Chapter 64 - Time Is Gold

While James was walking back to the villa, he decided to send a text message to Ava. Although he knew better to just continue with what he was doing, he couldn't help himself. He wasn't sure yet what he was feeling towards her; all he knew was that he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

*Ding!* Ava's phone inside her shorts' pocket made a noise then vibrated. It was loud enough for her to hear, although they were in a game. She raised her hand to stop the game. "One sec. I'll be right back!" She hollered as she went to sit on one of the beach chairs.

Everyone decided to take a break for a drink and go to the restroom. 

Still panting, trying to catch her breath, she checked to see who sent her a message. When she saw that it was James, she briskly read it. Her eyes were smiling as she read the message. 

James: [If you're free later before dinner, would you like to play a game? It's been a while since we played.]

She contemplated replying, unsure if she would be able to play since Arria just arrived and her parents would expect her to spend some family bonding time. She sighed, uncertain of what to do.

While she was still contemplating, Arria returned from using the restroom and sat down in the vacant seat next to her. She then grabbed one of the bottles of water that were on the table while trying to sneak a peek at Ava's phone.

Ava quickly locked her phone and put it inside her shorts pocket. 

"So, what do you think of Stonasia so far?" Ava asked Arria purely for conversation.

Arria's eyes were shining brightly as she responded, "It's beautiful! It's too bad I'm not invited to the gala." Her face showed disappointment. 

"Did you try asking mom or dad if they could ask aunt Alexa? I mean, just because you didn't receive an invitation does not mean you can't come." She said sincerely; what she said brightened Arria's face once again.

"You're right! I'm going to ask mom now to call aunt Alexa while we still have time to get me a ball gown." She promptly got up and bent to hug Ava before leaving without saying goodbye.

===

James was already back in his room, seated on top of his bed, waiting for Ava to reply. 

Nothing! 

After 15 minutes and still not receiving a text back from Ava, he decided to shower to cool off and planned to take a nap before dinner.

At the same time, Ava decided to call him instead of texting back. She wanted to hear big brother's voice. But, unfortunately, when they were around one another the past few days, there were always other people with them, and they never had another chance to converse.

However, James was already in the shower; he didn't hear his phone ringing and missed her call…

===

Ava was disappointed when he didn't answer her call. She thought he might not want to speak with her. So since he seemed not to want to talk to her, she decided not to respond to the text he sent either.

She turned off her phone and put it back inside her shorts' pocket. She then put on her sunglasses, leaned back on the beach chair before closing her eyes. She wanted to clear her mind off of 'big brother James.'

Ava almost dozed off when she felt someone sat down on the vacant chair next to her. She wanted to open her eyes and check if James came back but decided against it. Then she heard a voice.

"Ava, would you like to go for a stroll? The sun is going down already, and it's not too hot. What do you think?" It was Ashton with two dented dimples and two rows of white teeth showing while waiting for her to reply.

When she didn't respond after a moment, he was going to repeat his question again. However, Jeffrey, Pearl, and Akira came back with some sliced fruits and cold drinks.

"Ava, Asthon! You guys should try these; the tropical fruits are so sweet and fresh." Pearl joyfully offered them while munching on some as she laid the plate down on the table.

With everyone arriving, Ashton's plan of inviting Ava to take a stroll was interrupted. Instead, he turned his attention to Pearl.

"Oh, that looks good." He took one using his hand and put it in his mouth. That earned a dirty look from Jeffrey. "Man, use a fork, why don't you! Yuck!" He said while rolling his eyes.

Ashton was embarrassed by the way Jeffrey mocked him, but he didn't show it. Instead, he grabbed a fork and continued eating.

Ava couldn't fall back asleep anymore. She slowly moved her arms up to stretch them. She then took off her sunglasses and acted surprised that everyone was back. "Oh, I can't believe I dozed off! What do you have here?" She then checked out the various types of sliced tropical fruits in the middle of the table.

"Is it sweet?" She was looking at Ashton innocently.

Ashton was stunned momentarily. When he got back to his senses, he rapidly took one fruit and tried to feed Ava with it. "Yes, it's sweet. Here, try it!" His hand holding the fork reached Ava's mouth.

Since he was kind and sweet, Ava opened her mouth and accepted the sliced fruit without hesitation. "Thank you! You don't have to feed me, though. I know how to feed myself." She said kindly so that she wouldn't offend his kind gesture.

"I know, I just wanted to..." He was saying. But Akira decided to play cupid.

"He just wanted to share the fork he had been using. Like an indirect kiss. Hahaha!" She joked, then smacked Jeffrey on his back so hard that he almost choked on the fruit that he was eating.

"Akira!" Both Ashton and Ava glared at her after shouting simultaneously.

Unknown to them that Pearl suddenly became quiet. She was sulking because she could see now with her own eyes that Ashton liked Ava, and so did James. She wasn't jealous of Ava; she just wanted attention from her idol... Ashton.

~~~o~~~

Author's note:

Thank you, all the readers of the story. I hope you're enjoying the story so far as much as I'm enjoying writing it. 

We will be moving forward very soon once the Gala was over. Just to let you know in case it's getting boring for all of you already.

Any comments, reviews, gifts are all appreciated. It will keep me motivated to continue writing.

Thank you!

AJZHEN