We got lunch with all the others and then started walking to wherever they want to take us. Now, we’re almost at the top of a small hill that’s right next to the beach. In the distance, I can see a few people waving at us. Ayden explained that they had to work earlier and are joining us now for the afternoon. He also promised that the afternoon would be much more relaxing for all of us.

Finally, we all settle down on large picnic blankets right at a cliff. Looking down, I can see the waves splashing against large stones but it seems rather calming. People hand out more food although we just had lunch an hour ago. Nadja’s already sitting among them but I get the weird feeling of not belonging to them. After all, I’m still just a tourist! They all seem like close friends and even though they are friendly, I don’t think I fit in.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to jump down there,” a girl says to me while looking down the cliff. I turn to her and give her a slightly relieved smile. Honestly, I really expected them to jump from this cliff. The girl introduces herself as Lea. While she points at a guy, wanting to show me who her boyfriend is, I can see one of those mandala tattoos on her upper arm.

“These tattoos really look amazing, they’re so detailed!” I say while admiring the tattoo. Lea turns a bit so I can see it better.

“It’s my first one, I got it a few months ago and already want the next one but Marco and I can’t agree on the right pattern.”

“You’re getting the same tattoo as your boyfriend?” I ask a bit surprised. Lea doesn’t look older than me, it surprises me that she’s ready to have something on her body forever to remind her of her boyfriend at this young age.

“He’s my true love, of course I want the same tattoo. But if we don’t agree on something soon, I’ll just copy the ones he already has!” she states with a chuckle. I smile at her excitement. Even if I don’t understand how she can be so sure, I’m happy for her. Well, I also thought my ex-boyfriend was my true love until he cheated on me. 

Lea leads me to her spot on the blankets and makes me sit down with her. Now surrounded by other girls, I feel less left out but more worried about what I should say. Luckily, the others soon start asking questions about me, making me feel as if they are really interested. Every now and then, I see Ayden walking around and his eyes meet mine for a second. Every time that happens, he smiles and I’m pretty sure my cheeks get slightly red.

“So, you like Ayden?” Lea asks bluntly.

“What? No, I mean, sure, he’s a nice guy,” I reply, trying not to stutter.

“Come on, we can see the way you look at him and how you blush every time he looks at you,” another girl states. To get a few more seconds to think about a reply, I grab one of the mini-sandwiches someone brought and take a bite.

The others look at me expectantly, so after taking another bite, I reply, “I told you that I don’t want to rush into another relationship so soon after I broke up with my ex. My life isn’t the best right now and I don’t want to drag someone else into this.”

“But we already agreed that he’s hot and she has liked him ever since we met him on the plane,” Nadja says while sitting down right next to me. I glare at Nadja, trying to show her that she’s talking too loud. I don’t want Ayden to hear any of this. He’d just think I’m weird, right? Why do I even worry about this? I’m just here for a holiday and not to have a temporary fling. However, deep down, I already know that this doesn’t feel like some holiday fling, don’t I?

The other girls look at me while my mind tries to work through my emotions. “What do you feel when he’s close to you?” Lea asks, gaining my attention again. For a short moment, I hesitate, wondering if I should tell them the truth. I see Nadja looking at me with a knowing smile and know that there’s no way I’d get through this with a lie. My best friend knows me too well and talking about this might really help.

Trying to keep my voice down so nobody apart from the girls around me hears it, I explain, “I feel much calmer around him and as if I’ve known him all my life even though I barely know anything about him. Then there’s this feeling inside of me as if something’s doing somersaults whenever he gets too close and touches me.” The others nod but Nadja just stares at me, knowing that there’s something I haven’t told them yet. I sigh before continuing, “Somehow, whenever he touches me, the world seems a bit brighter, which sounds like I’m just quoting a romance novel but it’s what I really feel.”

Nadja starts laughing but tries to hold back as much as possible. For her, it’s always funny when things sound like they come from a romance novel. However, the others just share knowing looks before smiling at me happily. I quickly tell them that it’s probably just my hormones or something going crazy and this phase will be over soon, but most of them don’t look quite convinced. Nadja pats my back, “I’m glad you’re going for the good guys now.”