Awakening: Second Stage
Chapter Seven
"Waves"
Saturday
Tish sighed as she worked her way into her bathing suit, running her hands down the length of her person after she had it fixed into place. Strange, it felt slightly tighter than it had been when she'd used it last month. She grimaced at the prospect of having put on weight. It wasn't possible, she didn't eat THAT many chili cheese fries! "Guess I'm growing again." She murmured, making a mental not to look into getting a new bathing suit when she had the time to go shopping. Making sure she had her straps firmly fastened to her shoulders, she stepped out of the bathroom and began gathering anything she might need. She opened a drawer and pulled a plain purple T-Shirt out, throwing it over herself to help protect against sunburn when she wouldn't be swimming. She also saw fit to grab the large pink bath sheet out of her swimming bag, perfect for drying off or just generally soaking up some sun through various parts of the day. Lastly, she fished around inside the bag for her sunscreen. Getting a mild tan was okay, but she saw no reason to put herself at risk of skin cancer. Finding it, she threw the bottle on top of the towel and stepped into her sandals. She grinned as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, pleased at the mild increase to her height the footwear provided. She tossed the bath sheet over her should, and took the sunscreen in hand, still looking at her reflection. Carefully, she straightened her glasses, determined to make herself look as pleasing as possible. She giggled upon seeing the stupid grin on her face, then cleared the image and settled on something more effective, tossing her head back so that her long hair fell back into place. "Hot to trot." She winked, making her way towards the door. Each step very purposeful and calculated, as though her sandals had transformed into high heels.
"So, you kids are going swimming?" asked Dixon as Tino emerged from the bathroom wearing his swim trunks.
"Yeah, I figure it'll be fun. You know, Tish has never been in fresh water before. Unless you count a pool or water park, but this will be her first time for the real thing. Come to think of it, it's been ages since I've been to a fresh water lake like this."
"Bringing back those old childhood memories, eh?"
"Definitely. Fortunately, I thought ahead and packed a little something that I just know will score extra points."
"Do tell."
Tino sauntered over to one of the many plastic bags he had brought with him from Bahia Bay, emptying its contents onto his bed. "I had almost forgotten, but then I remembered at the last minute. It's been a really long time since I used this stuff." A plethora of beach toys now lay in a pile on Tino's bed, specifically the kind meant for use in the sand. Buckets of various sizes, castle and tower molds, shovels, and even a scoop.
"She likes to play in the sand?"
"Trust me, she will here. It's a terribly uncool thing to do back home, but we're safe here. Besides, I know Tish, once I show her this, she'll want to do a scale model of some ancient city or other, I'm sure of it. But the best part about being here is fresh water. You can't make something as cool at home. Saltwater drains. Freshwater stays put if you dig a hole. So I figure we can make a simulation of Venice, or the Roman aqueducts, or something.
"I'm duly impressed, Tino. You really know her likes and dislikes."
"I've known Tish a long time. She lives for this kind of stuff. When we had to make a diorama, she wanted to do ours life-sized. She came over to my place with blueprints and everything."
"Sounds intimidating."
"Tish doesn't do much without some sort of set plan. I've tried to encourage her to be a bit more spontaneous. It hasn't been a total loss. Sometimes she not only surprises me, but herself. I'm rather proud of that. Anyway, what are you going to do today?"
"I don't know, maybe rent a speedboat. Your mom said something about wanting to water ski."
"My mom said that?!" Tino looked shocked beyond belief.
"Hey, just because your mom and I are adults doesn't mean
our lives our over, you know. I won't consider myself dead until I'm forty,
thanks. And I plan on turning thirty-nine many times."
"Yeah? Mom says the same thing!"
"Who do you think gave me the idea?"
"Ah! She's rubbing off on you, I see."
"I pity anyone who can hang out with your mom and not get infected with her good nature. And I like to think I was a pretty cool guy before I met her."
"Hey, you won't get any argument from me. You may be my best hope of convincing my friends of the incredible depth behind Captain Dreadnought."
"One step at a time, Tino. Speaking of which, you'd better not keep the girl waiting. Hey, what are you doing for lunch?"
"I figured we'd just grab something from that general store. You're cooking dinner, right?"
"I've got a cooler full of Omaha steaks. Oh, and two Gardenburgers for your date."
"You're not going to let mom doctor those up, are you?"
"No, but I can't promise she won't be bringing something to the table. Probably some kind of side dish."
Tino shrugged. "Can't win them all. I better run." Tino gathered up his beach toys and threw them back into his bag as best he could. Later days, Dixon. Seeya tonight."
"Seeya tonight, Tino." Dixon waved, watching the boy hop down the steps and to the other cabin where Tish was undoubtedly waiting. "Ah, the eagerness of youth."
"You made it!" Tish smiled, coming out onto the short walkway just as Tino was heading up it towards the front door of the cabin.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Tino grinned, blinking twice at the sight of Tish. She was a sight for sore eyes. Heck, she was a sight for any eyes. Tino didn't consider himself to be particularly hung up on appearances, but he knew what he liked. And he found his girlfriend to be more than pleasing. Apparently she had cleaned up real good after breakfast, because she appeared to be almost a completely different person. It was more than her being attractive. He considered it an honor to walk next to her.
