Serendipity Girl, chapter 13
I pack up the last of my stuff and zip up my duffle bag.
"You have everything?" My mom asks coming into the room.
"Yup."
"Hat."
"Uhuh."
"Hey, you better wear it, its cold up there."
"I'm not stupid," I sigh as I pull my hat out of my bag.
We head out, passing the unlit Christmas tree on our way out. I look to see there's a mini-van in the Armstrong's driveway. I catch a glimpse of the sticker on the windshield with the logo of the rental company. Joey and Jakob are sitting on the front steps, Joey's face lights up at the sight of me.
"Hey Anna," he says practically leaping off the steps.
"Hey Joey," I say as I kiss his lips quickly, nothing mushy, my mom's right there.
"Is your mom here?"
"Uhh inside," Joey says absent-mindedly.
My mom goes off toward the front door, Jakob lets her in.
"Where do I put my bag?" I ask holding it up. Joey snatches it from me and puts it in the already packed trunk.
"We're just waiting for Kad now." Just then a car pulls up in front of the house and Kad steps out. The car drives away.
"Where's Jay?"
"Inside," Joey and I say simultaneously.
Within minutes everyone's outside and we're loading up into the eight-seater mini-van.
It's a long drive to the mountain area outside Seattle with many driver switches. I even drove for about half an hour. But twelve hours later and we arrive in front of a pretty large cabin, I mean it has four or five bedrooms.
"File out!" Billie says in mock drill sergeant. We get out and stretch our legs for a couple of minutes before grabbing our bags and heading inside.
"When's Aunt Holly and Uncle Andrew getting here?" Jakob asks as we investigate the inners of the cabin.
"About half an hour," Adie says as she checks out the washroom.
We all look through the rooms, usually this cabin is shared for multiple families or even scout trips. The rooms us teens got had two sets of bunk beds in each. I mark one of the top bunks as my own by placing my bag on it. Kad does the same on the other bunk. By the time we claimed our rooms and beds another family comes into the cabin.
"Hey baby brother," the woman says hugging Billie Joe.
"Ever going to stop calling me that?" he laughs. I figure they're Holly and Andrew, standing near them is a girl, maybe 15, which is Riley.
"Riley!" Jakob yells, "I'm going get you back for last time!"
"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you try!" the girl says sticking out her tongue. Joey comes behind me a wraps his arms around my waist.
"Hey," I giggle as I feel him rest his chin on my shoulder, "What's that all about?"
"We came up here last year and long story short Jakob ended up wandering outside the cabin in his boxers," I giggle.
"I wish him good luck topping that."
"Ahh I see Joseph got himself a girlyfriend," she laughs. "I'm Riley."
"Anna," I say as Joey loosens his grip around me. She turns to Jay and Kad.
"And so did Jay."
"Riley, this is Kad," he says awkwardly.
"Jay had the hots for Riley a while back," Joey murmurs in my ear.
"No kidding, I could cut the tension with a knife."
"So where am I bunking?" Riley asks holding up her bag.
"Second room," I say casually as Joey tightens his grip around me again.
Suddenly out of nowhere we hear the cell phone jingle of 2000 Lightyears Away chorus. Everyone turns their head to look at Adie.
"I thought we agreed no cell phones?" Andrew says cocking an eyebrow. Adie looks over the number.
"Its not the office, its my brother," she says pressing to accept the call, "Hey Steve . . . . oh awesome . . . . okay we'll see you then, bye."
"What's going on?" Holly demands.
"They're coming, there was a change in plans with Tina's work schedule so they're coming up."
"Awe but Matt snores!" Jakob exclaims, we all laugh.
"That was only because you shoved gummy bears in his nose," Joey laughs.
"Still snoring," Jakob insists.
I turn my head to see Jay and Kad necking off out of view of the adults.
"Hey Jay, what do you think?" I ask laughing. They stop making out immediately and send me a death glare. Joey laughs.
"What's so funny?" Holly asks glancing between us as Jay comes into their view.
