I woke up the next morning and got ready for the day. I just pulled on my swim trunks with a men's tank from Nike on top and then pulled on slides, carrying a bag with the towel and spare shorts.

I grabbed a hat on my way out and closed the door on my way out, making sure I had my phone, keys, and wallet. I knocked on her door but nobody answered it. I wanted to kiss her last night. I really did. But I wanted it to be a little better than just in the hotel room. I've been wanting to kiss her for one to two days now, I just wasn't acting on it.

I stood there for a minute but nobody was answering. Then, I realized I'm a dumbass. Because when I looked down at the handle and saw the sign that told housekeeping to clean up, I found out that she's already downstairs. At first, I was a little offended.

Was she upset that I kissed her cheek yesterday? That I said I would kiss her?

It was no secret that she was avoiding me. Big time.

While I was in line for the breakfast buffet, Ava cut in front of me. "Hey, I was-"

"You're such an idiot," she whisper-yelled.

"Yeah, a really big idiot." I turned around and saw Charlotte behind me.

"I'm lost," I said, looking between the two of them.

"Keep walking, Noah Hudson, you've got a little test to get through," Charlotte said, pushing me forward. I continued walking with both of them interrogating me. "We heard what you did last night."

"She told you?" I chuckled.

"No, we got it out of her. She's not one to tell us everything so quickly," Charlotte said.

"So why am I being tested? And for what?"

"That is none of your concern if you genuinely like her," Ava said, without even glancing at me.

"Who told you that?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Lucas did. Keep walking, Noah," she sang before Charlotte kicked me forward.

"She's going to avoid you. I hope you know that," Charlotte said.

"I think I figured that out, thanks," I scoffed.

"She doesn't like games, Hudson. Don't play her," Ava threatened.

"I'm not playing her," I said, "Flirting with her doesn't mean I'm playing her, okay?"

"Well, flirt a little more then," Charlotte shrugged.

"Just find out a little more about what she likes," Ava suggested.

"What does she like?" I asked. They both stopped walking so I froze, avoiding bumping into either of them.

"Huh," Charlotte muttered.

"Now, you're talkin' but you see we don't uh- we don't really know," Ava said.

I frowned in confusion. "How the hell do you not know what she likes?" I asked.

"She doesn't really talk about it. Her love life is her own thing, she doesn't really like talking about it until she knows what's going on," Charlotte explained, pushing me again. I turned around, shooting her a glare before Ava started walking.

"We'll wing it," Ava shrugged.

"You can't-"

"Shut up," they snapped in sync. "She doesn't like surprises, so don't uh- don't go all out with her. Ever. Unless it's something really good," Charlotte said.

"She's actually surprisingly into being outdoors, take her out as much as you can for picnics, just walking around, just hang out with her," Ava said.

"Whoa, wait. Question: Do you even want to date her? Is it just cause you're in Vegas?" Charlotte questioned.

"Absolutely not," I replied, "I like her. Not just cause we're in Vegas," I added.

"Okay, keep walking, Hudson," Charlotte said, pushing me again.

"I swear to god, Charlotte I-"

"Do you want her or not?"

I shut up and listened in. They told me all about what they knew already. What she likes, what she doesn't, what she says she likes in a guy. By the time we reached the end of the buffet, they told me all they knew. "Good luck," they said in sync before wandering off.

I went to the juice stand and got two glasses of apple juice and then headed to the table. Ava and Charlotte were kind enough to leave the seat beside Bella empty. I took the seat and turned to her, "Hey," I nodded.

"Hi," she mumbled, busying herself with her food.

"I got you apple juice," I said, putting the glass in front of her.

"Thank you," she smiled, looking away quickly.

I rolled my tongue along the inside of my cheek, watching her carefully. "Are you avoiding me?" I whispered.

Her head snapped up and her eyes met mine. "N-no," she stuttered.

"Are you sure?" I smirked.

She nodded, "Positive."

"Okay," I nodded.

"Okay," she mumbled.

She's avoiding me. She is most certainly avoiding me. We've been here for almost forty-five minutes, on numerous water slides. Some of them, on our own, some in groups. The ones where we had to sit in those big round floats as a group, she would somehow always manage to avoid sitting beside me, and from the looks of it, Ava and Charlotte were helping her.

Even though they told me to get her if I wanted her. Traitors.

Currently, we were heading up, all of us carrying our tubes. Charlotte and Oli grabbed a two-seater, so did Ava and Lucas, now unless she wants to go by herself and make it really obvious that she's avoiding me, she's going to have to share this ride with me. Oli led the way with Charlotte and Lucas and Ava followed, that left us last.

Once we reached the tubes, I looked down at her. She was about to grab a solo tube but I grabbed one for two people and then her hand and pulled her to the stairs leading up to the slide. I pulled her in front of me and walked with one arm resting on her shoulder.

"You can't avoid me now," I whispered. She glanced at me when we reached the top and looked at me sheepishly. "Now that we're waiting in line and this will take a while, can you tell me why you've been avoiding me?"

"I haven't been avoiding you," she sighed.

"Liar," I huffed, rolling my eyes and looking anywhere but at her. Maybe acting immature will get her to tell me.

"Noah," she sighed, grabbing my arm. I brushed it off and she clicked her tongue, tugging at it. "Noah," she sang, "I'm not avoiding you, I swear," she pleaded. I raised my eyebrows at her. "I just felt-" she groaned, "I felt embarrassed, okay?"

"Why?"

"B-because I almost freaked out last night thinking of something else just- please, please, please forget about it, please?" She grabbed my hand, pulling me along as we got closer to the slide, and the people in the queue were reduced in numbers. "Pretty please, come on, okay listen," she cleared her throat, "Just don't bring it up. Okay? And I'll stop avoiding you. Sounds good?"

I was surprised at her tactics. When her pleading doesn't work, she negotiates. No wonder she'll study business, she works smarter, not harder.

"Okay," I nodded, "But I want something else."

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"A kiss," I smirked.

"Noah," she rolled her eyes, turning to face the front.

"I'm kidding," I laughed, pulling her back against my chest, resting my arms around her shoulders while she held onto the tube.

"You're very annoying," she mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes. Our turn came and she climbed in the front, I sat in the back, and we went down the slide screaming and laughing. That's pretty much how every ride went.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

I opened the trunk looking in with Mr. Jenkins beside me.

"Three tents?" Bella called out.

"Check!"

"Six sleeping bags?"

"Check."

"Sunblock?"

"Check."

"Icebox?"

"Check."

"Everyone's bags?"

"Check."

"Noah Hudson?"

"Che-" I looked up at her. She sat up on her knees, facing the back so she could see me from her seat.

We requested a much bigger car and Mr. Jenkins agreed to let us drive ourselves there and back. "We have everything, can we go now?" she chuckled.

"Here are the keys, enjoy yourselves, kids!"

"Thank you, we'll see you tomorrow Mr. Jenkins!" I waved while getting in the driver's seat. I sat down and buckled myself in, seeing Oli in the passenger seat. "Switch," I said, pointing at him and Bella.

He huffed before switching seats with her. Once everyone was seated and buckled in, I turned the car on and started driving to Laguna Beach Way. It's not that far, so we're leaving pretty late.

It's almost 11:00 pm.

There was music playing faintly in the background, Lucas and Ava were in the very back, probably snogging, Charlotte and Oli were chatting their mouths off as always, and Bella was staring out the window.

I let out a sigh and put my hand down on her thigh. I glanced at her and she gave me a blank look. "Really?"

"Really?" I said mockingly.

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