--biana vacker--

Nobody seemed to be able to close their jaws when Fitz and I led them to the docks.

The docks themselves weren't all that interesting. Just a polished piece of wet wood, draped in seaweed so much it took at least nine minutes for everyone to step over the maze of dark green leaves. But the boat?

Floating over a light blue sea lit up by the morning sun peeking through the clouds, the boat was massive, big enough to fit eight of those yellow buses Sophie showed me a picture of from the human world. Sunlight glinted off of the white surfaces, giving the yacht an almost ethereal look to it. Everyone stood in front of the equally polished white ramp that led up to the deck of the boat.

"I would've changed out of my work clothes if I knew we were getting on a yacht," Dex mumbled to me.

"Maybe dress like a civilized human being next time," I snapped back. Dex laughed.

"As if," he grinned, flashing his dimples at me. I grinned back, elbowing him in the side.

"What do we have on the boat?" Sophie asked me, her eyebrows tilting curiously.

I smiled at her. "We've got a pool, rooms for each of us, and an extra room with a projector for sleepovers. Oh, and a spa room for the girls-"

"NO," Marella, Linh, and Sophie said at the same time, the last two girls blushing furiously red.

"We won't actually be taking our clothes off," I corrected hastily. "Just painting our nails and getting our hair styled. And when we do swim, we'll wear swimsuits." All the girls let out sighs of relief.

"We get it, you guys are gay. News flash," Keefe groaned. "Just suck it up and get naked in front of the hot girl. No biggie."

"Keefe, what the fuck?" Fitz asked, recoiling in disgust.

"What?" Keefe replied innocently. "I'm just saying that if you like someone you should just take-"

"KEEFE."

"Okay, fine, Fitzy says we all have to be boring. Fine. Now, where's the food? I'm starving," Keefe asked me, stepping in front of the ramp and facing everyone else. "Who wants to get some food?"

"I could go for something," Sophie admitted. She turned to me. "Who cooks the food here again?"

"Oh, the gnomes that work in the Everglen kitchen!" I answered. "Lilian, Tussle, Bobbert. Fitz and I know them well."

"We call them the BLTs," Fitz said with a shameless grin. Dex, still holding Fitz's hand, snickered. Tam rolled his eyes.

"This is beautiful," Linh told me, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "I can't wait to check out the pool."

"So some people want to swim, others want to eat," Marella added. "Should we take a vote?"

"There will be tables next to the pool," I explained. "We can do both." Murmurs of excitement rang across the group, except for Sophie.

"Uh, should we go back to our houses to get our swimsuits?" she asked me anxiously as Dex and Linh nodded in agreement.

"No need. Your rooms will have everything you need, except regular clothing. I assume everyone has that?" Everyone nodded.

"Perfect. Lilian is in the kitchen preparing the appliances, but Bobbert and Tussle are on the deck to take your suitcases up to your rooms. Now, shall we go?"

Within minutes, Bobbert and Tussle had taken all of the suitcases to the appropriate rooms. Now everyone was waiting for the other gnomes to finish cleaning our rooms. The gnomes previously notified me that they would ring a bell located above everyone's doorway when they wore done.

"Do we have room numbers?" Marella asked me. I nodded. Everyone was standing on the sunny deck, a wooden terrace bordered on the side facing the dock with a row of peony bushes, and two wood staircases on either side of the flowers. On the right and left was a thin white border with nothing but water past it. And right ahead was the dining room: a small assortment of tables and chairs with a kitchen behind it, no doubt another set of tables and the pool behind that. Lilian could be seen in her white apron, humming along to a song on her headphones while sharpening cutting knives.

"Linh one, Keefe two, Marella three, me four, Fitz five, Sophie six, Dex seven, Tam eight. The doors are voice-activated. Once the gnomes give us the all-clear, we'll go into our rooms and-"

RING, chanted the bell above the doorway to the dining room.

"...change."

***

"Biana Vacker."

The door clicked in approval as it heard my voice say my name. I turned the knob and smiled in approval at the impressive sight of a suite.

Each room had a plain white bed and balcony overlooking the ocean, but my suitcases were so sparkly and eye-catching that my room almost looked like I decorated it prior. I hopped into the shower and felt the warm droplets of water drench my skin. I sighed happily. Warm showers were the best.

It would be better if Sophie was-

 NO.

"You okay, Bi?" a crisp accent said from the next room over.

Oh crap, I said that out loud.

"Yeah, I'm good!" I said quickly, silently cursing my queer brain.

"Most of us are done by now. Tam is the only one still changing. And Keefe won't be saving any nachos for you if you don't get your ass down within five," Fitz told me.

"What? I'm hungry!" an indignant voice said from downstairs. I rolled my eyes and dried myself with a towel. Bending down and inspecting my two suitcases of clothes, I found a lavender bikini that I definitely looked hot in.

