Through Your Eyes

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”I met your Daddy in the summer of 2009, I believe sometime in the middle of August…”

Marissa stepped outside of the hotel room and shut the door behind her. She took the room key from her pink Vera Bradley tote bag and slid it through the slot to lock the room. She tossed it back into her bag and turned the door knob on the door to make sure it had actually locked.

Her parents and little brother had already left the hotel room earlier this morning while Marissa chose to sleep in a little before exploring the hotel. They had just reached last night at a later hour of one, after their flight had been delayed a couple hours from Los Angeles.

Sometimes being the daughter of a successful business man had its perks. Marissa’s father was the successful owner of Skyes, a high class chain of restaurants that were around the Los Angeles area. She could remember when he opened the first restaurant, when she was about seven. The one restaurant had been an instant hit and had quickly spread. Within a year, their family had risen up the social status in one of the richest families of Los Angeles.

Growing up, Marissa found herself in the upper class lifestyle. She was used to only the best. Price usually wasn’t an issue much when it came to shopping. Clothes were the latest in style, always being an original and never a fake. The mansion, it couldn’t even be called a house, was one of the largest and stylish houses in their area.

But unlike other kids she had met that belonged to the upper class, Marissa was still true to herself. The friends that had been with her since childhood still stuck with her as Marissa climbed the social ladder while they stayed below. She didn’t think, and hoped, that her attitude hadn’t changed even with the higher status.

Being the daughter of Jim and Cathy Skyes wasn’t always the best, though. Marissa could think of plenty of times where she had been taken advantage of because of her surname. She had learned the hard way that people never always wanted to be her friend because of who she was. Marissa could even remember when there were boys who would flirt with her, hoping they would land a job at Skyes.

Marissa sighed and kept on walking down the hallway. Reminiscing on her child was usually bittersweet for her. There had been so many changes, not always good, but she had hung in there. And that was one thing she was proud of, for never letting her name and status in the world to get to her head.

The silent hallway was unusually calm for late morning in this busy hotel. Coming into the hotel at such a late hour last night even proved to be just a little busy then. And where was this hotel currently at? Just thinking about it brought Marissa a sense of peace.

The Bahamas.

It had been a surprise to both Marissa and her little brother, Connor, when their parents had told them they had arranged a vacation for the entire family to the Bahamas at the end of the summer. They were to be there for a week, and then head back to home where school would resume again two weeks afterwards.

Marissa had been beyond excited to escape the city life of Los Angeles and come to the relaxed Bahamas. Their hotel was walking distance to the beach, but had its own pool and extravagant additions. It was one of the more expensive hotels, but it was certainly worth the money, Marissa could tell.

Today was the first day of the week long duration they would be staying here. It wasn’t a long time, but Marissa was glad for a vacation away from the city. It was going to be a week full of relaxation, family time and hopefully meeting some new people here.

The tune of a song with an unknown name to Marissa whistled out of her lips as she pressed the button waiting for the elevator to arrive at her level. The doors opened instantly, since they were already on her floor, and she stepped inside the empty elevator. Glancing at the buttons, she pushed Ground Level and waited for the elevator to descend.

Mirrors served as the walls of the elevator and Marissa found herself looking back at her own reflection. Her chestnut colored hair was loosely pulled into a side ponytail which covered her bare shoulders. She hadn’t bothered putting on a cami over her dark purple bikini to but decided that tramping down the hotel without a pair of black shorts would be too much. Minimal makeup covered her eyes since Marissa planned to go on swimming later this evening.

The sound of the doors opening brought Marissa back to the real world and away from her thoughts. From the moment she walked out of the elevator, she could tell it was a busy day even though it didn’t seem like it on her level. Guests were walking all around the lobby enjoying the paradise of these islands.

She smiled at the younger looking man behind the check in counter and walked towards the exit of the hotel. Her parents had said that they were going to the beach later this afternoon so Marissa decided to spend the morning at the pool instead. It would be a sort of relaxation before hitting the beaches big time.

Glass doors blocked her from exiting, and Marissa quickly pushed them open for her to step outside. The blazing sun instantly hit Marissa and she pulled down her white sunglasses to shield her eyes. She turned to her left and took the marble pathway that was carved out specifically towards the pool.

It wasn’t long before she saw the white gates leading into the pool. Marissa began to feel excited as she realized the beginning of her vacation was just now starting. She began to walk faster to reach the entrance and the sight of the pool became closer and closer. Her hands reached to gently pull open the gate when she felt a shadow fall upon her.

Marissa slowly looked up and was startled by whom she saw. This guy was huge. He was African American, and was neatly dressed in white shorts and a blue polo. Sunglasses covered his eyes and the second he spoke, Marissa knew exactly who he was.

“I need to see your room key.” His voice seemed more like a low grumble but it didn’t come off as frightening to her. She silently searched her bag and pulled out her room key and handed it to Big Rob.

