The next day, Laurie went outside. She saw Ike swinging back and forth on a tire swing. She went over to him.
"Hey Ike," she said. He jumped.
"Oh, hey Laurie. I didn't see you," he said.
"Sorry. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get hurt," he said.
"No, Ike. I mean about what I said about Halley," Laurie said.
"Oh. Well, I don't really have a problem with her," Ike said, scuffing his toe in the dirt.
"Ike," Laurie pleaded.
"Well, it's just that there's something about Halley," Ike said. "She doesn't treat us normal."
"She was just nervous being around you, that's all."
"Okay," said Ike.
"Well, I'll see you in a half hour when we leave for the water park," she said.
"Okay. See you then."
"Bye." Laurie walked on home. Ike watched her walk off. He got off of the swing and went inside.
Laurie ran back over to her house. She put on her neon green two piece and went downstairs. Andy was on the couch, wearing his red trunks and his Oakleys that were silver around the edges. Zac had a pair like those. Then Mikey came down wearing blue and orange trunks. The three of them sat on the couch. Finally, their mom and dad came in.
"All right kids, lets get rolling!" Mr. Woodman said. They all got up and followed her out to the car. Mr. Woodman drove up to the Hanson household, where they saw Diana and Walker outside, putting stuff into the car. The Woodmans got out to help them.
"Hey you guys!" Diana exclaimed with a smile on her face. "Ready to have some fun today?"
"Yep!" the boys and Laurie said.
"Great. The kids are inside, if you want to go see them," Diana said.
Laurie and her brothers went inside. Laurie immedietely heard the music from downstairs. She and the boys went down there. Taylor, Isaac, and Zac were practicing. Isaac was wearing bright yellow trunks with a black tank top, Taylor blue trunks with a white tank top, and Zac black trunks and a white shirt that said "You! Out of the Gene Pool!"
"Hey guys," Taylor said.
"What's up?" Andy asked.
"Not a lot, just working on some music."
"Spiffy." Andy plopped down on the beanbag chair. Laurie sat on the couch. The guys played Carry On My Wayward Son, which was a favorite of Laurie's. They finished and everybody went upstairs and got into the cars. Laurie rode with her family and Taylor and Mackie, Ike rode with his family. It took about 25 minutes to get to the water park, and everybody on the car insisted on singing, except for Laurie. She soon got in the spirit of things, but still had Ike on her mind. Was he mad at her just for talking about Halley? Surely Ike wouldn't be mad over something petty like that.
"Okay everyone, quiet now, we gotta get parking passes," Mr. Woodman said. The car became quiet instantly. Even Mackie, who had been singing and laughing had suddenly stopped. Mr. Woodman rolled down his window and paid the parking fee. He got a ticket and drove around looking for a spot. They finally found one semi near the opening gates. The Hanson vehicle parked next to them and everyone helped unload the car. They walked in the gates and staked out two huge tables and pushed them together. Mr. Hanson took Avery and Mackie to the little pool while Mrs. Hanson sat with Zoe.
"Where should we go first?" Laurie asked.
"The regular big pool. You gotta get warmed up before you hit the slides," Taylor said.
Everyone went to the pool and got in line for the diving board.
"Okay, now it's time for chicken!" Zac yelled.
"Okay!" Ike exclaimed. He turned to Laurie, Andy, and Mike. "You guys know how to play, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," they said.
"Okay. Jessie, you go ahead and go first, then Mikey, and so on in age order," Ike commanded.
They all got in line. Taylor was behind Laurie and Laurie was behind Zac. Jessie did a cannonball off the board. Everyone did that, no problem. Then Mikey did a dive. Again, no problem. It wasn't until Zac did the flip.
"Oh no, my bikini top is going to fly off," Laurie thought. She knew she couldn't be a chicken. She stepped up to the board and took a deep breath. She ran and jumped as high as she could. She did a flip and landed in the water. While underwater, she felt her back. She felt that her top was still on. Good.
Laurie pushed herself to the top of the water and climbed out. She saw the guys's faces turn red.
"Uh, Laurie, um, check your suit," Ike said.
Laurie looked down. The top part came untied and fell down, leaving her front exposed! Laurie quickly covered herself up and ran off to the locker room. She fixed her top, with tears streaming down her face. She went back to the table where her mom and Mrs. Hanson were. She sat down by them.
"Laurie, dear, what's wrong?" Mrs. Woodman asked.
"I was doing a flip off the diving board, and when I came up, the top came untied from my bikini top, and the guys saw it--" Laurie choked out.
"Oh honey, I'm sorry," Mrs. Woodman said.
