While planning the trip with Amber and the other girls, they decided that it might also be fun to see if any of the AOPi sisters from Georgia's opponent, the University of Virginia (UVA) were going to the game and if they'd want to get together one evening. Sure enough, a similar group from UVA was indeed going. Brittany, AOPi's social chairman, took over the plan making and got in touch with the other sorority to talk about the trip. After doing some Internet research, they decided to make dinner reservations at the Royal Luau at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. It was supposed to have a very good luau with island-style entertainment. They all made their room reservations at the more financially affordable Sheraton Waikiki Hotel next door. Both groups sent 8 girls so they only needed 4 rooms all together.
Trisha and the other girls from Georgia began to plan out the details of their trip, which was a challenge because they had limited time and money. They booked morning flights and planned to spend a relaxing evening over dinner and getting used to the jet lag. For the next day, they rented a 9-passenger van to take a self-guided tour of the island that included Pearl Harbor, the Dole Pineapple Plantation and the Waianae Volcano. That left the afternoon free to frolic on the beach. That night was the big luau gathering with the other sorority girls at the Royal Hawaiian. The next day after that was more beach time then the football game and their late flight home.
Shelley, of course, was traveling on the team plane with the other cheerleaders and they had their own agenda, but she had talked some of the others into coming by the luau after dinner if they got a chance. She had been tasked with doing a couple of "Inside Scoop" segments from Hawaii the two practice days before the big game.
Trisha was looking forward to a great Christmas break. Not only was she getting to go to Hawaii, but also, Tim e-mailed her to invite her to meet him at a conference in Atlanta only a few days after she got back from Hawaii. This was a conference sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. He was planning on taking a group of students from Central Florida Community College who also attended his church. She had not seen Tim since May and, with Chuck out of the picture, she felt totally free to date Tim, should he still be interested, as it seemed.
The day came to leave Atlanta and the weather was brutally cold - at least by Georgia standards. The dawn temperature fell below 20 degrees in the suburbs and only cars in garages, like the Kendrick’s', were spared a sheet of frost on the windshield. It seemed surreal to Trisha that that evening she'd be in paradise where the temperature was in excess of 80 degrees.
Amber and Trisha had planned ahead to dress for the weather in Atlanta and Hawaii. They left the Kendrick's house that morning with an outer layer of jeans, sweatshirts, wool socks and their heavy winter coats. Trisha wore a pair of black clogs and Amber had on an old pair of white sneakers. When Charles left the airport after dropping them off, he took their heavy winter coats with them so they would not have to worry with keeping up with such a useless article of clothing in a tropical climate.
Amber and Trisha sat together on the flight to LA and chatted about all the fun things that were ahead of them. Trisha sat on the plane with one leg crossed while aimlessly dangling one clog off the end of her toes. Half way over, those winter wool socks had her feet pretty warm so she decided to ditch the socks and wear the clogs barefoot. Amber became aware of how warm her feet were too so she also removed her socks and replaced her bare feet in her sneakers - bending the backs of them down to make them look like mules instead of taking the time to untie them and retie them again. They were unknowingly putting on a show for the two men sitting in the seats across the aisle who were watching intently as the girls shed their socks and exposed their well-manicured feet and tropical pink toenails - a rare sight in the middle of winter.
The girls had a two-hour layover in Los Angeles at LAX and that allowed them time to grab lunch and change clothes for the second half of their trip to Honolulu. They had brought only one carry-on bag each and it contained a change of clothes and, in reality, a change of climates. In the restroom at LAX, Trisha and Amber shed their jeans and sweatshirts and pulled out lightweight cotton floral print dresses hemmed above the knee. They stuffed their jeans, sweatshirts and shoes into their bags and put on their casual summer sandals. Amber had a pair of white thong sandals with an ankle strap and Trisha had a pair of aqua blue slides with an ornate white daisy and a shoestring bow on each upper. Both girls did their hair up in ponytails and Trisha added a cute matching aqua blue hair ribbon. They found their Ray Bans and put them in their purses for later when they'd be enjoying the nice sunshine.
