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25 / Compromise
The voice in my mind screamed, "He kissed you! Even if it's just on the cheek, snap out of it, Maisie!"
Bryce Valentino had me weak in the knees.
When Bryce and I headed back, everybody was all scattered back in the villa. We were fortunate to not have to worry about explaining ourselves. Once I found Vanessa, we both drowned ourselves with glee and laughter. It was so embarrassing, but I couldn't help it.
Who could possibly contain this happiness?
That moment replayed in my mind over and over again.
Something like this already had my heart tossed in many directions — imagine a real kiss?
"But you've been tugging my heartstrings for a long time, Daisie."
When I asked where Bryce got that from, he just gave me a sly grin and shrugged in reply. The first thing that came to mind was Mason. It appeared like the two got closer than I thought.
Smiling, I realized just having this kind of reassurance was all that I needed.
It was now late at night, and I needed to take a stroll outside alone. To "recover", I guessed.
Walking along the grasslands of the golf course, I let out a happy sigh and just wanted to scream on the top of my lungs. However, I only giggled and got a hold of myself. The island winds were nonexistent. It was so peaceful, minus the chirping of the crickets.
From afar, I noticed a figure in the golf course as well. It was one in the morning, who could that be?
Listening to my curious mind, I headed towards the silhouette that was casted from the moonlight. My eyes nearly jumped out when I discovered who it was.
It was Candace.
She was playing golf, swinging the golf club seriously. What surprised me was how she actually looked like she knew what she was doing. As I took a few more steps, my ears caught her sniffling.
Candace was crying.
Biting my lower lip, I eventually called out her name. Following the sound of my voice, her blue-green eyes widened in shock. From the moonlight, it revealed puffy eyes and trembling lips. Before I could say anything, Candace threw the golf club and ran the opposite direction. Even if I tried to catch up, she was long gone which left me in wonder.
The next morning, I was woken up by the sounds of constant knocking at my door.
Why was it still dark?
Rubbing my eyes, I glanced at the clock. It was only 5 a.m. I could have sworn we all fell asleep past midnight. Lazily dragging myself off the comfy bed, I stopped moving any further when a note and pen was sliding under the cracks of the door.
Picking up the small index card, I turned it over and found familiar handwriting:
Did you tell anyone about what you saw?
Recognizing the handwriting, I called out, "Candace, is that you?"
Instead of a voice replying, there was kicking at the door. Sighing, I picked up the pen and wrote down my answer, feeling the essence of middle school again. Moments later, the paper slid back to me.
Yes, it's Candace. Who did you tell?
If she was talking about when I saw her playing some intense golf, she was crazy. Why would anyone care about her being good at golf? She did run off crying though.
Writing back, I returned the message. This whole situation was getting awkward. Soon, the paper came back to me.
Okay, good. We need to talk.
Not wanting to play messenger anymore, I answered, "Fine. Right now?"
But, no. She began kicking at the door again. Shaking my head, I couldn't believe Candace was annoying me this early in the morning.
After exchanging a few more messages, she finally wrote:
That same place in one hour. You better be there!
I came up with a conclusion soon after. The Valentino's and Reynolds' were definitely an interesting sort of families.
Throwing on a white hoodie and shorts, I was still half asleep as I made my way towards the spot of the golf course where I first found Candace. The sun was slowly rising which made me wish I came out earlier to watch the full sunrise. The shades of orange to purple filled the sky and fluffy clouds beautifully.
As expected, Candace was there, swinging the golf club professionally as it launched the golf ball to its designated location. It amazed me seeing Candace look so concentrated. This whole time, it didn't phase me to wonder what she wanted to talk about.
I was too tired — and dizzy from Bryce's kiss.
When she noticed me heading up the grassy hill, she dropped the golf club to her side. Folding my arms from the slight breeze, I raised my eyebrows.
"Candace, it's so early in the morning. What's up?"
Her voice projected with such seriousness.
