Chapter Two: Awkward Aunts and Crazy Uncles.
I couldn't help but smile at Gray's excitement. Zach was sulking, but clearly enjoying all the fresh girls. What an idiot.
"Look, there's Aunt Claire!" Gray pointed at the staircase, where a woman with severely cropped, pin straight, bright red hair, dressed in a pantsuit.
"Zach! Gray!" She smiled, walking through the hologram of a dinosaur; Gray launched himself and attached to her waist in a vice grip of a hug. She looked completely unsure of what to do. After a second, Gray backed away, and I instantly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, hi… Wow… Look how big you guys are! Zach… Last time I saw you, you were…" She stuttered over her words, holding her hand at to just above my head, okay sure Zach was freaking tall, but no 6 year old is that tall.
"It's been what 3 or 4 years?" She asked.
"Yeah, close, try 7." Zach chuckled back, I placed my hand on his back, attempting to calm him.
"Wow… And… This is? Oh, don't tell me… Natalie? Owen Grady's niece." She smiled at me, and I chuckled.
"Almost, I'm Nikana…But everyone calls me Nik." I replied, waving. Zach's nostrils flared as he glared at his Aunt, I moved my hand down to his arm.
"Right, well, he's meeting with his bosses right now, but he will definitely meet you later. He said it's perfectly okay you stay with Zach and Gray for the day." I nodded in understanding. It was coming into focus for me, she definitely was a workaholic.
"So, I see you've already got your wristbands! Zara here is going to take good care of you until I'm done tonight, okay?" Claire smiled happily, clearly thinking the idea of shirking your nephews was a good thing.
"You're not coming with us?" Gray asked, slightly disappointed and confused.
"Oh, I really wish I could. . . But, I'm really busy today! But, tomorrow, I can take you into the control room and show you behind the scenes and all that. That's pretty cool, right?" Claire's attempt at niceness wasn't returned, she looked down.
"Um, so, don't worry! You'll have a blast! And I will see you around 6." Zara shook her head.
"You have that…" Claire nodded, not allowing Zara to finish.
"I'll definitely see you around 9! Unless that's past your bedtime? Do you guys have one of those? Are they different?" She just didn't know anything. Wow…
"Okay! So, um, have fun!" Claire finally spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence, then she turned to Zara,
"Take good care of them." Claire gave us one more look before scampering off, pressing her phone to her ear. I turned to Zara, who looked at a loss.
"Why don't we go visit the triceratops?" I suggested, she shrugged and I turned to Gray.
"Let's go!" He grabbed my hands and I turned to Zach, who rolled his eyes and proceeded to text Meg. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
"Come on, Z! Try to have fun." I begged. He eyed me, I couldn't tell what he was thinking anymore.
"Yeah… Okay…" He mumbled. I smiled happily and allowed Gray to lead the way towards our destination. When we got there, Gray jumped to the front due to our bracelets and I couldn't help but smile at how happy he seemed. Zach's sighing caught my attention so I turned to him.
"Hey Grumpasaur. What's going on?" I could tell seeing his Aunt's flippant attitude to their arrival was bugging him.
"I don't know… Meg is driving me crazy, I kind of want to punch Kevin… And my Aunt… Well, she hasn't really changed." He laughed slightly at the end. I frowned, looking around at all the laughing, smiling families.
"Ya know, I know firsthand that family can suck… But, you've still got Gray… He looks up to you dude… He adores you! Siblings are a constant… I envy you actually, I've always wanted one…" Zach nodded, cranking his volume up on his phone. I gave him thumbs up.
"Great talk." I whispered. Once Gray was finished at the triceratops, we made a move on to the petting zoo.
"Did you know that a paleontologist - Othniel Charles Marsh - identified a Triceratops' fossil and thought it was a bison?" Gray asked, I chuckled. He had been spouting off fact after fact since he found out we were coming to the park.
"Really now?" I asked, since no one else was paying attention. He nodded and rambled on about other facts and it was just really cute. Zach nudged me, I looked confused, but he pointed at Zara, who had been on the phone for the last 45 minutes. I could tell by the look in Zach's eye he was planning something, probably an escape attempt.
"Let's go." He whispered, I chuckled. He nudged Gray, and nodded towards the opposite direction.
"Come on!" He urged, he grabbed my hand and the three of us quickly bolted away from the woman. We didn't slow down until we made it to the T-Rex exhibit.
"Warning: The following exhibit may not be suitable for all ages!" A voice announced as we walked into the narrow hallway. I snagged the back of Gray's shirt to avoid him getting lost in the crowd. I hadn't realized it until he tightened his grip, that Zach and my hands were still intertwined. Butterflies erupted in my stomach at just how natural the act felt. That's not normal. I stared at our hands for who knows how long until his phone rang. I snatched it away instantly, Meg could probably sense it and was calling to yell.
"Hey, mom." He sighed, oh thank God.
"You were supposed to call me when you landed," Miss Karen sighed, but you could tell she wasn't mad.
"Are you having fun?" She asked, I turned to keep an eye trained on Gray, making sure I didn't lose the floppy haired boy,
"Yeah. I guess so. Uh, Aunt Claire gave us passes so we wouldn't have to wait in line." His voice became background noise as I focused on Gray's head. The T-Rex came stomping up, and bye-bye goat… Zach had finished his phone call and appeared next to me.
"Mom says hi." He stated. I nodded and noticed that people were now moving to exit the tube. We joined the herd and entered the bright light that was Jurassic World.
