Explorers Club

Explorers Club Ch. 7: Distractions

The elevator dinged, and I stepped in. I was pool-ready, in a loose T-shirt, flip flops and swim trunks, with my bag over my shoulder. One of the hotel staff nodded to me as I entered, and I nodded back. I glanced behind him. About an hour ago, Professor Hale had her hands splayed on the back wall behind him. I realized he was looking at me strangely, as I was staring at the wall, lost in thought. The doors opened, and I avoided his questioning gaze and stepped into the hallway. Hannah, Frank, and Jenny were locked in a heated discussion.

I noticed, to my own amusement, that all three looked as if they were off to three very different locations. Frank was dressed like me, except in a somewhat more vacation-ready button down shirt. Hannah looked like she was off to a New England garden party in her pleated white tennis shirt and too-tight striped shirt. She had the flower lei we all received in the entrance over her shoulders still. I noticed Frank's eyes dropping to Hannah's chest: the strap of her purse was pulled between her breasts, making them that much more obvious.

But Jenny looked the most out of place in her conservative, black clothes. She ran a hand through her messy black hair, messing it up further. Only the flower lei around her neck gave any indications that she was in a Hawaiian resort. But I found myself staring as I approached the group: despite how covered up Jenny was, her skirt was thin and breezy and I found myself staring at the outline of her butt in her dress. I hadn't noticed what a nice ass she had, I thought. Gracie's warning came into my mind: don't get distracted.

I shook my head, stopped staring at Jenny's butt, and approached the group. I realized they were talking about where to go next.

"We should go way out," Frank said, gesturing wildly. "To the very edge of the beach.Muchbetter view out there."

"Have you never seen a beach before, Frank?" Jenny asked. "What's so special about this view?"

"Trust me!" Frank said.

"I do not," Jenny said, crossing her arms.

"We have a lot of stuff to carry," Hannah said, holding up her heavy bag. Both her and Jenny had a surprising amount of stuff they were lugging around.

"Let's just go to the pool, I want to play Shoulders!" Jenny suggested.

"Maybe hit the bar first?" Frank said, eyebrows wiggling. "We all have fake IDs right?"

"Nobody's going to card us at a place like this," Hannah scoffed. "But sure, I could use a margarita."

"Okay, drinks then pool?" Jenny asked.

"But... then the view!" Frank said.

"Why do you keep talking about that?" Jenny scoffed.

Frank brightened up when he saw me. "Perkins, my man!"

Frank brushed by the two girls and ran up to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You know what I mean, don't you, buddy?! You want to go see theview, right?!"

"Frank, I very rarely know what you mean," I said, glancing at the girls, who looked as confused as I did. "And now is no exception."

"The view!" Frank repeated. He had his back to the girls so they couldn't see his hands. He held his hands over his chest and cupped them, as if fondling his large tits. He winked and mouthed: 'The view!'

"Oh," I nodded, understanding, and turned to the girls. "What Frank is trying to say is that there's a topless beach he wants to go to."

"Ohhhhh," Jenny said.

"Not so loud!" Frank hissed, eyes wide at me. "Did you have to say it out loud, Perkins?!"

"Clearly we were just missing Frank's pervert interpreter," Hannah said, gesturing to me. "Welcome back, Mister Pervert."

"How come you call Frank by his name but I have to be 'Mister Pervert'?" I complained.

"I dunno, how come you keep having your dick out?" Hannah said, crossing her arms.

"Well it's not right now!" I said, gesturing to my bathing suit, which was covering me properly.

"You saw Frank's dick, too, though, right?" Jenny cut in.

I found it odd Jenny asked the question, as if she didn't know.

Hannah just shrugged.

"I'm just saying it's unfair he's frank and I'm 'Mister Pervert'," I said. "He's way worse than me anyway."

"Well I'm not calling you Perkins, that's a dumb name," Hannah said.

"It's my last name!"

"What if I get to be Pervert One, and he's Pervert Two?" Frank suggested. "Then, it's even."

"Oh that works!" Hannah said.

"Yesss," Frank said, pumping his arm in victory.

"Why are you cheering about being called a pervert?!" I asked.

"Because I get to be number one!" Frank said, fists in the air. "Number one! Number one!"

I just threw up my hands in defeat.

Jenny turned to Frank. "Wait are you sure they even have topless beaches here?"

An older couple walked by, and the woman eyed us suspiciously as Jenny asked the question.

Frank shushed us and put his arm around the girls, trying to get us all to huddle in a corner where we wouldn't be so easily overheard. Jenny pulled his hand off her shoulder, but Hannah let his arm stay around her shoulders.

