Chapter 17: No Turning Back

The living room of the Dullard home is packed. The seven kids surround an emotionally exhausted Jorge. The adults fill the kitchen, keeping their tones to a stern whisper, so the kids do not hear. Harmony hugs Jorge with all her might. Sam looks at his roommate in concern, close to his side at all times. His face is full of worry, yet blank at the same time. Reggie stands behind him, not yet sure how to handle what is happening. The rest of the room stands still, except for Otto pacing back and forth. Twister looks back and forth at everyone, not sure what to do. Anna and Rick survey the situation, seemingly deep in thought. The tension can be cut with a knife. The silence deafening. No one speaks for nearly an hour. Most of the crowd then begins to trickle out. The parents to their homes. goes to her room to lie down. And yet, the kids remain. For that night, no one really spoke. A few phrases, such as "Are you okay?" and "Do you need us to get you anything?" are said throughout. Soon, the kids start to fall asleep one by one in the living room. Even Jorge. His fatigue had finally gotten the better of him.

Sam suddenly wakes up and looks around. The clock reads 4:34 A.M. He figures everyone is asleep and is about to do the same. Just as his eyes close, he opens them to look again. Harmony and Jorge use each other as pillows. Anna, Otto and Twister lie on the floor. Reggie is fast asleep on the chair snoring away. The room finally felt at peace. Except...

There was Rick, who continued to write in his notebook. He seemed uneasy, like his mind was still running at 100 miles per hour. Sam wanted to look at Rick with sympathy. Instead, something else stood firm emotionally. For the first time in hours, Sam broke the room's silence.

"You're still awake?"

Rick does not even look away from his writing. He blankly speaks in a quiet, monotonous tone.

"Can't sleep."

Sam looked at him with an intense stare. Trying to read a bit into his feelings and what he was thinking. He continued to fish for information.

"Have you slept at all?"

Rick continued to look at his writing as he answers again.

"Nope. Been up all night. I'll sleep when everyone's awake."

Sam has a skeptic sound to his response.

"That can't be healthy..."

Rick continues his stare at the words with a strong, yet still quiet voice.

"It isn't."

It's clear to Sam just how focused Rick is. It was odd, but this was the most focused he's seen him in a long time. With everything going crazy of late, no one seemed completely there. Until now. Rick's demeanor was completely locked into what he was writing. Sam takes in the silence for a few minutes before his next question arises.

"You writing about Reg?"

Rick responds with the same tone.

"Nah."

Sam's voice goes from intrigued to a stern confusion.

"Why not?"

This time Rick fails to speak. He just shrugs his shoulders. His answer to the question boils Sam's emotions. He could not believe Rick would brush off something like his girlfriend so easy, especially someone like Reggie. It baffled him. It angered him.

"You should write something for her..."

Rick suddenly stopped writing and looked up at Sam quizzically, as he tried to study Sam's answer. Sam looked as serious as he's ever seen him, throwing Rick off. He was known for reading people well and could tell Sam meant more than he said. It finally hit him, as he nodded his head and looked back down on his words to try and regroup himself. He knew now how Sam felt and how complicated things were about to get. Before he had time to consider the situation, Sam spoke again...this time serious as ever.

"Look, if you're going to have someone as amazing as Reg, you have to do everything you can for her. Treat her like a queen. Be there whenever she needs it. Never leave a bit of doubt in her mind how you feel. She has a heart of gold. You can't take that for granted."

Sam's tone was stiff and became a bit loud. If it wasn't for the fact the entire group was sound asleep from severe fatigue, it would have woken one of them. It sent Rick into a trance as he stared at the words on paper. His mind became completely lost in himself. Sam's words started to run wild in his head. Why was Sam so aggressively telling him how to be in a relationship and how to treat someone? Who was he to say that? It didn't matter to Rick. He knew Sam was right. The thoughts went from frustration to sad acceptance. He knew Reggie deserved it all. She always treated him the best and yet, he never felt like he could give her everything. His mind was not where it needed to be. As much as he cared for her, something felt off between them. She's so emotionally open about her life. She's happy with who she is. Rick couldn't say the same for himself. And he wasn't comfortable enough to be open with her yet. All the thoughts ran through his head like wildfire. Sam, after looking at Rick for nearly five minutes turns to lie down. He couldn't understand what happened, but had gotten the words off his chest. Just as he was ready to close his eyes, he heard a voice.