"What's in the bag?"
"Huh? Bag? Oh! The bag! I'll show you when we get onto the beach. Trust me, you'll like this a lot. Almost as much as what I'll give you later tonight. At least, I think. I could be wrong."
"I trust your judgment then. Shall we go?"
"I'm ready. Do you have everything you need?"
"Well, I brought myself a really big towel that we can lie down on and soak up a little sun, later. I also brought some sunscreen so we don't get burned to a crisp. I like the weather up here, it's cooler than back home."
"I'll have to remember that, maybe by you a cabin for our next anniversary."
Tish laughed. "Make it a big one."
"Yes ma'am!"
The walk to the beach was short and uneventful, populated mostly by Tish going over a decorating scheme for her future cabin. The beach itself wasn't very large, but the teens had little trouble carving out a spot to set up camp. Tish loosed her bath sheet, blanketing an area large enough for them both to sit on comfortably. After plunking himself down, Tino opened the bag and dumped the beach toys out between them.
"You brought beach toys?" Tish asked.
"Yeah, I haven't used these in a real long time. They're not really that much fun at the ocean, the sand isn't right and salt water drains. Plus I think it would be terminally uncool to be seen playing with them. But I figured that while we're up here, what the heck? See, I've got these cool little tower and castle molds, and plenty of buckets and shovels. When I was little, I used to make little cities and stuff with canals. I figured that maybe you would want to construct like a scale model of something. I had the idea last night before we left, I remembered how you had wanted to build that life-size pyramid last year. You even had blueprints and everything."
"Tino, you didn't have to go to so much trouble! I don't want to bore you..."
"Who's bored? I used to love playing in the sand! I guess I still do. Besides, we can still go swimming. We've got all day!"
"Can it wait? I want to get started on a city!"
"Really?"
Tish nodded. "What do you think? What should we build?"
"I thought maybe we could do Venice. You know, build some blocks of building with canals in between."
"Now that sounds like a great idea, Tino."
"Okay, you start making some buildings and I'll dig some trenches and a hole for the water. We don't want to flood the canals until everything else is all set."
"You're experienced at this."
"My mom used to take me into the country for swimming a lot when I was pretty young. Those were in the days when my dad was still around. During the summer, while dad was at work, mom would get together with one of her friends and go to the beach. That's where I learned about this stuff."
"I never knew that about you."
Tino shrugged. "Guess it never came up. Oh! Here, you should probably use the special kind of sand to sculpt the buildings."
"Special."
"I'll show you, Tino said, shovel in hand, motioning for Tish to follow him down to the water's edge. "Here. See the sand where the waves kind of lap against the shore? That's the best building sand. It's damp, so it can be shaped well, but it's not all wet and mushy because it doesn't get soaked by the water."
"Wow." Tish blinked. "I mean, I never knew there were all these dynamics!"
"Not too much, really. I usually use this kind of sand to build with. And then I keep a big bucket of dry sand on hand for when a dam bursts. You just pour that over the hole and nine times out of ten, it's enough to plug the thing up. Other than that, it's just a case of having fun, building the kind of buildings you want, and seeing what kinds of twists and turns you can get away with in the canals."
"I think I can handle that part." She smiled. "Am I not an artist?"
"You most certainly are!" Tino smiled, watching as Tish filled a bucket with the "special sand" and begin working artistically in a new medium.
Lor did not feel very comfortable as she sat quietly on the Descartes' sofa, taking her turn at waiting for a friend to make himself presentable for the day. She longed to be somewhere else, anywhere else, but she had her pride. Carver had waited on her, she owed him the return courtesy. The house was a bustle of activity. Carver's parents were each talking on their respective cell phones, no doubt coordinating business activities, despite it being a Saturday. Lor wondered whose bright idea it was to start considering Saturday a business day. If she ever found the moron who came up with that idea, she vowed to drag him into a village square and have him publicly flogged. Lor's ears pricked up at the sound of Todd's yelling, obviously he had found some new interest and was tearing around one of the other rooms. Lor hoped beyond hope that his parents weren't so distracted they had let the kid get hold of some sugar, otherwise she would take off, Carver or no. She'd already done her bit for king and country over a year ago. There wasn't enough money in the world to convince her to do it again, especially on her weekend. The low thrum of running water was coming from the bathroom, Carver was obviously following Lor's lead and cleaning up thoroughly. The only silent member of the household was Carver's sister, Penny, who most likely was barricaded in her room, or else gone completely by now. Lor hesitated for only a moment before deciding she didn't care less which was the case.