Trisha had just passed through LAX back in September on her way to Australia so she knew her way around just a little bit. She remembered eating at a very good Chili's Too (a scaled down version of the Chili's franchise specializing in Tex-Mex). It was conveniently located in Terminal 4; their flight in and out of LAX was in nearby Terminal 5. The girls made their way to the restaurant with a flair of excitement about them as they neared their destination and already adopted the casual Hawaiian attitude as they wore their tropical outfits with pride.
Once seated, Amber and Trisha excitedly continued their chattering about what fun they'd have in Hawaii. They wondered how the other girls' trips were going - everyone had made their own plans and left at different times. Their waiter, Ken, came to their table to take their order and, judging by their outfits, he tried to make appropriate conversation. "So, are you girls going to Hawaii?"
Trisha replied while joining Amber in laughter, "Are we that obvious?"
Ken said, "Yeah, after doing this for 3 years you can tell - especially in the dead of winter. Where are you from?"
"Georgia. We're students at the University of Georgia in Athens." Amber said before Trisha could get the same words out.
Ken had thought they were cute when he first saw them being seated a few minutes prior and he was glad they were sitting at one of his assigned tables. He thought they were smartly dressed and he especially liked Trisha's aqua outfit complete with matching shoes and hair ribbon - two of Ken's favorite accessories. While walking up to their table to take their order, he had noticed that Trisha was dangling one slide off the end of her toes and bouncing it rapidly in spurts off the bottom her foot. She stopped the bouncing and left the shoe just dangling off the end of her toes when Ken arrived.
After asking the girls something else about Georgia, he decided to try something to see what would happen. Trisha was dangling her shoe toward the outside of the table and the heel was only a couple of inches from Ken's shin. In a daring move just to see how Trisha would react, he got ready to walk away and lifted his leg up and inward just enough to knock off Trisha's shoe. She barely flinched and did not even uncross her leg to get it back on. Ken was surprised and after he walked away he was able to look back and see Trisha just sitting there with her bare foot crossed and now resuming her bouncing but this time without a shoe to slap against the bottom of her foot.
"So, when were the others supposed to arrive at the hotel?" asked Amber.
Trisha replied, "Brittany and Stacy were taking the next flight after us in Atlanta but their connection was in Salt Lake City so they should arrive about an hour after us. Susan and Tiffany are from around Spartanburg, South Carolina, so they were flying out of Charlotte on US Airways. Their connection was supposed to be here about an hour ago so they may actually be waiting on us. I'm not sure about Candace and Amanda. Since they're from central Florida, they might be flying out of Orlando, or maybe Tampa. I suggested that we all meet in the lobby at 3:30 PM local Hawaii time. That ought to give us a couple of hours to check into one of the rooms and walk around the hotel grounds and maybe out to the beach."
Their conversation continued and Ken came by to bring them their food and later to refill their iced tea and once again asked if they needed anything else. During each visit, Ken noticed that Trisha had not uncrossed her leg or replaced the shoe on her foot. This was fascinating to him and also enjoyable.
Ken's fun was ruined shortly after that when Amber left to go to the restroom. Without looking down, she slid out of her seat to leave and in doing so, she kicked Trisha's shoe out into the aisle. She and Trisha laughed at that and Amber carried the shoe back to Trisha who put it back on her foot, the crossed her other leg toward the inside of the booth and dangled her shoe away from the aisle this time.
Soon, the girls finished their meals, paid their bills and returned to Terminal 5 and found the gate where they were departing from. They took a seat near the gate and Trisha crossed her leg and resumed her usual rapid dipping and dangling. Also as usual, men in the vicinity took notice and enjoyed the show, which only ended when the girls were called to board their flight.
