62"Come on, Charlie. We're gonna be late!" Mandy said as she jumped out of Charlie's car and ran to the trunk. She grabbed her luggage and walked quickly toward the entrance of the airport.
Charlie took her bags and closed the trunk. She locked her car and followed Mandy's lead. "Wait up! We're not late, don't worry!" She was finally caught up with her sister.
"Flight 752 boarding now."
"I told you we were late. Come on. We're almost there," Mandy said as she walked a little faster.
Mandy and Charlie boarded the airplane and sat in their assigned seats.
"Told you we weren't late," Charlie said, smirking.
Mandy pretended to ignore Charlie as she put her seat belt on. She put her head phones on as the airplane took off. Mandy had never liked flying. She had been traveling to places every summer with her family since she was three, but when she got older, she was not keen on being on an airplane.
Charlie, on the other hand, had only been on an airplane twice in her entire seventeen years of life. Every time their family was planning on a vacation, she always got sick and had to stay with her aunt. Charlie didn't have a fear of flying. She didn't really have a fear of anything. Charlie was the easy going one, but Mandy was the uptight one.
This summer, the twins were given the opportunity to go on a vacation to anywhere they liked. Without parents. They had always dreamed of going to one of the Florida's beaches, so that was where they chose to go.
When the airplane landed, Charlie and Mandy fixed their hair, grabbed their purses, and stood up. They waited until most of the people passed their seats to start walking towards the exit of the plane.
In the Tampa International Airport, Charlie and Mandy rented a convertible Mercedes CLK. They left the airport when they were done with the paperwork and headed toward Ana Maria Island in Bradenton. They were staying at the Marriott Hotel.
"Whoa!" Charlie ran towards the balcony once Mandy opened their room door. "Look at the view, Mandy! It's so ... there's no word to describe it." She turned around and saw her sister, wide-eyed, glanced around the room. There was a wide screen TV in front of the leather couch, a loveseat by it, and a small kitchen. A chandelier hung from the ceiling over the dining table. It felt like they were in an actual house and not a hotel room.
"I can't believe Mom and Dad got this for us," Mandy said and sat on the couch and sighed.
"Yeah, I know. We're spoiled." Charlie shrugged and smiled mischievously. "Come on, Mandy. Lighten up! We're on a vacation! And we're going to college next year!"
Mandy got up and grinned. "You know what. You're right. We deserve this after all the hard work in school. Or at least," she smiled. "I do."
Charlie playfully punched her arm. "Hey, it's not my fault that I'm not as studious as you are. But hey, I had the boys to make up for that." They laughed together.
During their high school years, Charlie had had many guys after her while Mandy spent most of her times in the library. Their parents always thought they would rub off a little off each other, but they never did. It wasn't that Mandy wasn't pretty. They were identical twins. Or it wasn't that Charlie wasn't as smart. They just had different interests.
Mandy and Charlie hugged each other and jumped up and down in excitement.
"So what do you wanna do? It's only three," Charlie informed her sister. Before Mandy had the chance to speak, Charlie spoke her mind. "Why don't we hit the beach." It was more of a sentence than a question.
Mandy and Charlie dragged both their luggage in their room. They dropped their belongings when they opened the French doors. The bedroom was about the same size as the living room and there were two twin beds separated by a nightstand that held a telephone and a lamp. To the left, there was a Jacuzzi and two sinks. Charlie opened the bathroom door and ironically, it was quite small. There was only a shower stall and toilet. Charlie closed the door and looked at Mandy. Just then, the telephone rang and they both jumped. Mandy picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, honey. How do you like it?" It was her mom. "Is Charlie already relaxing?" She could hear her dad laugh at the background.
"Mom, you know you didn't have to get us this hotel room," Mandy said in a hushed voice.
"Hey, I figured I give my daughters the best for their first vacation away from us. We miss you already."
"We miss you too," Mandy told her mom.
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Hold on, your father wants to talk to you."
Her dad got on the phone and said, "How are my little princesses enjoying their luxury?"
Mandy sat on one of the beds and leaned her head against the headboard. "Dad, one of your little princesses is enjoying too much of it. You and Mom really spoil us, you know that?"
As if right on queue, Charlie let out a whoop and yelled, "We have satellite!"
"Dad, how much did you guys pay for this room? I shouldn't even call it a room. It's more of a house or something."
"Just enjoy it, honey, while you can."
There was a slight pause and she heard her mom say, "Let the kids have their fun, Mike."
"Well, I guess that's my queue to go. Have fun, honey." There was a click at the end of the line, followed by a dial tone.
