11

I woke up, feeling my empty stomach growling, I needed to eat urgently. It was obviously early because Kayler was still sleeping on his stomach with his hand on my waist. He looked so sexy sleeping in just his boxers with his messy black hair. Just seeing his back... his... I'd better get up. I slowly moved his hand and got out of bed. My pajamas consisted of cotton pants and a long-sleeve shirt. I had my socks on, so I put on my bear slippers. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I opened the door, walked through the empty hallways, and went downstairs.

Upon entering the kitchen, I immediately searched for something in the fridge. There was meat to cook, chicken, pasta, everything. My stomach growled; I just needed something quick to eat. But I wanted that meat. I found a frying pan, turned on the stove, added oil, and waited for it to heat up. Meanwhile, I drank some juice. Today was Saturday, so there was no university. It had been such a long and tiring week. Through the window, I noticed my car parked next to Kayler's.

They look so nice together. I smiled.

Once the oil was hot, I dropped pieces of meat that weren't too thick to start cooking. I was starving, but what I needed most was to pee. I didn't go upstairs to the bathroom but stayed in the one downstairs. I sat on the toilet and peed. I felt relieved at that moment. Then, memories of yesterday came to mind, everything I went through.

I shook those thoughts away and pulled up my pants when I finished. I left the bathroom and went back to the kitchen. After a while of cooking the meat, I sat down to eat; it was delicious. I had a fierce appetite then. I ate like a pig. Where are your table manners, Carolina? To hell with manners at these moments.

After breakfast, I left the dishes in the sink, went upstairs to my room, and grabbed my phone. I checked my notifications. I had a message from Anne, one from Connor, another from Kenzie, and the last one was a notification that I had been added to a group.

It was called: Tourism Students. First Year

Something settled in my chest when I saw the bunny's face, but I ignored it. I sat on the edge of the bed next to Kayler and started replying to the messages. Anne said:

"Caro, you don't call me anymore. I have so much to tell you."

I typed a response:

"I'm so sorry!!! I've had so many problems. I also have a lot to tell you."

Now I checked Connor's message:

"Carooo!!! I need advice. I have to ask you something about Kenzie. Answer as soon as you can."

I smiled at the little face he sent and replied: "Tell me! I'm all ears... I mean, all eyes hehe."

I missed joking and laughing with these guys so much. They always made me smile even when I was sad or angry. They would come and make me smile with the smallest detail or little face.

Now I checked Kenzie's message:

"Friend! I need advice, I have to ask you something about Connor. Answer as soon as you can, please."

A poop emoji? How delicate, Kenzie.

Anyway, I replied:

"Tell me, Kenzie, I'm all ears... I mean, all eyes haha."

They both write to me the same way, why not answer them the same? Who knows what kind of problems these two have. Since they reconciled, they are inseparable, like Kayler and me. But now they trust each other more and know how to talk about their problems. Of course, when they don't know how to solve them, they come to me for advice. Although I must admit I'm terrible at giving it.

Now I checked the WhatsApp group conversation:

AmandaG: "Guys, what was the homework? I couldn't make it yesterday."
CarlosElMejor: "Something about English, I'm not sure."
ViridianaFake: "It was something about English tourism."
CarlosElMejor: "Oops, sorry Viridiana."
CarlosElMejor: "AmandaG: Thanks, Viri."

That was the end of yesterday's conversation; now there were some messages from today:

Rafael: "Today there's a pool party at Ginger Plaza. Everyone from uni is invited, it's a welcome event from the professors. Don't forget, guys, it's at 2 PM."
CarlosElMejor: "Great!!! We won't miss it."
And there were more messages saying they would attend. Great, a party. It wouldn't be bad to have some fun. I felt two arms wrap around my waist.

"Who are you texting, Cushi?" Kayler asked me sleepily.

"With a group of classmates. They say there's a party at Ginger Plaza today, do you know where that is? It's at two, and we need to bring swimsuits because there are pools," I smiled.

"Sounds good," he kissed my shoulder. "Did you have breakfast?" he asked, getting out of bed. That body, my God...

"Yes, I did," I replied, shamelessly looking at his abs and his...

"Stop eating me with your eyes," he said in mock reproach. I smiled.

"Kayler Brown, I want to eat you," I approached him, giving him a wet kiss on the lips. I had used that phrase months ago when we were starting to fall in love.

Kayler laughed a little.

"That's my line," he reproached, squeezing my butt.

"Well, now it's mine too," I replied, squeezing his butt as well.

Kayler looked at me amused.

"It's best not to wake the beast inside, miss," he demanded.

I smiled more.

"I say the same," I challenged him.

Kayler squinted at me, then grabbed my hips and threw me onto the bed, putting himself on top of me. There's nothing better than morning sex, folks.

After spending the morning tidying up some things, we dressed to go to the pool party. We went together in Kayler's car since we always went together. I'd use mine for emergencies. I wore a black bikini; it was nice. Over it, I put on a short fabric dress, something light. I also wore sandals. Today was sunny, perfect for getting a bit of a tan.

When we arrived at Ginger Plaza, we got out. From here, I could hear the music; I also noticed many luxurious cars and some not-so-luxurious ones parked. There were even more outside as there wasn't enough space in the parking lot. Apparently, Ginger Plaza was a place for pool parties. Today it was just a pool party. Kayler took my hand, leading us inside. There were several girls in bikinis with their boyfriends, drinking liquor from red cups. Some were looking at Kayler, and why not? Some were looking at me too.

"They don't even hide it," I muttered to him. He laughed a little.

