(A/N – Oh wow! I just got back from the best week at Camp Lutherlyn EVER! It was so cool how I bonded with the other nine kids and five counselors by the end of the day, which was only about seven hours! God bless you all! I miss you so much! Anyways, now that I'm back, I'm going crazy, lol. So much to catch up on and this being one of them! Haha…)
Ever been to camp, Reviewers?
.: That was my sixth trip up there since 2003. I loved it::.
CLE – "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by GreendayI'm so tired and pooped and exhausted from all that…eh. Disclaimer!
But I own ppl as well! I own my looverly friends, non and fictitious. And character appearing in real life is coincidence that is unless you come up here to Connellsville and meet us, lol. On with the chapter!
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN: "Irony?"
I rolled my eyes and looked at Lindsay as she started dancing in her seat to the end of the song. Then when it was over five seconds later, her shoulders fell in disappointment.
"Aww, it's over," she moped. "New station!"
"No, stop!" I said, grabbing her wrist inches from the dial. "It's a weather report! Listen!" I turned it up, and we listened intently.
"And now for the Channel 4 Action News Weather Update in Pittsburgh," the man over the radio said. "The blizzard that was expected to strike last night has postponed its arrival and the first flakes of this storm began to fall about one hour ago. Snowfall is expected to become heavy and visibility reduced to nothing, so get off the roads, folks. Accumulation is said to fall an inch an hour, so we'll be having two feet by this time tomorrow. The entire viewing area is under a blizzard warning until Wednesday night at 10pm, so, yep! You guessed it! Statewide, schools are closed for the entire week and maybe longer, depending on your location. Be sure to stay warm and safe in this harsh weather, and I'll have another update in thirty minutes along with tips to keep you safe in this long and blustery storm we'll just have to ride out. And now, back to the Christmas favorites."
Eyes wide, I leaned forward and turned the volume down on the radio. I looked around at everyone. This is so…
"YES!" Stewie screamed. "No school for a week! Yippee!"
"Jess, it's still bad!" I said. "We could freeze to death in here tonight!"
"Yeah, but we'd freeze instantly out there!" Lindsay said. "Besides, we can stay up all night! We did it when we were locked in the freezer at West! Who's got cards?"
"I do!" Jessica said, pulling them out of her pants.
"Whoa, whoa! One second!" Jack said. "What about the weddin' and tomorrow night? I have to do this!"
Of course he had to bring that up again…
"We'll get you there, Jack, don't worry," I said quietly with this awful twinge in my stomach. "I'll make sure of it, promise."
"Hey, are there any extra blankets in here?" Paige asked, digging in the back where Will and Elizabeth were sitting.
"Um, there should be three, but they're probably not the cleanest things in the world," Lindsay said. "There's a really big one three of us could share. Hey, Gravy, turn up the radio, huh?"
I turned up the volume, my head still racing about what to do about Jack and Miss Garrett and now freezing to death. One of my favorite Christmas songs 'Sleigh Ride' was playing, so that relaxed me a bit. But then again, no.
"Hey Grace, you gonna play?" Paige asked.
I looked back, and Lindz, Stewie, and Paige were all under the big blanket, Will and Liz were sharing one, and Jack had the other. The deck of cards was sitting on the big blanket on Lindsay's lap.
"Whatcha playing?" I asked.
"Rummy," Will said. "Would you like to join us?"
"Um… get me for the next game," I said. "I just want to relax a bit."
"Don't fall asleep," Lindsay said, dealing out the cards.
"I won't," I murmured. "Just don't let me, okay?"
"Gotcha."
As they began to play, I sunk down inside the drivers seat and shut my eyes. Let's see, life sucks at the moment… Jack and Miss Garrett are getting married in a few days, but we're going to somehow stop it supposedly. Meanwhile, outside this stupid van, snow is falling an inch an hour, and by morning, it'll be a miracle if we can even get out. There's gotta be a way out…
Ha! Genius hath stucketh me!
I pulled out my cellphone. I had enough bars for somewhat good reception, but that would be gone by morning. I hurried up and dialed 911. They'll save our butts!
"Who're you calling?" Elizabeth asked, drawing everyone's attention to me now.
"Someone who's gonna come save us," I said gleefully, holding the phone up to my ear and plugging the other one up with my finger.
"Put it on speaker phone so we can hear!" Stewie said.
So I did. They had the right to hear, anyways. After two rings, it picked up, and I jumped into an upright position in my seat. Everyone was watching, waiting, and listening.
