Refuge

Chapter 3: Handful of Him

I look over at Hallie and she just stands there, mouth agape in shock. I squeeze her hand and start giggling. She looks at me for one horrifying second before joining me. 

Normally I don’t laugh at other people’s misfortunes, (ha, right) but this is just too funny. The looks on everyone’s faces...

We clutch out sides and the counters for support, laughing harder than thought possible. Eventually everyone else joins in, laughing and wiping the gunk off of our faces. 

While we continue laughing, Mr. Watson walks in. I stop and stare, unsure of what he’s going to do. Will he yell? Demand we clean it up? Curse us out?

He just laughs, his voice booming over everyone else’s. I eventually loosen up and laugh some more before he holds up his hands for us to quiet down. 

“Alright, well we’ve made a mess of dinner, so how about we order pizza after we clean up?”

The boys cheer and high-five and Hallie jumps up and down. I look at her and smile. “I’m guessing pizza is a treat for you guys?”

She laughs and continues to bounce in happiness. “Yes! Mom always cooks, so we never get to have pizza or fast food!”

I smile at her, but inside, I kinda envy her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom care that much about what I eat, much less cook for me. 

Hallie grabs my hand and we follow everyone through the house, getting soup everywhere, and to the back yard. 

A glorious looking pool fills the left side of the back yard and a giant field fills up the right, disappearing into a forest area a few football fields away. The grass is green and I can barely make out the small dots of color in the distant that I guess are wild flowers. 

Hallie pulls me out of my daze, leading me around the side of the house towards the pool. Confused, I whisper in her ear, “Are we jumping in the pool?”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, God no! We’re probably going to wash all this off with the hose.”

I nod. We turn the corner and find ourselves by their garage, the doors shut tight. Mr. Watson stand in the flower bed next to the wall, holding a small snakelike thing. 

Ah, the hose. 

We walk up as he finally turns it on, water coming out in a steady stream. He holds it up menacingly. “All right you troublemakers! Time for payback for messing up my kitchen!”

I laugh a little and so does Hayden. I look over at him and we make eye contact for a second before he turns away. 

Well, it was good while it lasted.

“Here we go!” Mr. Watson shouts. Suddenly, the cold water sprays us all. The boys love it, yelling for more and rough housing, while Hallie, Miss Abby, and I run around screaming and using each other as human shields.

It’s turning out into a full out water war, with Mr. Watson on the attacking end and everyone else defending. 

I laugh as a giant wave of water hits me back, dousing me in cold water. “Ah! Okay, okay! I’m clean!”

That was true. We’ve all been clean for a while now, but I guess everyone was having too much fun.

Suddenly, a hand snakes around my waist, pulling my up into the air and over their shoulder. Whoever my captive is, starts walking towards the pool.

Realizing what’s happening, I start squirming. “Oh no, don’t even think about-” 

I’m cut off by my own scream. My captor jumps in with a yell and we go crashing into the water, his arms finally loosening, enabling me to slip from his grasp.