Lor sighed. Her hands ached for something to do, anything. A ceramic house lay on the coffee table, Lor reached out for it before scolding herself. The last time she had been bored in one of her friend's houses, she had managed to turn one of Tish's music boxes into a projectile launcher. Fortunately, Tish was usually very tolerant, plus she had been rather distracted at the time. She had had some sort of bug up her butt about finding a crush, so the music box was the least of her concerns. It was very...Tishy of her, Lor reasoned. She was a lot like Tino in that regard. When he got a bug up his butt, he thought of little else. Lor couldn't help but follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion; perhaps that was why the two of them had been seeing each other as more than friends for a whole year now. "And they kept it from us the entire time." She muttered darkly. It still upset her when she thought about it. Not that they had kept it a secret, but that they had been able to keep it a secret. Lor didn't pretend that she was the most perceptive person in the world, but she liked to think she knew her friends pretty well. The thought of something so big going on right under her nose was disturbing to say the least. And no matter how she sliced it, she had trouble with being happy for them. It still felt very unnatural to her somehow, like the two of them were breaking some kind of unwritten law. She felt it eat at her inside, but tried to be more reasonable about it. Carver didn't see anything wrong with it. They had never blown Carver or herself off to spend time together, save this weekend for their anniversary, but Lor begrudgingly admitted they had a right to do that. It was an anniversary. Really, they had a right to do whatever they wanted to do. If Tino and Tish wanted to get all mushy over each other, that was their business, not hers, right? Who was she to criticize them, or try to stand in their way. She didn't even have an emotional investment in the issue, and yet she couldn't stop thinking negative thoughts about their new relationship. "No, not new. It's already a year old." Lor reminded herself, sinking back into the couch in defeat. "Geez, when am I going to wrap my mind around this?" She feverishly ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Okay Lor, chill out, everything's cool." She breathed deep, talking quietly to herself. "It's no big deal. Tino and Tish are dating. They're still you're best friends, they still like hanging with you. Nothing has changed for you." She found herself grabbing another lungful of air, feeling better than she had all morning. "That's better." She smirked, determined to hold onto her usual demeanor, she squashed lingering doubts under her mantra. Without warning, she stood up, tired of doing nothing with her body. She slowly paced the length of the room, trying to get a feel for the decor. She was by no means an artistic person, but she could tell that the Descartes' had taste. There was definitely a rich taste of middle upper class in the atmosphere, a stark contrast to Tino's home, which screamed out middle class, and Tish's, which was downright bizarre. That girl's parents had made up their home to resemble as much of the Old Country as possible, and it was filled to bursting with...stuff...not to mention Tish's mother was usually cooking up some old-fashioned meal in the kitchen. Her own home had rather sparse decorations, with all her brothers running around, knick-knacks would have an extremely short lifespan.
Carver appeared from the hallway that emptied into the living room rather suddenly, taking Lor by surprise. "Dude, that was a lot quicker than I thought." Lor commented
"Really? I've been gone nearly a half hour." Carver informed her.
Had it really been that long? Lor silently chastised herself, deciding she needed to knock off the complicated mental reveries. They weren't her style anyway. "Anyway, you're lookin' good."
"I try." Carver smiled. "Man, I still can't believe my parents didn't flip when I didn't come home last night."
"Like we figured, they checked around. One of your folks must've called over looking for you, and someone told 'em you were at my place. I've got...I don't know, sixteen brothers or something, plus my parents. I'm sure someone was able to pick up the phone and tell them you were with me."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Still, I'd better be more careful. My parents were pretty forgiving because they're so busy this weekend, but if they weren't involved with their own stuff, they might've gone ballistic!"
"Guess we should just be thankful for small favors."
"Yeah. So, ready to go spend some bread?"
"You know it. Spending money is fun, but the idea of spending other people's money, oh yeah, that's living dude!"
"Tell me about it. Maybe we should go down to Funville tonight and see if we can rustle up a few more dollars. I'm sure there's someone down there that'll play us."
Lor laughed. "Tino and Tish wouldn't approve."
"Yeah, but they're not here to stop us. We've got the will, we've got the skills, I say we go for it."
"For a second there, I thought you were about to break into a cheer."
"Ha ha, very funny. So are we getting out of here or what?"
"Yeah, let's hit it." Lor acknowledged. "We're burning weekend."
I've said this before, but here it is again. Another week, another chapter. Some weeks these come easier than others. This was another one of those tough weeks where I got a late start and generally wasn't certain if I could meet my usual deadline. Fortunately, in the end, I triumphed. I have a way of doing that when things seem bleakest, and I chalk it up to the much beloved support I get from all the fans. You guys and gals really keep me going with the steady stream of praise and requests for me to continue. And that's part of what keeps me coming back to this week in and week out. There are other more personal reasons, which I'll address in the commentaries. By the by, I am still working on those. I meant to have one for Chapter 4 of the First Stage available by now, but working 43 hours a week, maintaining a life online, trying to keep up some semblance of a personal life, AND writing this story combine to make it very difficult for me to have even a small amount of time left over. What extra time I do have is dedicated to such frivolous pursuits as sleeping.
At any rate, I have once again unleashed upon the world a few more hours in the lives of these four youths. You keep reading them, I'll keep writing them. Fanfiction may not constitute new episodes of the series, but it's all we have, and I'm proud to be one of the providers for this show. Great series, great fans.
I guess that about wraps things up for this outing. Meet me back here in 168 hours and we'll do it again.
Lord Malachite
6/11/03
11:24 PM, EST
E-mail: ranger_writer@yahoo.com
AIM: Asukaphile26