"You gotta be right all the time, Sam?"

Sam quickly looked up to see Rick staring out the window in the room. Sam's face shifted to shock as he saw tears starting to fall out of Rick's eyes. He never saw him like that. Soon after, Rick got up and looked at him.

"I gotta get some air. Thank you for being honesty. I needed that."

While Sam pondered it at first as Rick crept out the door, he understood it was a wholehearted answer without sarcasm. It had been tough to tell at times with Rick, but this was certain. Sam felt bad and almost motioned to leave the room, yet he knew he would wake someone up leaving. He lied back down and tried to sleep it off. Everyone in the group was interesting, but Rick always seemed the one he could never figure out. He understood everyone else. Otto, Twist and Reggie's sportiness. Harmony's kind and helpfulness. Anna's heart and love for everyone. Jorge's friendliness and support no matter what. He could understand all of them. Not Rick. He kept everything inside, hidden from them. It's what made him a mystery to Sam, and what he assumed was everyone else. While Sam was still mad at him for taking Reggie, Rick was still his friend. He should be content she was with someone he knew. As he finally calmed his thoughts, he went to sleep...

Sam wakes up and realizes everyone else is gone. He walks out to see Jorge smiling for the first time in a long time. He looks up to Sam with a surprising glee.

"Hey Sam! Sorry about last night..."

Sam immediately grew a smile of his own.

"Don't worry about it. You feeling better?"

Jorge nods his head firmly.

"Yeah. I got a chance to talk to everyone this morning and...I took for granted how much you guys really care about me. I mean, I really do miss my family at home, but you guys are my family too. And I love you guys. Someday, I'll see my Mom and Dad. Until then, I need to take advantage of everything here, so I have great things to bring back home."

Sam could now see all Jorge needed was reassurance from everyone that he wasn't alone. It felt great to him. He wondered what everyone said, but it wasn't that important. What mattered was his friend was better. Jorge surprised Sam with a big hug afterwards. Sam took it in. Jorge was a very emotional guy, that wasn't afraid to express his emotions with hugs and what not. He had gotten used to it over the time he had been here. Jorge looks at him with glee as he speaks again.

"I guess everyone went back home to rest up. If you're not too tired, wanna just spend today playing games and stuff?"

Sam looked excited. It was something to keep his mind of everything that happened. A chance to forget it and appreciate his friend and roommate's company, which was well needed.

"Sounds good dude. Let's get out the games!"

Sam and Jorge go into their room and laugh along at the video games. looks on with a smile as she quietly watches TV from the living room...

The Rocket's house is fairly quiet. Reggie, Harmony and Otto are all sitting watching TV while Raymundo is working the Shack. Everyone was exhausted from last night. Luckily for the kids, there was no school that day. Reggie looks over at Otto as a commercial plays.

"Rick still asleep?"

Otto sighs as he responds.

"Yeah. He's been asleep ever since we got back. You think he slept last night?

Reggie was quick and confident in her response.

"I've seen that look on him before. He didn't sleep. You could tell when we were talking to Jorge. He was all whack."

Otto looks baffled.

"Dude. How does he live like that?"

Reggie shrugs her shoulders.

"I dunno. He's something."