Four hours later, Trisha and Amber's flight touched down at the Honolulu International Airport. As they departed the plane into the gate area, a handsome male Hawaiian airport greeter greeted them. He placed a pretty leu around each of their necks and kissed them on the cheek.
The girls made their way to the baggage claim area and it was pretty crowded. Soon, they claimed their bags and made their way to Ground Transportation. Trisha was merrily slapping along in her slides and Amber was walking a step behind as they looked for the Sheraton Waikiki shuttle van, which they soon located and boarded to their hotel.
After a few minutes, they located their van and the attendant helped the girls on with their luggage. Sharing the ride with them was an Elderly couple from Phoenix who announced they were in town for the Aloha Bowl, both being graduates of ASU. (Arizona State was playing in another football bowl game on the island) There was also a trio of young Navy sailors there on liberty from San Diego. The latter thought that Trisha and Amber were cute girls so they struck up a conversation with them.
Trisha sat with her right leg crossed over her left and her blue daisy slide dangling perilously on the end of her toes. Seaman 'Johnson,' as his nametag read, asked the girls, "So where you girls from?"
Amber got the first word in, "Georgia - the University of Georgia in Athens. We're here for the football game. What about you?"
Seaman 'Campbell' answered for Johnson, "Oh, we're on a vacation for the Christmas and New Year Holidays."
The girls got better acquainted with Johnson, Wilson and Campbell and suddenly the van hit a bump and rounded a large curve at the same time and Trisha's slide flipped off and landed in between the neatly shined shoes of Seaman 'Wilson' a well-built but slim and tall man who appeared to be about the girls' age.
Trisha noticed her folly and was only slightly embarrassed. "Oops, sorry about that."
Wilson picked it up and decided to have some fun with Trisha. He examined it for a moment then stooped down on one knee and lifted Trisha's crossed leg off of its perch on her other leg and held her foot flat and a few inches above the floor. "I believe this belongs to the fair princess." he said majestically while slowly sliding her shoe back on and taking time to notice how pretty her foot was being so nicely pedicured and with the bright tropical pink polish practically leaping off her toes.
Amber rolled her eyes at how corny this all seemed to her but Trisha was used to this sort of fun with the guys. The conversation continued as they arrived at the hotel and checked into their rooms. Before saying goodbye, Amber, being the less shy of the two, invited the guys to the entertainment time after the luau at their hotel the following evening. (The dinner itself required advanced reservations.)
Johnson replied for the three guys, "Maybe, we'll have to see."
With that response, Trisha and Amber figured they had seen the last of the US Navy for their trip to Hawaii.
Once inside the lobby the girls were impressed at how pretty the hotel really was. Everything had a tropical feel but it was also full of amenities. They checked into their room and found out that Stacy and Brittany had already checked-in, left their luggage, changed clothes and left. Candace, Tiffany, Amanda and Susan were sharing the second room - none of them had arrived yet.
Trisha and Amber had already dressed for Hawaii so Trisha suggested, once they got their luggage situated in their room, "You ready to go walk around?"
"Sure, lets go!" And on that note, the girls took some time to investigate the hotel property. The swimming pool was very nice and the area of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel next door where the luau was being held was very large and grassy and surrounded by palm trees. The view of the Pacific Ocean was very nice. The trade winds produced a gentle comfortable breeze that tossed the girl's hair about. The warmth was almost surreal having woken up that morning with sub-freezing weather in Atlanta.
The lure of the beach was too much. Before they had finished looking around the hotel grounds, Amber reached down and quickly slipped down the heel strap on each of her sandals and took them off, leaving them on the edge of the beach well away from the water and started running toward the beach, "Lets go!"
Trisha lifted up each foot and slipped off each of her blue daisy slides by the heel. She carried them in one hand by the straps and started running after Amber who led the way to the edge of the water and started kicking and splashing around a little. She wanted to warn Amber that they were dressed for dinner and that getting wet was not wise, but she did not want to sound like a 'spoil sport'. 'We're in paradise, so what the heck,' Trisha soon reasoned, before joining Amber in the water.