"You have to promise me you will never, ever tell this to anyone."
"I'm here, aren't I?" I countered gently.
Candace played with her ponytail as she mumbled, "I couldn't sleep at all because of this. You're probably wondering why I'm playing golf."
Pursing my lips, I gave her a honest reply, "Well, no. What I'm thinking about is why you were crying."
Suddenly, Candace bit her lower lip as her eyes wandered off.
What was going on?
Finally, Candace spat out, "It's so easy for you, Maisie! You get everything you want, the way you want it."
Taken back, I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Candace Reynolds was a rising model coming from a top family. She was rich, pretty, and probably has a lot of friends too.
What more does she want?
I reminded, "Candace, have you taken a look at yourself?"
Candace shook her head and shouted, "You don't get it, do you? I'm jealous of you! The more I'm with you, I can't help but bury myself with jealously. You're always so happy with having so little. You have people that adore you even though you're just you. You don't have loads of money, but people would still love to be around you. You're naturally pretty inside and out, and you get to do whatever you want."
As Candance was throwing that at me, I noticed the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
I let out a sigh.
"Candace, you have nothing to be jealous over. With everything you have already, you can achieve anything you wish for. Like being a model, doing all these fun things whenever you want, you have a life of luxury."
"That's not the point, Maisie! When I was younger they had this life plan for me, that I would become a model and marry Bryce. They forced it to be my dream. At the time, it was set in stone in my eyes. But, it's all wrong! It's all wrong!"
The tears began to fall down as she ranted, "I can't even play golf or have anyone like me because of who I am. I'm just so disgusted with myself. I'm so sick of it."
My stomach twisted itself the entire time, seeing Candace pour her heart out to me — on such a random occasion. The more she talked, I realized that there was more to Candace. This was what has been happening behind the scenes in her life. Despite everything she had done, it made my heart ache seeing her break down like that.
Candace tightly clutched the golf club, her eyes staring hard at the ground.
"It's just so easy for you, Maisie. You don't even know."
Hearing that, my hand reached out to touch her shoulder. Her shaken eyes made their way up at me.
I explained, "Candace, I don't have an easy life, but, I know what you should do. You need to tell your family what you really wish for. The little thing called compromise will make everything easier for you. We can't have everything we want... I noticed that's just the way life works. However, that doesn't mean you should give up."
"You're a beautiful person, Candace, I can see that, not just with your looks, but there's someone inside of you that's waiting to truly come out. I think... it's time to finally let her out in the world."
After taking in my words, Candace pulled me into a surprise hug. I could feel her uneven breathing as she cried freely into my shoulder. When Candace was finally at ease, we faced each other again. She wiped her nose as her cheeks were sticky with tears and traces of snot ran down.
For once, Candace didn't let her appearance get the best of her.
Candace responded with shadowed eyes, "Thank you, Maisie. You're right, you're totally right."
She apologized, "I'm sorry for everything. I didn't mean to say all those things to you, or do all those things to you. You don't have to forgive me because I don't deserve it, but just know that I'm really sorry."
She smiled before she let out a laugh, admiring the golf course before us.
"It's funny, right? A model that loves to play golf. Who would pay attention to her? You know, I play golf because I feel like I can be me. There's nothing in my way — no competition, no fighting, no one telling me what to do, nothing."
"Well, if you ask me, it's pretty awesome that you're actually different," I grinned, exchanging a genuine compliment.
Candace sniffled, glancing back at me.
"I'm going to tell my parents the truth that I want to play golf and maybe go back to school while I'm still young," she then revealed, "you want to know another reason why I'm so jealous of you, Maisie?"
Gulping down, I was unsure with what I was about to hear.
"You're the first person to make Bryce smile like that," when Candace noticed my look of disbelief, her eyes expressed sincerity, "it's true. If I wasn't the little kid I was back then, maybe Bryce wouldn't be so bitter towards other people. But, I can see that you opened his eyes."