"So... fun fact," Frank whispered, finger in the air. "In Hawaii, women's breasts are not considered 'genitals' and thus women sunbathing topless on beaches is not considered indecent exposure, technically."

"Is that true?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, but this is all sort of... unofficial," Frank explained. "So it's customary that the topless ladies are generally found a little far from the family friendly areas of beaches. Which is the case at this hotel. The further out you get, the more comfortable people are with it being less... family friendly."

"So you did your research on this topic, for this hotel specifically?" I asked.

"Oh you know it," Frank said, winking. "Google is a wonderful thing."

"To be honest it sounds like you just made all of that up," Hannah scoffed.

"Hey, don't question Pervert One!" Frank said, putting his hands on his hips in a superhero pose. Jenny and I laughed and Hannah rolled her eyes.

"Well... I suppose it would be nice to clear out some tan lines," Hannah said, looking down at her chest and adjusting her purse strap between them.

"Seriously, Hannah?!" Jenny whispered, eyes wide.

"What?" Hannah said, looking up.

"You're going to just... go topless out there?!" Jenny said.

"Why not? When in Rome, right? And you might want to get a little tan too," Hannah reached out and flicked her hand at Jenny's boobs and Jenny yelped. It was much more difficult to see what Jenny had under her much looser and more conservative shirt.

"I'm not just going to walk around topless!" Jenny said.

"Why not? I'm sure the boys will want to see what you've got under there, don't you, perverts?" Hannah teased.

Jenny growled and covered her chest. I saw Frank looking at Jenny curiously. I thought it was strange: didn't they all sleep together in the bungalow last night? Based on how they were acting, it wasn't so clear.

"Well suit yourself," Hannah said, shrugging. "But you only have so many opportunities to get rid of tan lines properly."

"Okay drinky drink, then pool, then beach!" Frank nodded and held out his hands as if directing a football play. He turned to me. "Sound good to you Perkins?"

"Sure, I'll go along with whatever," I said, and remembered Gracie's instruction to find her a trip for her birthday. "But I do have to do some research at some point."

"Re-search?!" Jenny said. She turned and looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you a scientist?"

"Is this research like the sort Frank was doing?" Hannah asked, suspiciously.

"No it is not titty research," I clarified. Jenny laughed at that, a little more than it was worth, I thought, but I continued. "It's for our club... I just have something to figure out today. I don't think it will take too long."

"Alright, whatever," Frank said, looking around. "Now I just need to figure out where the hell we're going. This place is a maze."

* * *

The hotel was a beautiful complex, built to take full advantage of the Hawaiian sun, with open-air courtyards between buildings and bright sunlit halls. It felt like part hotel, part mall, and part museum. We found ourselves often getting distracted by stores or people watching. I began to wonder if either Frank or Hannah knew where on Earth the bar was. But I was enjoying hanging back with Jenny and chatting while Frank and Hannah led us in circles.

It turns out that both Jenny and I were finishing up our freshman year, with little idea of what to do next either in college or afterwards. Her and Hannah had been friends since they were little, and I got the distinct sense by the way Jenny spoke about Hannah that she lived somewhat in Hannah's shadow. Jenny was opening up more as we chatted, and had a funny habit of grabbing my arm and clutching whenever she laughed.

We passed through an open-air courtyard which seemed like a popular place for hotel guests to lounge and wait for others. Little cliques of people chatted around us, enjoying the sunlight.

"Hey, Perky, I have a question," Jenny asked, poking me in the side for emphasis.

"Yeah?" I asked.

She nodded her head to a couple arguing in the distance. "What do you think the deal is withthosetwo?"

A foreign couple were arguing loudly in another language, probably Russian if I had to guess. The man was a bit older than middle aged and had an unbuttoned flower shirt, displaying large amounts of both body hair and gold jewelry. The woman he was with was thin and busty: clearly she had been attractive once, but now she looked like a warning for what happens after too much plastic surgery.

"Well he is clearly a Russian oligarch," I concluded.

"Oh, you know Russian?" Jenny asked.

"Well sure. I am fluent in seven languages," I lied with extreme confidence.

"Wow!" Jenny said and gave me an impressed look. "So what are they arguing about?"

"Hmmm..." We passed by, a little closer. The couple were arguing loudly and I made a show of nodding sagely, as if I understood. I leaned closer to Jenny to whisper. "Well, you see, he owns a diamond mine, in Africa. And he is trying to explain to his wife- no, his mistress- that the mine has not been doing well, and she will have less money for her allowance."

