--keefe sencen--

Once Sophie and Biana scurried off to Sophie's room and closed the door, everyone hurried back to the hot tub, eager to feel the warmth of the water as well as the touch of someone else's skin on theirs.

Marella wiggled her eyebrows and grinned mischievously.

"How are we gonna know when twenty minutes is up?" Linh asked. She is sitting about as close to Marella as possible without actually touching her.

"Whoever has to count the seconds, I call not it," Fitz offered with a grimace.

"That would be...what, 1200 seconds?" Dex muttered. "Yeah, no thanks. Does anyone have a stopwatch?"

Nobody raised their hands.

"We'll estimate, I suppose," Marella said with a shrug. "Besides...I'm sure Sophie and Biana wouldn't mind having a little extra time." She wiggled her eyebrows again.

"Pretty sure the walls here are thick, so we'll be unbothered," Fitz added. "Not saying I like the idea of Sophie making out with my sister, but it's not like I can tell them to knock it off now."

Marella shrugged again. "If you didn't want them making out, two minutes ago would've been a good time to object. Not my fault."

"Marella, nobody said this was your fault," Tam pointed out. I jumped a little when I realized he was right next to me, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Marella just assumes that when something doesn't go my way, I'm gonna be blaming her," Fitz snickered.

"Anyways," Marella said sharply. "Are we gonna keeping playing or not?"

Dex answered first. "Well, since Sophie and Biana are..." He trailed off.

"Occupied?" Tam said with a ghost of a smirk.

"Let's go with that."

"I mean, I can go," Tam said nonchalantly. "Uhhh...Linh."

"Truth?" Linh shifted in the hot tub a little.

I couldn't help but grin. "You don't sound very sure of yourself there, Linh."

Linh smiled softly, but didn't answer. Tam had his cute thinking face on.

"Uh, I don't know, favorite kind of tea?" Tam said after a moment of silence. "I don't want to embarrass you."

Linh's soft smile oozed with gratitude. "Lemon poppy."

"Ew," Marella scoffed, but she was looking at Linh fondly. "Who drinks tea anymore?"

"I do," Dex offered.

"Me too!" I said. Dex grinned at me.

"Same," Fitz added.

Marella groaned. "You nerds."

"What's your favorite drink then, Marella?" Fitz rebutted.

"Flavored lemonade."

Fitz wrinkled his nose.

"At least none of us said water," Tam said. "People who think water is the best drink-"

"Think they're better than everyone else?" I finished.

Tam turned to me and I feel my heartbeat stutter ever so slightly. "Exactly," he said, almost smiling.

"Hey, water is great!" Fitz protested, snapping me out of my trance before my eyes could wander.

"Exactly," Tam and I repeated again. Fitz groaned.

"I'm just gonna quickly interrupt this argument," Dex cuts in, squeezing Fitz's hand lovingly. "It's Linh's turn."

"Actually, I think the sun is starting to set a bit," Linh says, gesturing to the sky, now turning to the sky, displaying a bright but falling sun.

"I could use a nap," Marella agrees. "And by nap I mean lie down and try to fall asleep, but still. Same thing."

"We'll met up for dinner in a couple hours," Fitz says. "But, before we go back to our rooms, we have two people to pick up." He grins.

We all get out of the hot tub and dry off, then walk to Sophie's room. Marella is in front of the group, and she knocks lightly on Sophie's door. Footsteps travel towards where we are and Biana opens the door, her manicured dark hair now a mess of tangles and her lips swollen, and I can't help but snicker a little.

"Sooo...I assume that..." Marella starts. Biana nods and her puffy lips break into a grin.

"The two youngest Vackers start dating people on the same day," Tam observes. "Congrats, Biana. Wait, where's Sophie?"

"She's in the bathroom fixing her hair," Biana answers. I snort.

"Sophie, after you get out, you're telling me everything!" Dex yells past Biana.

"I'm not sure Dex's innocent mind would like for Sophie to tell him everything," Marella says. She and I laugh as Biana's face turns crimson.

"Alright, I need my beauty sleep," Fitz interrupts. "See you guys in two hours." He turns to Dex. "I don't really want Biana to describe what kissing Sophie is like to me, but to each their own. Hope you guys have a nice cousin-to-cousin talk."

Dex kisses Fitz on the cheek. "Sleep well, Wonderboy." Fitz blushes and scurries away.

Linh yawns. "Bye, guys."

Marella perks up. "Wait, you promised we could watch more of Star Wars before dinner!"

Linh sighs fondly. "You can come to my room and watch it next to me, but I'll most likely fall asleep."

Marella shrugs. "Fine by me." She grins. "Why are you tired? Is the force not with you?"

Linh laughs. "No, Mel, the force is not with me at the moment."

"Mood," Dex says somberly. At that moment Sophie opens the bathroom door and runs to Dex, the two friends disappearing in the direction where the spa is.

***

I am on my bed, sketching the view of the ocean from my window, when I hear a knock on the door. I groan, not wanting to leave the warmth of my blankets. "Come in," I say to the door, not looking up from my sketchbook.

"You locked the door, Keefe." Exasperation seeps into the familiar voice outside.

"Tam, is that you?"

"No, it's Santa Claus."

I snicker into the blankets and then sigh, amusement still laced onto my smile, and get up to unlock the door. With a soft click, I open the door to Tam.

"Uh, not saying I don't want you here, but...why are you here?"

Tam shuffles his feet. "I'm bored. Do you want to hang out before dinner?"

I can't help but smile. "I'd love to. I was actually just sketching something, you can come in." 

Tam sits on the bed and looks at my sketchbook. It's a sketch of a person, but not anyone I know- and I feel grateful that Tam doesn't ask if it is. Maybe they have the same life I do, the same hopes and dreams, the same doubts. Maybe they're the opposite of me, or something in between. Maybe they feel like they've escaped their way out of a horrible nightmare they've been living their whole life, or maybe they feel they're entered a whole new world of agony and they're scared to continue. Maybe this person exists somewhere in this universe, or maybe just on this paper.

No matter what kind of person they are, do I have to have met them before in order to draw them?

"They have pretty eyes," Tam notes. "And hair."

I smile again. "Those are the only parts I drew."

"I know." Tam pauses. "Can I try to copy it? I might not be amazing at-"

"Of course," I say, and Tam raises his eyebrows. "The sketchbook is pretty big, so we'll be able to draw on the same page." I put the sketchbook in front of Tam and place myself perpendicular to him, and continue my sketch, the only sounds in the room the musical brush of pencils against paper and the waves crashing against the boat. I look out the window and notice we are far away from the shore now, probably several miles.

Before I drown completely in the relaxing sounds around me, I look over at Tam's drawing. I notice he chose not to draw a person like I did. Instead, his hand is gingerly sketching what looks like to be the beginning of drawing of a storm. I'll admit, it isn't the best artwork, but the way the setting sun is dousing the outlines of the pouring rain in a golden light makes it look strangely angelic.

It's not perfect, I think to myself, but it's the start of something. Something wonderful.

I look up at Tam. The golden light has illuminated his features too, his silky black hair drenched with gold and the sun outlining his olive skin.

Tam and I continue to sketch as the sun dips into the horizon.