Poppy arrived.
Upton and I were on the outskirts of the dance floor--basically a lacquer platform set atop the sand and surrounded by pillow-topped benches--when Poppy walked in, turning heads. She wore nothing but a skimpy white bathing suit under a see-through gauze miniskirt, and the thin woven straps of her heeled sandals wound all the way up her toned calves. Her first stop was at the DJ booth, where she whispered something to the shirtless spinner, then grabbed his microphone.
"Where're my girls? " she shouted at the top of her lungs, throwing her arm in the air. Sienna, Paige, Amberly, Kiran, Taylor, Noelle, and Tiffany--all of whom were in the center of the dance floor--hollered in response, throwing their arms up as well. "Ladies! It's time we show the rest of these slags how to party!"
Poppy jumped down from the DJ booth and danced her way through the crowd, pressing up against every hot guy as she made her way over to her friends. Girls danced with her, and guys eyed her appreciatively. Clearly Poppy knew everyone on this island, and everyone was stoked to see her. Everyone but me.
"Noelle wasn't kidding. Poppy definitely knows how to make an entrance," I said. My black mini-dress suddenly felt like a garbage bag in comparison to her outfit. Upton glanced over his shoulder at her. "Yes, but we don't care about her, remember?" Perfect response. My heart turned to goo. I grinned and reached up to wrap my arms around his neck. "Oh, I remember."
Upton smiled and gave me a questioning glance, as if he were afraid to misread the obvious signal I was broadcasting: Kiss me! Kiss me! Kiss me!
Then he finally leaned in and touched his lips to mine. Every one of my limbs went limp, and I momentarily forgot where I was. Normally I'm not one for huge, prolonged public displays of affection, but we stood there on the dance floor and just kissed for a long, long time. When Upton finally broke away, he kept his arms wound tightly around me. "I've been thinking about that all night."
"Me too," I said, resting my cheek on his chest and sighing happily. So not caring about Poppy. So not caring...
But it was total crap. Of course I cared about her. I cast a sidelong glance in Poppy's direction and saw that, sure enough, Sienna was whispering in her ear and glancing pointedly at Upton and me. Poppy's eyes narrowed as she spotted us.
Adrenaline filled my veins, bubbling hot as lava. I held Upton tighter as we danced. Two seconds later, I felt a sharp finger jabbing repeatedly into my back.
"Excuse me."
I checked Upton's face before I turned around. He looked rather ill. Not a good sign. I steeled myself and faced Poppy.
"Yes?" I said.
"I thought we had an understanding," she said, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Or were you not paying attention?"
"Oh, I got the message," I said coolly. "I just chose to ignore it." Then I turned my back on her and reached for Upton. Her hand gripped my shoulder, her bony fingers digging into my skin.
"May I cut in?" she asked through her teeth.
The music pounded inside my head as I waited for Upton to say something. Anything. I waited a good sixteen bars. Upton just stood there behind me, silent, while my body temperature climbed steadily with each driving beat.
"Is she deaf or just slow?" Poppy joked, glancing past me toward her "boyfriend." "I said, may. I. Gut. In?"
"I don't know," I replied. "It's up to Upton." I looked into his eyes. It was now or never. Time to see what the Up-man was made of. If he blew me off, I would walk away. Even though I so didn't want to walk away. Upton took a deep breath and sighed, looking at the ground and scratching his eyebrow with his index finger before facing her.
"Poppy, we need to talk," he began.
He took her hand and walked her off the dance floor, just a few feet away from where we'd been standing. Unsure of what to do, I glanced around and saw Daniel exchange an inter-ested glance with Paige. They both made their way over,
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