by Amy Sparling
There’s palm trees thick enough to block out the rest of the world, and the pool has a large waterfall on one end. I close my eyes and pretend I’m somewhere exotic and beautiful.
We’ve been out here for a few hours. Aunt Donna and Mrs. Poe are getting along well, playing cards in the hotel. But it’s still too claustrophobic in there. There’s too many people, and the news is always on the TV, and Dakota and I are having much more fun here in the water.
Ethan was with us until a little while ago when his dad asked him to go to the store with him to stock up on non-perishable foods. It turns out we’ll have to stay at least one more night, maybe two, before we’re allowed to go back home. They want the flood waters to subside before anyone drives back.
I hold my breath and dunk under the water, letting its coolness refresh me as I plunge back up, holding my nose to keep the water out.
Kennedy stands on the edge of the pool looking at me. I nearly choke on my own spit. Dakota swims up to me. “Can we help you?” she asks Kennedy.
Kennedy is wearing some skimpy white shorts and a blue tank top. Her flip flops are eye level with me and I really hate being forced to look up at her.
“I need to talk to Ella,” she says.
Dakota doesn’t move. “Whatever you want to say to her, you can say in front of me.”
Kennedy rolls her eyes and then looks at me, giving me this expression like she thinks I’m going to tell Dakota to scram.
Well, it sucks for her because I refuse to do anything that makes it look like I’m siding with Kennedy. I’m on Dakota’s side. Always.
I bob in the water and make no motions of getting out of the pool. “What is it?”
She huffs indignantly. “Fine, I’ll tell both of you,” she says, but she’s looking at me. She inhales deeply and then lets it out slowly. “I wanted to apologize for the photos I took of Ethan. It was a shitty thing to do. I guess I didn’t realize how close you two were. I didn’t even know you were still dating.”
There are so many things wrong with this apology, but it did include the word apologize, so I guess it’s the best that Kennedy can do. And it’s certainly more than I ever thought I’d get from her.
“Thanks,” I say, my voice flat.
“Thanks for letting me stay,” she says.
I shrug. “It’s not my choice.”
Kennedy walks away and I dunk back under the water again, wishing that the chlorine had the power to wipe away all of my memories of that girl. I just want her gone. Out of my life, out of my boyfriend’s life. At least next week we will both be out of our hometown and we won’t have to see her anymore.
The pool closes at ten, and Dakota and I slowly make our way back to the hotel. “You’re really awesome, you know that right?” she says while we’re wrapped up in thick hotel towels in the elevator. “The way you talk to Kennedy is so bad ass.”
I snort. “Let’s hope you never have to deal with a Kennedy in your life.”
Back in the hotel, Aunt Donna has a nice bed made on the couch, and Roscoe is snoring lightly while he sleeps on the floor next to her. The Poes and Kennedy have already retired to their rooms and Dakota gives me a silly look before going into her room that she shares with Kennedy. “Wish me luck,” she says.
“There’s not enough luck in the world for that,” I say back with a giggle.
In my room, Ethan is watching TV from the bed. He’s wearing pajama pants and no shirt and my eyes flick straight to his chest.
“I know,” he says, touching his stomach. “I haven’t worked out in two days and I’m losing all my muscle definition.”
I roll my eyes and throw my wet towel at him. “You know you look hot.”
After I shower and blow dry my hair, I put on the last clean T-shirt I have and slip into bed next to Ethan. The lights are off, but the TV is still on, casting a flickering glow across our faces.
“This is not how I pictured our first hotel stay together,” Ethan whispers. He wraps his arm around me and I lay on his bare chest.
“I definitely thought there would be less people involved when we stayed in our first hotel,” I say.
He grins. “That’s for damn sure.”
When he smiles at me like that, I can’t help but fall in love with him all over again. I grab his face and pull him down to me for a kiss. Soon, our legs are tangled together and our hands are all over each other and the kisses go from sweet to more urgent.
I break away and put my hands on his shoulders. “We should stop.”
“Yeah,” he says, exhaling a slow breath. He closes his eyes for a second, like he’s trying to make all sexy thoughts disappear. “We should definitely stop.”
“Next week,” I say, poking him in the chest.
“I can’t wait,” he says. “I’m going to make out with you in every room of my new apartment.”
“Ethan?” I whisper, not because I’m trying to be quiet but because I’m still frail when it comes to this topic.
“Yes, babe?” he says back, his voice soft and caring.
“Are we going to be okay?”
He smiles softly while his thumb slides down my cheek. “We’ll be more than okay, Ella. We’ll be perfect.”
Chapter 24
The next two days go by in a time warp. Some times the hours seem to stretch on for eternity, like when Ella and I are having breakfast in the hotel lobby with our entire group of people and everything is awkward. The television in our hotel room has been permanently on the news, which keeps showing the devastation caused by the hurricane. The flood waters are supposed to be down enough to drive back home tomorrow. Every second spent watching the news coverage seems to stretch on forever.
Other times, like when Ella and I are cuddled together in the bed we get to share in our small room of the hotel suite, the time just flies on by. No matter what I do to make it slow down, I can’t seem to catch the hours and keep them with me.
