A Second Chance at Life - Chapter Four

Chapter Four: A New Outlook On Life Begins

It was 9 am Saturday morning when I awoke. It was a week since we had moved into the house and the excitement of waking up in a completely different bed, house, and part of the country still sparked in me... The past week we had gotten to know each other. Randy and Donna had assigned themselves to each other which was weird considering how Randy came off as a complete flirt/player the first time we had met him. It seemed the guy was all talk. Logan and Dom were great guys. They were still all about the chicks and partying, and had been out every night last week. They gave me no trouble and were actually quite nice to me, seeing me as a little sister. I didn't mind because I knew I never wanted to harbor sexual feelings towards these guys. Matt spent a lot of time away at a friends house so he always had a camera man with him to film his activities, whatever they were. Honor and I had gotten close. She unlike Donna and Ash wasn't throwing herself out there to have a good time. She like myself hadn't graced the pubs with her presence just yet. We didn't see any rush especially when we were trying to settle in first. Ash had given up on bedding Dom especially he had unceremoniously ditched her after he found her in the arms of another guy at one of the clubs they had visited.

Anyway back to reality....The night before (Friday) I had decided to join everyone for a few drinks, okay maybe it was a lot of drinks. And that is where my memory fails me. I had obviously drunk too much of that bourbon and cola. I was still in the clothes I had worn after I took a shower last night at about 7pm. Hopefully they had stayed on, I thought to myself unconvincingly. I didn't feel violated though, if you know what I mean. How my body felt though was completely different from what my head was feeling. My head felt like it was going to explode!! It hurt like hell and just sitting up in my bed had the whole room in front of me spinning so fast I lay straight back down. Oh gosh, this wasn't good. I'd only heard about hangovers from people, mainly from college classmates and just hearing about their ordeals was painful for me. But to actually feel it was a whole new level of agony. After what seemed like forever (but was probably just half an hour lol) I decided to get up and take a cold shower to shock my senses, and hopefully dull the pain a bit too. Donna was once again missing from her bed, I don't think I remember that girl sleeping in her bed once when we had arrived. I slowly got up and made my way out of the room and into the hall. It was quiet so I figured they were all still in bed. The camera men were already there but hadn't started rolling there films. They seemed oblivious to me being there and I guessed this was how it was going to be for the rest of the duration of our stay. We had to act like they weren't there and they had to act like they didn't know us, let alone allowed to make direct contact with us. It didn't bother me as I was in no mood to speak to anyone right then when my head felt like it was being repeatedly hit with a baseball bat. Ugggggh.

The shower was refreshing but it did little for the pain I was going through. I went back to the room and got dressed in white shorts and a yellow strapless top then decided to go downstairs and raid the fridge for a feed. I realized I hadn't eaten since I'd gotten off the plane at LAX yesterday afternoon and my stomach was making loud grumbling noises. I guess drinking on an empty stomach last night had aided in my memory loss. I sat at the kitchen bench with a glass of OJ and a meat pie which I had heated in the microwave. Our fridge was fully stacked. The house came with everything.

I was munching on my pie and trying in vain to recall the happenings of the previous night when suddenly Dom staggered in. He looked like he had already took to the showers and unlike me he wasn't holding onto his head to keep it from falling off his shoulders. I guess he didn't expect to find anyone in the kitchen because when he saw me he was taken by surprise,

"Oh hey Shane, didn't expect to find anyone in here, this early..."
"It's hardly early Dom, its past 10am already" I laughed despite my head.
"Really? Man it doesn't even feel like I've slept for long...But then mind you we got in a 4am this morning" he chuckled.
"Got in from where..." I asked.

Realization must have dawned on him because he took one look at my inquisitive face and burst out laughing. "Awww that's right you didn't make it out! We went to check out the clubs in town but you fell asleep on the kitchen bench at like 11pm then Randy was nice enough to carry you to you're room ha-ha-ha"
Randy? Oh dear I was worried.

"Don't worry, he didn't do anything to you...Donna went up with him being your roommate she took it upon herself to look out for your back..secretly I think she too was taken by Randy to let any other girl get him ha-ha-ha" I guessed he had seen my worried look when he had mentioned Randy but on hearing what he had to say I burst out laughing right along with him.
"Thanks for the update Dom; I hope you guys had a good night out though...Hope I didn't kill anyone's buzz"

"Nah it was all good...and yeah it was good night" his Cheshire cat grin more than said what he had gotten up to the night before. "Me and Logan managed to pick up a few fly hunnies to bring back and join us in the hot tub". I rolled my eyes and laughed with him. These guys would make great friends I thought, but lousy boyfriends. It was ok with me because I didn't intend on getting close to any of these boys, I was still a virgin and wanted to go out and find the right sort of guy to be with.
"Too bad you didn't make it out but don't fret they'll be more nights to come" Dom smiled "Man these Californian girls are so hot, we should hit the beach today and you girls can work on your tan huh, waju think?"

Of course it was another opportunity for the boys to check out girls in bikinis but the idea didn't seem so bad to me especially with the hangover I was having. Any activity that required minimal amount of movement was what I wanted.
"You know what Dom, greeeeeeat idea!" I exclaimed.
"Cool" he jumped up making for the stairs, "I'll just get the others up huh!" he shouted over his shoulder.
I quickly cleaned up after myself and went back upstairs to get ready.

"Ugggh too much sun, I hate you guys for making me get up....everything's too bright!" Honour whined.
"Blame Dom and Shane they're the ones who came up with the great idea, anyway Honour that's what you get for downing too many tequila shots last night at the club" Donna replied.

