“Ah, but we're not going to the beach. Too crowded. Instead, I willI will show you a very, very secret and special place. Come on! Wikiwiki!” She twirled out of his grasp with fluid movement so that his fingers trailed her lower back to her side to her stomach. Grinning, she grabbed him by the hand and tugged him over to her ATV, pushing him into the seat before sitting in front of him. Just in time, because her father had only just gotten out of his car. He lifted a brow but said nothing as his daughter waved in a hurried fashion before taking off with the suit wearing young man. If walking was what Gray wanted to do then he'd get plenty of it on their hike to the grotto. She smiled as the wind hit her face, standing up as she sped up a little, swerving around curves and whooping loudly. She was headed northwest, moving away from the city area. The fauna was growing more dense as she turned onto a dirt trail. She showed no signs of slowing down even though the ATV nearly toppled a couple of times because of her sharp turns. She knew what she was doing!
Having been laughing for a while, she finally pulled into a group of large leaves off the beaten path where she parked the ATV. Sliding off, she motioned for Gray to follow before grabbing his hand and tugging him along. Twigs crunched and mud smushed under her feet as they went further into the Hawaiian jungle. “Hold on!” She stopped and moved behind him, jumping onto his back and using her knees to hold herself there. Covering his eyes, she smiled. “Okay, you go!” The sound of loud, rushing, roaring water alerted them that their destination was near.
One moment they had been peacefully walking, the next he was being tugged along behind her. She was grinning wickedly at him and he couldn't help but grin back, it was just so contagious. The next thing he knew was that he was straddling the ATV and was left to grab on to Noa from behind lest he suffer cracking his skull on the ground. As they sped from the city they nearly fell over several times. He wasn't so sure how Noa had gotten her license for the machine at this point because if it wasn't for him shifting his weight, they surely would of fallen. Surely enough he trusted her more than he trusted most.
Grey had no idea where they were headed but he accepted it with an enthusiastic grin on his face. He was always up for new adventures, even in the thickness of greenery now surrounding them. When they had finally stopped and she began tugging on him again he complied and allowed her to pull him. Wearing a suit and dress shoes was not the outfit for this occasion. Absentmindedly he thought to his $600 shoes, grimacing at the fresh coat of mud on them. So much for looking professional. The further they moved into the jungle, the more anxious he was feeling. "Noa, where are you taking me?" When she hopped on his back, he easily supported her weight. The sound of the crashing water ahead of them made him think, Waterfall?
With one arm he held her to him and with his other he reached for her hands to pry his eyes free. The sight before him left him breathless. It was simply amazing. Honestly, this island would never cease to leave him stunned. Looking over his shoulder he smirked, "What now, chéri?"
“Now, we climb.”
Noa returned his smirk with a grin of her own, pressing her nose against his so that their faces were inches apart. “You might want to change your clothes. I will pay for cleaning.” Giggling, she kissed his nose before shimmying down and waltzing off toward the waterfall. The sight was nothing new to her but it still absolutely blew her mind. She threw her head back, giving a loud “Wooooo!” that reverberated and made her smile larger.
She let her backpack slide from her shoulders, catching it just before it hit the ground. She'd be quite bereft if her sandwiches smushed or her whiskey bottle cracked before they were even touched. After removing her sweats to reveal the matching bottoms to her too, the gray lazy pants went into her backpack and her backpack was tucked within some large leaves. Noa stood with her upper body twisted to view Gray behind her, hands on her hips. “Hurry. I will climb without you, haole.” Despite the name she called him she spoke in a teasing manner, assuring him that she meant no offense. Instead, she strode over to the suit clad young man and gently grabbed the lapels of his jacket, giving her most exaggeratedly saturated flirtatious smile and shoulder shimmy. “Unless you need help.”