Moments later, the waves started crashing and the girls were in foot deep water and their dresses were getting splashed a little. A large wave rose up and was about to break so the girls tried to run toward the shore to not get so wet. While running, Trisha was swinging her arms. In the process, she slung one of her blue daisy slides backwards and out into the water.
She didn't realize her folly until she and Amber had both safely reached the beach out of the wave's way. Then Trisha looked at her hand and noticed that only one of her daisy slides was still hanging there.
"Oh no Amber, one of my shoes must have fallen out of my hand!" She threw her remaining shoe back a safe distance from the shore and started looking around in the water, a seemingly hopeless search.
"Amber started looking as well and said, "Let's look around. Maybe a wave will splash it to the surface and beach it."
Trisha began to reminisce as she and Amber walked along the shore in ankle deep water hoping to see her shoe, "One time when I was in 5th grade we went to Panama City on vacation. I was wearing a pair of flip-flops and walking on the beach with them still on. I tried to walk out into the water to get a pretty shell and one just slipped off. Mom, Dad and I looked for 20 minutes but we never found it."
Amber probed, "So what did you do?"
"I had to walk with one sandal back to our room and wear my sneakers for a while. We got a replacement pair of flip-flops at the Ron Jon Beach Shop later in the day and I wore them for 3 summers."
Amber commented, "Maybe you'll have better luck today." On that note, Amber saw a faint blue flash in the water about 10 feet away and out into the water. Pointing to it she notified Trisha, "Hey that may be it!" Trisha and Amber walked back out into the water and took a closer look. A wave came in and got them wet from the waist down but the same wave lifted her shoe and deposited it on the shore. The girls quickly ran out of the water and rescued her shoe before another wave could pull it back in.
Trisha thanked Amber for helping her find her shoe and then suggested they walk away from the water. She picked up her shoes and carried them again.
Amber picked up her shoes as well and added, "Yeah, I don't want to get any wetter, either. Maybe the sun will help us dry off before we head back. Trisha and Amber walked about an hour and did indeed dry off quite a bit before they returned to the hotel around 3:30PM to find that all their friends had arrived and checked into their rooms.
There was a sense of electricity in the air as the girls were so excited to all be in Hawaii now. Some of them still needed to dress for dinner and others needed to get unpacked so they agreed to meet downstairs at 5PM in the restaurant for dinner. When the time arrived they got a table for eight and were promptly seated. It was technically early to eat, but back in Georgia it was actually 10PM at night so they were pretty hungry. The other girls were dressed similarly to Trisha and Amber - all wore lightweight brightly colored dresses and revealing sandals.
They were definitely the most eye-catching group in the restaurant - eight pretty coeds nicely dressed and obviously enjoying themselves. Most of the men in the restaurant had their eyes on them - some had to be inconspicuous since they were with their wives or girlfriends. Trisha's under the table shoeplay certainly helped to draw some of the attention their table was receiving.
Brittany and Trisha started going over plans for the next day. "Since we gained 6 hours on the trip over, we ought to be able to get up and get an early start on our fun day. We have a lot we want to do. The rental van is being dropped off at 7AM local time. If we go first to the Waianae Volcano, then tour the Dole Pineapple Plantation, we should be able to get through the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor before lunch. We'll have much of the afternoon free for the beach before the Luau that starts at 7:30PM.
Everyone seemed agreeable to those plans and after a short walk along the beach after dinner the girls retired early only to rise by 5AM local time to get started on their busy day.
In a scurry of activity, the girls hurriedly got themselves ready to leave the hotel around 7AM. Amber had agreed to be the driver and Trisha rode shotgun. The girls sat 3 each on the two back rows of the van, which had good large windows that allowed for good views, and some good photo opportunities along the way.
