Chapter 2: O Pesadelo)
The morning was spent much more slowly than anyone would have fessed up to, though Nick took it as his duty to display the boredom of the group every chance he got. Hours were spent on the beach with various "scientists" as they explained ocean currents and various shore critters, as well as the grand mystery behind the bamboo that constantly washed up on shore, while some time was given to the students to do a little exploring on their own.
Mike was seriously regretting his choice of Tyler as a partner. Yes, he's your best friend, and he's a nice guy, and he does what he's told to do, but when it comes to science he just doesn't take anything seriously. While other pairs were searching for mollusks from the lists that Mr. Christy had handed out, Tyler just wandered, mingling with people from the other pairs. He thinks he's a ladies man, Mike thought almost with some disgust. Then again, look at yourself.
Everyone seemed to be taking a break, sprawling themselves out on the sand.
"Everybody take twenty, get yourselves some lunch. I hope y'all brown-bagged it, 'cause you aren't getting anything any other way. Twenty minutes, then we hit the boat!" Mr. Christy yelled.
"Real smart, eating lunch before we go on a boat," Nick mentioned snidely, "might as well call this boat the vomitorium."
"You don't pipe down and we get to call the boat Val's House of Pain, am I clear?" Mr. Christy tried to say with seriousness, though unable to hold back at a smile. Verbally sparring with Nick all but made his life interesting.
"Crystal," Nick said with his million dollar grin.
Mike sat down on the beach, clumsily opening his backpack and pulling out a crushed lunch bag. He opened the tattered brown bag, peanut butter sandwich that had most of its contents in its plastic bag instead of in the bread, a banana that looked like it had been behind a radiator and a can of Coke that seemed like it would burst at any minute. On the plus side, the Oreos seemed to be in perfect condition, so there would be some benefits after all. He opened the plastic bag with the sandwich, and tried his best to eat the crushed bread and goo. Looking down the beach, he caught a glimpse at Sarah. For a moment, she looked up and they locked eyes. Sarah smiled, Mike tried to look away.
"Pickings are slim," Tyler said, "too many girls know the act."
Mike looked to his friend and chuckled, "Or maybe it's just nobody's willing to buy the act of a guy everyone calls The Sleaze King."
"That too," Tyler said.
Tyler plowed into his sack lunch, noisily and messily eating his sandwich, licking his fingers and talking a mile a minute about who wore what underwear and what kind of dates he couldn't get. And this guy wonders why he can't get a date, Mike mused, not the brightest bulb in the circuit yet loyal to the end. A great and dangerous combination.
"You see, that's why I'm going to live forever, it's a guarantee," Tyler said with a mouthful of potato chips.
"Why is it this time, you invent the longevity pills again?" Mike said, trying his best not to laugh.
"No, not that, that wouldn't have worked anyway, you know how hard it is to find a rhino horn in these parts, no, the sleaze king is gonna live forever because he made a deal with the big guy upstairs. So long as I don't get any, I live, and you and I both know I ain't ever gonna get any tail."
Trying his best to hold it back, Mike failed, utterly breaking out into laughter. Tyler looked hurt at first before joining his friend.
"All right you little sum-bitches, knock it off!" Mr. Christy was practically yelling, intimating the fight that had broken out between Nick and Clinton.
"Come on Mr. Christy, the guy knocked me down!" Nick protested, "And you don't knock down someone walking on their hands!"
"He was talking smack about me and my h-, girlfriend," Clinton said, using a cock of the head to indicate his girlfriend as they sat in the sand together.
"I don't care who did what, either of you gets hurt, I get blamed, simple as that, you so much as break a nail and I swear as soon as you're not my responsibility I'm going to make you hurt, you get me?" Mr. Christy said, using the same threat he used every class.
"Yes sir," Nick said with mock seriousness.
"Yeah, whatever," Clinton said.
"All right, now that we've got that settled," Mr. Christy said, raising his voice so the whole class could hear, "we're going to get down to business. Lunch is over."
There were the standard amount of groans, to which Mr. Christy raised his hands and waved for silence, "but we're going on the boat. Now, normally you're only able to see ocean life on the topside, which is pretty much the only way we can see it being landlubbers, though with this boat we have the unique opportunity of seeing it as it's meant to be seen. Come on everyone, follow me!"