'Just enjoy it, honey, while you can.'
Mandy wondered what her dad meant by that. She didn't have much time to think. Charlie propped her bag on her bed and began unpacking in the closet on her side of the room. She left one of her many bathing suits on the bed and put everything else away. By the time Charlie was done, Mandy forced herself to carry her luggage and picked out one bathing suit. She chose a red Hawaiian top with one of her black bottoms. Charlie came out of the bathroom with a baby blue bikini bottom and a darker shade of blue top.
"Hurry up, Mandy." Charlie exited their room and went out on the balcony. The view was magnificent. Charlie thought it would look better at night with the stars in the sky and a guy to cuddle with. Pushing the thought away, Charlie looked straight ahead. She could easily see the blue of the ocean and kids playing in the water. Charlie spotted a few guys huddled up as if forming a plan. When they separated, she realized they were playing football.
Mandy stepped out of the room with two towels in her hand and some sunscreen lotion. "Charlie, unless you want to get burned, I suggest we put some sunscreen lotion on."
Charlie went back in the room and locked the sliding door to the balcony. She sat on the loveseat and applied some sunscreen to the exposed skin on her body. When Mandy and Charlie were done, they grabbed one towel each. Mandy took the room key from the counter top by the door and the sisters headed down to the beach.
Right when they were standing on sand, both girls took their flip flops off and walked barefooted, feeling the hot sand between their toes. Mandy and Charlie found a quiet spot and laid their towels down. They lay on their stomach, letting their backs burn first.
After thirty minutes, Charlie looked up and saw two guys walking past them. She waved at them and gave them a sweet smile. They just looked at her like she was an alien and passed her without a second glance. Charlie just shrugged and turned to lie on her back. Mandy did the same and looked at Charlie.
"Did two guys just walk by you without saying 'hi'?" Mandy asked.
"Yeah, pretty funny, huh?" Charlie said.
"That must've been the first."
"Yup, it was."
Mandy closed her eyes and asked, "So how did it feel?"
Charlie thought for a while and replied, "Fine."
They went back to concentrating on tanning their bodies. Charlie sat up and noticed the same two guys walking by them again.
"Mandy, go and talk to them," Charlie suggested.
"No! I don't even think they're cute," Mandy protested.
"Please. Do it for me?" Charlie urged. She put on her puppy face on.
Mandy looked at the guys and stood up. The guys looked at her as she kept walking. "Hey, what's up?" Mandy stood there looking at one of the guys. She was eager to go back to the hotel room and take a shower.
The guys looked at her and looked past her at Charlie. She shyly waved at them. One of the guys ignored Mandy and said to his friend, "Come on, I forgot something at the hotel." Both the guys walked away from Mandy without saying a word to her. She just turned around and walked towards Charlie.
"Hey, that was definitely new for me. The first time I approach guys, they reject me. What a nice experience," Mandy said sarcastically as she picked up her towel and shook it to get the sand off. She slipped her feet in her flip flops and said to Charlie, "You ready to go? I could use a shower right about now."
Charlie got up as well and picked everything up. As they were walking back towards to hotel, a group of teenagers were walking towards the beach.
Charlie stared right into the eyes of one of the guys and said, "Hey. What's your name?"
Several girls snickered and rolled their eyes while the guy Charlie spoke to completely ignored her. He kept talking to one of the girls and put his arm on her shoulder.
"Omgosh. They've rejected me twice in a day! In a row! I can't believe it. What's wrong with me? Do I have anything on my face?" Charlie said as she caught up with Mandy. "Are you listening to me?"
"It's not the end of the world, Charlie," Mandy simply said as she kept her eyes straight forward.
They entered the elevator in the hotel and Mandy pressed '7'. Charlie was silent all the way up until they got to their room. She went over to her purse in their room and took her cell phone out.
"Look at that!" She showed Mandy what was displayed on the cell phone. At least five guys from their hometown called her. "Urgh!" She lay down on her bed and hit her head hard on the soft mattress.
"We can go out tomorrow and you can try your luck again," Mandy suggested. She went in the bathroom and turned on the water.
"I'm not going back out there tomorrow," Charlie muttered under her breath. "This is probably the worst day of my life." She listened to the messages on her phone and it didn't cheer her up at all. One of her friends had called her and informed her that she had gotten together with a guy in England. One of the guys cancelled their date in the future because he was going out with another girl. Charlie went out to the balcony and sat on one of the cushioned chair. As she gazed out into the ocean, she allowed sleep to come over her.