She's such a tease, he thought with a smile as she pressed her face to his and kissed his nose. After her comment about him needing help he responded. "I only want help if it involves you helping me undress," he said with a quick wink. Lazily he reached for his tie and loosened it. Reaching up he grabbed her nose and squeezed it, like you would a small child, and twisted away from her to remove the rest of his clothing. Taking his coat off, he gingerly placed it on a low hanging branch. Even if he had a million other suit jackets, he really liked this one. Next was his shirt. He tried hastily to unbutton each button. This, this was one of the reasons he hated dressing professionally, it took so long to disrobe and was generally frustrating when he had a waiting woman on his bed.
As soon as he had the top portion of his clothes off, he began to unbutton his pants. "No peeking," he warned her teasingly. He honestly didn't care if she saw him stark naked. He wasn't ashamed of any part of his body, rather he was pretty cocky about it. Quickly dropping his pants, he slipped his swim shorts that he had brought with him, over his boxers. He was weird like that, layering his swim shorts with boxers, it was just always a quirk of his. Finally ready he returned back to her side, "Ladies first."
“Just try to keep up!”
Noa hadn't peeked, instead blushing at the idea. She only turned when he announced being ready, offering him a smile before taking off to the right. With relative ease she was able to grapple with the perfect hand and footholds that were molded permanently into the reddish brown stone from centuries of others clambering to the top for the thrill of jumping down. She had to hold a bit tighter as the roaring water got louder to her left, spraying her and making it just a bit more difficult to steady herself. The top wasn't too far off and she easily hoisted herself up with a vine.
Turning and kneeling, she got a look at the water crashing down and creating a beautiful number of rainbows. Smiling, she offered her hand down to Gray, leaning over a bit more. “The view is great, huh?” The twinkle in her eye hinted at the double meaning as she grabbed his hand and pulled, a lot stronger than she looked.
Grey had been behind her the whole time, just below climbing where she had once been. So when she had mentioned how great the view was he responded, "It sure was- I mean is!" he finished quickly. After all, her derrière wasn't such an awful view; It was obvious she worked out.
Finally at level with her, he had to admit, she was tougher than she looked, he looked about him. The contrast of the colors from the foliage around them, the rocks, and the water created a kaleidoscope of color. It really was great, he finally allowed to himself. He stood looking down then, "Alright, so I think I should jump first. Ya know, make sure it's safe and shit."
“Don't be such a baby! Come!” Noa made sure she didn't slip on the rocks as water rushed down from the pool of freshwater at the top, grinning. Her hands latched onto Gray's as she made a run for it, throwing them both down the waterfall. The water was warm and them jumping directly into the flow of water only threw them down faster. Noa's squeal of joy from the exhilaration was short lived, cut prematurely by her going under. She had half a mind to hide in the cave behind the waterfall to frighten Gray and make him think she had drowned. But that was just mean. Meaner than throwing him from the top of a waterfall.
Her head broke the surface as she kicked her legs quickly, still holding on to Gray. “That wasn't too bad, was it?” She released him to float on her back, splashing him with her feet. “You sure you'll be able to keep up with me? I don't want to...” She had to pause, her lack of mastery of the English language showing. “Overwhelm you.” She flashed him a smile, turning her head to the side to view him. Water glistening from slightly tanned muscles... Nice.
One moment Gray was overlooking the water, the next he was in it. Breaking through the surface of the water, he cleared the water droplets from his face with his free hand and looked at Noa, "Bad? No. I'm absolutely fine with being cast over a cliff without knowing," he said sarcastically.
When she splashed him he splashed back, but her comment about keeping up proved to tantalizing for him to ignore. "Keep up? Overwhelm me? Honey, is your head screwed on right?" With that he made a lunge for her dragging her under the water, but quickly brought them both back up and held her an arms length away. "Don't go and forget who I am and how unpredictable I can be," he told her sternly, trying to hide his smile but only making him look more boyish with his lopsided grin.