They first made their way to the Waianae Volcano and took a few interesting pictures and enjoyed the tropical flora and fauna that surrounded the area. They next proceeded to the Dole Plantation and took the standard tour of the canning facility. Amanda suggested they also try the maze. It looked easy enough but this proved to be a long undertaking. The girls hurriedly floundered inside the maze for an hour without ever finding the proper exit. They had to surrender and take the escape route. All this extra walking around was unexpected and Trisha had a hard time in her cute little Audley white flat-heeled slides. A few times she ran out of one of them and had to hurriedly go back to retrieve it. This was a symptom that all her running around was stretching the upper strap a bit.
The last stop on the girls' morning tour of Oahu was the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. They first boarded the U.S. Navy boat that carried them and the other tourists to the memorial site, then debarked the boat and passed through the flag room before entering the main area of the memorial, a partially open area full of artifacts and information about the ship and its crew. Amber noted the nice view of the island that one could see from one side of the memorial.
"Hey, maybe we can get someone to take our group picture up against the railing on that side. It's such a pretty view. Brittany summoned an elderly gentleman touring the memorial to help them out and take their picture.
Trisha and Amber stood on the back row against the railing with Susan and Candace. Brittany, Stacy, Tiffany and Amanda knelt in front of them. Without thinking about the possible consequences, Trisha rested her left foot on one of the metal railing slits behind her and bent her knee - to make a more relaxed-looking pose. Right after the picture was taken, the other girls started to walk away from the railing but Amber asked the man to take a picture of just her and Trisha with her camera. As he took the second requested picture, Amber looked over and saw the three Navy guys from the day before. She nudged Trisha and pointed subtly, "Hey there's those cute Navy guys!"
The information startled Trisha and her propped foot slipped and fell between the slits of the railing. The force knocked her shoe loose to where it was hanging precariously on the very tips of her toes. Amber waved to the guys and called them over. While the guys started walking, Trisha tried to slowly pull her foot back in between the slits of the railing. While doing so, the shoe was hanging at a slight angle and the shoe got knocked off her toes and fell into Pearl Harbor. 'Oh, no!' Trisha mumbled to herself but Amber was oblivious as the guys finished making their way to say ‘Hello.’ She didn't bear to look - she just assumed it was underwater or floating away to where it was impossible to recover it.
Trisha tried to hide her accident. She kept her one white slide shod foot flat on the floor and her newly shoeless foot tucked behind her other calf and in front of the railing.
"Hi Amber! Hi Trisha!" Seaman Campbell spoke for the group and Trisha and Amber gave a similar cordial greeting. The girls were impressed that the guys had remembered their names. They exchanged a little small talk and Amber asked them if they planned to stop by after dinner and enjoy the luau entertainment.
Again Campbell spoke for the group and said, "We're going to try to make it. Sounds fun."
Right as the guys were about to walk off, Wilson looked down - he wanted to get a good glimpse of Trisha's pretty feet he had remembered from the day before. He noticed the one bare foot sporting the same tropical pink nail polish and boldly asked, "Hey Trisha, what happened to your other shoe?"
A surprised Amber and the other two guys looked down to confirm her folly and said, "Hey, how'd you lose your shoe?"
Trisha meekly replied, "We were taking a picture and my left foot slipped off in between the railing and my shoe just fell off into the water." She took a chance and looked down and saw her little white Audley slide bobbing around in the almost still water. "That's it down there, if I only had a way to reach it."
Campbell and Johnson were pessimistic as was Amber, "Well at least it seems light enough to float but it's at least 6 or 7 feet down there and it seems to me gradually floating away from the building.”
Johnson suggested, "Let's go and find someone from the Park Service. Maybe they have something. Surely things have fallen into the water before. They may have a net on the end of a long pole or something."
Wilson agreed, "Good thinking, I'll wait here with Trisha and watch her shoe and hope it doesn't get any further from us."
