The Palm Spring Hotel

Shortly before the alarm went off that I set on my phone, I woke up, pretty drowsily. It was 6:48 AM, really early, and the sun was barely over the horizon. I rubbed my eyes, then headed to the bathroom, and after I went, I washed my hands and eyes, to wake myself up the the refreshing, cool, water. Even though I still blinked a lot, I was fully awake and ready to go!

Shortly after I went to the bathroom, Jake woke up too, although he wasn't as tired as me, and just got out his phone and read. I was really suprised from his carefree attitude, but now I was even more suprised with this calm side to him, it felt weird in a way!

I peeked over his shoulder, not wanting to disturb his immense concentration on the words on his phone, although it took some effort to kind of tiptoe with the seatbelt on his waist. Barely grazing the edge of his shoulder, I saw the words, "Are you sure that it won't come to bite you in the back later?"

Then it struck me like metaphorical lightning. Jake wasn't reading, he was writing a story! To make sure, I asked him, "Did you write that?" I asked, pointing upward towards his hands. "Yeah, it's a really fun hobby of mine!" Jake manages to say while scratching the back of his head, blushing, embarrassed. "Are you planning to become a famous author or something?" I asked, then before I let him answer, I added, "That's so cool! You better let me read it first, ok?" "Jeez calm down! It's not a big deal!" he shied away, blushing harder from embarrassment.

I decided to stop teasing him, and let him concentrate on his writing. And so, he went back to quickly moving his fingers across the keyboard, his fingers a mighty blur. I haven't had much friends, but I never met a person like this before. Maybe I should try to get to know him more... if I get the chance!

For the rest of the time I waited, I ordered breakfast, just oatmeal, I kind of needed the sugar rush right then and there! Savoring every bite of the warm breakfast, I handed the waitress the plate back and thanked her warmly. She said, "You're welcome! Have a nice day!" before walking away, with the bowl in her hands. Feeling refreshed from the soothing oatmeal, I was filled with determination, whatever that meant!

I got myself some water, I was dehydrated, and my mouth was dry. As I drank the water, I ended up thinking about the old man and how he was doing. I wonder what he was up to? He was always a mischievous guy, but has he taken it too far this time? I was shocked when Jake suddenly touched me on the shoulder, and I jumped, sitting straight up. "Hey, you scared me!" I complained, angry, "No fair! You scared me half to death!" I ended up starting to laugh, and Jake joined in with the laughter as well.

Maybe it was just me, but I feel like Jake emits a calm aura around him, it's like all my worries are washed away from his happy go lucky attitude, like a waterfall washing away debris. It would be worth having him as an ally, I hate tall and scary people! Their height is so menacing, even if they don't try to be.

Not long after ten minutes, after a very rocky, and bumpy landing that made me feel sick to my stomach, the person speaking through the intercom announced, [You may now take off your seatbelts. We will allow you to leave in a little bit, after we get situated.] After the announcement, it took a few minutes as everyone on the plane grabbed their things, and left the plane carefully.

Entering the bustling airport made me feel a different kind of nauseous in a new way. Jake spotted me looking a little sick, and he asked, "Do you want me to take you to the bathroom? Are you ok?" I then nodded yes, then no, as a reply to his question. He grabbed me by the hand so we wouldn't lose each other, and together we navigated throughout the crowd, eventually finding the boy's restroom. After I went to the bathroom, I immediately rushed to one of the stalls and threw up. Coughing with pain, I flushed the toilet after I stopped puking.

I washed my face, which smelled like vomit, and my hands. Then I got out, after drying my hands, and met Jake back outside. He noticed and asked, "What's wrong? You look a little.... pale..." I answered, "I threw up, my motion sickness is really bad, probably from the rough landing!" "Ouch, must be painful!" Jake stroked his chin, trying to relate, he obviously doesn't easily get motion sickness. "Hey, wait, where are we going to go now?" I asked. "This island is pretty big, but not too big, like a country though." Jake said, "You can probably find a hotel or something nearby, or an apartment to rent temporarily!" "I have enough money to probably rent an apartment!" I said, remembering I stashed a lot of money with me, and my credit card too!

We headed to the closest apartment building, soon entering, and asking the receptionist at the front desk to help up get signed into a room. "Ok, you can stay in room 403!" the lady said nicely. We thanked her, and went up a set of stairs instead of using the elevator, because some people were probably going to use it, and I was not going to stay in a cramped area. Jake was probably thinking the same thing, from the looks of it. We rushed up the stairs, out of breath after running four sets of stairs. Then we walked up to the second door on the left, which was labeled "403" very neatly and bolded. I took hold of the key and reached up towards the key hole. But it was no use! I was too small for my own good. Curse my height! Jake jumped into a conversation that I was having with myself, "Hahah! You're too short to reach the keyhole!" He snatched the key from me and opened the door.

Inside the room was a couch, a T.V., a kitchen with a mini fridge, pantry, and a microwave, and also an oven! There was two neat beds, no wrinkles, and the pillows were neatly placed in the same fashion on both of the beds. "Wow, this place seriously has everything you need to live!" I said in awe. "Yeah, I wonder how long this tournament lasts, exactly?" Jake asked, then realized, "Oh, they'll probably tell us tommorrow!" "Who is "they"?" I asked, confused on why he used such a broad term. "The administrators, obviously!" Jake cleared out, giving me a look like I couldn't use common sense. Oops, looks like I'm stupid! I looked to the side and agreed, "Yeah, I probably should have realized earlier!" Jake noticed me looking away, and he tried to cheer me up, "You don't have to be upset, it's fine!" "Yeah, thanks!" I thanked him, regaining my smile and nodding yes.

It wasn't long until an announcement played across the island.

[ Hello, fellow participants! This is your host, Tadekoro! I hope you will have a good time here at the island, fighting for the top! Even if you lose, you can still stay and battle the other losers! But you wouldn't want to be called a loser because you weren't good enough, right? So don't humiliate yourself and actually try you're best at this! Since we have this broadcasting system, I didn't feel the need to force you to trudge through the grounds into the auditorium, so you should be thanking me!

Anyways, here are the main rules for the tournament:

No cheating, bullying, threatening, blackmailing, murdering, committing a crime, trolling, stealing, etcetera!

We will provide you with the necessary materials, so don't bring anything!

For the game rules:

You cannot put a Draw +2 over another Draw +2!

Same with the Draw +4's!

Don't bring your own cards, sneak any extra cards, look at your opponent's cards, show your opponent your cards, or look at what is in the deck before you draw a card out of it!

Draw 1 card ONLY!

You cannot play 2 cards of the same number over eachother during one turn.

Just to be sure, if you don't say Uno after you place your card down, if your opponent(s) catch(es) you before the next person draws, they get away with it. Othereise, draw 4 cards!

So those are the basic rules! Stay pumped and cautious, and have fun!

This tournament will probably be as long as a few days, maybe a week, if there are no tiebreakers involved! Goodbye for now, hope to see you soon!]

I probably looked wide-eyed at the information overload.