Florin Daniels wasn’t sure how much sleep he’d gotten. Regardless, he had a job to do and couldn’t let anything get in the way. He put on a brave face for the mirror before leaving his room. He ran through the names of his old classmates in his head a few times, then pulled out his little pocket guide for the planned events for the trip. It was already gaining a cloth-like texture from all the folds and repeated use.

  People are depending on me. He told himself over and over. As he stepped out of the elevator and headed for the continental breakfast, he finally felt in control. We have about an hour before the tour bus picks us up. Perfect time for mingling.

  He made a beeline for the coffee pot. With a piping hot cup of joe in hand, Florin settled down at a table in the middle of the dining area. He let his mind wander as he scanned other guests, looking for people who would be in their late 20’s.

  Florin suddenly noticed someone had approached his table. He looked up and offered a smile. “Good morning.”

  The man had short brown hair partially hidden under a paperboy-styled cap, a prominent nose, and was built like a barrel: stout, wide and unluckily short. Dressed smartly, in a polo shirt and shorts for the summer weather, he seemed like he’d fit in with golfers at a country club. However, the expression on the man’s square face, an intense sort of smile, threw Florin off from immediate recognition.

  “A fine morning indeed, Florin Daniels.” The man’s voice was on the guttural side. He raised his own cup in a toast.

  Florin blinked a few times. By all accounts, the description of this man matched his classmate Frith Holiday. And yet, nothing in Florin’s memory had prepared him for such a greeting. The Frith Holiday of high school was a rough-edged brawler and never really spoke unless forced. He also had an odd quirk of referring to everyone by their last names and insisted others speak to him in the same way. Needless to say, Florin didn’t interact much with such a forceful personality in the past. Another few moments passed before the disconnect in Florin’s brain dissipated. “Um, hello, Holiday.”

  Frith Holiday nodded, pulling his cup back. He frowned slightly, eyes wandering away. That expression was distinctive enough that Florin recognized him fully.

  An awkward silence followed.

  Florin cleared his throat. “Ah, how was your trip over here, Holiday?”

  “Uneventful,” he grunted.

  “Better than a bad one, I guess. Well, I haven’t been to Florida before and I’m excited to see all that the state has to offer. Are you the same?”

  This earned a penetrating stare. Florin forced himself to not flinch under the scrutiny. Frith eventually looked away again to softly answer, “Yes.”

  This is going to be interesting.

  Someone else familiar floated into Florin’s periphery, drawing his attention. Shilling and Serendipity perused the breakfast line, then glanced over. The pair approached, sharing devilish smirks. Florin braced himself.

  “Morning, early birds!” Shilling Daniels announced. In one fluid motion, he swiped Florin’s cup and replaced it with an identical one. “Here’s the little pick-me-up I promised last night. You like Kahlua, right?”

  Dumbfounded, Florin nodded.

  “Take a sip, you’ll need it to settle the nerves.”

  “Nerves?”

  “Ah, did I neglect to mention?” Shilling waved his hand about. “I threw a surprise into the schedule. What you have on your itinerary may be a little different from today’s true events.”

  Florin’s fingers dug into the paper cup. “You what?” he demanded.

  “Not to worry, it’s a rather stunning surprise if I do say so myself. But, being the caring sibling that I am, I couldn’t let you rattle yourself into oblivion at the prospect of the unknown. So, drink up and relax, you’re on vacation after all.” His flashing eyes zeroed in on Frith Holiday, “Morning, Frith.”

  “You’ll address me as ‘Holiday’, bastard.”

  Shilling hummed nonchalantly. “Unless there’s anything else that the class wants to share, I’ll be seeing to the day’s preparations.” He lingered for a moment before waving goodbye. Dee stalked after him, silent as a shadow.

  Frith Holiday grunted something under his breath, pure hate hardening his face.

  Heart pounding, Florin pulled out the schedule again. What is fake, what is real? What is the point in making changes? What the hell is Shilling playing to? He closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm again. Maybe Shilling had made a stupid, inconsequential change, like eating at a different restaurant to mess with Florin. That did sound like something he’d do: build up his deception as more than it was. Even if he could reassure himself on that, he still took a few gulps of the spiked coffee.

  A lively conversation coming from the corner of the dining area was a welcome distraction. Florin looked up and, to his surprise, found a trio of recognizable people.

  The tallest of the group was a well-muscled man with curling orange hair and a boyish, freckled face. Arthur O’Neil dressed casually, a graphic t-shirt covering his wide chest with shorts and tennis shoes completing the look. He smiled and teased his companions.

  The next tallest was a round-faced dark-skinned woman with a full head of curling black hair tied in a loose ponytail at her neck. Her clothes were a flowing, flowery blouse with a long, bright colored skirt that swept around her ankles. Chi Miles’ tittering laughter infectiously made Florin smile. She encouraged the third member of the group, grasping at her arm with playful insistence.

