“Half the fun is not remembering though,” Isaiah admitted, shrugging his shoulders, but ultimately letting it go. It wouldn’t make a fun vacation if he got into a fight with the one person he came all the way to Hawaii for.
As Maya walked over to her closet, Isaiah realized how much he under-packed. It wasn’t until the last minute that he decided he wanted to come anyways, and after begging Gage to buy him a ticket, Isaiah just shoved a bunch of shorts and a few decent t-shirts into his suitcase and called it a day. He wasn’t even sure what he’d wear to the bonfire later, but if worst came to worst, he’d just go shirtless. Though he’d been drinking and abusing drugs, he’d also been working out pretty heavily and he was getting pretty ripped. A large part of his ego was rooted in his appearance, and he liked being a pretty boy who could get any girl he wanted at any given party. His body count was climbing up pretty close to the fifty mark, which was a little shocking seeing as he’d go through phases of being panicked and unable to finish, but a majority of the time he was hammered, able to get it up, and selfish in the bedroom. He was most certainly the type of guy who’d tell you he was going to retrieve you a towel once you were done fooling around together, and leave you upstairs at the party as he went back down to play another round of beer pong with his friends. Isaiah was problematic. Moreover, he was just a problem in general, and a part of him knew whatever he and Maya got into wouldn’t end happily. None of his relationships ever had before.
“I’d play dress-up for you, but I legit packed nothing, so,” He folded his arms across his chest, picking at some of his sunburned, pealing skin on his shoulder as Maya laid out a few different outfits.
Isaiah wasn’t the kind of guy who got excited over seeing girls in different clothes, but he always remembered what Noa wore when they conceived the triplets. He wished he didn’t think about her then in that very moment, but he did. She’d been so nervous and thrilled for their hotel rendezvous that she wore this black, lacy matching bra and panties set for Isaiah to see her in. Looking back, he was so stirred up to see her in it then, but now, it seemed so corny. At the type of parties he went to, he was surprised if the girls were even wearing underwear. Before he could spiral any more about Noa or begin to wonder what the triplets were doing, Maya snapped Isaiah back into his reality. His charming, warm, inviting reality.
“Yeah, I can unhook it with my eyes closed and with one hand actually,” He played, “I’m kinda an expert.” He attempted to unhook her top with only one of his hands, got suddenly nervous and failed miserably, “Alright, maybe not an expert yet.” Isaiah caved and used both of his hands, brushing Maya’s hair from her back so he could get the top part unhooked too. Her body was perfectly tanned and the part that had been under her bathing suit top was so pale white that it was cute. Isaiah was sure her butt looked pale like that little girl who was on the popular sunscreen bottles and he smiled to himself at the thought of it. “I can leave if you wanna change…” He said. He wasn’t really sure why he said it, because a big part of him wanted to stay. “Or, you know, you might need help with other stuff and I wanna help you pick out the best outfit so I’ll just…turn around? Yeah. I’ll just turn around.”
“You know,” Maya started. They were back to back at that point. He had just unhooked her bathing suit top, and it was only hanging on by the straps that went over her shoulders. Her bikini bottoms were still on, and she held her hands over the jewel on her necklace. It was a necklace her father had given to her for her thirteenth birthday. It was her last gift before her entire world changed, and she still had it. Oliver always questioned why, but she loved it. It reminded her of simplicity. Of good things. Of life before the worst of the world’s sins. “You know, I don’t mind if you see me naked,” Maya said. She was timid at first, but then she dropped her bikini top, embracing her tanned, toned body. “I’m not embarrassed by my body.”
That wasn’t a complete lie. Maya wasn’t embarrassed by her body, but she was insecure. She was nervous to be seen in absolutely nothing. The worst parts of her life were connected to her naked, vulnerable body, and trying to embrace her body for what it was, now being an adult, was incredibly difficult. One thing she knew for sure was that if anyone got the opportunity to see her naked, she would want to give that opportunity to Isaiah. It wasn’t that he had earned it, necessarily, but she did trust him. There was something about him that, as wild as he was, still held innocence. And it was the same sort of innocence Maya had. It was like there was little-Isaiah still living inside of him, needing help, needing to be protected. Maya felt little, still. She felt like a little girl, and she thought Isaiah still felt like a little boy sometimes.
She picked her white sundress up off the bed, and started to pull it over her head. She wondered if Isaiah was looking yet, but she pulled off her bikini bottoms anyways and nearly flashed herself in the mirror by throwing her bathing suit bottoms up to her hand from her foot. “Okay, look” Maya said. “I actually really like this. It makes me look a lore more tan than I am.” Maya met Isaiah’s eyes through the mirror. “Do you like it?” She posed and raised her eyebrows at him, playfully. “You can’t even tell I’m not wearing any underwear.” She made a playful face. “Should I put some on or should this just be our little secret?” Maya giggled and for a moment, thought of Ollie. He’d be there in the morning, and then all of the teasing Isaiah would have to end. If Oliver was to show up, he didn’t need to see his little sister like that with Isaiah, of all people. “Come here,” she pulled him over to the mirror so she could look at both of them. “You’ll gotta wear khaki sorts and light color top if you really wanna look like we’re going together...”
It wasn’t that Maya cared about appearances, but she did grow up where appearances were everything. Her hair was always combed. She always had makeup on. She never repeated outfits to public events. She wore her first pair of heels at eight (they were just kitten heels), and at nine, she learned how to step out of a car in a dress. Maya learned how to address the press in interviews. She knew how to address the camera so that she was perceived in the correct light. Though, what she was learning now, she was the daughter of a republican senator, and she was very much not a republican. It would make her father shake in his boots. “I heard you kissed Birdie,” Maya blurted. “Avalon mentioned it a few weeks ago. Sweet of you to be her first kiss.” And while she was feeling really bold, she winked at him, “Maybe you can be mine tonight too.”
