Back at Gwen's home, John was busy watching the Channel 32 news, already liking the peace and quiet with his big sister away. His peace however was interrupted when his mother came home through the front doorway.
"I got some groceries," his mother said as she started putting her goods in the fridge and freezer. "Will you help me organize them?"
"Why me?" moaned John.
"Because, since Gwen is away," said his mother firmly, "that means it's your job to help."
John groaned and went to help and made sure some of the things were put in wherever his mother wanted him to put them.
"You know," said his mother, "you already remind me of Gwen."
"How?"
"Normally, she too doesn't like to help with groceries after losing your dad," she said while John made a pouty face. "But after that TV show on that island, she seems kinder and more willing to help."
"Yeah, that game really changed her, did it?" he asked.
"Yes, maybe I should put you on something similar so you could too," she said in a smug on her face.
"No thanks!" he said. "I'd rather stay here than go on some show where people don't care about the lives of their contestants. It's already made Gwen leave us again just then."
"Well, believe me, John," said his mother. "We're likely in more danger here than she is over there."
John shrugged and went back to work until his glanced his eyes towards the television, where he saw something that made him snap his fingers, getting his mother's attention before pointing towards the TV, where they both saw the news together. There was the weatherman showing what looks like a tropical storm out on the Pacific Ocean.
"Bingo is already started to grow. And it won't be long," said the weatherman, "until this tropical storm becomes a hurricane. It has yet to be determined where or when it will make landfall."
By seeing this, both knowing fully well that Gwen was out on the Pacific right now, it began to make them a little concerned. They couldn't warn them by cellphone because of how far away she was, which means she will have to find out on her own. But surely, they were sure she will hear about it, right?
That evening, out on the Pacific, the Elton Rock had left the island and was already sailing in the open sea towards their next destination. In the back cabin of the boat, Gwen was waiting beside a door, wearing a robe and carrying a towel over her shoulder. Very soon, she saw Kitty step out, wearing her own robe.
"Your turn, Gwen," smiled Kitty as she left.
Gwen stepped into the room and locked the door. It was a small bathroom which consisted of a sink, a toilet, and a shower stall. She had stepped in here before, but it was her first time to use the shower in this room as she turned on the water nozzle in the glass stall. While waiting for the water to warm up, she realized the stall was a little smaller than she had originally thought. Still, Gwen took a deep breath and took off the robe before stepping into the stall, closing the glass door.
As she washed herself. All she tried to think about was the shower she was having and that there was plenty of air coming in through the top as the hot water soaked her whole body from head to toe. But everywhere she looked, she could see the glass chamber she was inside. She could see outside of it, but only barely due to the hot steam that was trying to escape the top.
Suddenly, the steam began to grow thicker until the goth girl couldn't see a thing. She moved a slight back and felt her whole back hit something. Knowing it was the wall, Gwen reached over, where her hand touched the wall on the other side. With so much steam all around, she was just about beginning to breath in it. Worse still, as she felt the walls in every direction from where she stood, they somehow felt like they were moving, closing in with her inside! Gwen looked all around in fear and worry, breathing faster and heavily, trying to keep herself calm and trying to tell her it was all her imagination. But all these thoughts were becoming unbearable. It made her breathing faster and her heart started racing. She couldn't breathe with all the steam around her. She was trapped with the space getting tighter and tighter! At last, she could stand it no more!
Stephanie was just entering the cabin about to get something when she heard a panicking scream coming from behind the bathroom door just beside her. Then came a bang, a few more with more screaming, then the door burst open with steam escaping from inside and Gwen rushed out, holding her towel in front of her before falling to her knees, panting with fear with her pupils shrunken.
"Gwen? Are you okay?" asked Stephanie.
"What's going on?" came DJ's voice as he and the others neared the cabin in worry after hearing the noise.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Stephanie halted them at the doorway. "Girls only!"
So, she and Kitty came and tried to comfort Gwen, still breathing heavily on the floor before she began tearing up and leaning her head on Kitty's shoulder, sobbing wildly.
