Chapter Two

This was not a fun trip. Layla's feet had become sore in her boots, and she started to tap her leg to the beat of an arbitrary rhythm.

Henry grimaced and put his hand on her shoulder. "Can you please stop?"

"Sorry." Although Layla didn't want to upset Henry, she was happy he touched her shoulder.

It didn't take long before the urge to tap her hand resurfaced again. "I'm bored."

"We're almost there," Rachel replied.

"This feels like forever. Is this surprise still inside city limits?"

"Yeah."

"Last time I left the city it didn't take nearly this long."

"Well, you were probably in a car, Layla. We're walking."

"I know that," Layla muttered. "How much longer then?"

"Soon."

Layla scrunched her hands into fists before releasing. "Fine. But it better be soon because these sandals are eating into my ankles."

"Just take them off then," Henry offered.

"And have her get a piece of glass in her foot?" Rachel pointed out.

Not long after that conversation ended, the trio came upon the chain link fence barring them from their destination.

"Is this it?" Layla asked. "The community pool?"

Rachel nodded.

"Rachel, the gate's closed," Henry said.

"Well, we'll just hop the fence."

"But what about getting into the pool house to stay the night?"

"I was thinking we'd just sleep under the stars."

"It's going to get down to 20 degrees tonight." Layla looked serious. "I'm not dressed for that."

"I was kidding!" She pulled out a key from her pocket. "My boyfriend was a lifeguard last summer. He had forgotten to turn in the key so I asked for it."

"Oh," Layla slowly smiled. "So we don't have to hop the fence and sleep outside?"

"Oh, you still have to hop the fence. I only have one key and there are two locks."

"God, fine." Layla put one foot in a chain-link opening and prepared to push her self up. Once she was on top of the fence, she tried to balance on the curved top. Her slick soles slipped and she landed on her back as her glasses flew off her face.

Groaning, Layla slowly rolled in the grass.

"Did you get the wind knocked out of you?" Rachel landed on her feet. Layla could see up her nose when Rachel crouched beside her and slid her glasses back on.

"At least you landed on the right side. It would've sucked to have to climb over again," Henry added.

"Give me a second," after a few shallow breaths, Layla got to her feet. Her side throbbed but she was fine.

Rachel poked her side.

Layla flinched and smacked her hand. "You do that again, I'll push you in the pool."

"Sorry, just checking to see if you were alright," Rachel inserted the key into the pool house's door. "Since you're still able to threaten me, I'll assume you're fine."

After a few tugs of the handle, the trio was able to walk into a tiled reception room.

"There's a bathroom to the left and a kitchen to the right. We could set up in here. But right now, I got to go to the bathroom." Rachel left.

"I'll go raid the pantry," Henry left as well.

The window rumbled as some tree branches hit it. Layla moved the blinds to gaze outside. Trees were tiltedly swaying and more branches hit the roof. Layla grabbed the keys Rachel had tossed on the chair and locked the door.

Layla wondered if a hurricane was coming. Usually, they'd get a warning but maybe Layla just wasn't paying attention to the news enough. If there was one coming, Layla should enjoy this while it lasts. The build-up of a hurricane was the best. It was all parties as the weather conditions pushed people past their boundaries. But, soon a power surge would shut down the electricity, and everyone would go to sleep. Once you had woken up, there would be no electricity, so no AC, everything would be flooded, there would be no phone signals, and trees would have collapsed on houses. God, it would be super hot because it would have been during August or September. August...it's November! There couldn't be a hurricane.

Layla took another look outside. This time, her sight drifted to the fence and two yellow eyes stared back. Pulling the blinds down, Layla scolded herself. She pushed back the blinds and nothing was there. She was always seeing things.

Henry returned with chocolate cup cookies and several bags of chips. "See something?"

"Not really. It's really windy out though. Did you get drinks?" Layla asked.

"Some waters, but I couldn't carry everything in one go."

"I'll help you."

The snack room was pretty much how Layla expected it to be. Overhead cabinets floated above a few counters and a mini-fridge. Two plastic chairs surrounded a matching table. Henry was grabbing more chips.

Layla walked over to the window. The trees were still swaying, but she didn't see anything. Maybe her early sighting really was just a speck on the panes or something. Nevertheless, she closed these blinds as well.

Remembering what she was here to do, she picked three waterbottles out of the fridge and carried them back to the main room.

Rachel was spreading out blankets and pillows on the floor.

"Where'd you find those?" Layla set the water bottles on the receptionist's desk.

"I stashed them here last Friday."

"Wow, you're prepared."

"You didn't think we'd be sleeping in those chairs, did you?"

"Kind of. I feel like I'm at a sleepover. Except your brother's here."

"Except my brothers here," she laughed. Then she looked at me weird. "Do you like him?"

"No," Layla couldn't help giggling. Red as a tomato, she kept denying it. "I'm not laughing because I like him. I'm laughing because it was such a ridiculous question." She started shaking with laughter.

"Sure," she held out a waterbottle. "Here you go."

As Layla took a sip, Rachel leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I'm sure you'd make a very cute couple."

Water spewed everywhere.