Falling asleep next to my girl has been the best feeling ever. But then it’s like I blink and it’s morning, and we hear the sounds of my parents and Donna and Kennedy waking up and talking and we know we can’t stay like this any longer. Having your parents walk in on you snuggled around your girlfriend is just too weird to handle.
I just need to hang on a little while longer, and soon Ella and I will be in Dallas, making a life for ourselves. For now though, we need to be with our family.
My parents have pizza delivered, and we’re all standing around the small living area watching the news on TV when Ella gets a call from her parents. I watch her from across the room as her eyebrows furrow. She looks at her aunt, who is currently showing my sister how to fold her pizza crust in half and eat pizza the “proper way.”
Ella talks quietly into the phone, and I can’t hear what she’s saying, but it seems like something is up. When her call ends, she walks over to her aunt and tells her something. They both walk into our bedroom to talk.
No one seems to notice their disappearance, but after ten minutes, I’m getting a little worried. I walk over to the bedroom door and knock on it slightly. It’s only halfway closed, so I poke my head inside to find Ella and Donna sitting on the edge of the bed. Ella’s arm is around her aunt.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Come in,” Ella says.
I push the door open further and Roscoe bounds into the room next to me, obviously just as curious as I am about what’s going on. I close the door behind us.
Aunt Donna stares at the floor and only puts one hand lazily on Roscoe’s head when he walks up to her, his tail wagging.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“My parents called and told me that the place where Aunt Donna lives has been completely wiped out,” Ella says.
My eyes widen. “Seriously?”
She nods. “They’re not letting anyone go back to it, and the place apparently got so flooded that there’s no way to retrieve any of her belongings.”
“Wow,” I breathe. “Don
na, I’m so sorry.”
Donna shrugs. “It was just things. I’m glad I have my Roscoe and my life.”
Ella frowns as she watches her aunt, then she looks at me. “So Aunt Donna is going to come live with my parents for a while. I told her she could have my bedroom since I’m leaving for college.”
“That’s cool,” I say, trying to sound cheerful. But what else can you say to someone who just lost their home and their belongings?
Donna breathes in deeply and then lets it out in a sigh. “I’m really thankful to you guys,” she says. “You all took care of me these last few days, and Roscoe, too. It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done.”
“We’re happy to help,” I say. “My parents are too.”
Donna looks up now, and her grim expression softens with a slight smile. “You’re a good kid. I’m glad my niece is dating you.”
###
The next morning is a flurry of excitement. Our town has lifted the evacuation ban and is allowing people to come back home. We pack up all our stuff from the hotel and have one last continental breakfast in the hotel’s lobby. Everyone here is buzzing with an excited energy. I think most of the guests are also people who had to evacuate. After the week we’ve had, we’re all happy to get back home.
My parents talked to Kennedy’s parents, who are arriving at the airport today. Luckily, this is the last I have to see of my ex because my parents are going to take her to the airport on their way home. My poor sister begged to ride home with me, and I agreed. She had to spend three nights sharing a room with Kennedy and now I owe her big. Maybe I’ll buy her that new laptop she’s been wanting.
The entire week has been so crazy that I forgot to check my online store, much less update it. My fans will be expecting new T-shirt designs from me, so I’ll have to upload something as soon as we get home. When I do remember to check it, I’m relieved to see that sales stayed the same despite this hurricane. I’m still happily self-employed and will be able to move to Dallas and concentrate on expanding my business.
Donna is in a better mood this morning. Yesterday, after finding out about her home getting destroyed, she’d spend the whole day sitting silently on the couch watching the news with Roscoe in her lap. Today she’s all smiles.
But maybe that’s because she gets to drive. Ella decided that she wants to ride home with me, a decision that couldn’t have made me happier. I couldn’t stand the thought of driving home with her following me again. I would have gone crazy checking my rear view mirror. So now Donna is going to drive the Corolla with Roscoe, and Ella will ride home with me and Dakota.
We’re all packed up and ready to go, and as soon as we finish our breakfast, the whole group walks outside.
Mom hugs me and Ella, then squeezes Dakota extra tight. “You guys be safe,” she says, looking at me with her Mom Look. “Don’t take any detours and don’t drive over any roads that are flooded.”
“So if we can’t take a detour, what do we do if the road is flooded?” I ask with a smirk.
Her lips flatten. “Ethan! You know what I mean! Just figure it out,” she says with a laugh. “And be safe. You’ll get home before we do, so just be safe.”
“Thank you so much for taking me to the airport,” Kennedy says. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think she was some sweet southern girl with a charming smile. But that charm is as fake as the shimmery makeup on her eyelids. It all washes off eventually, and you see the mean girl underneath. I’m so glad to be done with her. My jaw tightens as I remember the drama she put us through this week. But then I take a deep breath and tell myself to let it go. Ella and I are okay now. If we can survive Kennedy’s crap, then we can survive anything.
Finally, we’re in my truck and on the road. Dakota stretches out in the backseat and plays on her phone, listening to music through her headphones. Ella sits next to me, which is exactly where I like her.
I reach over and take her hand. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” she says.