"Gwen, what's wrong?" asked Kitty.
"I will never go back in there!" cried Gwen frantically. "NEVER!"
"Why not?" Kitty asked, getting worried.
"I know," said Trent knowingly from behind the doorway, getting everyone's attention. "She's claustrophobic."
To Geoff and DJ, this was normal as they both knew this. But this came as a surprise to everyone else, especially Kitty.
"Is this true, Gwen?" Kitty asked to Gwen, who slowly nodded as she continued to cry on her shoulder while Kitty wrapped her arms around Gwen, trying to comfort her and calm her down from that nightmarish experience she had just endured.
That night, Bingo did become a hurricane just like the newsman had said as the clouds had already fromed a complete cyclone. With it out on the water, it had grown effortlessly quicky by the hours. The wind was blowing strongly, and the rain was pounding like cats and dogs.
High in the sky, A weather plane was already flying through the storm, trying to examine the situation. The aircraft was built to withstand it while recording it with it's strong motors and fuselage.
"Those hours really made it grow so large," said one of the men.
"I know," agreed another man. "It was just a tropical storm just this morning. But now, it's so strong."
"How high are we looking at it now?" asked the first man.
"I'd say with all this rain and wind," said the second man. "Looks like Category 2 right now. But for however long it stays out at sea, it's likely it'll grow to Category 5 in a matter of days!"
And they were right!
The next morning At the resort, Trina was at the beach, lounging in the sun and working on her tan. She already knew how to set her plan to ruin her brother's concert. He was planning on a real big tour, and she was not gonna let that happen. With her being the older sister, she sets things straight, being the one to ruin his life. All she had to do was wait for the concert while her friend was doing everything else.
"That stupid, little brother," she thought.
"Hey, sis!" called a cheery voice approaching.
Trina turned and saw Corey coming towards her. She groaned in annoyance. But she knew his concert wasn't happening right now, nor does she plan on letting it ever happen.
"What do you want, squirt?" she asked.
"Just thought you'd better get ready for your surf lesson today," Corey said with a smug on his face.
Trina was confused.
"Surf lesson? I didn't sign up for any surf lesson," she replied.
"I don't think you understand," smiled Corey. "This is a surf resort and everyone here gets to surf."
"Well, not me! I DON'T surf," Trina huffed as she went back to lounging.
But Corey had expected this. He had his own little joke ready as he leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"You know, Nick Mallory might like a talented girl who surfs good!"
That did the trick as she sat up in alarm before shaking Corey's shoulders.
"When's it happening! TELL ME NOW!" she yelled in a frenzy.
"I-I-In five minutes!" he answered while being shook.
That said, Trina let go and hurried to the surf shack where she would meet her instructor. After she had gone, he peered over at Laney, Kin and Kon, hiding behind the bushes, and gave them a thumbs up, earning him smiles from his friends.
What Corey said wasn't a lie. Trina really does have a surf lesson since Corey signed her up for it. She was being taught by a guy with a fierce tattoo on his chest and red hair striking upwards, wearing red shorts. She found it hard to get the basics as the teenaged girl was new to this kind of sport and not completely used to it. It was lucky for her that they were starting small... on the sand rather than the water!
"This is WAY different than putting on makeup," she said in her mind.
Meanwhile, Mina snook into their hotel room so that she could sabotage their instruments before their big gig, as assigned by Trina. Unfortunately, when she came in, she was met with an unfortunate surprise!
"Where did their instruments go?!" she exclaimed, seeing their equipment not anywhere in the room.
The reason was simple Corey and his band snuck downstairs to the hotel's basement with their instruments so they could play and practice without getting noticed, not even by Trina or Mina. And they found a very empty room with plenty of space for them to practice. They played to their hearts content and had the most enjoyable session of their lives. But this was no comparison to their big upcoming show tonight.
"I can't believe we pulled it off!" smiled Laney after they finished a song. "Glad the elevator goes down to the basement. There's no way they would've let us take our equipment down here."