Yes, the famous Big Rob was here in the Bahamas. And Marissa also knew why. The Jonas Brothers were staying in the same hotel as she was, and if she wasn’t mistaken, during the same duration that her family was also. Precautions were all around the hotel so crazy fan girls couldn’t sneak in.

When she first read about it online, it took all of Marissa’s willpower to keep the squeals contained inside of her. It didn’t take someone long to figure out that she was a huge fan. She knew the lyrics to every single song, knew every fact about them, and had the posters all over her room. She was crazy fan girl, and she loved it.

Her parents had willingly paid for a few concert tickets during their tours, but Marissa never had the chance to meet them. She secretly hoped she would during the stay, but Marissa was smart enough to realize not only was this a vacation for her family but also for their family as well. She would give them their space, and if the time seemed right, she would walk up and ask for a photo and autograph.

“Thank you.” Big Rob grunted and he moved out of her way to let her inside the enclosed pool area. Marissa could only think of one reason why Big Rob was checking for room keys, and as she glanced around the pool area, she was right. Off in one corner of the pool, Marissa could see the brothers and the entire back up band playing water football.

She let her eyes gaze at the game that was taking place in front of her and then quickly tore her eyes away. “You can do this.” Marissa thought to herself. “Just act casual and let them be. It’s a vacation for them too.”

Her eyes quickly found her parents and little brother. It looked like Connor had already made some friends and was out and about in the pool while her parents were talking to other adults at a small round table, conveniently located next to some drinks.

A frown came upon her face as she realized that every single lounge chair was occupied. Marissa was in the mood for just lying down and letting the world go on around her while she got herself a tan. But it didn’t look like it was going to happen as she saw that nobody was moving from their own lounge chairs.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she found an alternative. Off to one side was a few floatable lounge chairs waiting to be used by hotel guests. There were already a couple out in the pool being occupied and Marissa was happy that she could still go ahead with her plan of getting a nice tan.

Marissa walked over to where her parents and brother’s bags laid and set hers down next to theirs. She grabbed the newest Sarah Dessen book out of her bag before standing up. The cold water touched her feet as she picked up a pink lounge chair and daintily set it in the water next to the edge of the pool.

Very carefully, Marissa successfully lowered herself onto the floatable lounge chair without getting any portion of her body inside the pool. She leaned over and pushed her chair away from the pool edge and giddily watched as she floated away from the edge. Sighing contently, Marissa leaned back and pushed the sunglasses away from her eyes. Opening the book, she flipped to the correct page and began to read.

Time seemed to pass by fairly quickly. Marissa was unaware of everything that was happening around her, she was only interested in the growing relationship of Auden and Eli. Children’s laughs and talkative chatter could be heard all around her as almost half an hour seemed to pass since the time Marissa started tanning.

It happened so fast that Marissa didn’t even see it coming. One minute she was reading how Auden was defending herself how she couldn’t ride a bike and the next minute she found herself screaming for a second before plunging down under the water. She couldn’t feel the bottom of the pool and quickly realized that she was in the deeper section of the pool. She pushed her hands up above her and resurfaced above the water.

Gasps escaped her mouth as she tried to level out her breathing. Water sputtered out of her mouth and her wet hair was matted to the side of her face. Anger and annoyance flooded her veins and Marissa almost sprained her neck as she spun around so fast to see who the idiot was that knocked her out of her lounge chair.

A brown football floated right next to her and Marissa instantly knew whose it was. But she didn’t care. Oh hell no. Her newest book she had bought was probably sunk at the bottom of the pool along with her sunglasses. The time she had spent to straighten her hair this morning was all gone, despite the fact she was going to the beach later.

“Who threw this?!” Marissa seethed. Her feet finally found a shallow part of the pool and she began to walk towards the boys who were silently standing less than ten feet in front of her. Every single one of them just stared at her. The brothers, the back up band, everybody. Well, everybody who was playing water football. The rest of the people in the pool seemed to pay no attention to what was happening.

A minute seemed to pass before one of them opened their mouths. “I am so sorry.” Nick apologized as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Are you okay? I honestly didn’t mean for it to hit you. I was throwing it to Joe.”

Marissa dropped her jaw. “You were throwing it to Joe? He’s on the other side of the pool!” With that said, she began to walk backwards towards the edge of the pool. Her back found the concrete wall off the pool and Marissa, still with the football in hand, set her hands on the top and pushed herself up.

“I know, I got kind of tackled. I really am sorry, is there anything I can do?” Nick asked.

Marissa narrowed her eyes. She brought her legs up to the edge of the pool and stood up. Her hands were on her hips, football still there, as she stared at the boys. She ignored the rock star’s question and instead said what was on her mind. “You have terrible aim, Jonas.”

And with that said, Marissa threw the football and hit Nick Jonas square in the forehead. A yelp left Nick’s lips but Marissa didn’t care. A smile played at her own lips as she turned around and stalked off, leaving a stunned Jonas behind her.