She gave a short scream at being tackled and pulled under but she was clearly enjoying herself. As they came back up she only splashed him again, wriggling out of his grasp and swimming closer to him so that she was leaning against him. “Ah, but you've gotten so predictable. I think you're losing your touch.” She officially issued him a challenge, smirking as she held his gaze, letting her eyes narrow a bit. There was a mocking tone in her voice but still that ever-present twinkle of mischief and teasing dancing in her eyes. “So. Wow me. Unless you've truly gone stale,” she teased some more, patting his cheek in taunting pity, poking her lower lip out in a playful pout.
"Predictable? Ha!" Thinking to himself then, Have I? Then shaking off the thought he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his forehead to hers. Her challenge wasn't going to go unanswered. What had she called him? Stale? No, he was anything but that. Just a hairs breathe away from her pouting lips. "Nah, I'll 'wow' you later." And just like that he released her and swam to the bank where he got out and ran his hand through his sopping wet hair. If she wanted to play this game, then he would to, his way of course. His tactics? Being his charming self of course.
6:28pm; Mano's Place
Mano and his brood along with a collective of the graduating class had truly gone all out for this particular luau. The ceiling was decorated heavily with streamers, banners, and balloons and the black light brought attention to the various designs painted on the patrons. The class wanted to have a paint party but Mano wouldn't allow it unless they were volunteering to clean it all up afterward, so it was settled that they'd have a black and white black light party. Glow sticks, bracelets, and rings of all sorts adorned almost every teen and young adult there as many shimmied their way to the bar and flashed their stamps that proved they were of age. The few haole who managed to either sneak in or snag an invitation seemed rather surprised that such a traditional town wasn't celebrating with some sort of ancient tribal ritual. The only thing tribal were the tattoos, paint jobs, and some of the signs.
The music playing was about as varied as it came, switching from a bubblegum pop beat accompanied with a cute dance to some metal and rock to sick beats that provoked a number of people to start shuffling, break dancing, and gyrating with one another. There were a few parents scattered around the party, lurking in corners and watching the kids like hawks to ensure no horrible shenanigans would take place and watching the bars to make sure the kid they knew was only sixteen wasn't getting any drinks. Despite the luau being advertised as “Graduated Seniors and Guests Only”, some teens managed to get in with their older siblings. Obviously none of the graduated seniors – except for a few that had been held back many, many times – were old enough to drink, they all had plenty of cool twenty-one and older friends that they wanted to party the night away with; Plus, the graduating class was pretty small so they needed more people to really get the party going. Mano wasn't complaining. It was more money for his business.
“Ho'omaika'i 'ana! You guys have made it this far and hopefully it will get better! I'm honored to have been asked to sing this year's class song – Even though I didn't even graduate with you... Or ever.” Noa stood on the stage with her headset on, smiling as she spoke to the laughing graduates and friends standing before her. Lahaina wasn't exactly huge, the graduating class only totaling to about forty-something kids. But there were a lot of others there. They cheered her on, silencing as she held her hands up. “Even though you guys picked the absolute cheesiest song from the best movie ever. Here we go!” She pointed to the DJ to get the music started and an immediate cheer went out as she started up into singing.
