Surviving Us Read Online Free Page B

shouldn’t have talked to her earlier, shouldn’t have offered to help her when we got off the plane . . . I shouldn’t have even fucking come on this trip in the first place. The last thing I wanted was to make any friends while I was here, especially not any girls. Sure, I was open to hooking up with a random hottie, maybe a local if the opportunity presented itself, but I honestly expected all the females at this retreat to be well over the age of thirty-five, with a big fat zero in the sex appeal department.
    “Is that country music I hear?” Bristol asks as we enter a small town, her tiny nose scrunching up in what can only be described as adorable. I must still be drunk if I’m thinking of words like ‘adorable.’
    Dr. Secret laughs hard, bobbing his head up and down. “Yes, girl, it’s the favorite music of the locals, and we all love to go line dancing. It’s actually where I’m going tonight.”
    “Line dancing and country music?” She snickers, echoing my thoughts. “I thought St. Lucia was known for its jazz music?”
    “Yeah,” I pipe in, “don’t y’all have some world-renowned jazz festival?”
    Again, he nods. “We play jazz better than anyone, but we listen to country music. In the 1950s, there was a US army base here; most of the soldiers were from Texas and they brought their music with them. It was a big hit here, and it’s stuck around ever since.”
    “Wow,” she and I say in unison.
    Finally, she looks over at me, a timid smile curling up at the edges of her mouth. I grin back, uncertain why I care if she’s mad at me or not. Everything in my brain is telling me to stay far away from this girl for the remainder of this trip; the fact she’s attending this retreat tells me she’s got more baggage than any chick I want to mess with . . . and I’m not talking about the zebra print with hot pink tags kind. Pair me up with anyone as fucked up in the head as I am, and it’s bound to be trouble.



I HAVE NO IDEA what to make of D. He shifts from hot to cold faster than I can blink, and to be quite honest, I’m not sure why I care. He may be hotter than any guy on the OU campus, but hot guys are not why I’m here.
    About forty-five minutes into the car ride, we finally pull off the main roadway , if you can call a gravel road that, onto an even bumpier surface surrounded by lush tropical vegetation. D and Dr. Secret—I was afraid to ask the origin of this peculiar nickname—have been discussing the difference between baseball and cricket for the last half-hour or so, and as much as I’ve wanted to jump into the conversation, being the sports enthusiast I am, I remain quiet and soak in the passing sights.
    The only other form of human life we’ve seen is a small village we passed through a while back. The houses were barely more than shacks; I’m not even sure if they had electricity and plumbing, but everyone was outside, appearing to be having a good time. It kind of reminded me of a block party back home—lawn chairs, coolers, and grilling over an open flame as everyone chats it up out in front of their houses. It made me remember my parents and all the other people on the street I grew up on, all the people who’ve been gone for over twelve years now.
    “Ti Kaye is at the top of this cliff here,” our animated driver announces, every minute of the trek becoming a little more turbulent as we twist and turn up the winding road. Thankfully, the online reviews of the resort had prepared me for this ascent; otherwise, I might’ve been a little freaked out right about now.
    Shortly thereafter, I see the Ti Kaye sign up ahead amidst the jungle-like surroundings, announcing we’ve finally made it. My pulse speeds up as the excitement within me grows. I’ve been planning for this trip for nearly a year, and now I’m finally here!
    We stop briefly at the gate as Dr. Secret talks with the attendant in a language that sounds a lot like French. They share some weird handshake