//chapter//\\eight\\

The pool scene was OK. There was a very hot lifeguard watching the pool. Unfortunately, he was about five years too old for the girls, but that wouldn't stop Katie.

"Hey!" she called. "How's it goin'?"

He looked down, saw her, then, he turned back to pool.

"Well, fine!" she cried. "Fuck you too!" "Chin up, Katie. All the lifeguards here are jerks. Trust me, I know." Malory said frowning. "At least he didn't, like, yell at you, or anything."

"Yeah, I guess so. There are many more fish in the sea." Katie said with a smile returning to her face as she spotted two more hunny's across the pool.

"But, man! That one's got some FINE fins!" Malory said, checking out the lifeguard one more time. Katie laughed and gave Malory a elbow to the side.

"Guys! Come here! Hurry!" Jenni cried. She seemed to be trying to yell and whisper at the same time. She gathered them over by the waterfall where they had a direct view of the darkened beach through the arched door.

"What's up?" Jenica asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Look over there! On the beach! The four guys! I think it's the Moffatts!" Jenni whispered.

"Are you serious!?!?" Malory asked, craning her neck to when she already knew that she wouldn't be able to see anything. They were in a very bright area and the beach was not lit up at all, so it would make it incredibly difficult to see anything.

"DON'T LOOK! They might know that we've seen them and run away! I'm sure that they don't want a mob following them." Jenni said, still whispering.

"So, what do we do?" Malory asked. "Even if they aren't the Moffatts, they're still fair game. That would be kinda cool, though. If there was, like, four of them and four of us and we each got together with one of them."

"I vote that we get out of the pool, dry off, and head their way. We have to at least see if it's them. I mean, it wouldn't be a weird thing for them to be here since they're giving a concert in two days. Who knows? They might be staying at this very resort instead of staying at, like, a regular hotel, or something." Katie said, heading for the side of the pool. They hopped out and headed for the beach. Less than a minute had passed by, but the four guys that Jenni had seen were already gone.

Katie looked up and whispered, "There they go! Across the bridge. Let's follow them!" Katie started doing all of these ninja moves and humming the Mission: Impossible theme music. Jenica soon joined in. Malory and Jenni simply followed them, laughing the whole way.

"You were right, Jenni. When we saw them on the bridge, I thought that they looked like the Moffatts, too." Malory said as Katie did a spin around kick, right between Malory and Jenni.

"Katie! Stop!" Jenni said as she continued to keep an eye out for the four guys. The girls reached the island but they didn't know which path to take. They decided to split up. Jenni and Katie would take the side with the playground. They were going in a pair because the playground had a lot more ground to cover. Malory chose the path with the bird manageress, while Jenica was left with the path that went straight through to the other side. The dense forest of bamboo between the paths would prevent the girls from alerting the others without the guys figuring out that they were being followed. So, they decided that, once they finished walking along their paths, they would meet on the other side of the island and report their findings to the others. It was agreed and they split up. Katie and Jenni began searching the playground. They found themselves in complete darkness and tripping over the playground equipment.

"You'd think that they would have some lights out here, or something." Katie said as she sat down to rub her skinned knee. "This is dangerous."

"I'm surprised that they would keep it pitch black like this." Jenni replied. "Aren't they afraid that some kid might fall and break their head open?"

Suddenly, Katie screamed.

"What's wrong?!?!" Jenni cried in alarm.

"Sorry." Katie whispered. "I fell. That hurt!"

"Well, I bet those guys know that they are being followed, now, huh?" Jenni said, helping Katie to her feet.

"Sorry Jenni. I wasn't expecting to fall, and when I did, I just couldn't help myself." Katie said.

"Come on. They aren't here. Maybe Mal or Jen found them."

Meanwhile, Malory walked on the very thin path finding nobody around except for the exotic birds in their cages. The birds would squawk at her as she passed but she paid them no mind. She then heard a scream and she stopped dead in her tracks. She knew just who it was, but what could have happened to make Katie scream? Malory felt the sudden urge to hurry. What if Katie had found the Moffatts, but, more importantly, what if she were hurt? Malory hurried toward the end of her path.

Jenica was the first to the other side of the island, and she, too, had seen absolutely nothing. She, then, heard Katie scream and became worried. She had just begun debating inside herself, as to weather she should find out what happened to Katie or if she should wait for Malory, when Malory came running around the corner towards her. Malory had to climb over a small gate that had been closing off her path, then jog over to Jenica.

"Did you hear that scream?" Jenica asked.

"Yeah, I heard it. Do you know why she screamed?" asked Malory.

"No." Jenica replied as she turned to look towards Katie and Jenni's path. Finally, Katie and Jenni came around the corner of their path to find themselves facing a small gate like the one that had been closing off the path that Malory had been on.

"Why is there a gate?" Jenni asked as she helped Katie over and then began lifting herself over.

"Because the playground and the path that I was on are closed after dark." Malory explained. "Now, Katie. Why did you scream?"

"Oh... well, look." Katie said as she showed her friend the cut on her knee along with all of the other bruises that she had gotten on the playground.

Once all of the girls had gathered, they told each other their findings, (which didn't take very long) and sadly began crossing the second bridge, heading back towards their rooms.

It's too bad that we didn't get a closer look at them. I wonder if they noticed that we were following them. Maybe that's how they gave us the slip. They hid." Katie said.

"Come on, Katie. We aren't even sure if it was the Moffatts. Jenni, don't looks so sad. It probably wasn't them. With our luck, anyway. Just try to remember that we are gonna be seeing them in precisely forty-six hours and two minutes." Malory said, looking at her watch.

Jenni smiled a little bit and said, "I'm not sad. You're probably right. It probably wasn't them. And besides, If it was just four guys, maybe we'll run into them again and get hooked up."

"We can try out the bench under the waterfall that Mal showed us." said Jenica, smiling mischievously.

"Oh please, Jen. Your Mom would freak if she ever found out." Malory said.

"So we'll just have to make sure that she doesn't find out." Jenica said. "I mean, we're over a thousand miles from our hometown, which I like to call, Hicksville, IL."

"Hey. Can we stop by the beach on the way back to our rooms." Katie interrupted. "I'd like to try out one of those comfy looking hammocks they got over there."

"Alright. Anyone not want to?" Malory asked. "OK. No answer. I guess we are then."

Then, after a slight pause, Malory said, "Oh crap-kabobs! What time is it?" she looked at her watch and said, "It's 8:59. Hurry, guys. Too the beach!" She started walking briskly towards the beach.

"Why did you want to know what time it was so bad?" Katie called after her, but Malory was already walking across the white sand beach and she didn't hear Katie's question. The other three soon joined Malory and were taking turns swinging each other really high on the massive hammock. Suddenly, the whole sky was lit up and there was a loud booming noise. Jenica, Jenni, and Katie looked to where Malory was pointing and watched the beautiful fireworks cascading across the darkened sky.

"You knew they were gonna go off, huh?" Katie asked. When Malory nodded, Katie asked, "Where are they coming from?"

"Epcot has fireworks every night at 9:00. That's why I wanted you guys to hurry. So that we would have a good view." Malory explained.

The fireworks ended at 9:30 and the girls decided to head back to the room, get dressed, and go back down to Port Royale since Rick had told them that they didn't officially have to be back at the room until midnight.