Wilson and Trisha got better acquainted while Amber, Campbell and Johnson went to look for a Park Service employee. She learned that Wilson's first name was Wayne and that was from Fresno, California and had joined the Navy out of high school. He was interested in learning as much as possible about communications and electronics and wanted to use the GI Bill to get a degree in Electrical Engineering in the future. Trisha told him about going to the University of Georgia and majoring in Management Information Systems with a minor in Accounting.
Soon, Amber and the guys returned and said that the person they needed to see was on break and would be back in 15-20 minutes.
"Maybe I should just forget it and leave without my shoe. By then it probably will have drifted off too far to reach. You guys were already through with your tour, and the rest of my group will be ready to go in a few minutes, I assume. I have another pair I can wear the rest of the day. But they are a cute pair of slides and I hate to lose one."
Amber and the other two guys thought that was the end of the search and they wandered off to finish their tour of the memorial. The guys had already finished theirs, but they enjoyed getting to know Amber a bit better. Meanwhile, while Trisha was speaking, Wayne fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. He opened the largest blade and took notice of the strength of the ring on the end of the knife.
"Trisha, I got an idea, but I have to work quickly. Let me see your other shoe for a moment."
She slipped off her shoe and handed it to Wayne who took the shoe in his left hand and held the knife by the ring leaving the blade stretched at a 90-degree angle.
"Watch this.” He lowered the knife and the knife was able to easily fit inside the narrow strap and serve as a makeshift hook. If I use my two shoestrings together, put the open knife on the end and lay on the floor and maneuver it through the slits in the railing it just might work."
Trisha looked puzzled as Wayne slipped out of his shoes and handed one to her to take the shoelace off while he removed the other one. He tied a firm knot to create a 8 or 9 foot string then tied the knife to the end firmly.
"I'm going fishing for your shoe, Trisha. Help me guide the knife into the shoe."
Trisha slipped her one shoe back on and said, "I appreciate your valiant effort so much. Even if you don't get it I appreciate how you've tried.
Wayne noticed that the knife swung wildly and spun first one way then the other. It was very hard to control. He batted her shoe once and it started to move farther away from the building. Then he was able to bat her shoe back toward the building and it almost went underneath which would have made it impossible to retrieve.
Trisha got down on her hands and knees to help Wayne guide the knife and string. Passers by must have wondered what this guy was doing but seeing Trisha's shod right foot next to her bare left one must have been a good clue.
In a great stroke of luck, Wayne was able to hook the shoe with the knife and he got it raised out of the water a few feet. Trisha saw the return of her cute white slide imminent. Then there was a shout from behind, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
The shout startled Wayne and he dropped the string and the knife and her shoe into the harbor. Of course, the knife sank and Trisha's shoe began to float rapidly away from the building.
"Rats! I had it!"
Trisha answered the question from the surly Park Service employee. My shoe fell into the water and he was trying to fish it out for me.
"Sorry, you'll have to forget about your stupid shoe. This is a memorial to a sunken ship where people died. It's against the rules to do what you were doing. I'm going to ask you to step away from the railing, please.
A dejected Wayne and especially dejected Trisha obeyed the officer and walked away from the side. They looked like a 'sight' with Trisha wearing one shoe and Wayne wearing two sneakers without shoelaces.
"Let me pay for your lost knife and shoelaces," Trisha nicely offered.
"Don't worry about it, you've got a pair of shoes to replace and that will cost a lot more than my knife and laces. Sorry we came so close and I dropped your shoe."
"Wayne, you did great. It was about to work. I really appreciate it." Trisha kissed him on the cheek and told him in a questioning tone, "See you at the luau?"
"Sounds good, Trisha. But we already have dinner reservations, we might not get there before 9PM."
About that time, Johnson and Campbell came by and found Wayne to continue with their plans. Trisha found Amber where she had caught up with the rest of the group and told them about how close they came to rescuing her missing shoe. Trisha continued to wear her remaining Audley slide as puzzled tourists noticed and wondered what had happened to make her lose other one.