"How awful, Laurie. Did anyone laugh? Mrs. Hanson asked.
"Isaac told me that it fell down and then I ran off. I didn't hear them laughing," Laurie said.
"If anybody laughed, they're in trouble," Mrs. Hanson said. "Do you want to sit out for awhile?"
"Please, I don't feel like going back there," Laurie said.
Mrs. hanson rocked Zoe a little. Zoe fell asleep and the three adults played a game of cards. Laurie was starting to have a little fun until she saw Taylor run up to her.
"Hi Mom, Hi Mrs. Woodman. Hey Laurie, will you come back to the pool now? Nobody cares about what happened. We all really want you to come back," he pleaded.
"I feel too stupid, Tay," Laurie said.
"Come on. We forgot about it, why can't you?" he asked.
Laurie opened her mouth but no words came out. She shut her mouth. Finally, she opened it again. "I guess I'll come back now," she said.
"Hey great! We're going down this huge slide now. Come on!" Taylor picked up Laurie's hand and dragged her up.
"Okay, bye mom! Bye Mrs.Hanson! Thanks!" Laurie yelled as Taylor dragged her off. Her mom and Diana smiled.
"What slide are we going to?" Laurie asked.
"That one," he said, pointing to this thing that was not really a slide but a huge canyon-like thing. "You gotta get in groups and ride down with a person," he explained.
"Whoa," she said. Taylor and Laurie joined the group as they paired up.
"Okay, how about Laurie and me, Taylor and Andy, and Mike and Zac?" Ike suggested.
"What about Jessie?" Laurie asked.
"Jessie won't ride it, she's afraid," he said.
"Oh, okay," Laurie replied.
They made their way up to the top. The guy working there was about 25 years old, blond hair and brown eyes.
"Okay, who is riding with who?" he asked.
"It's me and her, Taylor and Andy, and Mike and Zac," Ike responded.
"Hold on. You can't have those two short guys ride together," he said.
"Okay," said Ike. He turned to the group. "What do you want to do?"
"Here, I'll take Mike. Will you take Zac, Ike?" Andy asked.
"Sure," he said. He turned to Laurie. "You don't mind riding with Taylor, do you?" he asked.
"No, I'll be fine," she said.
"Okay." Ike turned to the guy. "Is this way okay?"
The gyu checked over the pairs. "Yeah, that'll work." On the track, the tubes went two by two. Ike and Zac sat down in a tube and Andy and Mike sat down in one.
"Oh well, we'll wait for the next one," Tay said. Laurie grinned. She really missed spending time with Taylor, and she was enjoying herself now. She waved bye to Ike, who waved bye back, and off the four went, down the slide. Two more tubes came up. Taylor helped Laurie in.
"Okay, why don't you sit in the back," the guy said, motioning to Taylor, "and you sit in the front." Laurie looked at him quizzingly.
"Don't worry, I'll show her," Tay said. He hopped in, pushing himself against the back of the tube. He straddled his legs. "Now, you sit in my lap," he said.
Laurie slightly blushed as she sat down in the space. The guy showed them the hand grips. "Don't let go of them as you're sliding down," he said. "Any questions?"
"Nope," they said.
"All right. As soon as I seat the two girls over there, we can start," he said. He walked over to the two teenage girls and got them settled.
"Scared, Laurie?" Taylor asked.
"Nah," she said.
"Yeah you are, you're biting your lower lip," he said.
He got her. "Okay, I am a bit nervous."
"Don't be. Here, I'll thumb wrestle you until we have to go," he offered.
Taylor and Laurie thumbwrestled. Out of the corner of her eye, Laurie saw the two girls looking at them with fascination as the guy told them the rules. He walked over to Taylor and Laurie.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Lets do it," Taylor said.
The guy pushed the tubes and off they went. It was a curvy course. It seemed really steep. Laurie was screaming.
"Having fun?" Taylor asked her.
"This is cool!" She managed to exclaim.
"All right!" he screamed back. Just then, they flew over a bump. They started to laugh. Finally, the ride came to an end. Taylor helped Laurie out.
"Do you like it?" He asked.
"It was great, Taylor. Lets do it again!"
"Lets find everyone first."
They walked to the entrance of the slide and saw Mike, Zac, Andy, and Ike standing there. Ike grinned when he saw Laurie.
"Hey! Did you like it, Laurie?" he asked her.
"It was great!"
"Do you guys want to do it again?" Andy asked.
"Yeah, lets do it," Laurie said. She turned to Tay. "Want to go again?" she asked him.
"Well sure, why not?"
"Great, you can ride with me," Laurie said a little too quickly. She looked over at Ike. "That is, if you don't mind."