"911, what is your emergency?" the patient voice of the woman on the other line said. I leapt forward, unable to contain my excitement.
"Oh! Hi! Well, there are seven people including myself snowed and frozen inside of a white van in the middle of the Fayette County Fairgrounds' parking lot," I explained. "The snow's too deep to do anything, and we can't get out."
"Alright, we'll send two EMS vehicles right away. Are any of the occupants of the van injured or experiencing symptoms of hypothermia?"
"Not yet," I said. "That's why I hurried to call. So we could avoid all of the complications."
"Well you did the right thing," the woman said. "Can I get your names, please?"
"Yeah," I said. "Erm… Jack Sparrow, Grace Sparrow, Paige Madrine, Raoul Turner, Mary Turner, Liz Swann, and Jane Swann."
"Any relations there?" she asked.
"Yeah, but it's complicated," I said. "I'm Grace, and Paige and I are Jack's daughters, and Raoul and Liz are married with their kids being Jane and Mary." It was silent on the other end of the line for a few minutes. I could tell this lady was still trying to figure that out, but oh well. I continued on. "Can you send help immediately?" I asked.
"Help is on its way," the woman said. "The two EMS vehicles have been dispatched from the Dunbar location and will be there within ten minutes or less."
"Cool," I said. "Thanks a bunch."
"No trouble, Miss Sparrow," she said.
Wow. That felt awkward.
"Kay," I said. "Do I have to stay on the line or something til EMS arrives?"
"Yes," the woman said. "Just to ensure your safety and to let us know when the EMS gets there."
"Alright," I said. Then I covered the speaker on the phone and looked back at the others who were smiling and bouncing in their seats. It feels so nice to be smart sometimes. "All systems are go!" I said to them.
"Yay!" Stewie said.
"Just be thankful you won't freeze tonight," I laughed.
"Huzzah!" Lindsay, Paige, and Stewie chorused. I smiled and returned to the phone. The others resumed their game of Rummy with excited chatter. In about seven minutes, I saw the EMS lights flashing as the crested the hill up by the traffic lights.
"I see them coming, "I said to Margaret (the woman told me her name). "They're coming right now."
"Okay, well, they'll run you through the rest of the procedures and such," she said to me.
"Thanks so much," I said.
"Your very welcome," she said. "Take extra care in this storm from here on out."
"Don't worry, we will," I said. "Thanks again. Bye."
I hung up the phone, threw it in my purse, and turned around to the others. Lindsay looked like she was kicking arse right now, but I had to interrupt. You know me, Miss Perfect Timing.
"Are they coming?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, they're right outside there," I said, pointing out the window next to Paige. "The woman named Marge I was talking to said that they'd try to tow both of our cars out tomorrow, but we shouldn't expect too much. It may be a few days."
"That's okay," Lindsay said.
"Did they say that they were taking us home?" Stewie asked.
"Jess, I gave them totally different names to avoid us getting killed by our parents and caught with these guys," I said. "They're taking us to the high school gym to stay the night, and tomorrow they'll take us home if it's necessary and safe enough."
"Okay, so we spend the night and then we can go stay at my grandma's house again," Lindsay said. "But she comes home tomorrow night. We can only stay there til dinner time tomorrow."
"We'll be gone," I said. "While Jack's with Miss Garrett having dinner at her parents' house, we'll all go see a movie."
"Sounds cool," Paige said.
- Senior High Gymnasium –
We got here a little over three hours ago and were sent straight to bed. We picked this clump of cots towards the back of the gym so we could stay together. The gym had fifty-some people in it, including a few friends of mine I talked to in passing from class to class, but that's all. Nope, Holly and Robbie were good to go, safe at home, warm in bed while I lay awake on this stupid hard cot at three in the morning.
I was still wide awake. Of course I'm thinking about Jack and Isabelle and what Lindsay meant when she said we'd do something about it. I had been pondering and pondering and pondering it since I got here, since she had said it, and I was no closer to figuring it out than I was three hours ago. So, being the impatient brute I am, I wake up Lindsay, and Stewie and Paige by accident, too.
I got up and tiptoed over to Lindsay's cot, but I tripped over Paige's, fell into Stewie, and Lindsay woke up from the noise. I covered Stewie's mouth so she wouldn't scream and I picked up a flashlight and motioned them to follow me into the girls' locker room. We went back in hid in one of the shower rooms.
"What's wrong?" Paige asked as we sat down.
