Highmore Manor

The next day we spent in the city being tourists. We went to all the touristy places, went shopping and spent a few hours on the beach. We even enjoyed a bit of celebrity spotting but didn’t end up seeing anyone too famous.

At the end of the day we came home completely exhausted.

Jesse and Camilla had spent the day at the villa, having already seen most of Monte Carlo before, and were already in the pool when we got home so we joined them. Camilla lay on a deck chair and tanned, apparently she didn’t swim at pools, even though that’s what they’re technically for.

After swimming for a bit I got out and fetched my laptop, a gift from my mum who’d sent it to me before the holidays for my birthday which I would actually be spending with her anyway, from our room which led directly out onto the patio. I plugged in my wireless and sat down on one of the deck chairs, not too close to Camilla’s, who complained every time someone walked past about blocking out her sunlight.

When I opened up my emails there was one from Alex and one from Payton. Alex’s read:

Hey Hayls

You’re really missing out on real English winter, it’s snowing here! About a metre and half everywhere, and poor you is probably sitting next to a pool enjoying 20 degree weather.
You might be lucky though; Mum says it might still be here when you get back :)
Hope Monte Carlo is everything you expected; it’s a pretty awesome place.
By now Jesse must’ve arrived. I got a text saying he was joining you, Callie and Chase and something about Camilla. What’s that all about??
Have fun with the drama queen, trouble maker, brick wall and bitch…you can take your pick on who I’m talking about with those.
Have to ask, but how’s Callie?
She still won’t text me back and I’m beginning to wonder what I’ve done wrong. Maybe you’ve talked to her??

See you in two weeks :)
Alex.

I smiled at his message, and frowned at some parts. I emailed back quickly answering all his questions, except for the Callie one which I avoided by saying he’d have to talk to her about. I checked the one from Payton. Hers was only a few lines long and uncharacteristically formal.

Hey Hayley

Sorry I won’t be there when you arrive next week. I’ve gone to Fiji with Ricky’s family. Sorry :(

Love Payton.

I stared at the screen for a few seconds and then replied quickly.

Hey,
That’s ok, maybe I’ll see you next time I come home :)
Hope you have fun in Fiji.

Hayley xxx

I closed the screen down slowly, kind of in shock. I had kind of hoped they would both be there when I got home because it had been 6 months since I’d last seen both of them. I sighed heavily and took my laptop back inside. I returned to my deck chair when I got back outside with a book.

Jesse came over and drying himself off with a towel. He leaned over me and shook his wet hair out, spraying me and my book with water, then sat down on the deck chair beside mine.

“Thanks,” I said in a monotone, wiping the book on my own towel.

“Anytime,” he replied casually. I shot him a glare and then turned back to my book.

“Does looking at your laptop always make you sad?” he asked curiously. I turned and gave him a weird look.

“No. For your information I was reading emails, I don’t just get my laptop out to stare at it,” I said cynically.

“Of course not, that would be stupid,” he replied with a mocking smile. “So were the emails sad?”

“No they were extremely cheerful that’s why I look so overjoyed right now,” I replied scathingly. Jesse put on a mock insulted look and held his hands up in defense.

“Sorry,” he said drawing out the ‘o’. I turned to glower at him.

“Look do you want anything or are you just here to annoy me? You’ve changed, but I think I liked it better when you didn’t want to talk to me at all,” I said.

“I’m in a good mood today,” he said simply.

“Oh that’s lovely,” I replied sarcastically turning back to my book.

“And you’re definitely grumpy about something. What’s wrong?” he asked leaning forward slightly, seeming genuinely concerned.

“Well…” I started.

“Hey, Hayley, are you coming back in for a swim?” Chase interrupted from the side of the pool, his arms up on the edges. I turned and smiled at him.

“Yup,” I replied and got up from my deck chair and turned to fix my towel.

From out the corner of my eye I caught Chase poke his tongue out at Jesse; Jesse returned it by pulling the fingers at him. I almost laughed at how childish they were but managed to stop myself by holding my breath to dive into the pool. I swam over to Chase and stopped in front of him.

He was looking at me weirdly when I came up for air.

"What?" I asked suspiciously looking down to make sure my bikini top hadn't come off or something. When I looked back up Chase grinned slightly then dived under the water. I stood still waiting to see where he would come up. Suddenly I felt something on my legs, lifting me up above the water. I shrieked slightly as I was raised above the water on top of Chase's shoulders.

"What the…? Put me down," I laughed.

"Nah uh. I declare a Shoulder War!" he said with a laugh. "Come on Jesse. Choose your soldier," he said indicating Camilla or Callie. Jesse grinned and went over to Callie, who was sitting on the edge, but she shook her head quickly and laughed.

Jesse got a devious look of his face.

He snuck up behind Camilla, who hadn't heard any of what we had just said because she had her Mp3 in and her eyes shut. He grabbed the back of her deck chair and pushed the back upwards so she slid down it like a slide and into the pool. Somehow he managed to grab her Mp3 as she slid, to save it from getting wet but her headphones went in with her.
She emerged screaming.