"Nothing," I say innocently.
We spent most of the evening settling in but now its morning and we're having toaster waffles. Joey and I are sitting on one end of the large table, his parents are still asleep, so are Riley and Jay. Everyone else is sitting towards the other end of the table near the big window.
Suddenly the main door bursts open. No other than Steve and Tina Nesser grace us with their presence.
"Hey, you came earlier than expected," Andrew exclaims.
"Yeah, we drove all night," Tina laughs.
"Where's Matty?" Jakob demands.
"Here," Matthew says, his arm wrapped around Lil as they step inside.
"Holy shit! Lil what are you doing here?" I demand laughing.
"Me? What about you?" she laughs.
"Where's my sister?" Steve asks after they all shedded their jackets.
"In bed, with a guy," Holly says childishly, I'm guessing Steve had the reputation of being an over-protective big brother.
"Aunt Holly, please shut up," Jakob groans.
*
"Hey," Joey whispers to me across the table, I look up from my waffles. "Let's hit the slopes." Something about his tone is more than intriguing. We pick up our plates and wash them in the kitchen sink before slinking off to get our stuff.
I get to the 'girl room' where Lil is putting away her stuff. "You guys took the good bunks," she pouts. I laugh.
"Riley said the same thing. Top bunk rocks!"
I head over to the closet and slip on my snow pants and jacket.
"Where are you going this early?" she demands, putting her hand on her hip.
"Joey and I are hitting the slopes early," I say pulling on my shoes.
"Oh cool, Matt and I'll come too," she says reaching for her coat.
"I think Joey wanted to be alone with me," I cock an eyebrow.
"Oh," She says eyeing me suspiciously, "You do know you can get frost bite on all parts of your body?"
"Haha," I say cynically as I grab my gloves.
"Don't forget your hat," she says in a hilarious imitation of my mother as she chucks my hat at me.
I carefully step down the stairs and see Joey standing at the side door with two snowboards. He smiles as I step up to him and take a board. He opens the door and we head out.
"You have everything?" My mom asks coming into the room.
"Yup."
"Hat."
"Uhuh."
"Hey, you better wear it, its cold up there."
"I'm not stupid," I sigh as I pull my hat out of my bag.
We head out, passing the unlit Christmas tree on our way out. I look to see there's a mini-van in the Armstrong's driveway. I catch a glimpse of the sticker on the windshield with the logo of the rental company. Joey and Jakob are sitting on the front steps, Joey's face lights up at the sight of me.
"Hey Anna," he says practically leaping off the steps.
"Hey Joey," I say as I kiss his lips quickly, nothing mushy, my mom's right there.
"Is your mom here?"
"Uhh inside," Joey says absent-mindedly.
My mom goes off toward the front door, Jakob lets her in.
"Where do I put my bag?" I ask holding it up. Joey snatches it from me and puts it in the already packed trunk.
"We're just waiting for Kad now." Just then a car pulls up in front of the house and Kad steps out. The car drives away.
"Where's Jay?"
"Inside," Joey and I say simultaneously.
Within minutes everyone's outside and we're loading up into the eight-seater mini-van.
It's a long drive to the mountain area outside Seattle with many driver switches. I even drove for about half an hour. But twelve hours later and we arrive in front of a pretty large cabin, I mean it has four or five bedrooms.
"File out!" Billie says in mock drill sergeant. We get out and stretch our legs for a couple of minutes before grabbing our bags and heading inside.
"When's Aunt Holly and Uncle Andrew getting here?" Jakob asks as we investigate the inners of the cabin.
"About half an hour," Adie says as she checks out the washroom.
We all look through the rooms, usually this cabin is shared for multiple families or even scout trips. The rooms us teens got had two sets of bunk beds in each. I mark one of the top bunks as my own by placing my bag on it. Kad does the same on the other bunk. By the time we claimed our rooms and beds another family comes into the cabin.
"Hey baby brother," the woman says hugging Billie Joe.
