Kristen crawled to the end of the bed and grabbed my wrist. After looking at them for just a few seconds, she gave up. "I think the clasps are only activated by those cards. Sorry, babe."
"You guys are the worst." I pulled my wrist away.
Kristen smiled. "I think this will actually be good for you. Besides, we're all in relationships and you're not. It makes sense for you to wear all the bracelets."
"It was your boyfriend's idea to send us here. Maybe he wants you to do all these things. So you should be the one wearing all of them."
She laughed. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind. But really, enjoy it. I think the game is really for the singles here. Anyone up for a swim?"
"After I get some Tylenol and a glass of water," Layla said.
"I'm sure Momma Bear has some," Kristen said and scooted off the bed.
I grabbed the bottle of Tylenol I brought and tossed it at Layla. "Just for the record, payback's a bitch, girls."
"Oh, come on," Alina said and gave me a hug. "Kristen's right, you're going to have so much fun all day. And after that thing at the ITAs, Bryce gets really jealous of other guys. I was going to ask you to wear my bracelet for the rest of the trip anyway."
"You know, you could have just said you wanted to watch a movie with me last night. Then you wouldn't have gotten stuck with the two crazies. No offense."
"None taken," Kristen said as she pulled on a bikini that barely covered anything.
"Thanks for the Tylenol, Momma bear," Layla said.
I bit the inside of my cheek. It hadn't taken that nickname long to spread.
"But we're in Costa Rica!" Alina said. "I can watch a movie any night back home. I am sorry about the bracelets, though. If I was sober I never would have done it, you know that. Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not mad, I'm just nervous about all the awkward things guys are going to make me do all day." I had just gotten a great idea. Maybe I wouldn't have to do anything weird at all. Javier seemed like a reasonable guy. I'm sure I could just explain the situation to him and he'd let me at least remove the extra three bracelets. "You guys go on ahead. I'll meet you at the pool later. I need to stop by the front desk first anyway."
Alina shook her head. "Nope. You're coming with us. You already ditched us last night." After seeing the expression on my face, she added, "just hide your wrist under your towel. You'll be fine."
"Fine. But we're going to the least crowded pool."
"Deal."
I grabbed my swimsuit out of my suitcase and went to the bathroom. I quickly got ready and applied tons of sunscreen. If I didn't have four bracelets on my wrist I would have been so excited to go to the pool. I tried not to think about it as I left the bathroom.
"What. The. Hell. Is. That?" asked Kristen.
I turned to look at her. "What the hell is what?"
"That thing on your body."
"It's a bathing suit. Obviously. Stop being weird." I lifted up my towel and draped it over my arm to hide all the bracelets.
"No."
"No what?"
"I'm not going to the pool with you dressed like a granny. You'll scare away all the hot guys."
"Help me out here, Alina."
"I'm sorry, you know how much I love you," she said. "But Kristen is right. It looks awful. Whatever possessed you to buy that?"
"I wear it to the gym all the time to swim laps."
"We're not swimming laps. We're lounging around, tanning, and flirting with strangers," Kristen said with a smile.