For the first time, I saw Candace smile authentically as if we were friends. As I returned the smile, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
She added, "He really cares about you. Ever since I got here, all Bryce did was worry about you throughout everything. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have judged you so quickly. Aunt Monica was really wrong about you, it looks like she doesn't even know you either."
Surprised, I didn't know what to say about Bryce's mother — I never had the courage to confront her. Hearing about Bryce though was making my heart melt endlessly.
But, this conversation wasn't about me — it was about Candace.
Looking up at Candace, I stated, "We went through a lot Candace, but it doesn't mean we won't be friends in the future. I just want to see you happy with yourself first."
As my eyes wandered around the green scenery, I casually mentioned, "I also think Carly's been waiting for her older sister to be there for her."
Hearing a light gasp from Candace, I gazed back at her and noticed how her eyes started to tremble again. Her lips pulled into a smile as she giggled quietly from embarrassment.
"I haven't been a great person at all. I'm going to take things one step at a time."
Joining her laughter, I then offered my hand out between us.
"And I'll be here cheering you on. Come to think of it, we never introduced ourselves properly," I smiled before continuing, "hi, I'm Maisie Lockhart."
Taking my hand, Candace beamed as the tears began to fall down her face, "Nice to meet you, I'm Candace Reynolds."
. . .
"You want me to — What? No!"
I knew he was going to say that.
Grinning, I insisted, "Bryce, come on. Make amends with Candace."
Bryce fully faced me, giving me a stare like I had lost my mind. Actually, I didn't blame him for being so shocked.
Everything was happening like a whirlwind ever since we stepped foot on Valentino Island. We were walking together along the shoreline as the sun reached its high point. Our feet were welcomed by the calm waves of the clear, blue ocean. Because I was up so early this morning, I was fighting the tiredness. However, seeing Bryce like this kept me entertained.
Wearing a simple white tee and board shorts, Bryce ran his fingers through his hair and looked irritated.
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't speak to Candace again."
"Just talk to her... like a civil person. Trust me," I implied with honest eyes.
The whole time Bryce was confused with my sudden persistence, but he eventually agreed, leaving me with a content smile. I wanted to make sure by the time we leave this island, everyone would be okay.
Nodding my head, I teased, "And, tell her that you always thought she was a beautiful person. Honestly."
He groaned, rolling his icy blue eyes, "Now, you're just pulling my leg, Daisie."
As I laughed from amusement, Bryce had a small smirk on his face. Pulling my laughter to a stop, he suddenly moved closer and grabbed my hand. Squinting my eyes, my heart was racing with whatever Bryce was going to do.
Finally, Bryce winked.
"Why do you have dark circles under your eyes? You couldn't sleep last night because of the kiss?"
This time, Bryce got me.
In return, I pulled away from his grasp and kicked the ocean waters to splash up against him. Cupping some water in my hands, I tossed it towards Bryce. The water drenched down the delivery boy's face, causing me to start laughing again. Bryce blinked numerous times, keeping a still position.
When I thought I won, he fought back and splashed some water back at me in return. Since I was busy laughing to my heart's content, the water went into my mouth. Salt water was absolutely disgusting. Even though Bryce was bursting with joy now, I couldn't help but join him.
We were just a pair of laughing idiots.
Once night hit, another day on Valentino Island was coming to a close. When we all finished dinner — minus Candace who literally slept in the whole day — I was walking around the villa after helping Mrs. Romano with the dishes.
Passing by the patio, my attention was pulled when I heard my name being called.
Heading back to the sliding doors, I jumped in surprise when I clearly saw Logan. Was my eyesight getting worse or what? Fully sliding the doors open, I gave him a friendly smile.
He was sitting in the one of the bamboo chairs and asked casually, "Mind if we talk?"
If there was one person I needed to talk to about things left unsaid, it had to be Logan Valentino.
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Dedicating this chapter to indiquo_ for all the support and wonderful comments I enjoyed reading.