"Interesting... she doesn't seem to be buying that," Jenny said, sizing up the couple like a detective.

"You're very observant," I agreed, as I watched the couple argue. "She definitely thinks he's spending his money on other girls, and that he's just cheating on her."

"But... even though she's the mistress?" Jenny said, turning to me. "Can it really be considered cheating?"

"Well women can be very competitive, you know," I said.

"Wow," Jenny said, with a gesture of fake awe. "You know so much about these strange creatures... 'women' you call them, huh?"

"Did you say women?" Frank said, turning back to us, evidently only hearing that one word of our conversation.

"Yes, they're the ones with the boobies," Jenny responded, holding her hands to her own chest.

"Oh I know them!" Frank said.

"You do, huh?" I said.

"Yeah I've seen videos about them on the internet!" Frank said, wiggling his eyebrows. He turned back around as Hannah yanked him forward.

"Come on, I don't want to spend all day lost in here," Hannah complained.

The 'Russian' woman started shouting and made an elaborate show of storming off. The man was yelling back something and other guests were eying them warily.

"Well, I think you're right, in any case," Jenny said, gesturing to the couple. "Very impressive translation skills by the way."

"Thank you," I said. "I was lying about the translation though. I don't speak... whatever it is they're speaking."

"Obviously," Jenny agreed, patting my shoulder. "But you lied very confidently, and that makes me both impressed, and a little wary of you, Perky."

"Thank you," I said.

"Here's the lobby!" Frank said, nodding. "I knew this was the right way!"

"Well a broken clock is right twice a day," Hannah growled.

Jenny turned back and cupped her hands around her mouth. She shouted at the 'Russian' man: "DIAMONDS ARE MINED WITH THE BLOOD OF SLAVES! BLOOD DIAMONDS!"

Everyone in the courtyard stopped and turned to stare, but none looked more surprised and horrified than Hannah.

"Oh my god Jenny you are SO embarrassing!" Hannah yelled as she grabbed Jenny's wrist and yanked.

"That was completely insane!" Frank said, holding up his hand. Jenny smiled back and high-fived him, then began laughing uproariously.

Jenny smiled at me, then turned as Hannah yanked her into the lobby.

"That girl's crazy as hell!" Frank whispered to me, thumbing at Jenny.

I laughed and shook my head, trying to figure out if she was.

We passed by many couples and groups coming and going as we entered the lobby. I noticed Tessa was behind the front desk checking in a big group.

"Ooh, nuts!" Frank said, running off towards a bowl of free nuts at reception.

"Where the hell is Pervert One going?" Hannah asked.

"I guess to eat some nuts," I said.

"Okay well I'm going to look around, some of these stores look cute," Hannah said, as she began window shopping at little boutique stores at the edge of the lobby.

That was when I noticed the series of brochures displayed just beside the reception desk, displaying a bunch of tours and expeditions. I realized this might be my chance to find the romantic trip Gracie wanted. I went over to look them over.

"What are you looking at?" Jenny asked, coming up next to me.

"Well, this is the research I was talking about," I said.

"So you really weren't doing boobie research like Frank was?" Jenny asked.

"It's not boobie research," I laughed and shook my head. "No, you see we are the 'Explorers Club' and so we go on hikes and trips and such. So it's more like adventure research."

"Well there's boobies there, though," Jenny said, pointing to one of the brochures which had bikini clad women prominent displayed.

"Well I suppose some expeditions might have boobies, but that's not what I'm looking for, exactly," I said.

"Ah, okay then. So what are you looking for?" Jenny said.

"Something..." I didn't want to use the word 'romantic' as that was going to open the door to a whole other boatload of questions. "... adventurous," I said, finally.

"But without boobies?" Jenny asked.

"Either with or without," I said.

"Got it," Jenny nodded and for a minute we looked over the brochures, comparing options. There were a lot of options.

"So when are you going on this... adventure?" Jenny asked, scanning the brochures.

"Well hopefully tomorrow, or maybe the next day," I said.

"Tomorrow?! That's a pretty last minute way to plan things!" Jenny said, laughing. "I guess they don't call you the 'Organized Club', huh?"

I looked sideways to see Jenny grinning wide. She was clearly enjoying her needling.

"Well normally we do plan ahead, but I've been tasked with a special last minute mission," I said, flipping through the options.

"Ohhh, a special mission?!" Jenny said. "Dish! What is it?"

"Well..." I hesitated.

