Chereads / DON'T GET ATTACHED / Chapter 15 - Riddles in the Sand

Chapter 15 - Riddles in the Sand

"It just said tonight," and I, with the nature of a cat—always curious—decided to check it out. Though Liv told me not to pay attention, I walked down the lobby, looking everywhere in case I found some clue. But I found nothing. I got a call from Liv.

"Hey, umm, it's an emergency. Can you come to the terrace?" Her voice was barely heard, in a shaky whisper. My heart started beating loudly. I was scared. What if she was hurt? I kept thinking that as I ran to the terrace. I took a lift, but it's the thought that counts. As soon as the lift door opened, I saw a very beautifully decorated terrace. I was confused. It was decorated with fairy lights everywhere. And out of nowhere, everyone jumped and yelled, "Surprise!" Almost gave me a heart attack.

"OMG, y'all did this?" I asked, surprised that my friends threw me a party in Malibu.

"Yeah, we wanted to surprise you!" Lia exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

I stood there, overwhelmed with emotion as my friends gathered around, laughing and chatting. The terrace was adorned with twinkling lights and colorful decorations, creating a magical atmosphere under the starry night sky.

"I can't believe you guys pulled this off," I said, feeling incredibly touched by their thoughtfulness.

"We knew you needed a pick-me-up," Amelia chimed in, handing me a drink. "Let's celebrate!"

As the night unfolded with music and laughter, I realized how lucky I was to have such amazing friends who knew exactly how to make me feel special. This unexpected party in Malibu turned out to be one of the most memorable nights of my life.

after partying for hours my friends were pretty much wasted, only me and liv was the only ones who were not drunk, so we both decided to lead everyone back to their rooms, i took Lexi, while Liv took Lia with her, after tucking both of our sisters, we want to get others, I took James while she took Jeremy, and we both held amelia too, after a lot of struggles we were finally able to put everyone to bed ad we went to ours,

"What a chaotic day," I said as soon as I lay on the bed, our rooms were a couple of bedrooms, so there was only one bed, me and liv didn't have any problem with sleeping beside each other, and none of the others complained too, 

"yeah, I would agree, I am going in for the shower," Liv said and was about to go shower,

"I also want to shower, or else I will fall asleep," I said and got up,

"ok then, you can go first," she said and moved back,

"or maybe we can just shower together?" I said and smirked, liv started blushing,

"After partying for hours, my friends were pretty much wasted. Only me and Liv were the only ones who were not drunk. We both decided to lead everyone back to their rooms. I took Lexi, while Liv took Lia with her. After tucking both of our sisters, we went to get the others. I took James, while she took Jeremy, and we helped Amelia too. After lots of struggles, we were finally able to put everyone to bed, and we went to ours.

"What a chaotic day," I said as soon as I laid on the bed. Our rooms were a couple bedrooms, so there was only one bed. Me and I didn't have any problem with sleeping beside each other, and none of the others complained too.

"Yeah, I would agree. I'm going in for a shower," Liv said, about to head to the shower.

"I also want to shower, or else I will fall asleep," I said and got up.

"Okay then, you can go first," she said, stepping back.

"Or maybe we can just shower together?" I said and smirked. Liv started blushing. 

"I guess," Liv said in almost a whisper, and I started to tease her about it. Eventually, we went in for a shower.

After showering, we both dried each other's hair and lay down on the bed. Liv was facing away from me. I pulled her closer to me, making her gasp, but eventually, she gave in, and we both hugged each other to sleep.

a loud knock on the door woke me up, liv was still in deep sleep, I heard the person outside speak,

"Olivia and Alex, come on, wake up. I'm opening the door." By the last sentence, I knew it was Lexi or Lia. I had given them an extra key to our room in case I lost mine, but I hadn't meant for them to use it to wake us up like this. I removed my hands slowly from Liv's grip and got up to open the door. There stood my sister.

"We are going to be late for our beach trip if you don't get your lazy ass up right now!" she yelled at me like Mom. Behind her, Lia crawled out from her room's door.

"Lexi, it's 8 am, and I am hungover. Please stop yelling," Lia sounded like she was about to cry. Lexi looked at her and said, "They are also serving hangover soup for us for breakfast, so you better hurry up." Lexi was in her night suit too, but she prioritized waking the others first. They all went to change, and I went back to Liv and lay on top of her. She groaned in her sleep, but I just hugged her tight.

"Ugh, get off of me," she said.

"What did you tell me?" I teased.

"I said get off of me," she replied, still with her eyes closed.

"Oh, little feisty," I chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. There was no response. I started kissing her all over her face and burst out laughing.

"OMG, Alex, it tickles," she said, but I didn't stop until she was fully awake.

"Come on, let's go for breakfast," I said, got up, and went to the bathroom.

Certainly! Here's the continuation:

Liv groaned again as she slowly got up from the bed, rubbing her eyes. "You're impossible, you know that?" she muttered playfully.

I grinned and nodded. "That's why you can't resist me."

She rolled her eyes with a smile and followed me to the bathroom to freshen up. After a quick shower and getting dressed, we joined Lexi, Lia, and the others for breakfast. The hangover soup turned out to be a comforting remedy, and soon we were all laughing and sharing stories from the previous night.

As we finished breakfast, we packed our things for the beach trip. The sun was shining brightly outside, promising a perfect day ahead. Liv and I stole a quiet moment together by the window in our room, watching the waves crash against the shore.

"This is quite an eventful trip," Liv said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"Yeah, definitely unexpected," I replied, smiling down at her.

"But fun," she added, intertwining her fingers with mine.

As we joined the others to head out to the beach, a sense of anticipation hung in the air, mingled with the salty breeze and the chatter of my friends. We were all looking forward to a day of relaxation and fun under the sun. However, amidst the excitement, my mind kept returning to the crumpled piece of paper I had found earlier that morning.

I retrieved it from my pocket, unfolding it carefully. The paper was old and weathered as if it had been tucked away for years. The handwriting on it was elegant yet faded, adding to its mysterious allure. It read:

"Seek beneath the ancient palm where the waves kiss the shore,

The treasure lies hidden, waiting for those who dare explore."

The words puzzled me. Was it a prank, a leftover from some forgotten hotel guest's escapade, or a genuine clue to something hidden at the beach? I glanced around at my friends, all busy with their preparations, oblivious to the secret I held in my hand.

Liv caught my eye and smiled, her excitement infectious. "Ready to hit the beach?"

I hesitated, torn between sharing my discovery and keeping it to myself. "Actually," I began, my voice trailing off as I debated how much to reveal. "I found something this morning."

Curiosity sparked in Liv's eyes. "What is it?"

I showed her the paper, watching her brow furrow as she read the cryptic message. "Wow, this is intriguing," she murmured, handing the paper back to me. "Do you think it's real?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted, glancing down at the paper again. "But it might be worth checking out while we're there."

Before Liv could respond, Lexi called out from the door, interrupting our conversation. "Hey, are you two coming or what? The beach isn't going to wait forever!"

"We're coming!" Liv replied quickly, giving me a reassuring smile before joining the others.

I folded the paper and slipped it back into my pocket, feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension. What if there was indeed treasure hidden at the beach, waiting to be discovered? Or was I simply chasing a wild goose chase? As we made our way towards the beach, I resolved to keep my eyes peeled for any signs that might lead us to the mysterious treasure mentioned in the cryptic message...