"Ever going to stop calling me that?" he laughs. I figure they're Holly and Andrew, standing near them is a girl, maybe 15, which is Riley.
"Riley!" Jakob yells, "I'm going get you back for last time!"
"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you try!" the girl says sticking out her tongue. Joey comes behind me a wraps his arms around my waist.
"Hey," I giggle as I feel him rest his chin on my shoulder, "What's that all about?"
"We came up here last year and long story short Jakob ended up wandering outside the cabin in his boxers," I giggle.
"I wish him good luck topping that."
"Ahh I see Joseph got himself a girlyfriend," she laughs. "I'm Riley."
"Anna," I say as Joey loosens his grip around me. She turns to Jay and Kad.
"And so did Jay."
"Riley, this is Kad," he says awkwardly.
"Jay had the hots for Riley a while back," Joey murmurs in my ear.
"No kidding, I could cut the tension with a knife."
"So where am I bunking?" Riley asks holding up her bag.
"Second room," I say casually as Joey tightens his grip around me again.
Suddenly out of nowhere we hear the cell phone jingle of 2000 Lightyears Away chorus. Everyone turns their head to look at Adie.
"I thought we agreed no cell phones?" Andrew says cocking an eyebrow. Adie looks over the number.
"Its not the office, its my brother," she says pressing to accept the call, "Hey Steve . . . . oh awesome . . . . okay we'll see you then, bye."
"What's going on?" Holly demands.
"They're coming, there was a change in plans with Tina's work schedule so they're coming up."
"Awe but Matt snores!" Jakob exclaims, we all laugh.
"That was only because you shoved gummy bears in his nose," Joey laughs.
"Still snoring," Jakob insists.
I turn my head to see Jay and Kad necking off out of view of the adults.
"Hey Jay, what do you think?" I ask laughing. They stop making out immediately and send me a death glare. Joey laughs.
"What's so funny?" Holly asks glancing between us as Jay comes into their view.
"Nothing," I say innocently.
We spent most of the evening settling in but now its morning and we're having toaster waffles. Joey and I are sitting on one end of the large table, his parents are still asleep, so are Riley and Jay. Everyone else is sitting towards the other end of the table near the big window.
Suddenly the main door bursts open. No other than Steve and Tina Nesser grace us with their presence.
"Hey, you came earlier than expected," Andrew exclaims.
"Yeah, we drove all night," Tina laughs.
"Where's Matty?" Jakob demands.
"Here," Matthew says, his arm wrapped around Lil as they step inside.
"Holy shit! Lil what are you doing here?" I demand laughing.
"Me? What about you?" she laughs.
"Where's my sister?" Steve asks after they all shedded their jackets.
"In bed, with a guy," Holly says childishly, I'm guessing Steve had the reputation of being an over-protective big brother.
"Aunt Holly, please shut up," Jakob groans.
*
"Hey," Joey whispers to me across the table, I look up from my waffles. "Let's hit the slopes." Something about his tone is more than intriguing. We pick up our plates and wash them in the kitchen sink before slinking off to get our stuff.
I get to the 'girl room' where Lil is putting away her stuff. "You guys took the good bunks," she pouts. I laugh.
"Riley said the same thing. Top bunk rocks!"
I head over to the closet and slip on my snow pants and jacket.
"Where are you going this early?" she demands, putting her hand on her hip.
"Joey and I are hitting the slopes early," I say pulling on my shoes.
"Oh cool, Matt and I'll come too," she says reaching for her coat.
"I think Joey wanted to be alone with me," I cock an eyebrow.
"Oh," She says eyeing me suspiciously, "You do know you can get frost bite on all parts of your body?"
"Haha," I say cynically as I grab my gloves.
"Don't forget your hat," she says in a hilarious imitation of my mother as she chucks my hat at me.
I carefully step down the stairs and see Joey standing at the side door with two snowboards. He smiles as I step up to him and take a board. He opens the door and we head out.