Begrudgingly, every student and staff member got up and joined the caravan across the sand and towards the dock almost a hundred yards away.
"What's that all about, see it as it's meant to be seen," Tina asked idly, kicking at the sand and wishing she'd brought shoes she wasn't afraid of getting dirty.
"I don't know," Sarah said, "submarine maybe? Or maybe he's going to throw Nick in the water and let the sharks fight over him."
Tina joined her friend at chuckling over her simple wit. Calming down a bit, Tina looked back down the line and spotted Tyler and Mike.
"I think you've got a stalker," Tina said, quickly turning her head back front.
"Who?" Sarah asked, looking back in the same direction as Tina intimated. She saw Mike, who was looking at her and instantly looked away.
"Mike?"
"Bingo!" Tina responded, "The guy's creepy."
"Don't knock Mike, he's a sweet guy."
"But he's weird."
"There's a distinct difference between weird and quiet, he likes to keep to himself," Sarah said defensively.
"Why are you standing up for this guy, he's weird and he always watches you, it's creepy."
Feeling bored and honest, and having a few minutes to kill, Sarah indulged her friend, "Mike and I were practically best friends from age five through twelve, he was my first crush, and I'm pretty sure I was his. Then I hit puberty, he hit the books, we parted ways and we're where we are today. He's a nice guy, one of the sweetest around, and very protective."
"Well," Tina said, not impressed, "I still think he's creepy."
"You think whatever you want, I know what I know," Sarah responded, looking away from Tina and to the dock which they were rapidly approaching.
"There's the boat!" Mr. Christy said enthusiastically, pointing to an aged, white boat with the words "O Pesadelo" written on the side.
"O Pesadelo?" Nick inquired, "What's that mean?"
Soft spoken Katie Underwood lifted her voice above the others, "It's Portugeuse, it means 'The Nightmare'."
"Cute," Nick said with a slight shiver as they approached the boat and hit the dock.
"I don't promise you'll see anything today," Mr. Christy said, "but I do promise today is going to be an interesting day you'll remember for some time."
The morning was spent much more slowly than anyone would have fessed up to, though Nick took it as his duty to display the boredom of the group every chance he got. Hours were spent on the beach with various "scientists" as they explained ocean currents and various shore critters, as well as the grand mystery behind the bamboo that constantly washed up on shore, while some time was given to the students to do a little exploring on their own.
Mike was seriously regretting his choice of Tyler as a partner. Yes, he's your best friend, and he's a nice guy, and he does what he's told to do, but when it comes to science he just doesn't take anything seriously. While other pairs were searching for mollusks from the lists that Mr. Christy had handed out, Tyler just wandered, mingling with people from the other pairs. He thinks he's a ladies man, Mike thought almost with some disgust. Then again, look at yourself.
Everyone seemed to be taking a break, sprawling themselves out on the sand.
"Everybody take twenty, get yourselves some lunch. I hope y'all brown-bagged it, 'cause you aren't getting anything any other way. Twenty minutes, then we hit the boat!" Mr. Christy yelled.
"Real smart, eating lunch before we go on a boat," Nick mentioned snidely, "might as well call this boat the vomitorium."
"You don't pipe down and we get to call the boat Val's House of Pain, am I clear?" Mr. Christy tried to say with seriousness, though unable to hold back at a smile. Verbally sparring with Nick all but made his life interesting.
"Crystal," Nick said with his million dollar grin.
Mike sat down on the beach, clumsily opening his backpack and pulling out a crushed lunch bag. He opened the tattered brown bag, peanut butter sandwich that had most of its contents in its plastic bag instead of in the bread, a banana that looked like it had been behind a radiator and a can of Coke that seemed like it would burst at any minute. On the plus side, the Oreos seemed to be in perfect condition, so there would be some benefits after all. He opened the plastic bag with the sandwich, and tried his best to eat the crushed bread and goo. Looking down the beach, he caught a glimpse at Sarah. For a moment, she looked up and they locked eyes. Sarah smiled, Mike tried to look away.
"Pickings are slim," Tyler said, "too many girls know the act."
