Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The following day, the girls and I decided to check out the indoor pool Hadid's have. It was huge and the pool room was always warm. They could swim year-round and be fine. This was my cup of tea as I loved the water. After spending all night in a dress, it was great to relax with fewer clothes on. Although, that gorgeous feeling I felt was also great.

"Is anyone else feet killing them?" I asked sitting in the hot tub. The hot water was everything my body needed and more.

Bradyn sat next to me sighing in comfort. "No, I feel perfectly fine. This water feels great though." she said enjoying the warmth.

I forget these girls wear heels for a living. No matter where they go, they have on a pair of heels for some reason. Now that I think about it, there hasn't been a time where they've been dressed down. Aside from going to bed they were always dressed to impress. That's why Farah doesn't see me as competition. I don't dress to impress every day. Especially if I'm just laying around the house. Not that I don't have nice clothes, but I could see what she was getting at. To her my clothes were the clothes of the needy.

Despite that, it was refreshing to have someone of high status be so fond of me. As much as I wanted the sneaking around to end, being with Cyrus was something different. It was difficult understanding how I felt about this because my intentions of being here were the opposite of what I was getting. Not being able to talk to Bradyn or Twila about it was driving me crazy as well. These were my friends and because of the circumstances, it could not be mentioned. This is where having Kira around would come in handy.

However, that didn't mean we couldn't talk about anything else.

Twila finally came over dipping her feet in the water. She seemed a little off today for some reason. The girl was always the quieter one out of the three of us but today felt different. Normal Twila is fun quiet, but this Twila seemed...odd quiet.

Before I could get to questioning her, the door opened and in came Jenna with Ocean and Sienna. We locked our eyes, both of us instantly frowning at one another. The hatred between us was never going to go away. Though she disliked me based on my looks while I disliked her simply because she's a bitch. This fabricated competition she created in her head was so childish. She's all bark and no bite.

"Of course, you're here." She said with a nasty attitude.

I waved with a smile on my face just to piss her off. It was merely to show her that this girl wasn't backing down to her. Not by a long shot. These girls seemed scared to stand up to her. It was a mystery why Sienna and Ocean were even her friends. Their tolerance level was through the roof. Or they were lowkey bitches just like her. Who knows?

Jenna rolled her eyes putting her hands on her hips. "Make sure you stay over there too." She demanded.

"Aw, that's unfortunate. I really wanted to swim next to my bestie, Jenna." I pouted.

Her eyes narrowed before walking away to get into the pool. The girl was nuts if she thought I wanted to be anywhere near her. What didn't she get about me not liking her?

With that whole debacle ending, Twila still seemed gone. If I hadn't paid attention, I wouldn't have noticed her shutting down even more when they came in. There was something I was missing that she wasn't telling me. Is this what it's like having close friends?

Sliding closer to her, I nudged her leg smiling to try to cheer her up. "What's going on, Twy? You seem...down." I approached this gently. If she didn't want to tell me, I wouldn't make her.

She clenched the edge of the hot tub looking nervous to tell me. There was no way I was going to force her too but if there was anything I could do to help, I was going to do it.

Twila didn't look at me, almost afraid to look me in the eyes. "Guys...why exactly are you here?" She asked Bradyn and me.

Bradyn looked at me while I looked at her confused, not knowing what to say. It was a random question and didn't quite make sense. It also screamed how I was feeling right now. My mind was racing trying to figure out whether I was here for fun or something else now. If anybody understood how she was feeling it was me. What were we all doing here? Trying to win some guy's heart to be part of his family legacy. Was that worth it? According to my mom, it was.

Bradyn shrugged looking between the both of us. "I can't speak for you, but I'm here to try and win. I can't tell you how big of a crush I had on Cyrus since, well forever." She admitted and we respected.

"If I'm being honest, due to recent events I'm not really sure what I'm here for anymore." I kept it vague, but still stuck to my truth.

Twila shook her head like we weren't understanding what she was saying. "This is going to sound nuts. But I'm not exactly here for the competition."

We gasped.

If she wasn't here for the competition, then what was she here for? I was under the impression that all these crazy rich girls were here to woo Cyrus. That wasn't the case, and I obviously didn't take the time out to get to know Twila better. Thinking about it now, she never really got excited about much of anything Farah said like myself. She was always calm and collected whenever massive things were announced unless we girls were doing something together. How did I not notice this earlier? It was so obvious.

Still, the possible things she could've been here for were endless. I didn't even know what to begin to think for her reasons. The real question to all of this was did Farah know? That lady seems hell bent on making sure Jenna wins this thing anyway, but what would she do if she found out Twila wasn't here to compete? It gave me anxiety when I was breaking the rules with Cyrus that night, but this was completely different. A lot of trouble could come from Twila not wanting to be here for him. That is, if anyone finds out.

