto, he is at fifteen past seven."
"Okay, let's go then."
"And like," I stutter while saying this, "you wouldn't mind standing in the crowds with all your fans getting crazy about you more, than listening to Tiesto?"
Martin laughs.
"That's why they made a VIP lounge for DJs only. Being around fans is cool, but as you said, I would disrupt Tiesto's performance."
We laugh together. The beach that we come to is huge, however it's not even full. Most of the people are probably at Ultra. Who needs a beach, when you can go and listen to your favourite DJ? We go to the closest sun beds, putting down our things.
The sea is awesome. I mean it's already awesome, because Martin is with me and everything is awesome when he is there. The water isn't that cold, as I was expecting it to be.
While I am already going on a second lap of my swim. Martin is standing in the shallow, waves hitting his stomach. He puts his hands up, trying not to touch water.
"Come on, Martin," I shout, slowly swimming up to him. He looks at me jealously.
"It's cold!" He exclaims. As he finishes his sentence, I splash water onto him, laughing like crazy.
"Now, it's not!" I laugh, running away from him, but I fail horribly. he grabs me by my hand and makes me fall into the water, fully. I get up, putting wet strands of my blond hair, which now has turned a tone darker than it usually is.
"You are not getting away with that!" I grin, trying to chase after Martin, but he is too fast. He jumps into the water and starts free-styling away from me. After failed attempts to run after him, I finally try swimming, but I am just as terrible as a potato in water. Well, not that bad...
"Come on, Aline!" Martin starts shouting, like he is a cheerleader. "A-L-I-N-E, you can do this!"
"Stop it," I reply, still laughing uncontrollably.
"Fine, I will," And he does. He waits until I reach him.
"Where did you learn to swim?" I exhale, panting.
"Perks of being a DJ."
"Seriously? They teach you how to swim?"
"Yeah, so if you fall of a yacht, you don't drown."
I stare at him for a second, unable to say anything.
"Just kidding," He laughs, "I remember going to a pool when I was small."
"I bet this pool is famous now."
"Probably."
We swim back and go to our sun beds. As I approach my sun bed, where my beach bag lies, I hear the vibration of my phone. Another phone call.
Didn't I switch on the airplane mode?
I don't get my phone out, just stare at my vibrating beach bag. Who might it be? Maybe it's Marcus, or Sydney, or Lynn, or all of them together. What do they want from me? Didn't I tell them to leave me alone?
"Aline?" I hear Martin's voice from my back. "Is everything fine?"
The nice, caring voice, that I have been longing to hear. Why does his voice make me relax on the inside, releasing all the tension?
I open my bag, taking my phone straight away. It's vibrating like crazy. I see an incoming messenger call from Lynn. It's her turn now. I need to face her, I have to do it. I am not weak.
"Yes, Lynn," I answer calmly, trying to hide my tension. "If you want to tell me that I am a bitch, then end the call, I have listened enough!"
Only now is the time, that I understand that I am in a public beach after all, with Martin Garrix standing right behind me. It suddenly hits me and I regret shouting so much into my phone, but I can't not do it. That's the only way to shut them up for some time.
"You are a bitch, Aline!" Lynn screams with her annoying voice. "I never knew why would we hang out with such a faggot like you, you are such a loser!"
"If you are calling me a loser, look at yourself! Who are you? You are stuck in the suburbs of New York, without proper education and alcoholism as your friend! Look at yourself, Lynn!"
"Wow, such childish comebacks! You were never smart with words, Aline! You are dumb, because you have no friends and you never had them!"
"Thank you for your kind words, Lynn! I guess, I have made a mistake befriending you and Marcus!"
With that, I end the call. I can't take it anymore, they have gone too far.
I sit on the sun bed, putting my face into my hands, as I usually do.
Why did I even become friends with them, even when I knew that it was not going to end well? I guess, I thought they were cool and I wanted to be like them. Be powerful and be feared, which never happened.
I feel somebody sitting down right next to me. It's Martin. He puts his arm around my waist, hugging me. It makes me shiver slightly. My brain starts running wild, although I have to focus. I need to stop making a fool out of myself, especially in front of Martin.
"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" he asks and I nod. I gather my things and we slowly head back. It's a silent walk. Not the silent-pleasent one, but the silent-tense one.
We get out of the lift, onto our floor. Martin walks me to my room. I fumble with the card, as I unlock the door. I enter the room, throwing my bag onto a chair. The overwhelming feeling of tiredness hits me right as I fall onto my bed.
"Can you stay?" I ask, not wanting him to go.
"Give me two minutes to change and I will be back," He replies and closes the door behind him.
I decide to change as well, throwing my bikini into the sink and putting on some shorts and a t-shirt. When I am done, I fall back onto my bed, staring at the white ceiling.
Martin comes back sooner, than I have expected him. He is wearing his black outfit and looking extra-hot. I mean, he always looks hot. He probably looks hot when waking up or even when sick and that's when people look least hot, but there is nothing Martin probably can do about that.
His parents are probably angels or gods.
"I am sorry for ruining the beach for you," I apologise, still feeling guilty.
"It's fine," Martin replies. He is sitting in a chair opposite me. "Tell me what happened. It will make you feel better, I promise."
"I don't think you want to listen to the drama and my struggle."
"I want to help you."
"But we barely know each other."
"It feels like an eternity," He sighs and raises his gaze to the ceiling, which makes him look like a great philosopher.
"Fine, I will tell you," I smile weakly. "Lynn and Sydney, my previous friends, keep on calling me because... Well, because I stopped being friends with them, broke up with Marcus and I had to call them a few nasty names, so they will leave me alone."
Martin's eyes are on me, looking right inside, turning everything around, changing the way my insides are positioned. It feels like everything inside me begins swirling and turning like in a washing machine and it drives me wild.
"I just can't take it anymore from them, too much has happened."
"You will get over it, don't worry," he comes and sits near me, wrapping his arm around my waist.
I press my self against his chest, smelling his smell of cinnamon and sea-water. After all this time, I feel protected.
And it feels good.