"Where too next?" I asked Gray, he examined a map, clearly enjoying the idea of not having to be watched.
"There you three are!" The accented voice of Zara pierced our ears. Our eyes widened, how on Earth did she find us!
"What on Earth were you three thinking?! Running off like that?!" She demanded, in all honesty, we could probably have ran off again, but we were all too shocked to do so I think.
"Gray had to go to the bathroom, so we knew not to interrupt you…" I tried lamely, she scoffed.
"Right, now, follow me…" She didn't stray more than 3 feet from us the rest of the day. Around 5:30, I got a text from my Uncle saying we should meet for dinner. I agreed and asked if Zach and Gray could join us. Zara had no problems with it, saying she got off early.
"Wasting away again in Margaritaville!" I sang as we walked towards the restaurant. Zach laughed.
"Nika, you know I love you right?" He asked. I nodded.
"Then please be quiet, you can't really sing." He chuckled, my jaw dropped in fake shock,
"Oh, I can't sing? Maybe, I should sing louder!" I began to start the chorus again, when my Uncle's voice cut me off.
"NUGGET!" He shouted,
"UNCLE OWEN!" I shouted back, okay, it's perfectly normal for a 16 year old girl to be excited to see her Uncle. Don't give me that look lady! I ran and hugged him tightly. He laughed as he picked me up.
"Gah, I've missed you! Thank God you took my advice and didn't grow up anymore," He chuckled. I rolled my eyes as Zach and Gray walked up.
"Zach, Gray, this is my Uncle Owen, Uncle Owen, this is my best friend Zach and little buddy Gray." I introduced the three men in my life to one another. They all shook hands and we all went into the restaurant. Gray attacked him with questions about raptors, and we caught up. 2 hours later, we were finishing up.
"You named me after Star Wars!" I exclaimed. He and I were having a discussion on why I couldn't trust his judgement all the time.
"Hey! I thought your Mom and Dad would catch that I just spelt Anakin backwards!" He defended, I rolled my eyes,
"They didn't! I got teased all the time!" I pouted. It was 3rd grade, when my teacher was calling roll that I was told about my name. He busted out laughing and told the whole class. Kids were relentless.
"Aw, I'm sorry Nugget… But hey, I do have to get back to check on the paddock one more time, I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked, I nodded.
"For sure, do you think we could get a closer look at the raptors for Gray? He'd love it." I threw an arm over Gray's shoulder.
"Of course! Barry's dying to see you again!" He said, I smiled and looked at Zach, who was texting away. I rolled my eyes.
"Alright, well I'm dead on my feet right now. Let's get back to the room!" I said, I bid goodbye to Uncle Owen, and we made our way back to the resort. Gray went to shower, Zach was still texting, and I flipped on the TV.
"Why are you on that bed?" Zach asked, breaking my attention from the Big Bang Theory.
"It's where I'm sleeping?" I replied, it was pretty obvious I thought.
"No, there's no way I'm sharing a bed with Gray, he farts and kicks. I'd rather share with you!" He moved my bag and set it at the foot of his bed. I shook my head.
"I don't think anyone would approve of that." I went to grab my bag back but he kicked it under the bed.
"Come on! It's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before! I mean, we've bathed together for crying out loud!" I let out a laugh.
"The last time we shared a bed, we were 12, and taking a shower when we're 4 in our bathing suits doesn't count!" I said, he chuckled and arranged the pillows so that there was a barrier.
"There, now it's like two beds." He said, I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, whatever." I fell on to the closest side and waited for Gray to finish in the shower. Once we were all cleaned, Gray was out like a light, and Zach was dozing off. I couldn't sleep though, my mind was still buzzing. I couldn't shake the butterflies that were in my stomach ever since Zach had held my hand. Why was that affecting me like this?! It's Zach for crying out loud. Sweet, funny, charming, taken, best friend Zach….
"Nika…" Zach's sleepy voice was probably the hottest thing you'd ever hear. I looked over at him. He was fast asleep. Okay, time to sleep. I blocked out his sighs and such the best I could, and eventually drifted into sleep.
"NIK! Come on!" Gray was shaking me violently the next thing I knew. I groaned, turning away from him.
"Gray, man, chill." Zach grumbled. I sighed in content as silence settled around the room once more.
"There's a much more easier way of getting Nik out of bed." Zach chuckled. My eyes snapped open; I knew exactly what was coming. Then I felt a hand on my hip, and it started moving. I let out a squeal of laughter, throwing my blankets off, I scrambled to get away from Zach, I made it to the opposite side, panting heavily.
"Tickling Nik is much more effective." Zach grinned. I huffed and smacked him with his pillow.
"I'll get you back Mitchell. Just you wait!" I grumbled, he snatched the pillow away with ease and I rolled my eyes. I climbed off the bed and snatched my bag from under the bed.
"Jerks." I grumbled again, stalking into the bathroom. Once I changed into my bathing suit and other outfit of tank top and shorts, we were on our way to breakfast.
"Do you think we can risk sneaking away again?" I asked Zach as we munched on some waffles.
"She has her phone glued to her ear at all times, I think so. We should wait though, make it less obvious." He replied, I nodded and we stopped talking as Zara walked up.
I'd like to thank you guys for all the positive feedback! You guys rule! Thank you so much! It means the world to me! So, as you can see, I did alter the time line a little bit. But, it gets right back on track next chapter! Let me know!
Much Love,
Rhey!