"Well, I only meant to wake Lindsay up, but you two might wanna hear it, too," I said. "Lindz, what do you mean when you say we're gonna stop the wedding?"
She looked at me for a minute then smiled.
"We're gonna stop the wedding!" she laughed.
"Oh, come on! I'm not joking!" I said. "Jack and Isabelle are gonna be married in no time and we don't even have a plan!"
"You could send him back to the Caribbean…" Stewie said.
"No, I promised we wouldn't do that," I said. "And in Jack's book, if you break a promise it's as bad as breaking the code. And you know how much it means to him."
It got quiet as we sat there thinking and thinking and thinking…
"Oh, and I just wanted to tell you guys, we aren't going to that movie tomorrow," I said. "We're going to Miss Garrett's parents' house to spy on them."
"What?" the three of the said in unison.
"You saw how fast he found us tonight!" Lindsay said. "It's gonna be a lot easier to point us out with all the commotion if you ask me! That's just lookin' for trouble!"
"Yeah, and if we don't go, we don't know anything," I said. "Missing tomorrow night would be missing a goldmine of information we can use to our advantage."
"Ah, I like," Stewie said, nodding and smiling at me. "This might work."
"It will, trust me," I said. "I called mom earlier and told her I was staying with you and Stewie a few nights, too," I told Lindsay. "That's my cover for wherever I go, so I'm good."
"Alright," Lindsay said. "Now, back to Jack, Isabelle, and the wedding… any ideas yet?"
More silence…
"Okay, so the facts are we have to stop the wedding without sending Jack back with the ruby," I said. "And we have to make it so he won't hate us in the end."
"Oh yeah," Stewie said, slumping into the wall more. "Well now this is gonna be fun…"
We sat there for about five minutes in silence thinking. Nothing was coming to my mind except for sending Isabelle back with the ruby, but that's too mean. She'd be killed by drunks, and I'd be killed by Jack. I didn't voice this option to the others. If people had to die in the end, the plan obviously sucked.
"Jack said that Isabelle wanted us in the wedding, right?" Stewie asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"Oh."
"What's the idea?" Lindsay asked.
"I was thinking we could bust out some silly string…"
"As great as that would be, Stewie, I don't think it'll work," I said. "Jack and Isabelle like us so much that they're putting us in the wedding. They are so gonna hate us forever if we do something to ruin this for them."
"But we have to!" Stewie said. "Grr, the irony!"
"Irony?" Paige half-laughed. "It's not really ironic, is it?"
"Depends on how you look at it," Lindsay said.
THUD
We jumped as we heard the locker room door open. We peaked out of our shower room and saw a flashlight on the walls. Crap.
"Well, girls, it's been a pleasure," I said. "But I say we get out of here and sleep on it since we aren't getting anywhere at the moment and we're about to be caught."
"Wait!" Lindsay said, grabbing my arm. "Don't go back to the gym. Let's go into the pool."
"It's probably locked," I said.
"Nah, it was opened yesterday! We had school!"
"But the guys' gym teacher always has the key!"
Lindsay rolled her eyes, stood up, and grabbed my wrist saying, "Come on! We'll just hide in the equipment room!"
We ran along the back wall and down the last aisle, and pushed open the door that led to the pool showers and a hallway. We ran into the first door in the hallway, and then we shut the door and held our breath until the lights were gone.
"This way," she said next, going back out into the hallway. Then we stood in the pool shower rinse-off room as I held the flashlight on the lock, and Stewie tried to pick it. To my amazement, she finally got it, and we walked into the hot and muggy poolroom. It was really creepy at night.
"Lindsay, if they catch us in here…"
"Aw, chill out," she said, sitting on one of the old benches. "Come hither and listen to my genius!" We sat down around her; myself and Stewie on the floor and Paige on the bench with Lindsay.
"Okay, genius, what's your idea before we get caught?" Paige whispered.
"Yeah, and make it fast, Lindz," I said, glancing over at the door.
Lindsay only sat up with a proud smile and looked at each and every one of us. I was confused.
"Alright, here you go," she said. "You said there's no sending Jack or Isabelle back, right?"
"Yeah," Stewie said, nodding. "So?"
"So…You never said a word about bringing in anybody here."
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GASP! Who is Lindsay thinking about? lol…
Okay, Jack! I'll tell them! Guess what peeps? I now work at Domino's Pizza! Please do not panic! I will still be writing as much as possible! I'll just be making some more extra cash is all. So, yeah! I told 'em, Jack. Happy?
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