South beach by Aimee Friedman Page B

unsuccessful sleuthing, she was willing to try another tack.
    "We should go!" Holly exclaimed. "Little Havana's kind of far. I mean, we can take a cab, but that might be expensive. Maybe Grandma Ida would let us borrow her car or something...." She was babbling, she realized, but this new opportunity seemed very promising.
    Alexa observed Holly's glowing face. She didn't get it. Why was Holly getting so bubbly about Little Havana? She'd looked suicidal two seconds before.
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    "Would Ida really let us use her car?" Alexa asked. A set of wheels would certainly afford them a new kind of freedom. Alexa had just gotten her driver's license, and thought of her yellow VW Bug back home with a pang of longing.
    "Definitely," Holly replied. "She said we should call her if we needed anything, right?"
    "True," Alexa said, warming to the idea. "I've been Latin dancing a couple times before and it's a lot of fun."
    "And we already know someone who'll be at the club!" Holly enthused. "That guy you were just talking to. He seemed nice." She smiled at Alexa and dropped her voice. "Too bad he's not into girls, right?"
    "Wait, you knew?" Alexa asked, almost falling off her floating lounge.
    Holly shrugged. "It was pretty obvious." She gave Alexa a look that clearly meant I'm not as dense as you think. Then she pointed to the Bellini in Alexa's hand.
    "Did you order that here?" Holly asked.
    "Uh, yeah," Alexa said. "And that." She gestured to the platter of toast points next to Holly. She didn't mention the tricky issue of payment.
    "I'm kind of hungry," Holly said, looking around for a waiter. She needed sustenance after her phone ordeals.
    "Holly?" Alexa began apprehensively, but then the
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    same mustachioed waiter who'd served Alexa appeared at Holly's side, pen and pad at the ready.
    "Do you have a burger or something?" Holly asked, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the waiter. She just wanted ordinary food -- nothing fancy.
    The waiter blinked in shock, as if Holly had cursed at him. "We do not," he said snippily, then rattled off the same options he'd given Alexa.
    "The chips, I guess," Holly said with a shrug. "And a Diet Coke."
    The waiter cast his eyes up and down Holly, and his lip curled. "I assume you are staying at the Oceania, miss? The pool staff only caters to hotel guests, as I am certain you are aware."
    "Uh me? Staying? Here?" Holly stumbled over her words, glancing frantically from the waiter to Alexa. She'd forgotten that she and Alexa were supposed to be posing as guests.
    "Yes, we both are," Alexa leaped in hastily, wanting to murder Holly.
    The waiter furrowed his brow and gave a curt nod. As he walked away, Alexa and Holly turned to each other, wide-eyed.
    "Could you be any less subtle?" Alexa hissed. "He knows we're faking it. We are so screwed." She wanted to grab Holly and shake some sense into her.
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    "We shouldn't be lying in the first place!" Holly shot back. She was good and angry now, and she didn't care if it showed. Holly wasn't going to go along with one of Alexa's stupid schemes this time.
    "Well, if you hadn't acted like a total hick, we'd be fine," Alexa snapped. She tipped off her float into the water, then bobbed over to the edge of the pool.
    "Excuse me for not getting the whole snob act down ..." Holly trailed off, upset. She drew her feet out of the water and hugged her knees to her chest.
    Alexa glared up at Holly from the pool. "Just don't say anything when the waiter comes back, okay? Let me handle it." But what exactly am I going to say? she wondered.
    On cue, the waiter materialized next to Holly. He was holding the chips and soda on a tray, and what looked like an official hotel guest list in his other hand.
    "Since you ladies appear to be together, shall I charge both of your orders to the same room?" he asked frostily, throwing a haughty glance at Alexa.
    To Alexa's annoyance, Holly sat up straighter, as if she had some sort of idea. "Well," she began, looking right at