  Comparatively the stick in the mud of the group, a short, blonde woman rolled her eyes and replied something indiscernible. Her face was fairly round as well, and her body was stouter and heavier, though her sharp gesticulations were not hampered by weight. Styled in the fashion of tight skirts, a suit-cut blouse, and hair in a tight bun at the base of her neck, was Charlotte Crottie. Most called her ‘Lottie’.

  Arthur spotted them first, waving and calling out, “Look who it is, the man of the hour!” He bounded over.

  Florin stood and held out his hand. “Good mor-”

  He was immediately wrapped up in a suffocating bear hug, hoisted an inch off the ground. Arthur released him, then slapped his shoulders. “It’s been a while! How’s life been treating you, buddy? Tell me everything!”

  Taking a second to compose himself, righting his glasses and hair, Florin peered up at his friend. There was something so disarming about the earnest smile on Arthur’s face that he couldn’t bring himself to protest at the treatment. Even if specifics weren’t in the front of his mind on their friendship, a greeting like that was very telling. “I’m doing great, thanks for asking, Arthur.”

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  He grinned widely like a kid in a candy store, dimples marking his face.

  “By the way Arthur was talkin’ about you last night, I half expected you to have wings and turn water to wine.” Lottie Crottie barged in, giving Florin a weighted but friendly look.

  “Oh, come on,” Arthur laughed.

  The blonde woman jerked her chin to the side, acknowledging Holiday. “I’m more surprised to see that Holiday bothered to show up. Ya gonna stand on the fringe like a weirdo or join the party?”

  He grunted, blocking his mouth with a sip of coffee. In the moments Florin had stopped paying attention, it seemed that Holiday had taken a few steps back from the growing circle of people.

  Lottie continued to command the conversation. “Ya might be easy to underestimate, Florin, but when you put in the legwork to organize and coordinate a trip, ya pull out all the stops. So, I suppose ya get a congrats from me.”

  Was that an underhanded compliment or an outright insult? Florin hesitated. “Um, thanks?”

  “Come now, deary, be nice to the poor man.” Chi shook her head. “I heard you got in late last night, Florin. Do you need anything to help with those bags under your eyes? I’ve got a whole collection of snacks in my room.”

  “No thanks, but thank you for the offer. This coffee will help.”

  “Alright then, sweetheart,” she beamed. “Pardon the nosiness, but do you have a wife yet?”

  He nearly spat out his drink. “What? Um, no.”

  “That’s too bad. I have a husband and two darling babies back at home and it’s been the best thing to ever happen in my life. You seem like a family-type man, so I had to ask.” She reached into the handbag on her shoulder. “Do you want to see my family?”

  “I’d love to.”

  Arthur warned jokingly that opening up the Chi photo album would take up the rest of the morning, but Florin still indulged in the show-and-tell. His heart warmed at the happy, smiling faces of the family of four. Each picture had a story behind it, a loving mother doting on and recounting childhood adventures. It was like peering into a happier reality, one where a family’s love and cohesion was normal.

  Time soared by with the photo sharing. Lottie even pulled out her collection of dog pictures. By the time the women’s albums were drying up, the hour was almost gone. Odd, there were at least three others that weren’t accounted for.

  After the thought crossed his mind, a booming voice echoed across the dining area. “BEHOLD!”

  A duo stood dramatically near the coffee dispenser, one male one female. The copper-toned pair both had brown hair, the woman having a long ponytail that drifted down to her lower back and the man had a stylized faux hawk with a short mullet. They had petite, doll-like features and slight frames to match. The identical, garish Hawaiian style t-shirts they wore made them stand out even more, if that was possible. It’d be ridiculous to misplace the Hawk twins Qadira and Steve.

  Steve Hawk continued his proclamation, “You now witness the landmark reuniting of the Class of ’11 in the sweltering heat of a Florida summer!”

  “WITNESS!” Qadira added, tossing her hair for emphasis, “Gaze upon these tortured souls and examine the purification that a decade has produced!”

  Florin shielded his eyes, flushing a deep red. They really are doing this in front of strangers and tourists just trying to enjoy their breakfast. Oh God… Curiosity made him glance at Frith Holiday’s last known direction, and he caught sight of the man fleeing the room. He had half a mind to join him.

  The twins approached the group, eyes shining eagerly. Steve’s loud voice still rang across the room, “Tell me that one of you is rich or famous. I’ve got a yearbook with every signature that’s been aging like a fine wine!”

  Lottie exploded, “What the HELL?! You run in here yellin’ at the world for attention, then think ya can just waltz into normal conversation? I ought to box yer ears until some sense leaks in through those cobwebs ya’ll call a brain!”

  She lunged and they danced away, giggling and hiding. Qadira snuggled behind Florin and playfully cried, “Protect me, Flori! Oh, you don’t mind if I give you that super cute nickname, do you? Anyways, save me!”

