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Chapter 18
"Does anyone else feel like this is the best day they've had in a long time?" questioned Howie. Everyone murmured some kind of an answer that sounded like a yes. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I want a picture of all of us to remember it by." Howie was really as sentimental as he seemed. Howie went into the house and returned with a camera and a tripod.
We took a few pictures of all of us relaxing around the pool, but then we went crazy. In one picture: I was being held upside down from my ankles by Kevin, while Stacie was on Nick's back piggy back style, and Brian and AJ had Deb up in the air on her side. Howie jumped in the picture just in time in a secret agent pose. After we had used up an entire roll of film, we collapsed onto our chairs again, laughing, and with Howie promising to have copies of the good ones made for everyone.
I checked my watch. I was 9pm. "The weather's really different here. The sun isn't all the way down yet and we're still sitting out here in our bathing suits," I thought. I didn't want to burst anyone's happy bubble, including my own, but I had this nagging feeling that something was going to happen. I ignored it and sat there daydreaming.
Suddenly, I felt ice cold water trickle down my back. I bolted out of the chair and turned. Brian was standing there laughing hysterically. "So you think that's funny?" I asked. He nodded vigorously. "Well, I think this is funny!" I shouted as I grabbed a water gun (from the previous water gun fight) from under my chair and drenched Brian. Brian in turn grabbed a water gun lying by him and drenched me. We both ended up laughing like fools.
I looked around at the others. The two couples were obviously enjoying one another, and maybe even a bit too much. Kevin and Howie were asleep on lounge chairs. I grinned devilishly. "Hey Bri? You want to bring them all back to earth?" He caught on to my plan and we silently made our way to the other side of the pool. I crept up behind Stacie and Nick while Brian took Deb and AJ. "One, two, three!" I mouthed silently. On three both couples were blasted with a stream of cold water.
Nick, Stacie, and Deb just stood there, staring, with shocked looks on their faces. AJ burst out laughing. He loved pranks. "That was good guys!" he called. "But not good enough!" he countered picking up the hose that was next to him and drenching us both again. By this time we were all laughing and Kevin and Howie had been woken up by the noise. They were watching sleepily with bewildered looks on their faces. When they realized what had happened, they joined in the laughter.
I shivered as the wind blew, making the trees sway.
It had gotten colder and I was drenched. Instinctively I hugged my arms to my chest and looked up at the sky. The sun was almost gone now, and the horizon looked like it was on fire, but there were no stars in the darkened east. Instead there were dark storm clouds. I shivered again. "I don't like the looks of those storm clouds," I thought. "Hey, you cold?" questioned a voice behind me. It was Howie.
"Yeah, thanks," I said as he handed me a large, fluffy towel. I wrapped it around my shoulders. "No problem," he answered as he moved away to give towels to the others. I went back to studying the sky. Something was wrong. There was a knot growing in my stomach. My senses were telling me that we should stay with the guys.
"Hey Meliss?" said Brian coming up behind me and putting an arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah," I answered, leaning in to him. He was quickly becoming like the older brother I had always wanted. "We should go inside. Kev doesn't like the looks of those storm clouds. Everyone else is inside already." "OK," I said simply, following him back towards the house. The knot in my stomach was tightening. As we stepped through the door I heard the first distant rolls of thunder.
I caught Deb's eye across the room and tried to communicate with her silently. She came over to me. "What's wrong?" she asked. "What are you worried about? It's OK, we're going home now anyway." "NO!" I said in a hoarse whisper.
Deb looked at me strangely. "What's wrong?" she questioned again, this time more worriedly. "I don't know. I just have a feeling that something's going to happen and we shouldn't leave!" I whispered urgently.
"Girls!" came Kevin's voice across the room. He had resumed his "big brother" role again. As we walked towards the rest of the group I noticed that Kevin had been watching the Weather Channel.
"An unexpected hurricane hit Miami and Ft. Lauderdale about an hour ago. It's a very unpredictable and uncommon storm because as of now it is heading across land to Orlando," the newscaster droned.
Kevin spoke, "I don't think you should go home now………"
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