Otto looked at his sister puzzled. He knew her like the back of his hand. When her and Rick first went out, she seemed so excited about anything that came up with him involved. Now, she was shrugging something that he was struggling from with ease. It threw him off. He knew she wasn't doing it on purpose, but it was still surprising. Harmony was zoned out at the TV show. It was some drama Otto knew nothing about, but there wasn't anything on that either he or Reggie liked. They let her have her fun. Suddenly, they all hear the door knock. Reggie quickly gets up to answer the door. She pushes the door open to see Twister in his light blue swim trunks. He looks up with an excited grin.

"Yoooooo!"

Otto looks at him in confusion.

"Yo?"

Twister looks at his friend with a quick nod.

"Yeah. Like hi or what's up."

Otto shakes his head as Harmony chuckles

"I know what it means dude..."

Twister continues to look at Otto as he speaks.

"Dude, the waves look killer today. Wanna go out and catch some?"

Otto's face turns blank.

"What about Anna?"

Twister responds while rolling his eyes.

"She's with Lars again. Another movie. It's lame."

He shifts his attention, looking at Reggie first.

"Wanna come?"

Reggie shakes her head.

"I have to make sure sleepyhead isn't sick or something."

Twister turns towards Reggie.

"Wait...Rick's sleeping? It's like 2 o' clock!"

Reggie looks at Twister with a smirk.

"He doesn't sleep very well. We're pretty sure he stayed up all night watching Jorge."

Twister's voice suddenly hits a near yell.

"ALL NIGHT? How is that even possible?"

Harmony chuckles again, finally speaking up.

"You're not supposed to do it Twist. He just did. He'll be fine. Just needs the day off."

Otto swiftly looks over at Harmony with a look of desperation.

"You wanna come?"

Harmony looks surprised. She only surfed with the group once or twice and fell off her surfboard nearly every time. Twister and Otto were pros, but Otto's answer seemed genuine.

"I mean...yeah. I'll join in. Let me get my stuff."

As she went to change and grab her stuff, Twister walked up to Otto as he continued to talk.

"We're gonna nail these waves good, man! It's gonna be so rad!"

Otto kept a cool tone.

"Yeah. It'll be awesome."

Harmony grabs her stuff and the three set out for the waves. The day was calm. The waves moving smooth, yet strong for surfers. They got into the water and start surfing. Harmony struggled at first, yet Otto seemed focused to help her along the way, while Twister rode every wave with the same style and excitement everyone was used to. Harmony had not seen Otto care so much about helping before, yet his tips payed off. She finally mustered the confidence to ride the wave on her own. She had crashed three times before finally getting through smoothly. Otto and Twister cheered as they headed back to shore. Otto was the first to step up with excitement.

"You got it H!"

Twister joined in.

"Yeah H girl! That was off the wall!"

Harmony smiles cheek-to-cheek.

"Thanks guys. Your tips really helped Otto. That was...like...so exhilarating."

Twister looks baffled at Harmony.

"Exa-what?"

Harmony laughs as she answers.

"It means it was awesome."

Twister smiles.

"Cool."

They headed onto the beach where their towels and gear laid down. Before Twister and Harmony could dry off, Otto had already had his gear on and spoke rapidly as he rode away.

"I'm gonna check back on Reg and Rick. Meet you guys back there."

Before either could say anything, Otto had raced off. They both looked confused. Harmony spoke first.

"What's his rush?"

Twister looks at her with a plain look.

"I don't know. At least he's smiling."

Harmony agreed.

"Yeah, that's good. You have fun?"

"Of course I did. That was awesome. We gotta bring everyone next time. They'll have a blast."

Harmony finishes putting on her gear and gets on her board.

"Yep. Let's go meet up with them."

Twister and Harmony headed back to the Rockets. The day had been hectic. At least it ended with something fun. Life had gotten a little out of hand with all of the news and relationships. They were still young. It all seemed like it was going way too quick. They all lived their lives like they did their hobbies: Fast. As chaotic as it seemed, it was what they were accustomed to. Slowly, things were finally going back to a norm that made some sense. Everyone was a little happier and care free, now that Jorge was okay. They all had the same thought: Maybe everything would turn out okay after all...