"I don't mind actually, I really needed to work on my tan anyway" chimed Ash.
We girls were sprawled out on beach chairs out at Sunnyside Beach watching the many people who had come down to the Oceanside to surf, swim, flirt and so on. There were girls with bikinis so small you wondered if they belonged to their little sisters; there were also guys in beach shorts trying to impress these bikini clad girls; some older people had brought their families and friends to just simply soak up the sun and swim. The boys had taken off to go play beach volleyball with a bunch of other people around our age group. There were also a bunch of girls there too vying for the attention of our male counterparts. The boys were loving the attention they were getting. Donna and Ash were looking at the going ons with looks of disapproval, but Honour and I really knew they were looks of jealousy ha-ha-ha.

"You know those boys can be so naïve sometimes, and stupid I might add" Donna made her jealousy known. She had spent the night before in Randy's bed again which explained her absence from her own bed when I had woken up. Apparently they had practically made out at the club until a bouncer had evicted them because she was almost naked on the dance floor thanks to Randy's attempts. No one had known where they had gone to afterwards but Dom had made it known to everyone that he couldn't any sleep because of all the noise they had been making in the bed next to his. Randy on the other hand had teased Dom about how he had two girls in the hot tub with him the night before. It was funny listening to them picker at each other, they were so immature.

"Tell me about it" Ash replied. She was still sour over Dom dumping her.

"Those girls are such sluts huh" she continued.. Honor and I looked at each other, and we burst out laughing.
"Whaaaat?" exclaimed Ash. Then realizing what she had just said she burst out laughing with us. "Ok ok be quiet I know, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" she laughed.
"Im going over there, you guys wanna join me?" Donna was up in a second readjusting her bikini top so that it looked more revealing.
"Nah I just need to chill thanks you go ahead" I replied.
"Yeah me too" Honor chipped in.

"Ok then see you guys later" and she was off. We watched her make her way across the sand, swinging her hips and tossing her head. She was a real looker that one and I noticed a lot of guys stop to check her out. She made her way straight to Randy who was talking to a cute blonde in a yellow bikini. She was a cute girl but next to Donna she paled in comparison. Randy immediately ignored the little blonde and turned to greet Donna. After exchanging a few words he grabbed her hand and they walked off together down the beach. We all knew what effect Donna had on Randy, he was mesmerized by her.

I must've closed my eyes for a few minutes because I fell asleep and woke up to a chill. Most of the people had gone home and looking at my watch I saw that the time was 5pm. I was asleep for 4 hours! Man I must've been tired. Happily though my hangover had passed and I was feeling like myself again. The others were picking their stuff up getting ready to head home (its only a 2min walk).

"Heeeey sleepyhead you're awake!" Dom was standing over me with a grin on his face. "Youre such a cutie pie when you're sleeping" he teased. I blushed and quickly got up. I could tell he was pulling my leg but all the same, I didn't hear too many guys pay me compliments, even if they were womanizing lunatics like Dom. I playfully punched him on the arm and we ran over to catch up with the others who were already making their way back to the house.

"We're going out again tonight you should come along now check out the nightlife around here, since you missed out last night" Logan said
After last night I wasn't really keen on drinking again tonight "Naaaah I think I'll take a walk around town tonight and see the city views by myself"
"Oh ok well guess you're right, plenty other nights to go out and have fun huh" he smiled and turned to Dom to make their plans for the night ahead.

Everyone except myself left the house at 8 pm to head to town. Matt who had friends who lived in town had been invited to a house party by them and had left two hours before everyone else. I didn't mind staying home alone. I knew I had the camera crew with me. They were staying in the house nextdoor. Some had gone to town with the rest of my housemates so that they could film there too.

"Hey Logan! C'mon man hurry it up in there some of us gotta take a shower too!" Dom and the others were getting impatient. Logan had been in the bathroom for an hour doing his hair. It had been amusing watching them all run around getting ready. Surprisingly the girls Ash Hon and Donna were ready first. The boys on the other hand took ages. Randy was polishing his shoes, Logan was still working on his hair and Dom had still not decided on what to wear.

"I just can't go in there looking like the rest of those chumps! Gotta stand out man" this was Dom. Surprisingly Dom had turned out to be the ladies man despite Randy's previous claims on the title. Honour had mentioned the bunch of girls vying for Dom's attention the night before, very few had noticed Randy. I guess this was why he clung to Donna. It seemed Randy had been all talk while Dom really brought the action. It was Dom who had the words. Dom who the other guys looked up to (just by how Logan followed him around)... Dom who had the looks and the charm. Dom who could woo any woman walking on the street. Dom who had the nice eyes, the dazzling smile, the well toned arms....Just thinking back to how we had spoken in the morning, hearing his laugh, looking in his eyes.... OMG what was I thinking? If I wasn't mistaken, I was quite sure I had been fantasizing about Dominic Ortiz!! Something in me had stirred when his face came into my mind.

Realization dawned on , I WAS FALLING FOR DOMINIC ORTIZ!! Oh no I thought but it was clear and I couldn't deny it. He had grown on me the past week and I was totally oblivious to it. But now, with time to think on my own it had dawned on me. I had never really fallen for a guy before, no one had really caught my eye, so this took me by surprise. But I didn't want this to happen. Dom was the wrong type of guy. He was not the committed type and I knew I would just get my heart broken. I felt saddened and suddenly wished I hadn't come to LA. I was falling for a guy who didn't reciprocate my feelings and was probably never going to.