Waiting for her response, she looked at us that nervous look still present on her face. "I... I'm here for someone else..." She trailed off.

That intrigued us more. "What do you mean someone else?" Bradyn asked shocked.

Twila scratched the back of her neck smiling a bit. "I can't say right now. However, it's a girl..."

"Wait, Twila, are you-"

"Guilty." She chuckled, cutting me off.

This was totally news to me. I wouldn't have expected her to be a part of the LGBTQ community. She didn't strike me as someone like that, but I guess that's what happens when you stereotype. I learned my lesson from now on but in other news, I was so happy! I never felt closer to her than I do now. It sucked that I couldn't know who she was here after, but it was nice to know a little more about what she's dealing with. My mind was blown learning this. Now my detective mode was about to kick in.

Who was she seeking out? Obviously, it wasn't Bradyn or me. Bradyn made it clear why she was here just now and well we just met. This person Twila was after was someone she had known for a while now. They might have history together, that's rocky. It was such a mystery that I wanted to crack open. Does that mean I have to talk to these girls now? Not Jenna because she was here for the competition too. Sienna and Ocean were up for grabs however it would be hard to talk to them without Jenna being around.

Getting out of my head, I jumped up and embraced her in the tightest hug I've ever given anyone. I wanted her to know that I was here, and I was going to support her. We hadn't known each other for long but she was the first person to accept me, and I was going to return the favor. However long she wanted to keep this secret I would hold on to it for her with my heart. This was my friend now and no matter what our trust would never be broken.

Bradyn joined in and we all laughed as we let go smiling at each other. "When do we get to find out who she is?" Bradyn was excited to meet her.

"Trust me, you'll know if you ever talk to her, but I can't say because she's not as open as I am." She explained. "Also, her parents aren't as accepting so she came here to get away and away from me, but I'd do anything to win her back."

My heart ached from the sadness in her voice. "She'd be crazy not to want you after all the trouble you went through to follow her." I scoffed. "I wish men were like you."

Twila laughed at my absurdity. "I'm sure Cyrus is like that. Plus, the man is pretty sexy." She shrugged.

"The sexiest." Bradyn added, daydreaming about him.

Sighing, I couldn't help but agree as much as I didn't want to. "He is kind of cute." I said laying my head back before popping it right back up again.

"Kind of cute?" His stupid, yet enthralling voice made my head shoot up again.

His eyes looked at me with that smirk on his face. The one that he always likes to throw my way for some reason. My cheeks went crimson from the fact that he heard me call him cute. Even though I threw the kind of in there. I still insinuated that he was attractive to me. Something that was obvious already just based on our interactions alone. It didn't make it any better that he physically heard me say it. That would give him more ammo to pursue me something I didn't want.

He crouched down to my level looking happy to see me. I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't happy to see him. Honestly, the fun we had dancing together was magical. The way he held me so close to him made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. Cyrus had something about him that had me second guessing myself every time I was around the man. What was he doing to me?

"Hey, ladies, how are you?" He directed his question at all of us while still looking at me. I made sure to look away as to not raise suspicion. They weren't supposed to know and yet here was going to get us caught again.

Bradyn came over, her eyes beaming. "We're great actually. What brings you here?" She made her voice a little higher than it normally is. Her flirting is top notch.

"I came for a swim, but since you guys are here let's play a game." He suggested in a playful manner.

I'm guessing Jenna was eavesdropping and quickly made her way over towards us. She even went as far as to wrap her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. I rolled my eyes because she was doing this to prove a point. It was certainly annoying if that was the point she was going for. Cyrus didn't seem impressed as he gently unwrapped her arms from around him. Even when someone as annoying as Jenna was bugging him, he was still so nice.

"What kind of game are we talking about here Cy?" She asked pretending to be interested.

Cyrus smiled pulling out a beach ball that was not there before. "How about a little water volleyball?" He shrugged. "You three against these three."

Everyone nodded intrigued except for me. It would be nice to kick Jenna's ass and embarrass her in front of Cyrus. But this was supposed to be a relaxing thing. Instead of just swimming around in the pool I'd be getting in a workout and not the good kind.

"This is going to be so fun!" Sienna screeched.

Jenna laughed, smirking at me. "Are you playing, Autumn, or are you scared to lose to me?" She started her shit talking quickly.

I scoffed standing up from the hot tub. "Please, I would rather die than lose to you." I said crossing my arms.

She stood up making eye contact with me. "Bring it on, bitch."