  Florin couldn’t quite respond.

  “I thought,” Arthur said flatly, “that we agreed to no morning drinking, you two.”

  “It’s not drinking or drugs, my Arthy-pal! We’re high on life!” Steve announced while using Chi as his shield, ducking from Lottie.

  “Whatever. It’s time to get going anyways.” Arthur shrugged. “You want to lead the charge, Florin?”

  Chi glanced around. “What about Hickory though? He’s late.”

  Lottie stopped swiping for the twins. “Look in the sky for the idiot, that head’s full of enough air to be buoyant.”

  “I don’t think that’s what buoyancy means-”

  “Doesn’t matter, it’s time to leave.”

  A mad dash of wildly colorful personalities rushed about, leaving Florin behind in the dust. He stood in place for a moment to take in the lull. I think things are going to be okay. Probably crazy, but alright. He looked around and found to his surprise that Arthur had stayed behind.

  His friend grinned. “It’s a bit much dealing with all that high energy, huh? But it’s great to see everyone again.”

  Florin nodded. “Exactly. You’ve changed quite a bit.” He held his hand out to measure up to his chin. “Weren’t you a little on the shrimpy-side back in the day?”

  “You remembered!” laughed Arthur. “I had a lucky late growth-spurt. Hey, you’re not getting out of telling me all about your life, job, and all that. There’s lots of years to catch up on, bud.”

  “Of course.”

  Florin and Arthur slowly made their way about, collecting luggage and checking out while chatting. They made it out of the doors before Florin suddenly remembered something. It’d been on one of the front pages of the yearbook, but for reason it hadn’t connected until now.

  “Hey, Arthur, I’m sorry about your father.”

  The man stopped abruptly, a confused look on his face.

  “Mr. O’Neil was a great teacher for all of us, and it’s a tragedy that he left us so soon. It must have been tough for you after high school and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to help.”

  He relaxed again. “I haven’t thought about the old man for a while, but thanks for the condolences. Don’t feel like you failed me, Florin. Don’t you ever think that.” He returned to his normal, bubbly grin.

  A new voice suddenly cried out, “Oh thank God!”

  Leaning on his knees with a to-go bag in one hand, was a blonde, tall man with a sunbaked tan. His body looked like he did blue-collar labor for a living, and he was dressed in a tank top covered by a loose button-up with blue jean pants that looked way too hot for a summer in the south. His nose was slightly crooked, but his round blue eyes and wide grin drew the most attention.

  “Hey there, Hickory,” Arthur greeted.

  Hickory Copperfield panted, then announced, “I found y’all! You’d not believe the fandangle I’ve been wrung through today. First, I had to get breakfast myself since the dadgum consonant breakfast sounded like a hassle. Then I forgot the word ‘catsup’ and ended up asking the workers for the red condom mints and I almost got a manager throwin’ me to the street until he figured it out.”

  Florin tried to parse through the gaggle of words while Arthur started chuckling.

  “Here, hold this while I get my things.” Hickory shoved his bag into Arthur’s chest and sprinted away.

  Arthur and Florin shared a glance. “Well,” the taller said, “I guess we’re ready to head out. You ready?”

  “As much as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

  Arthur patted him on the back. “That’s the spirit. Just remember, whatever Shilling can throw at you is nothing compared to what your friends can help you through.”

  Florin frowned. “What’s this about Shilling?”

  “Certainly nothing about a surprise or anything,” he averted his eyes. “Oh look, that’s our bus.”

  “Hey! You know something about Shilling’s plans?”

  “Nope, not a thing!”

  “Arthur!”

  “Wow, look at the time. We gotta run!”

  “Get back here!”

  Somehow in the hustle and bustle of loading into their transport, Florin ended up trapped between a window seat and Shilling. His brother carried himself smugly, which was always concerning. Arthur camped out a few seats away, clearly enjoying his tomfoolery as well. All ten of the vacationers settled down, chatting amicably, as the van finally trundled along. There was no going back now. Florin fought to keep his worry hidden.

  The city of Miami flashed along, distinguished from other cities by the occasional palm tree leaning over the road. The air was thick and muggy even though the sun had only breached the horizon an hour and a half ago. As the miles ticked by, the ocean grew closer and closer until Florin felt like he could inhale the sea foam.

  After a few turns, the van coasted to a stop in a marina parking lot.

  Shilling leapt into action, dragging Florin out the door and steering him to a scenic position. He gestured out to the gently pulsing waves and docks. “She’s out there, waiting for us.”

  “Who?” his voice cracked.

  “Not who, what,” he corrected. “You and your class are spending your trip in luxury aboard a chartered party yacht! Out there is the Juniper, just waiting to pamper us. Grandiose, isn’t it?” Shilling preened.

  Florin opened and closed his mouth a few times, failing each time to make a sound. So, everything that Shilling had written up on the schedule, every single word, was a lie? A… a yacht? How…?