Soon the girls finished their tour, left the Arizona Memorial and returned to their rented van. It was a little past noon and time for lunch. They wanted and needed someplace fast and cheap so they found a sandwich shop not far from their hotel.
Trisha tried to blend in with the other girls to call less attention to her missing shoe as they stood in line to get their sandwiches to take back to the hotel. If not for the hot pavement she might have just considered taking off the remaining shoe, but this way at last one foot stayed cool.
The girls hurried to eat their sandwiches and get ready for the beach. It was fairly crowded and the girls had a great time frolicking in the sand and surf. There was a volleyball net on the beach and this appealed to Trisha and Stacy more than just lying on the sand. Soon they were engrossed in a pickup game with several other guys and girls. Soon there were two teams of five (3 girls and 2 guys each) when a couple of average-looking guys from the University of Virginia band - Evan, who played trombone, and Gary, who played saxophone came by. Evan scanned the cute girls and all were very pretty, but for some reason the cute brunette Trisha with a red ribbon in her hair who was not the best player on the court (that would be the athletic Stacy) seemed to be having the most fun.
Stacy asked the guys, "Hey, you want to play?"
Gary and Evan, initially shocked that this pretty athletic-looking blonde would invite them, both replied, "Sure!" Evan was determined to be in Trisha's team so he dashed over to Trisha's team before Gary could blink an eye, leaving him to be on the other team. Evan found a good spot next to Trisha and after a brief time of introductions the game continued. As the game progressed, Evan overcame his initial shyness and nervousness, and made small talk with Trisha. Being her usual friendly self, Trisha talked with him, not suspecting he was interested in her. Evan and Trisha collided a couple of times trying to make a play but neither seemed to mind. Evan enjoyed watching Trisha more than the game itself. She looked so cute with her ponytail bouncing and she had a lot of enthusiasm. He also noticed her beautiful toned legs and perfect feet.
After a while, everyone decided to take a break from the game. Evan practically forgot about Gary and boldly asked Trisha if she'd like to get a soda and she agreed. Over a Coke, they got better acquainted and discovered that they were both staying in the same hotel. Evan told Trisha that he and some of his friends had made reservations for the luau that night. Trisha told him about her plans to be there and Evan was very pleased.
"Trisha, I hope I'll see you there." "I'll be there."
"We have to leave by 9PM, though. We have a band meeting then.
"That's too bad, the entertainment will probably just be starting. You going to play more volleyball, Evan?"
"Sorry, I have to get Gary and return to the hotel. We're having section practice. It was a pleasure meeting you, Trisha. "You too, Evan."
Trisha returned to the beach to find that Stacy had succumbed to the sand and was lying on the beach with the others. The volleyball game seemed to be over. Trisha found Amber playing in the ocean, so Trisha joined her.
Amber asked, 'So where've you been?"
"Oh I met this guy named Evan playing Volleyball and we walked over to the snack bar and got a Coke to cool off."
"So what's he in Hawaii for?"
"Actually, he's here for the same game we're going to tomorrow. He's a trombonist in the University of Virginia band."
"You're having a good day - first Wilson, then Evan."
Trisha seemed alarmed, "Wilson (pause) I forgot about him."
Amber was surprised, "How can you forget about him? And how does that relate to Evan?"
"Evan and some of his friends are signed up for the Luau dinner and I said I'd see him there."
"That's just great, Trisha, you've got two guys at this luau and I have none - unless I can get to know that cute Seaman Johnson better. How are you going to manage."
"You know, it might just work. Evan said something about having to leave at 9PM and now that I think about it, Wayne said he'd be late."
"Wayne...who's Wayne?"
"Oh, that's Wilson's first name. He's Wayne Wilson from Fresno."
"I know one thing, Trisha; tonight's going to be very interesting."
Later in the afternoon, the girls gathered their things from the beach and returned to their rooms to get ready for the luau. Everyone had brought a nice summery dress and sandals to wear. Trisha chose to wear a Hibiscus Pareo long spaghetti strap dress and a pair of strappy slides with a flower adornment. They were very comfortable and almost felt like she was not wearing shoes at all.