"Same goes for those guys," he pointed to a group that couldn't take their eyes off me. I squeezed his hand tighter. When we reached the backyard where there was a huge pool, we looked for available spots. We chose two large chairs to lie down in a less crowded area. The place was packed; people were shouting, dancing, and swimming. I frowned seeing Darla with her group of friends on the other side of the pool. Those stupid girls were wearing their bikinis.

I put on my dark sunglasses and frowned. However, I stood up and took off my dress over my head. I heard a whistle from afar. Of course, that made Kayler furious, who cleared his throat to get my attention.

"What?" I said, lying on the chair. I loved feeling the warm sun on my skin. I noticed Kayler took off his shirt, exposing his body. He also wore dark sunglasses; I noticed the girls were looking at him.

I rolled my eyes and decided to look elsewhere. I felt him lie on his chair and check his phone. What could he be doing with that phone? Who was he texting?

Three people approached us. I think one was Francisco, the other was Dennis, and the other... no idea. And I don't care either.

"How are you, brother?" they fist-bumped Kayler and sat on the edge of his chair, while one sat on the edge of mine. I could tell he looked at me but then immediately looked away.

"Hi," I smiled, lowering my glasses to the bridge of my nose, "Dennis, right?" I asked. I'm really bad with names. Only with names I don't care about. But the guy wasn't ugly. He seemed a bit shy but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Darren," he corrected me, smiling.

"I'm so sorry, I'm really bad with names," I apologized.

"No problem," he shrugged.

"The last time we didn't introduce ourselves properly. I'm Carolina. You can talk to me whenever you want and about anything. We can be good friends; I hardly have any friends here, so if you want, we can be," I extended my hand. The guy hesitated, glancing at Kayler, but then shook my hand too. "I hope you visit me often, Darren. Oh," I removed my hand and looked for my phone. "Can you give me your number? So we can stay in touch."

I ignored the looks of the three guys watching us expectantly, well, watching me.

"Well, I don't know if..." he started to say, but I interrupted him.

"Come on, man," I sat up. "Whatever happens, bam! I call you and that's it."

"Alright."

He gave me his number, and I wrote it down. Then I turned to the guy from yesterday.

"You are Francisco, if I'm not mistaken," I pointed at him.

"Frederick," he corrected, somewhat amused. Kayler watched me intently, his expression not happy.

"Sorry, I'm bad with names," I assured. Now I looked at the other guy. "And you are Pedro. Nice to meet you, Pedro, I'm Carolina Lane." I didn't let him correct me.

"Carolina? Carolina!" someone exclaimed so loudly that all five of us looked in that direction. It was a skinny, blond guy. He was only in shorts and had a red cup in his hand. He was accompanied by another guy.

"Do I know you?" I raised my sunglasses from the bridge of my nose.

"Of course! I'm Max! Don't you remember? We were boyfriend and girlfriend in elementary school," he approached. I choked on my saliva.

"No, I think you're mistaken," I put my hair in my face, took my dress, and covered my body.

"Of course not! I remember you well, how could I forget that hair? That attitude. You are my Carolina Lane, Mo Roli!" he lunged to give me a hug, but someone else pushed him away.

"Hey, watch where you put your hands, kid." Max looked offended.

"Kid? I'm the same age as my Roli," he demanded. "Hey, by the way," he looked at me. "I don't remember us breaking up in third grade," he smiled flirtatiously.

I made a horrified face. Kayler looked at me questioningly, so I stood up and positioned myself between the two of them. Max scanned me from head to toe, so I slapped him.

"Ouch, what was that for?" he complained, rubbing his cheek. I heard Kayler laugh.

"My eyes are up here," I said.

"You never change, huh?" he smiled. "Always so wild. The others were always afraid to mess with you because of that. You were always my Roli."

"Enough, idiot, your Roli doesn't exist anymore. Now she's my girlfriend. Mine, nobody else's. M. I. N. E," Kayler spelled it out, making his friends laugh.

"But she didn't break up with me..." he insisted.

"If I didn't, well, I'm doing it now," I crossed my arms and yawned. "Goodbye, Dax."

"It's Max."

"See? She doesn't even remember your name," Kayler mocked.

Max seemed a bit disheartened at the moment; I felt a little sorry for him.

"Max, how about we be friends?" I suggested. That way, everyone could be at peace. Kayler cleared his throat again for the umpteenth time that day. Max's eyes lit up.

"Best friends?" he asked.

"Yes, best friends." Not really, my best friend was Connor. He hugged me unexpectedly, but once again, Kayler pushed him away.

"Keep your distance, idiot," he pointed out, but not in a mean way. It's true, Max seemed like a teenager compared to the great Kayler Brown.

"Roli, you have to tell me so many things," Max said, taking my hand and sitting on my chair-bed. "For example, what happened with Will? Carla, Vane, and Kenzie. I haven't seen them since Mom moved here."

I sat next to him, having to endure Kayler's accusatory and angry look. He just sat in his chair-bed and didn't take his eyes off us for a second.

"Well, Kenzie is with a guy named Connor..." I started telling him the story of the girls until I couldn't anymore. What interrupted our conversation was my phone ringing with the music of the mysterious man. I stiffened and tensed up. A fear of hearing that hoarse and scary voice again settled in my chest. Maybe he was here. And he was watching me.

"Whose phone is that?" Max asked.

"Carolina's," Kayler passed me the phone, looking at me expectantly. "Aren't you going to answer, Cushi?"

I took it hesitantly.

"That music is the one Betty set for the masked man who made her do bad things," Max laughed. "Do you have a mysterious man around, Carolina?"

That was it. Now that idiot Max had alerted and made Kayler suspicious, I knew it from the questioning look he gave me.

God, help me out here.