One lonely backpack, packed and ready to go.
Seth stared at the only bag that was sitting by the hotel room door. It belonged to him and by now, it should have been joined by Summer's two suitcases. Correction, one large suitcase and one largish carry-on bag, as Summer had defensively pointed out to him.
He glanced at his watch yet again. "We're going to be late," he called out to her.
"Five minutes!" came the yell from the bathroom.
With a roll of his eyes, he grabbed the remote and clicked on the television. At first, he thought he'd caught the middle of some movie. A rather cool looking disaster movie, with the Hollywood sign being torn to shreds by a massive tornado. But with a rising sense of horror, he realized this was actually on the news.
"Summer!" he bellowed.
In the back corner of his mind, he heard a metallic sounding crash in the bathroom and an unladylike curse. His eyes remained glued to the flickering images as she came behind him. "What is your problem?" she exclaimed. "We've got plenty of..."
He pointed to the TV, interrupting her. "Look. Just look!"
Now the screen had cut to a helicopter shot over Los Angeles, the skies massively black and swirling with debris. The next image caused his jaw to drop in utter disbelief.
"What is this? Are we watching the news?"
Summer's hushed voice was close to his ear. He hadn't even noticed when she'd sat down beside him on the edge of the bed.
"Uh huh," he affirmed.
"Holy shit, is that a tornado?"
"No, that would be four tornados."
In silence, they watched the scenes unfold, seemingly rooted to the spot. He felt Summer's fingers reach for his and he held her hand, feeling vaguely nauseous. Minutes ticked by before the alarming thought entered his head. "We should call home."
Their eyes connected with mutual mirrors of fear and they both dove for their cell phones.
He tried his home number several times but couldn't get through. Network busy, please try again. He looked up as she approached him with her phone in hand. "Any luck?"
She shook her head, then gave him a hopeful look. "Maybe a land line would be better."
"Right," he agreed, reaching over to the phone on the bedside table.
But that didn't work either. All he got was a rapid beeping sound, as if the phone was out of service. He gnawed on his lower lip for a moment. "Let's go down to the lobby," he suggested.
Almost unnaturally quiet, Summer simply nodded and slung her purse over her shoulder.
-------------------------
The lobby was absolute chaos. Summer wasn't sure who was yelling louder – the guests or the hotel staff. Everyone looked upset – afraid, even – and she was slightly confused. Yes, the multiple scenes of destruction in L.A. had been awful but surely this entire crowd of people couldn't be this upset over it. Did they all have relatives in California?
She had become separated from Seth for a minute, but he was back at her side and took her elbow. "Come here, you have to see this. Weird things are happening all over."
He led her to the adjoining bar, where people were huddled around several television sets. Surreal sights flashed before her eyes. Snow in India. The largest hail she'd ever seen in her life in Japan. A massive hurricane in Hawaii. And, of course, four tornados ripping through the core of L.A.
It was hard to take in all at once. "But this must be some coincidence, right?" she had to ask. "You think this is all related?"
"I don't know. It seems bizarre either way. And it gets worse. Someone just told me that all flights are grounded. We're not going anywhere today."
All she could do was nod in understanding, her gaze drawn back to the television as if pulled by a magnet. Finally, she'd decided she'd had enough. As she turned away, she saw a familiar figure watching a different screen at the other end of the bar. It was Laura. She had one hand over her mouth and looked visibly distraught.
Summer had initially taken a dislike to Laura. The girl was tall and willowy, with legs that stretched into infinity, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. Who needed that kind of competition around? But when klutz-boy had spilled his drink on her, she'd acted on impulse, leading her away to deal with the wet spot. In the washroom, Laura had been sweet and thankful, and Summer had no choice but to grudgingly admit that the girl was Nice. Nice with a capital 'N'. And she supposed it also helped that they shared an unnatural love of peanut butter. Their successful getaway from the school rules and regulations had been a fun night.
She approached Laura now and touched her arm lightly. "Hey," she greeted.
Laura sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "Summer, hi. Hi, Seth."
Although she'd more than had her fill of scenes of destruction, Summer had to look at what had upset her new friend so much. On the screen now was an image of a jumbo jet crash. Laura spoke in a small, sad voice. "No one survived. Those poor, poor people."
It suddenly dawned on Summer why she'd taken a liking to Laura. She reminded her of Marissa. Her long-time best friend had always been a softie too. Thinking of Coop made her worry about what was happening in Newport. Did the tornados die out or move elsewhere, wreaking havoc along their destructive paths through other cities?
"Laura, you won't believe...oh, hey, guys."
Summer glanced up to find Sam by their side, his cheeks a little red and brows furrowed together. He looked both anxious and angry. Wondering what was wrong, she soon got an answer as Sam relayed the argument he'd had at the front desk. He had checked out of the hotel earlier this morning before knowing that all flights in the U.S. had been cancelled. When he'd tried to get the room back, he'd been informed that someone else had already taken it.
He continued on, gesturing towards the lobby. "It's totally insane back there. People keep coming in from the street, wanting to get a room. And I've never seen this much rain. I've heard people talking about some places that are starting to get flooded." He looked back to Laura again. "So, bottom line is, we don't have anywhere to stay tonight. I've tried calling a couple of hotels but they're all booked up, like everyone else. I guess we could just go to the airport..."
"Well, we haven't checked out yet," Seth spoke up. He caught Summer's eye and she nodded. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "Why don't you stay with us?"
"Are...are you sure?" Sam asked.
"Positive," Summer stated firmly. "You're not going to sleep at the airport."
"That's so kind of you both," Laura gushed. "We're so lucky to have met you."
Seth suggested that they'd better extend their stay with the hotel right now. Summer agreed and they headed back to the lobby area. At first, she'd thought the clerk might give them a hard time but it turned out to be fine.
Summer waited by the front desk as Seth went back to the bar to get their roommates. Plucking out her cell phone from her purse, she tried dialling home again. The network was still busy. Frustrated, she snapped the phone shut with one hand. Perhaps there would be something on the news about which way the tornados had went. One thing was for sure. When they went back to their room, she planned to switch the television to CNN. It completely annoyed her that every TV in the bar had been tuned to Fox. CNN was much better.
A/N: I know, you're wondering when the action is going to start already. Well, the title of the next chapter is called "The Wave". Is that a good hint? ;-) But it's going to be a long chapter, so the next update won't be as quick as the first few. I do promise that it will be worth the wait!