Trisha and the other girls all looked very pretty as they made their way to the luau. They all wore their AOPi pins on their dresses - the girls from Virginia agreed to do the same so they'd be able to easily identify each other. At the luau, the girls were each greeted with a lei around their neck and a kiss on the cheek from a handsome male Hawaiian greeter. There was a live band on the entertainment stage on one side playing traditional Hawaiian tunes. On the other side, there was a bar where you could get any tropical fruity non-alcoholic drink (this was a family luau) you could possibly want. Next to this was the food buffet that was getting a few final touches before opening it to their guests. In the middle of the lawn were several long rows of tables ready for dinner seating. The girls went to the bar and got something to enjoy before dinner and they began to look around for other girls wearing their AOPi pins.
Apparently, they were running a little late. Trisha and her friends stood in one place and began to talk about the location of the luau. Brittany started with "I love how you can see the beach and the ocean from here."
Candace replied, "Yes and the waves are really crashing."
Amber noted, This area here is very pretty. The grass is so thick and lush." Everyone looked down at her feet almost as if it were on cue. Stacy noticed, "The grass practically hides our pretty sandals. I guess we wasted our time worrying about that."
Her comment was based too much on logic and therefore was not well received. Trisha slipped her foot out of one of her slides and rubbed it on the grass before flexing her toes - still tropical pink - and replacing it back inside her shoe. "That feels nice. The ground is so warm and plush."> This maneuver caught the attention of the men at the luau, most of whom had already noticed the eight pretty apparently-unattached coeds.
The girl's chit-chat was quickly ceased when Kimberly from Virginia and her other AOPI sisters entered the luau and found Trisha and her friends. Soon all sixteen girls were getting better acquainted then got in line at the buffet table, getting their food and taking their seats for dinner. The subject of the football game the next day - the reason for going to Hawaii in the first place - was hardly breached. Instead, conversations centered on sorority and campus life and trying to discover similarities and differences between their respective schools. While trying to get to know the UVA girls a it better, Trisha scouted the luau to see if Evan and his friends ever arrived.
Evan, Gary and their friends arrived at the Luau after the buffet started and it was not until Evan went to get dessert that he was able to locate Trisha while she was doing the same. He located Trisha in line dipping in and out of one of her slides and thought her outfit was very pretty and flattering. He had only known her in beachwear and he was pleasantly surprised how nice she looked with her hair fixed and wearing pretty clothes. She was prettier than he could have imagined, but now suddenly the average and ordinary Evan felt like he was playing out of his league.
"Hi Trisha!"
She turned around and found Evan sprouting a friendly smile hoping Trisha would remember him.
"Oh, hi, Evan. I'm so glad you made it. I was looking around earlier to see if you had made it."
Evan fumbled for a reply feeling very flattered that this pretty brunette was actually looking for him. "We ran a bit late - missed the pre-meal entertainment. Was it good?"
"It was nice - very Hawaiian as would be expected."
Both finished getting their desserts. "I guess you need to get back to your friends. Maybe I'll see you afterwards during the entertainment."
"Okay, Evan, see you then."
Trisha returned to her table and ate her desert and talked some more with Kimberly and the other UVA girls. After everyone was nearing the end of the meal, the lights dimmed and the entertainment started in earnest. The Hawaiian band started the music and a line of hula dancers emerged in full costume to entertain the audience. Soon, the elderly man from Arizona that Trisha and Amber had met on the Hotel shuttle was up on stage strutting his stuff to the cheers and laughs of the audience.
Soon folks were getting up out of their seats to dance and Trisha and her group did just that. Evan found Trisha and they began to dance a little. The emcee asked for a volunteer to sing a duet with the band's lead singer and Amber was quick to scurry to the stage and get picked from a group of about 20 other volunteers to come up on the stage to sing with the cute native singer.