"What the fuck was that for, you jerk!" she shrieked at Jesse. Jesse just laughed at her and dove in beside her. She glowed at him and untangled her headphones, chucking them over the edge of the pool.

"There is no way I am getting on your shoulders, you ass," she hissed but with the slightest smile on her face. He shrugged faintly and then dove under, doing the same thing that Chase had done to me.

"Fine!" she grumbled once he'd lifted her up, crossing her arms across her chest. "You can hold me up here but there is no way I am fighting!" she declared.

"Oh well this one will be easy then, won't it Hayls," Chase grinned. "We'll win in no time!" I laughed as he began walking towards Jesse and Camilla.

"Come on Cam, you have to fight!" Jesse pleaded with a grin, he didn't really look like he cared all that much but he just wanted to have fun.

When Chase got close enough I reached out and gave Camilla a shove. She screeched at me but managed to stay on. We all laughed.

"Oh this means war!" Camilla chuckled.

The fight ended when Chase happened to trip Jesse up under water causing Jesse and Camilla to topple over into the water. Jesse glared at him and told him he'd cheated but Chase insisted it had been an accident. Camilla just huffed a bit and then pulled herself out of the pool, obviously a bit of a sore loser. Chase took me over to the edge and I climbed off.

"I'm going upstairs to get a drink," I said and started heading over. Callie got up from the edge and followed me up the stairs to the balcony and into the living room, drying out feet and hair a bit before walking across the carpet.

"So you've got Chase and Jesse kind of competing over your attention, how's that working out?" Callie asked with a teasing grin.

"They are not competing over me!" I exclaimed with a smile.

"They so are, I saw their little gesture war when Chase interrupted you and Jesse's little heart to heart. It was extremely hilarious," she laughed. "What were you talking about anyway?"

"He asked why I looked sad and I was actually about to tell him when Chase interrupted, I don’t know why,” I said with a shrug. I sighed and turned to her. “Payton isn’t going to be there when I get home; she’s not even going to be in the country. I was hoping this was going to be my chance to catch up.”

“You’re best friend, Payton?” Callie asked sympathetically.

“Yeah, she’s gone to Fiji with Ricky!” I stated sadly. Suddenly I had a brainwave. “Hey!” I looked up at her. “You could come to New Zealand with me!”

“Me?” Callie asked, surprised. I nodded enthusiastically. “Really?”

“Yes! I’ll sort it out with Mum,” I said happily.

“Really?” Callie said excitedly. I laughed and nodded again, she screamed slightly and leapt forward to hug me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I laughed at her reaction. She leaned back to look at me. “Wait, no Chase?” she asked seriously.

“No Chase, just you and me and my mum and my sister,” I grinned. She pumped her fist in the air.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. I grinned at her as she hugged me again.
If I couldn’t have my best friends, I’d have the next best thing, my next best friend.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Later that afternoon I was still lying out on my deck chair in my bikini. Even though it was about 6:30 and dusk was slowly rolling in it was still at least 16 º, it had been a warm day of 19 º which was apparently particularly warm for winter in Monaco.

Only Camilla and I was outside, Chase and Jesse were upstairs in the living room, Jesse on his laptop and I’d left Chase standing in the kitchen leaning against the bar, just doing nothing. Callie was in our room behind me, reading.

Camilla was only two seats down, eyes closed and ignoring me.

I turned to her and watched her for a few seconds. Her long blonde hair had gone slightly wavy from being wet and it actually looked quite nice. She was actually a very beautiful girl with bright blue eyes and nice features; you just had to look past her hard exterior. And at some points throughout the day she’d actually been almost nice, bearable.

“Yes?” she asked suddenly. I realized she’d opened her eyes, was leaning up on her arm and was staring at me with an odd look on her face.

“Nothing,” I said and turned away from her, she shrugged and started to lie back down again and close her eyes. “No wait, can I ask you a question?” I asked as an afterthought. She paused for a second, glanced in my direction then lay down again anyway and shut her eyes.

“Whatever,” she replied.

“Do you actually like him?” I asked inspecting my nails. I glanced at her, she was in the same place.

“Like who?” she asked curiously.

“Jesse,” I said simply.

“Of course…” she started, shooting me another odd look.

“No, I mean like do actually like, like him. Not just the idea of him, but him. Not the fact that he’s Jesse Reed. Hot, rich and popular. Do you actually like his personality as well?” I asked, she looked at me blankly for a few seconds and then decided the best thing to do was ignore me. She lay back down and didn’t say anything. I waited a few minutes and then gave up. I sighed slightly and then stood up, rolling my towel up as I went.

I turned and started heading back inside.

“No,” Camilla said suddenly.

“What?” I asked, confused, turning to look back at her. She hadn’t moved.

“The answer is ‘no’. I don’t like him,” she said plainly, her tone even. I stared at the back of her deck chair for a while then nodded to myself.

“Thanks,” I said quietly then turned and walked away from the pool, to my room.