“Aloha e aloha e
'Ano 'ai ke aloha e
Aloha ae aloha e
A nu ay ki aloha e
There’s no place I’d rather be
Then on my surfboard out at sea
Lingering in the ocean blue
And If I had one wish come true
I’d surf till the sun sets
Beyond the horizon
A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
Lawe mai i ko papa he'e nalu
Flyin by on the Hawaiian roller coaster ride
A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
La we mai iko papa he na lu
Pi'i na nalu la lahalaha
O ka moana hanupanupa
Lalala i kala hanahana
Me ke kai hoene i ka pu'e one
Helehele mai kakou e
Hawaiian roller coaster ride
There’s no place I’d rather be
Than on the surfboard out at sea
Lingering in the ocean blue
And If I had one wish come true
I’d surf till the sun sets
Beyond the horizon
A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
Lawe mai i ko papa he'e nalu
Flyin by on the Hawaiian roller coaster ride
Hang loose, hang ten, howzit, shake a shaka
No worry, no fear, ain't no biggie braddah
Cuttin' in, cuttin' up, cuttin' back, cuttin' out
Frontside, backside, goofy footed, wipe out
Let's get jumpin', surf's up and pumpin'
Coastin' with the motion of the ocean
Whirlpools swirling, twisting,and turning
Hawaiian roller coaster ride
A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
Lawe mai i ko papa he'e nalu
Flyin by on the Hawaiian roller coaster ride
Aloha e aloha e
'Ano 'ai ke aloha e
Aloha ae aloha e
A nu ay ki aloha e
Hawaiian rollercoaster Ride
There’s no place I’d rather be
Then on my surfboard out at sea
Lingering in the ocean blue
And if I had one wish come true
I’d surf till the sun sets
Beyond the horizon
A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
Lawe mai i ko papa he'e nalu
Flyin by on the Hawaiian roller coaster ride
A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
La we mai iko papa he na lu
Flyin by on the Hawaiian roller coaster ride
Hawaiian roller coaster ride”
Her hips swayed and body twirled to the song as she worked her mermaid magic and enhanced her voice. As with all of her performances, she exerted her magic and charisma, pouring her heart and soul into it. The people bent to her will, succumbing to her influence as they danced to the music and cheered with the energy. She could feel herself getting a high from it, a megawatt smile on her face that went from ear to ear as she basked in the glory. Adrenaline was still shooting through her even as her performance ended and she let herself off the stage to let other music be played. Her heart was thumping as she shimmied through the crowd to the bar. “Makuakane – Can I get a bottle of scotch? Please?” She batted her eyelashes rapidly in a satirical manner, knowing full well what the answer would be. Mano kissed his daughter on the forehead and warned her to be responsible before handing her the bottle in question, smiling as she headed out for the beach.
She took a moment to scan what was going on, spotting several people that she knew. Okay. She knew pretty much everyone there because the majority of the people were locals. There were some haole there, obviously, but none of them seemed to be causing too much trouble. She was sure that trouble would come soon enough when they had enough alcohol in their system to let their inhibitions go though. Sighing, she spotted one of the older triplets, Kaniele. There was a light smile on her face but she quickly ducked and moved through the crowd to avoid being seen by him. “Oh! Hey, Noa! I thought I heard you on stage! Wow! Your bikini is awesome! Love the body art. I wish my parents would let me get some tats and piercings.” She accidentally bumped into Ahe, one of the chattiest girls in all of Hawaii. Noa offered her a polite smile and a one-armed hug. “Mahalo, Ahe. Lilo got it for me a few months ago.” She struck a pose to further bring attention to the white bikini that was decorated with a black bow over the top. Her tattoos had all been meticulously painted over so that the designs would glow under the black light.
“I wouldn't hold your breath on that one, though. Your parents are crazy uptight.”
“Everyone's parents are uptight compared to your.”
“True story; I'd love to stay and chat but I've gotta meet some people. Maybe we can dance later.” She gave the girl one more hug before heading out to the designated bonfire that Keo had instructed them to meet at, pulling her phone from the waist of her bottoms to text Gray to meet her there as well. {Hey loverboy! Meet up with me and the crew. Keo'll be there but we both know I'm worth it ;) xoxo} As the warm night wind whipped at her ponytail, she stood obliviously watching the waves lapping the shore, pining for a swim. What she didn't notice was the flare of red hair as a young woman took a seat yards away. While it looked as though she simply wasn't enjoying the party, the woman was watching intently on Noa with a look in her blue eyes akin to that of a stalking predator in the jungle.
Translations
Wikiwiki - Quickly
Haole - Foreigner, generally applied to caucasians
Maoli - Natives
Ho'omaika'i 'ana - Congratulations
Makuakane - Daddy
Mahalo - Thank you