"You said it, man!" agreed Corey happily, earning him a disappointed look from Laney for being referred to as such again.
"So, now that we're able to practice without any problems," said Kin, "What's next?"
"Yeah," agreed Kon. "How do we make the concert go without fail?"
"Don't worry, guys. I took care of that already!" smirked Laney.
Hearing this, Kin and Kon eyed each other in question.
On the open sea, things weren't looking too good onboard the Elton Rock as there was no wind today, leaving Trent, Gwen, and all the others stranded on the boat. Worse still, they couldn't waste all their fuel just to get to their destination, where there could likely be no gas tank to refill. All they could do was drift and wait until the wind came back.
Gwen was sitting on the deck, hanging her lower legs over the edge while sketching the distant sea on her sketchbook. The sea air was all around, the water was calm, and the surroundings were quiet aside from the slight and slow rocking the boat made. They were just floating out in the middle of nowhere. Everything was just peaceful. While she was sketching, she then heard the aft hatch door opening.
Stephanie stepped outside for some air until she found Gwen sketching on the forward end of the boat.
"Why are you sitting there all by yourself?" Stephanie asked. "You could be watching the movie down in here."
"Just some peace and quiet," Gwen answered. "And I already know our only 5 movies by heart."
Stephanie shrugged before looking up at the sails, still seeing no wind being blown onto them. She sighed as she stepped over towards the sketching goth girl.
"So, when will we be getting wind again?" she asked.
"Depends on what the weatherman says," Gwen answered, never taking her attention off her drawing.
"Just figured since Trent's supposed to be the expert after how long he's got this boat," Stephanie said, "He should be sure that we would get plenty of wind so that we wouldn't run dry. It's not like a captain to make such mistakes, especially about the weather." she added, ruining Gwen's inspiration to draw in a second.
"Are you doubting what Trent's trying to do?" she asked, giving her a firm glare.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Stephanie answered. "He promised us a great vacation. And then this happens!"
"And you'll get your great vacation, just be patient," sighed Gwen. "That said, you should respect that Trent's trying to do everything he could for you. And just because we got no wind right now doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it!"
"Hmm. Why are you defending him so much anyway?" asked Stephanie. "Is it just because you're his first mate or is there more than that? Maybe it's because you used to be in a relationship with him, and that you might still have feelings for him?"
Hearing this made Gwen smack her sketchbook on the deck and stand up to face her.
"You listen!" Gwen snapped angrilly. "Now Trent's made some mistakes in his life, but my mistakes are a whole lot worse! So worse that nobody in the world would even give me that time of day and say I'm the bad guy!" she went on, raising her voice. "But I came back from those mistakes! We all have! And so will Trent, so LAY HIM OFF!"
Taken aback, Stephanie went silent for a few seconds before nodding before carefully stepping back down below while Gwen just sat back down, dangling her feet over the edge, staring out at the horizon. She continued to sit and stare until she heard someone else coming.
"Did she give you a hard time?"
Gwen briefly looked back to see Trent standing behind her.
"You can say that," she sighed.
There was a second of silence until she heard Trent counting quietly and turned again to see.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 8... 9," he whispered, poking his head, with his voice slowing down and quieter when he noticed Gwen staring at him. "Sorry, force of habit. You know?" he said, sitting down beside her, dangling his legs over the side.
"Yeah, I know, your... lucky number 9 thing, I get it," Gwen replied, looking away solemly.
There was a moment of silence before Trent decided to break the ice.
"Hey, Gwen, if by any chance you still think it's because-"
"No, no!" inturrupted Gwen. "I... I saw that aftermath episode. So... I know about your grandfather and that toy train. Though I still wonder why your mom would give you that number just because a wheel fell off before your grandfather passed away."
"She never gave me a whole explaination despite all that at the time," said Trent. "I do wish I would ask her though."
"Maybe you will when you find the time," suggested Gwen, giving him a smile, making Trent smile back.
"Yeah," agreed Trent as they both stared out to the sea together.