~Outlaws-Alessia Cara~
*
*
*

'Family Of Elephants'

*
*
*

"THIS VACATION'S GONNA suck."

"Are you sure about that?" Charlie demanded while we hauled some bags into the cars parked in front of my parent's house. One of the cars, a mini van was Shawn's dad's and the other was my dad's.

I nodded and shut the boot of my dad's car. "Of course I am. You guys would end up annoying me especially-"

Charlie grinned. "But you love us anyway."

A smile lit my face. I didn't argue. Yeah, I loved my friends more than I liked apples.

Shawn, Gemma and Chad filed out of the house bearing their luggage and laughing at some funny stuff Chad said. Even Levi was there, can you imagine?

He said he got dragged into the whole thing. I could tell Levi was still warming up to having us as friends but then, it was really strange the way he'd disappear and reappear after a couple of days.

Me, Allie, Levi, Shawn and Gemma chose to ride in dad's car, Winston, Charlie and Chad with Mr Stuart.

Mom hurried out of the house with a black purse after the seating arrangements were made. She climbed in the car and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Get a room, you two." Shawn said, much to the hearing of my dad.

Dad inserted the key in the ignition switch. "You realize you're in my car, I could just kick you out."

I liked the way the two males interacted even if they weren't the same age. I was used to their normal banter but Gemma and Levi weren't based on their surprised faces. They probably haven't seen a dad who chatted with a high-schooler like it was nothing.

"How did you convince your parents your parents to let you come along?" I asked Gemma. She was re-tying the red bandana on her head.

"We lied."

"Gem." I protested.

She rolled her eyes and stole her phone back from my fingers. "Save your lecture for later, I'm busy."

I laughed, trying to reach her phone. "Use your own phone."

"I've probably seen everything in it over a million times."

Gemma plugged her earphones in and blocked her ears. "I can't hear you..."

This was her trying to be vexatious.

"I don't like Justin Bieber." I blurted out, hoping she heard it. Justin Bieber was her full time crush and she was ready to get into a fight for him.

"What!" She screeched. Levi and Shawn turned their heads to look at us for a brief moment. Even Allie stared at her noisiness.

"I thought you said you can't hear me."

I grinned when her eyes widened in realization of the prank I pulled.

"You idiot." She smacked my arm and tossed her phone over to me. "Just don't go snooping around, you just might find something...peculiar."

Smirking, I flung her a look. "Porn?"

Her face reddened from pure discomfort. "Hell no, I don't watch that stuff... it's... weird?"

I laughed at the humorous expression on her face and played Jewel Saga on her phone. Gemma kept annoying me by poking her fingers at the screen every minute, showing me what moves to make in the game.

All of us remained in our conversation bubbles till we reached our the airport. Our luggage were stacked in dad's private jet and we made ourselves comfortable as the aircraft glided across the sky.

 
*
*
*

"Holy shit! Hawaii!" Chad yelled. Tanya frowned gave him a slap on his back.

"Language please." I supported her, flinging me and Shawn's interlocked arms. We all were currently walking atop the neat airport tarmac towards the elegant black limo waiting for us.

*
*
*

"OMG! This place is fu...freaking great." Gemma stared out the tinted glass over Winston's shoulder.

I laughed at the way she quickly substituted the offensive word after receiving a glare from Tanya. The other adults especially my dad and Shawn's, wouldn't be in the least offended even if a torrent of swear words were used, but mom and Tanya had zero tolerance for them.

"How are you even seeing through that thing, it's as dark as hell." Charlie squinted his eyes but couldn't see much outside, me neither.

"How are you sure hell is dark? Last time I checked, it has fires blazing and all that." Chad retorted. We ignored him and paid attention to the trees that bordered the driveway leading up to dad's penthouse.

"This place is beautiful!" Gemma admired, getting out of the limo and standing in the way of every other person.

"Get your ass out of my way." Chad gave her a hard shove and chuckled when my mom reprimanded him quickly.

Gemma rolled her eyes and took a few pictures of the elegant glass penthouse.

"It's been a long time since we've been here." Shawn's dad commented, getting a nod of agreement from his wife.

"Yeah...a breath of fresh air is all I need right now." She yawned and headed to the back of their van. The remaining boys emerged from the van. I wondered what held them in there.

"This place is nice." Winston admitted.

Shawn raised a brow. "Just nice?" His eyes darted to me for a quick second.

Winston shrugged. "Um, yeah?"

"It's a freaking penthouse and you're saying its just nice?" Trust Shawn to make a fuss over little things.

"Dude? Hazel's dad isn't complaining, why should you?"

"Because-"

"Would you boys be the perfect gentlemen and carry our things in?" Gemma butted in, dumping her bag in Charlie's hand. The poor boy for the sake of the adults just did as he was told, trailing behind my dad and his friend. Yeah, Shawn's dad and mine has been best friends since college, a long friendship if you should ask me.

Me, Gemma, mom and Tanya looked on with beams of satisfaction as the boys took in the bags. Shawn was the only one that noticed us.

"Don't get used to us bringing in your bags. Whenever we're leaving, you're all carrying your weight alone." He grumbled, dragging my green duffel bag on the earth purposely to irritate me. I gritted my teeth and was about protesting when Winston reappeared with Chad.

"What the hell are in those bags? They're so heavy?" Winston questioned, relieved that Tanya paid no attention to him.

Gemma threw him a sweet smile. "Maybe a family of elephants are in them. Can we go inside already? My feet are hurting." She linked our fingers and pulled me to the entrance glass door which opened automatically.