The drive home isn’t too bad. There’s a little traffic on the main highway, but it’s not like it was before when everyone was panicking and trying to get away. As we get closer to home, you can tell a storm was here. Tree branches litter the roads, and business signs are toppled over or broken. We drive past a huge McDonald’s golden arches that’s blocking half a lane.
“Whoa,” Ella says. “That thing is much bigger down here.”
Once we turn off the highway, things get even worse. The small town roads of Hockley, Texas are completely covered in debris. It’s mostly tree branches and street signs, but there’s other stuff too. A canoe hangs out in a ditch that’s nearly overflowing onto the street. Patio furniture litters front lawns and cars are left in weird angles on lawns and driveways as if the water pushed them there.
We all drive in silence as we make our way through the town. Dakota is sitting up now, her face pressed to the back window. I have to stop a few times to drag a tree branch out of the road. Some parts are worse than others. We drive down one back road toward Ella’s house and the only thing you can see is the road. To the left and right is just water, and houses poking out from the water which is around three feet deep.
Ella gasps and puts a hand over her mouth. “This is terrible.”
“I hope your house is okay,” I say. But there’s no telling what it’ll look like until we get there. It’s funny how you don’t realize the different elevations of the town until it’s covered in water. Some parts of the road are high enough that the houses are fine. Others dip down just slightly and the houses are filled with water.
Things look better when we pull onto Ella’s road. There’s still trash and debris everywhere, but none of the houses are flooded.
I pull into her driveway and her house looks almost the same as usual. Only there’s signs of water everywhere. The grass is bent over at an angle from where it drained off.
We get out of my truck and walk up the sidewalk. Her house is two steps higher than the sidewalk, and that might be what saved it. Ella and I both look around at the front porch. You can tell the water was up here, but did it get in the house?
She unlocks the front door and pushes it open. A musty smell fills my lungs. Ella’s feet squish onto the carpet as she steps inside.
“Water definitely got in,” I say as we look around the living room.
“But not much,” Ella says. She walks further into the room, stomping her feet as she goes. The front doorway is covered in water, but it gets less as you walk inside. Once we get to the kitchen, the floors are dry. We check every room of the house, and it’s all dry. Looks like the water probably rose up to the porch and slipped under the front door, but not too badly.
“Wow,” Ella says, turning back to look at the wet living room carpet. “We got lucky.”
“Very lucky,” Dakota says. “You’ll probably just have to rip out the carpet and be fine.”
“Let’s start,” I say. Ella’s parents are driving home from New Orleans today but I know from watching the news all week that starting the clean up as soon as possible is the best thing to do. Otherwise you get mold.
My sister and Ella help me move the couch into the kitchen, and then we unhook the TV and move it all into the hallway. They don’t have much furniture, so it doesn’t take long.
Then I search how to remove carpet on YouTube, and it turns out it’s pretty easy. You just pull it up. I pry up a corner of the carpet and then roll it back. It smells terrible, and the water underneath is all muddy and gross.
With the girl’s help, we roll up the carpet from the small living room and carry it outside. Luckily, the rest of the house has tile or wooden floors, and the water didn’t reach any of that. We mop up the water that’s still on the concrete of the living room. Ella gets some bleach and sprays it all over to get rid of the smell.
We’re covered in sweat and it’s only been one hour since we got here.
Ella puts her hands on her hips and studies
the empty living room. “I feel really, really, lucky,” she says, glancing up at me with watery eyes. “I had pretty much convinced myself that I’d come home and it would all be gone, just like the last time.”
I put an arm around her even though I’m kind of gross and sweaty. “Mother Nature spared you,” I say with a grin.
My phone rings. I let go of Ella to answer it.
“Ethan,” Mom says in a voice that’s so strained it makes the hairs on my neck stand up. “Can you come home now?”
“Yeah, I’ll head over there now,” I say. “Is everything okay?”
Mom takes a second to answer. “Not really,” she finally says. “It’s not okay.”
Chapter 25
Ethan’s face pales. “I have to go,” he says, slowly sliding the phone back in his pocket. He turns to his sister. “We have to go.”
I put a hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?”
He’s staring right at me but I can tell his thoughts are far away. “My mom… I think something’s wrong at home. Will you come with me?”
I love that he wants me to be there even when things are wrong. “Of course,” I say, grabbing my phone off the kitchen counter. The living room smells like bleach but that’s better than the musty old smell it had when we first arrived. I leave a note for Aunt Donna on the kitchen counter and leave the door unlocked for her.
We get back in Ethan’s truck and I can tell he’s weirded out on the whole drive across town. Whatever his mom said has really freaked him out.
People are already piling carpets on the side of the road like we did. We drive past more than carpet—furniture, trash, debris. Some homes were flooded worse than others, but at least most of the flood waters are gone now.
Dakota gasps as we turn onto my old neighborhood. The manmade lake that’s right in the middle of the circle of homes looks more like an ocean. It’s overfilled all the way up, covering the sidewalk that normally wraps around the lake with plenty of grass separating it from the water. The flooding is even halfway up the benches that dot along the sidewalk where we used to sit and watch the lake back when I lived here.