"Oh yeah, it's fine. I have to ride with Zac anyways," Ike said.
"Okay, then we're set," Andy said. They started to walk up again. This time, Andy, Mike, Laurie, and Taylor went down at the same time. Ike watched Taylor and Laurie start to slide down the course and laugh together.
"You don't think Laurie's getting old feelings back for Taylor again, do you?" Ike asked Zac.
"No way! Dude, you must have forgotten that Taylor and Laurie are just friends," he said. "Plus, have you seen Laurie look at Taylor the way she looks at you?"
"No," he said. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now come on, the tube's here!"
* * * * * * * * * * *
"That was better than the first time!" Laurie exclaimed.
"Yeah it was, especially seeing the look on your face when you got nailed by the water," Taylor added.
"It was cold!" she exclaimed.
"Still, it was pretty funny," Tay added. Laurie tickled Tay. Mike and Andy were off getting drinks, and Zac and Ike were still on the ride. Suddenly, Taylor gave Laurie a big hug. Laurie was a bit surprised, but she gave one back.
"Thanks for saying you'd ride with me," he said.
"You're welcome, Taylor, it was my pleasure," she said.
They let go of each other. Finally, Ike and Zac came over.
"Hey guys!" Ike said, coming over to Laurie and wrapping an arm around her. "What next?"
"Well first we gotta wait for Mike and Andy to come back with drinks, but what about the Tom Sawyer ride?" Tay suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Ike asked.
"What's the Tom Sawyer ride?" Laurie asked.
"It's this spiffy ride that you get into a boat and shoot water guns at the targets for points," Zac explained.
"That's cool," Laurie commented. "Mike would love that."
Just then, Andy and Mike came back with drinks for everyone. They all grabbed one and headed over to the ride. There was about a ten minute wait.
"Perfect, it'll give us time to enjoy our sodas," Ike said.
They all finished their sodas and talked about stuff that was happening. Suddenly, the two girls that were sitting by Taylor and Laurie the first time on the water slide ride got in line behind them.
"Ohmigosh, it's Hanson!" one of the girls exclaimed.
"Hello," Zac said.
"Hey Zac! Hey Tay! Hey Ike!" the girl with brown hair said.
"Hi. What's your name?" Ike asked.
"I'm Jessica and this is Katie," the girl with brown hair replied.
"Hey Jessica, hey Katie," they said.
"Hey! Do you think we could go on the ride with you?" Katie asked.
"Sure. You can hold 6 in a boat," Ike replied.
"But we have 8, brainiac," Zac said. Ike gave Zac a look.
"Oh yeah. Well we can have us three and those two in one boat and Laurie, Andy, and Mike in a boat," Ike said.
"That would be so great! You don't mind do you?" Jessica asked the Woodman's.
"Well, actually--" Laurie started.
"It's all right, don't worry about it," Andy said. Then he turned to Laurie. "I'll talk to you in a second, okay?" Laurie nodded. They moved up in the line. Katie and Jessica got in the boat with Isaac, Taylor, and Zac while Laurie and her two brothers got into the boat ahead of them. Laurie could hear the guys talking and laughing with the girls. Laurie tried to ignore them and concentrated on the game. Suddenly, Andy turned around.
"Laurie, about when we were getting in the boats, I didn't want you to make a huge scene," he said.
"Andy, don't you think I should be with my own boyfriend?" she asked.
"You weren't with him on the slide ride, you were with Taylor and you know deep down that you could have said 'no, actually I'd rather ride with Ike, Taylor, if you wouldn't mind taking Zac' now couldn't you?" Andy asked.
Laurie became silent.
"All I'm saying is that those girls are starstruck and let them enjoy themselves. If you met your favorite star at a waterpark, wouldn't you want to ride a ride with them?" Andy persisted.
"Yes," Laurie admitted. "I see where you are going."
"Good." Andy gave her an affectionate little punch. The ride pulled out of the dark tunnel and the three of them hopped out. Laurie turned around to see Ike and Taylor helping Jessica and Katie out. Laurie felt a sharp pang in her stomach. Wasn't it just 15 minutes ago that Taylor was doing the same for her as he was for Katie?
"How long are you all going to be here?" Katie asked.
"The rest of the day," Taylor replied.
"Would you mind if we hung out with you for awhile?" she asked.
"Sure, why not?" Ike asked. "It'd be my pleasure-- I mean our pleasure."
"Okay! Thanks!"
Laurie gave Andy a look. He shrugged.
"What a fun day this'll be," she muttered.
Chapter 3
Chapter 1
Heading to Albertane
Kelly's Hanson Stories
