Micky ran up the beach and stopped just below the tree. He looked up. "Peter?" he asked, confused. Peter stuck his head out of the side of the house and grinned. "How'd you guys get up there?"
Peter explained how they'd gotten locked out of the house and gone up the tree in search of shelter from the rain and the ladder had been knocked over accidentally. Micky rolled his eyes.
"Of all the stupid predicaments..." he mumbled to himself.
"Yeah, well, just get us out of here," Nicole yelled down. "Never mind how stupid it is." Micky went over and picked up the ladder and propped it up against the tree. Peter and Nicole climbed down the ladder and landed safely on the ground. Micky looked them over. They were soaking wet.
"You better get home and dry off," he said. Peter looked confused for a second and then looked down at himself and smiled sheepishly. "I'll go find the others."
"Others?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, we split up to look for you. I'll go find them," Micky explained and ran off down the beach.
Peter turned to Nicole. "Well, here we are on the ground again," he said. "Yeah, here we are," she said. "Though it was kinda fun up there," she added mischievously.
Peter laughed. "Yeah. I think we should find a better hiding place, though," he said. "They're liable to find us next time we disappear." She nodded, laughing, and together they walked down the beach, back towards the Pad.
"DAVY!" I turned around to the sound of Micky's voice. He ran up the street towards me. I knew from the sound of his voice that he was happy and I had a feeling as to why. "Davy, I-I found them," he said, panting from the running.
"Really?" I asked. "That's fabulous, Micky. Where were they?"
"In, in a tree," he said, still trying to catch his breath.
"You mean I was right?" I asked.
"Yep," Micky said, and went on to explain to me how Peter and Nicole had come to get stuck up in a tree and how he'd found them. Then, just as we were reaching the Pad, he took off running again to find Mike. I went in to the house to find Peter and Nicole.
"HEY, PETER?" I shouted as I entered the Pad. But there was no reason to have shouted. He was standing in the room, next to Nicole. And they were standing dangerously close to each other...
"MIKE!" Micky yelled, thinking for the fiftieth time how perilously close he was to loosing his voice after all this yelling. He heard Mike's voice in the distance but was unable to determine what he was saying or even where it was coming from. He turned down a side street where he thought that the voice was coming from. Sure enough, there he found Mike, standing in front of a house. He was walking away from it, appearing deep in thought. "Mike," Micky said in a normal tone of voice, to avoid hurting his throat anymore.
Mike looked up. "Did'ja find 'em?" he asked. Micky nodded and then explained the story for the second time as they were walking home.
"What're ya doing over here?" he asked.
"Well, there was this little kid and he got kinda lost, so I was helpin' him to find his way home," Mike explained. Micky nodded, understanding.
Eventually, they reached the Pad. Mike opened the front door, hoping to find Peter or his sister so he could have a happy reunion, but the living room was empty.
"Hey, is any body home?" he called out. I poked my head out of the kitchen. "I'm over 'ere, Mike, though I doubt think you're looking for me. Peter and Nicole both went to take a shower, since they weren't exactly clean." I looked back at the hamburgers I had begun for dinner, trying to avoid Mike.
Mike seemed to accept the explanation and with unusual vigor began to help set the table for dinner. While he was putting the plates on the table, Peter came in, his hair still wet, drying it with a towel. Mike greeted him with unusual cheerfulness, and Peter regarded me with a questioning look. I sighed and shook my head slightly at him, and he immediately relaxed and let out a sigh.
Mike gave him a puzzling look. "What was that for?" he asked. Peter shrugged.
"Just remembering how hungry I am," he said, and I remembered that he and Nicole hadn't even eaten breakfast. "Those burgers almost done?"
"I'm 'urrying as fast as I can," I replied defensively, earning a laugh from the others.
When Nicole came out of the shower she earned a warm reception from Mike and glanced the same questioning glance at Peter and I, who returned it with a small shake of the head to affirm the answer to the unspoken question. She was also visibly relieved, though she hid it a little better than Peter did. We all sat down to hamburgers, and everyone except Mike and I ate two. Peter and Nicole because they hadn't eaten all day, and Micky because he had a naturally large appetite.
It was a nice dream. I was sailing over the ocean, headed out towards some sweet island in the south pacific....
"Davy."
And there was this beautiful girl. Tall, blond, and gorgeous. I leaned in towards her. She whispered my name.
"Davy." I looked into her big, gorgeous eyes. She continued to speak my name, over and over.
"DAVY!" the voice was a forced whisper now. "Wake up!" The boat began to rock back and forth. She kept saying my name....
"Davy, wake up," the voice said. I forced my eyes open, wishing that I'd see the gorgeous blond again. And moaned. No such luck.
"I've gotta talk to you," Peter said, urgency in his voice.
"Aw, gee, Pete, can't it wait 'till morning?" I moaned.
"No. C'mon Davy, wake up." Finally, I heaved myself out of bed and followed Peter, half asleep, into the hallway and downstairs. Nicole was at the bottom of the steps, wearing her bathrobe. I glanced at the clock. It was two a.m.
"What is it, Peter?" I asked, half whining.
"Listen, we just want to make sure you aren't going to tell anybody about..well, us," he said, gesturing between Nicole and himself.
"Peter, we talked about this already. I don't understand why exactly, but I'll keep it a secret," I said. "I already promised, I don't know what else you want."
"You're positive?" Nicole asked. "Because we can't let anyone else know." I nodded. "Good," she said. Turning to Peter, she coaxed in a very sweet voice, "Wanna go for a walk, Peter?" Peter literally fell to pieces and practically floated over to her.
I decided to go back to bed, longing to be with the gorgeous blond of my dreams again. Peter and Nicole were so immersed in a long passionate kiss (the kind I'd been in my dreams) that they didn't notice as I went upstairs.
(one week later)
"'Night Davy."
"'Night Mike."
"G'Night Pete."
"'Night Micky."
"Good night, Nicole."
We all said our good-nights and headed off to bed. I, for one, was relieved. We'd been practicing, and the loud music had started to make my head hurt. I took a few aspirin and laid in bed, attempting to fall asleep, but not finding it. My head was still pounding to the rhythm of the drum beats. And it was worse because, although the drum beats in my head weren't accompanying Micky's voice and the other instruments, these didn't stop after a song. This pounding went on, and the aspirin did nothing to relieve it. I just laid there in bed, wishing for nothing more than the headache to go away. Eventually, I suppose, sleep arrived, but the pain was not to be complete.
I awoke from my sleep, head pounding, and sat straight up. I was sweating and I was developing a stomach ache. My whole body hurt. At first I thought that perhaps I was sick, but this felt worse than a normal sickness. I knew, in my subconscious, what it was, but I didn't want to admit it.
'I've got to get out of 'ere," I thought. I didn't want to endanger the others, and I didn't want to awaken them. I got up and ran to the bathroom as fast as I could, but it was too late. In the hallway I lost control of my legs and fell to the ground. Pain seeped over every inch of my body.
I wanted to scream, to let it all out, to let the world know how much pain I was in, but at the same time I didn't because I knew it would wake the guys. And Nicole, I realized. She didn't know about this. I realized that if she found out it would most likely be my fault. Guilt made the pain worse. I tried to hold out, to make it just long enough so that I could get up and get into the bathroom, but it was impossible. The pain intensified, and that was almost the last thought I had for awhile.