"Special mission?" Frank asked as he appeared between us. He was popping nuts into his mouth and kept glancing back at Tessa behind the front desk.

"Your friend here is on a special mission," Jenny explained. "Did you know that?"

"Uhhh, yes? We are both... doing the mission, actually," Frank said, eying me curiously as he chomped loudly on his nut. He offered one to me "Nut, Perkins?"

I took a cashew and began crunching it.

"Jenny!" Hannah yelled coming up to us. Jenny turned and Hannah took her wrist. "There's a store over here with some cute things. Come on, let's take a look while Pervert One and Two enjoy gargling their nuts. Wait for us here."

"Did you really have to use the word 'gargling'?" I asked, as I chomped.

Hannah ignored us and her and Jenny left to do a little shopping.

Frank turned to me. "So what's this 'special mission'?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he chomped on a mouthful of nuts.

I tried to be vague, but Frank was insistent. Finally, I admitted enough that I was trying to find something exciting and romantic for our next adventure, to impress Gracie.

"Well that's a worthy cause!" he agreed, wiggling his eyebrows in approval. He finished chomping and turned to consider the large selection of tours and adventures. "So which trip are you going to take us on?"

"Us?" I said.

"Well its for all of us, right?" Frank said. "Explorers Club?"

I shrugged. "Well maybe, but... I have no idea which one anyway. I haven't even thought about who goes on it until I figure out what the thing is."

"Well, let's ask Hale's hot ass friend, huh?" Frank said, elbowing my arm and wiggling his eyebrows at Tessa, behind the desk.

"I suppose," I agreed. "If anyone would know what Hale would like, she probably would."

We waited a minute for Tessa to finish checking in the group, then Frank immediately strode forward to get her attention.

"It's Tessa, right?" Frank said, approaching the desk. He put his elbow on the desk, leaned forward, and grinned wickedly.

"Oh, you again," Tessa said. "Fred, was it?"

"Franklin," Frank corrected with a large wink, as if it was some great secret.

"Sorry, Franklin. Well, you boys enjoying the room?"

"Yes, it's really amazing, I just want to thank you again so much," I said.

"No problem, I owed Jessica a favor," Tessa said.

"I have to say, you have excellent taste in women's fashion, Tessa," Frank said, admiring Tessa's light grey suit. Tessa scowled as she turned to him. He slid his finger over her cuff. "Is this Ann Taylor?"

"Is this what you came to ask me about?" Tessa said, pulling her arm away. "We're quite busy today, Franklin."

"I'm sorry to offend you! I see now this is clearly much more expensive than Ann Taylor-"

"Look we didn't come to talk to you about your suit, actually," I said, pushing in front of Frank. He let out an annoyed scoff, but I ignored him. "I could use a recommendation for a trip. That's why we wanted to talk to you."

"A trip, huh?" Tessa asked. "From the hotel?"

"I guess so," I said. "Some kind of fun adventure, with nice scenery."

"Well, you are in Hawaii, it's all nice," Tessa said, gesturing around her. "Can you be more specific?"

"Well I just thought since you are friends with Professor Hale, you would know something she would like," I said.

"Oh, it's for Jessica?" Tessa said, looking more interested.

"Yes and we want something SUPER romantic," Frank interjected.

"Frank!" I hissed.

Tessa nearly did a spit take. "Romantic?! For Jessica?!" She pointed a finger at the two of us. "From you two?"

"It's not-" I began.

Tessa laughed loudly and looked at us both, more intrigued then before. She glanced to either side, then leaned forward over the reception table.

"So... you two boys are looking to show your hot professor a good time, huh?"

I had to try very hard to not stare at her cleavage. Frank had failed at that task.

"Yeah." Frank spoke absent-mindedly into Tessa's cleavage.

"You misunderstand, it's for the whole group of us, really," I explained. "For all of us in Explorers Club."

"But you want Jessica to enjoy this... romantic little adventure?" Tessa said, eyebrow raised.

"I just want to make sure she likes it, that's all," I said. "She's worked hard to give us a good time- like pulling in a favor with you for our room. I just want to make sure she has a good time too."

I realized that as I said that, I actually believed it. I had been so focused on this as 'Gracie's birthday present' it hadn't occurred to me until telling Tessa that it was also a present for Hale. But I felt proud of myself that, and realized it was true. It really was for both of them, I realized now.

"Uh huh..." Tessa leaned forward a little and her bright eyes ran over me, obviously checking me out. "So I suppose you are the cute student of hers she was telling me about? Something about... a waterfall?"