"Tell me there are more surprises, oh fuck-" She exclaimed at the expensive grey themed interior. It's funny how my ears haven't gone deaf from hearing so much swear words.

*photo at the top*

"I could throw a party here all day and never get exhausted." Chad admitted, picking up a men's fashion magazine and flipping through the pages. There was a certain glint in his eyes but I wasn't certain why.

"Not in my house." Dad chirped in.

Winston came in through the door. "This house is amazing sir."

Dad sighed. "It's Philip and thank you. Why don't you guys go up to your rooms and get settled in?" He suggested and left us alone after picking something from the dark grey center table. Chad and Winston followed him out.

"There's even a swimming pool!" Gemma yelled, staring out of the transparent glass.

"Gemma, I wonder what would happen if you see the diamond fountain." I have been here for many times than I can remember so the majesty of the entire property didn't faze me. But sometimes it did, especially at night when all the lights were turned on.

"There's a diamond fountain? Could you show it to me?"

"I don't think so, maybe tomorrow, darling." Mom strolled in.

Gemma pouted and went over to mom. "Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"

Mom laughed. "Dinner will be served by seven, don't be late." She patted Gemma cheek and exited the area.

"Your mom could be mean at times."

I frowned. "Hey! That's my mom you're talking about here."

As I figured, Gemma and me would share a room while the boys had two rooms, Charlie, Winston and Chad in one, Shawn and Levi in the other. A totally wrong combination if you ask me. Shawn wasn't a great fan of Levi, Winston and Chad always got into play fights most time, it would be a miracle if they didn't break anything there. At least, they've got Charlie to keep them in check.

"If I had a place like this, I'd never leave." Gemma spoke with wide eyes when I opened up our purple-themed room. Gemma liked the colour purple and so did I but it was my second favorite, Black was first, spare me the argument about black being a shade please. Gemma took a picture and sent it to the guys. (There's the picture at the top).

"You'd get tired of staying in a place, I assure you." I laughed, heading to the bathroom.

I had a bath and changed into a pair of baggy blue shorts and a grey T-shirt with the number 9 inscribed at the back. My hair was taken up in a ponytail.

Gemma put on a simple white gown and don't get me started on what she wore on her feet.

She left the room before me saying she needed to take a quick peek around before dinner. Although I acknowledged her with a nod and returned to pressing my phone, I knew she used that as an excuse to see Winston.

There was a soft knock on the door and then it was pushed open.

I looked up from my phone and smiled. "It feels great to be huge again, doesn't it?"

Shawn lay on my bed beside me. "It does, and things will be less boring with the guys around."

"Are you unhappy that they came along?"

Shawn raised a brow. "Not at all, why should I be?"

He was finally getting accustomed to my friend and I was glad.

My eyes moved to the heart- shaped wall clock. "It's a couple of minutes to seven. Let's go down now." I got off the bed and pushed my phone into the pocket of my pants.

Shawn chuckled. "Eager to eat, are you?" He didn't make any attempt to leave my bed.

I felt something was off with the way my T-shirt was hugging my body. "I like food okay? We've established that already several times. Get your derriére out of my bed."

Shawn groaned, burying his face in my pillow. "Could I just catch a snooze?"

"Shawn," I warned, smiling as he reluctantly walked to me. When I turned around to the door, he called out to me.

"Hold on a second." And the next minute, my best friend was before me with his hands on my waist. My heart did this mad plunge when he turned me around and reached for the hem of my shirt.

"Um...what are you doing?" I caught him smirking.

"Your shirt was in the wrong position." He stated like it was nothing. Well, it might be nothing to him, but to me, the fluttery feeling I had was far from nothing. If he had not stepped away from me sooner, my legs would be made into Jelly'O.

"Oh, o...okay, let's go." I stumbled out my room and met up with the others in the dining area.

Dinner consisted of pasta with chunks of chicken and I ate with
gusto, drowning out the conversations around me. It wasn't until I had swallowed half of the food on my plate that I finally paid attention to Gemma around me.

"Just look at the way Victoria got dressed for a party." Gemma showed me a picture of Victoria on her Instagram. The girl was dressed scantily, her stick figure was kinda enhanced by the tight dress that stopped far above her knees, leaving plenty room for imagination.

Victoria was pretty popular at our school, her dad being a wealthy politician and all that, she was a major bitch, if I should admit. With her crazy side-kicks, they made life a living hell for others especially the nerds and not-so-popular students. She might have probably slept with all the guys in the football team judging from the way she was hanging off their arms each weekend at different stupid parties.

"I don't have anything to say about-"

Chad snagged Gemma's phone from my fingers. "-ooh, look at that. Isn't she gorgeous..."

"Did you hit your head somewhere?" Gemma questioned.

"She looks like a hooker." Charlie added, dangling his phone in his fingers when we glanced at him. He had seen the picture too, I guess Levi has too judging from how he's looking at his phone as if whatever was in it was a repulsive bug.

"Could we please not ruin my meal with that girl's name? She's repulsive." Shawn said from across me.

I was glad all of us had a mutual enemy.

"That, coming from you, is a shocker." Gemma replied him.

"What do you mean-" Shawn's question was halted when his mother swatted his head with a napkin.

"Have you lost your manners? No talking while eating." She sounded really funny talking like that so me and Gemma chuckled at the way Shawn scowled and picked at his food.

Even when he was scowling, he was really handsome and I couldn't stop staring at his face until he sensed my eyes on him. When he caught my gaze, a brilliant smile stormed his face, a smile no one noticed but me.

*
*
*

We're just gonna see where all this is gonna lead to right?

In a couple of chapters, something interesting will happen. Something really interesting, and no I'm not talking about sex, nope😝