Mike looked to his friend and chuckled, "Or maybe it's just nobody's willing to buy the act of a guy everyone calls The Sleaze King."
"That too," Tyler said.
Tyler plowed into his sack lunch, noisily and messily eating his sandwich, licking his fingers and talking a mile a minute about who wore what underwear and what kind of dates he couldn't get. And this guy wonders why he can't get a date, Mike mused, not the brightest bulb in the circuit yet loyal to the end. A great and dangerous combination.
"You see, that's why I'm going to live forever, it's a guarantee," Tyler said with a mouthful of potato chips.
"Why is it this time, you invent the longevity pills again?" Mike said, trying his best not to laugh.
"No, not that, that wouldn't have worked anyway, you know how hard it is to find a rhino horn in these parts, no, the sleaze king is gonna live forever because he made a deal with the big guy upstairs. So long as I don't get any, I live, and you and I both know I ain't ever gonna get any tail."
Trying his best to hold it back, Mike failed, utterly breaking out into laughter. Tyler looked hurt at first before joining his friend.
"All right you little sum-bitches, knock it off!" Mr. Christy was practically yelling, intimating the fight that had broken out between Nick and Clinton.
"Come on Mr. Christy, the guy knocked me down!" Nick protested, "And you don't knock down someone walking on their hands!"
"He was talking smack about me and my h-, girlfriend," Clinton said, using a cock of the head to indicate his girlfriend as they sat in the sand together.
"I don't care who did what, either of you gets hurt, I get blamed, simple as that, you so much as break a nail and I swear as soon as you're not my responsibility I'm going to make you hurt, you get me?" Mr. Christy said, using the same threat he used every class.
"Yes sir," Nick said with mock seriousness.
"Yeah, whatever," Clinton said.
"All right, now that we've got that settled," Mr. Christy said, raising his voice so the whole class could hear, "we're going to get down to business. Lunch is over."
There were the standard amount of groans, to which Mr. Christy raised his hands and waved for silence, "but we're going on the boat. Now, normally you're only able to see ocean life on the topside, which is pretty much the only way we can see it being landlubbers, though with this boat we have the unique opportunity of seeing it as it's meant to be seen. Come on everyone, follow me!"
Begrudgingly, every student and staff member got up and joined the caravan across the sand and towards the dock almost a hundred yards away.
"What's that all about, see it as it's meant to be seen," Tina asked idly, kicking at the sand and wishing she'd brought shoes she wasn't afraid of getting dirty.
"I don't know," Sarah said, "submarine maybe? Or maybe he's going to throw Nick in the water and let the sharks fight over him."
Tina joined her friend at chuckling over her simple wit. Calming down a bit, Tina looked back down the line and spotted Tyler and Mike.
"I think you've got a stalker," Tina said, quickly turning her head back front.
"Who?" Sarah asked, looking back in the same direction as Tina intimated. She saw Mike, who was looking at her and instantly looked away.
"Mike?"
"Bingo!" Tina responded, "The guy's creepy."
"Don't knock Mike, he's a sweet guy."
"But he's weird."
"There's a distinct difference between weird and quiet, he likes to keep to himself," Sarah said defensively.
"Why are you standing up for this guy, he's weird and he always watches you, it's creepy."
Feeling bored and honest, and having a few minutes to kill, Sarah indulged her friend, "Mike and I were practically best friends from age five through twelve, he was my first crush, and I'm pretty sure I was his. Then I hit puberty, he hit the books, we parted ways and we're where we are today. He's a nice guy, one of the sweetest around, and very protective."
"Well," Tina said, not impressed, "I still think he's creepy."
"You think whatever you want, I know what I know," Sarah responded, looking away from Tina and to the dock which they were rapidly approaching.
"There's the boat!" Mr. Christy said enthusiastically, pointing to an aged, white boat with the words "O Pesadelo" written on the side.
"O Pesadelo?" Nick inquired, "What's that mean?"
Soft spoken Katie Underwood lifted her voice above the others, "It's Portugeuse, it means 'The Nightmare'."
"Cute," Nick said with a slight shiver as they approached the boat and hit the dock.
"I don't promise you'll see anything today," Mr. Christy said, "but I do promise today is going to be an interesting day you'll remember for some time."