CHAPTER 1  Getting Ready

"Girl..this is gonna be the best 2 weeks of my life!" I squealed excitedly.

"I know...I can't believe we are actually spending 2 whole weeks in the
Bahamas withOUT our parents!" Shadia replied smiling.

"What do you think of this shirt with these pants?" I asked lifting up a
thin, cotton pink top with tight, white, knee knockers.

"That'll look great on you." She said. "You always look good in those light
colors, with your complexion and all.."

Shadia was already packed, and I, Dreyah Jackson, still wasn't ready. I had
so much on my mind that I hardly had time out of the week to spend packing. I
just recently broke up with my boyfriend, who I newly found cheating on me
with another girl, who claimed to be one of my friends. Needless to say,
Jonathan and I are no longer together and Sara and I are under no
circumstance friends. Not only had I spent my nights crying over the jerk,
but in the meantime, I tried to keep my job. I asked for the time off and
they said they had no problem with that, so I figured I would just spend a
few extra hours each night, waiting tables at Charlie's. Hey, it really paid
off though. It gave me some extra cash for the vacation.

I finished packing the last item of clothing. "Now onto bathroom supplies." I
said looking wearily at Shadia.

"It's alright pal. I'll help you." She said noticing the hurt in my eyes. She
could tell that once again I was thinking about Jon and Sara. "I know how you
feel. I went through it last year..only Bobby and I were together for only 4
months. But it still hurt."

I nodded my head. I kept having flashbacks of Jonathan and Sara together in
bed. It wasn't a pretty sight, seeing that trampy little whore all over what
used to be MY boyfriend. "God! I hate her so much. She is such a bitch. She
claims to be my friend and the next thing you know, she sleeps with my
boyfriend!"

"Oh Drey..it's okay. You didn't need him anyway. It is better that you found
out now..rather than 4 or 5 months down the road, when you come to conclude
that you really are in love with him." She said sympathetically, putting her
arm around my shoulder.

"Thanks Shad. It really means a lot. I don't know what I'd do with out you."
I replied. "I am not going to let ANYTHING get in the way of having a good
time. For God's sake, I am going to the Bahamas! We are gonna have a good
time and we are gonna meet some FINE guys too!" I said enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" She said smiling, and jumping up from the bed that we had both been
sitting on. "Now let's go, we gotta get your stuff packed, so that we can go
out tonight and have a pre-Bahamas celebration!"

I jumped up and headed to my bathroom, attached to the side of the bedroom. I
pulled out my make up case and began to pack up the make up I felt necessary
to take along with me. I then packed my curling iron, tooth brush, tooth
paste and other needed items. When I finished, Shadia was relieved, it was
finally time to go.

"Let's roll.." I said, picking up my purse and car keys that were lying on
the desk.

"Let's roll.." She repeated. We checked our reflection in the long mirror and
touched up where we felt imperative.

When we reached my silver Intrepid, we settled in, cranked up the stereo and
was on our way, cruising the streets of Tampa, Florida.

"So where exactly are we heading?" Shadia questioned.

I'm not real sure." I answered, with a sly smile.

"Come on, where are we going? You HAVE to tell me..." She begged.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I guess you'll just have to wait and see..now won't
you?"

"You are SO unfair, you realize?"

"So?! Like you have NEVER done this to me before..?" I said rolling my eyes.

"Let me guess..we are going to meet the Backstreet Boys, right?" She asked
sarcastically.

"Yeah, you wish.." I replied. Shadia was really hung up on the BSB. I
personally didn't get it. I couldn't see it, I mean yeah, they're extremely
cute and talented, but I wasn't all up and wild and crazy for them like most
girls. It wasn't a priority in my life at this point in time.

We sat in silence the whole rest of the way. When we arrived, Shadia wasn't
all that impressed, but I didn't expect her to be either. We were at the
mall, but I just felt like adding alittle bit of suspense to her life.

"You mean we aren't going out bar hopping?" She asked disappointed.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you remember, you're only 17?" I asked,
trying to be the mother figure of the duet.

"Oh shut up! Like you never do anything wrong, Miss perfect!" She said
laughing, making me laugh.

We headed into the mall and looked around for about 2 hours. After finding
absolutely nothing that appealed to us, we left.

"So now where do you wanna go?" I asked.

"I dont care. How about putt putting??" She suggested.

"Hey! Sounds like a good idea." I replied, just as my cell phone rang.
"Hello?"

"Hey! How's it goin'?" The male voice asked.

"Tony. Hey! It's goin' good. How are you?"

"I am good. What are you up to tonight?" He asked.

"Not a whole lot of anything. Is Shadia with you?"

"Yep, infact we were just planning on going putt putting, did you wanna join
us?" I offered.

"What, you are inviting me so I kick both your asses?" He joked. " You must
be kidding..right??"

"No, Actually, I am inviting you so that WE can give YOU a few pointers."

"Okay..alright..I got it..we'll just have to see about that. I'll be there.
The putt putt on Jahos Dr., right?"

"Yep, that's that one. See you in a few."

"Alright, later.." He said and with that, hung up.

We arrived at the Putt Putt and waited for Tony to arrive. When he did we
payed, got our ball and clubs and set out on our journey of who was better.

"You're going down Johnson." Tony shouted at me. "You too, Taylor."

"That's what you think." We both said simotaniously.

When the game was almost finished and we had only 2 more holed left, Shadia
was in the lead, her total was 46, mine was 60 and Tony's was 58.

When it came to the last hole, Shadia ended up winning. Her total ended up
being 50. I was in second place with 64 and Tony was obviously last with 65.

Shadia began jumping up and down when she won. "haha, look Mr. Ego. Look who
won!!" She shouted.

"Shut up.." He said, joking around. "It was pure luck."

"No, I recall it being pure skill." She replied, blowing on her club as if a
pro.

By this time, it was getting late, so we said our goodbyes to Tony and headed
back to my house. Shadia was staying the night because it was an early flight
and my parents were just going to drive us to the air port the next day.

When we got home, we sat and talked with my parents for quite some time, just
discussing with them what all we planned to do and then headed for bed. It
was a long day ahead of us and we wanted to get an early start.