I whistled at myself. "Not bad, Bi. Not bad."

"Biana, stop checking yourself out and come downstairs!"

"Ugh, fine."

***

The nachos Keefe was eating were nowhere to be seen by the time I was at the pool. "Sorry," he shrugged, devoid of remorse. Tam rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged on his lips.

The pool was a large rectangle of crystal blue water in front of the longue chairs and umbrellas. Keefe, Marella, and Tam relaxed in one of the shady cabanas, Keefe and Marella laughing with each other and Tam reading a book titled Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller upon further inspection. Linh, Fitz and Dex were whispering to each other at the edge of the pool, Linh playing with the water beneath her feet.

"Thank god you're here. I was getting lonely."

I whipped my head around to see Sophie standing behind me, sunlight reflecting off of her golden hair in a way that made it look like pure sun. Her brown eyes twinkled at me, making my heart almost completely stop working.

"I was a little busy flirting with myself," I justified. Sophie laughed, and my brain shut down for a moment.

"Can't blame ya there." Sophie's face went completely red. "Wait, no-"

I chuckled. "It's fine. I know what you mean."

I didn't know what she meant. I had no fucking clue, but I chose not to mention that.

I paused. "You said you were hungry earlier. Did you get some food?"

Sophie shook her head. "No, I decided to wait for you. Would you like to get something with me?"

My stomach growled and I smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

From the kitchen, Lilian slid off her headphones and stared at me and Sophie with a bored expression on her face. "I'll fix up a couple of sundaes for you lovebirds- sorry, girls." Sophie flushed a cute pinkish hue as Lilian mumbled something about wedding milkshakes.

"I'll take anything pistachio," Sophie exclaimed, cheeks returned to normal. "Best flavor by far."

I grinned. "I'm more of a strawberry person myself. Chocolate is my runner-up. But I absolutely HATE-"

"Cotton candy?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

Sophie smiled shyly. "There was this one time you were arguing with Fitz about the best ice cream flavor and you slapped him when he said his second favorite was cotton candy. Sorry if that sounds creepy-"

"No, it's really sweet," I blurted. Sophie raised her eyebrows.

"It is! I'm being honest!"

Sophie rolled her eyes fondly. "Now you're just lying to me."

"I am not!" I elbowed her in the side. She laughed.

"I've never been the best at socializing," she admitted, playing with the strap on her bikini top. "Then again, the last I actually tried to make a friend was-" She quieted, her eyes holding that faraway look to them she had whenever she was thinking.

"Once. There was this girl, Quinn, in the Forbidden Cities...and I tried to befriend her, and..." She sighed. "It didn't work. I never tried again. Dex, Fitz, Keefe, you...you all came up to me first. Come to think of it, definitely was bisexual for Quinn at the time."

I raised my eyebrows and smirked. "Oooh, Sophie's first love interest, gotta hear this one."

Sophie deadpanned. "No, you really don't."

"What did she look like?"

"Uhhh...dark brown hair, freckles, pretty blue eyes. Why?" she said, a little too quickly.

Before I could respond, Lilian slid two sundaes to the counter: one pistachio green with chopped nuts and hot fudge, one strawberry pink with mandarin slices, and whipped cream. "Enjoy," she told us, only half paying attention to us, half paying attention to the music on her headphones.

"Thanks!" I called out into the kitchen, but I doubt she heard me. I shrugged and grabbed two spoons from a small glass jar, handing one to Sophie and digging the other into the strawberry sundae.

Sophie smiled. "Cheers," she said, tapping her bowl against mine. Sophie took a spoonful of her ice cream and her eyes lit up.

"You like it?"

"Duh." Sophie took another spoonful, then another, and within seconds her sundae disappeared right before my eyes. She smiled sheepishly. "I told you, I didn't have breakfast. What am I supposed to do?"

I put my hands up defensively. "I didn't say anything. Do you want some of mine?"

Sophie shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Looks good to me." Together we finished the ice cream with a color scheme a little too specific for the situation at hand and looked up at each other when we were done.

"You've got something right there," I noticed, pointing to a spot of strawberry ice cream just above Sophie's soft lips. I wiped it off with my finger, noticing the color similar to the ice cream Sophie's cheeks were turning. "There."

"Um, thanks." We giggled together until it turned into laughs, and soon enough we were rolling on the kitchen floor like maniacs.

"Cut it out!" Fitz yelled from where Dex and Linh were splashing each other with water.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but Fitz is right," Marella called out from the cabana. "Are we getting in the water or what?"

"I don't think they're supposed to swim right after eating," Linh said with concern while blasting Dex in the face with chlorine.

"Eh, they'll live," Keefe said with an extra wide grin. "Are we gonna go swim or what?"