Magic 8

Is This Normal?

Saturdays are hardly the joy they used to be when I was in high school. I remember rejoicing as I could sleep in for hours and not have to worry about a thing, but since I became a theatre kid, Saturdays were no longer a day of rest. Laying in my bed, I wanted to endure only silence and rest, but my phone buzzing seemed to say the same thing it always had. "Yeah, it's Rue." "Addison speaking. I invited the cast to go on a beach trip, will you be there? I talked to Caspian, and he said we can ride in his car, and Robby offered his car too." "Sweet! Yeah, do we have snacks and stuff, or should I bring some?" "Well, it will be you, me, Caspian, Robby, Gerald, Samantha, and Lynn. I told everyone to bring what they want. Do you want to meet up with us, or I can send Caspian, he's just got him and Gerald in his car." "That'll be fine, Addy, see you at the beach!" I put my phone back on the charger and began to look through my stuff for a swimsuit and a beach ready outfit. It was rare that a cast would go do something together, but I didn't want to spoil the opportunity. Remembering what Gerald told me, I grabbed a small cooler bag and filled it with homemade salads, watermelon slices, applesauce, water, more fruits, and ice. I decided to wear one of the dresses that Ewan got me; it was lime green, and had slits of fabric then when laying flat looked like a skirt. I packed in a small bag my phone and 24 hour charger, as well as my wallet.

When the car came, Caspian put my cooler in the back seats that were empty. I sat in shotgun seat as Gerald asked, "Did you pack your food?" "No, I went to the student cafeteria and bought a meal- of course I packed my own food!" Cas began to drive, and I wanted nothing more than to go home and tell my parents what I learned, and ask the questions I still have. "So Caspian, how did you two meet?" "Honestly man, we met at a movie theater while she was on a movie date with some guy named Braden. What movie was it? I think it was Guardians of the Galaxy 2 that we watched. Anyway, I went to this movie by myself. I bought my snacks and drink, and I sat at my assigned seat in the theater. First, she came in with her popcorn and sat in her seat beside me. Now Braden, when he came and checked his ticket, apparently we were given the same seat on accident. He says, 'Excuse me man, but you are in my seat.' I looked at my ticket and looked at the seat number and told him it wasn't possible because I bought my ticket in advance and this seat was always my seat number. Prudence tries to convince him that it was just an error made by the ticket machine, but he wasn't having it. So he demands that I give up the seat. Prudence gets a worker to come and they inform us, that since I had my ticket reserved that it was my seat. However, when Braden went to exchange his ticket, the theater was full. I felt like a jerk because he was probably going to force Prudence to leave with him, so I went out into the lobby and offered my seat to him so they could watch the movie. Instead of accepting my offer, he punches me in the gut and face before security escorted him out of the building. The next thing I knew, Prudence offered me her hand and we left to watch the movie." I don't remember what movie we watched either, but I do remember that moment really well. Braden was the actor who played Robin Hood in my first show with the school, and he asked me on a date that definitely went south. "So you became her new date that night? Wow, you really strike luck, don't you, Princess?" I turned to give a stern scowl to him, but he stuck out his tongue as a gesture of the phrase "bite me". "You guys really are something! I wish my sister and I were playful like that." "How did you know we were family?" "For starters, I heard what happened with Robinson. Second, Gerald is just the punk guy version of you, Prudence." "Speaking of my sister, how is it that everyone calls her Rue, I call her Princess, but you just stick with her actual name. One would think that best friends would have sick nicknames for each other." I rolled my eyes at him. "Like what? Superman and Wonder Woman? Timon and Pumba? Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum?" With a monotone voice he retorted, "Actually, I was thinking more like Fred and Daphne, but hey, those work too." 'Okay kids, enough! I don't really care for nicknames, and I also really like how original 'Prudence' sounds. But if she's Daphne and I am Fred, then doesn't that make you a Shaggy or maybe Scooby-Doo?"

It was a LONG three hours to the beach. Luckily we didn't have to stop for many bathroom breaks and traffic was decent. When we got there, the weather was warm, sunny, but extremely windy. All seven of us decided to leave our stuff in the cars unless we needed it so that we wouldn't lose anything. The other girls opted to just sport their sandals and bikinis, however, knowing the beach like I do, I kept with my dress and sunglasses. The water was brisk and grainy from the rapid fire of sand the wind was stirring up. I calmly walked in with my dress on, and just embraced the way it soothed my nerves. The air smelled like clean clothes infused with salty undertones, and I loved the way the scent gently filled each breath I breathed. I heard splashing from behind, thinking some of the others were getting brave- that was until someone slammed into me and I fell face first into the ocean. "HA! I am victorious! Guys I am vic- holy crap!" When I got up, I saw that Cas was standing tall and proud with a hilarious grin. Robinson came out of the water gasping for air. "Dude, be careful, I don't know how to swim!" I pushed the slits of my dress to the side and began to walk away. Cas followed me proudly singing about how he is a champion when I stopped him. "So you pushed a poor helpless man into the water, big whoop! But the question is, can you recover half as fast?" "What" I pushed him as a large wave came, and it swept over him as I ran in the opposite direction. While I was running, I saw that Addy was burying Gerald in the sand, where he lay without a care. I was tackled from behind, but held onto my attacker, bringing them down with me. I sat up in the water and wound up face to face with Caspian. "I recovered!" His breath was warm against my face, and as we stayed in our positions, our noses nearly touching, something flashed in my mind, and I instantly pushed him back into the water. "Not fast enough, friend." I walked to shore and shook away the notions in my head. Took the dress off and left it by where Lynn and Samantha were sunbathing. They are good people, but they bore me with their usual gossip and unintelligent topics. Their focus at the moment seemed to be who the better looking of the guys was with their shirt off. The two seemed to agree that they preferred Gerald over both, although I am not sure why when he and Addison were giggling while she continued to cover him in sand. I decided to keep walking on my own, opposite of the direction the others were heading, and back into the water. As I continued to wade further, something attacked my side and I instantly fell to my knees. "HELP!" Ahhhhhhhhh.... Help please!" Then a wave crashed over me and I began to struggle to breathe and stay afloat. The water blind-sighted me every so often, and the pain began to consume though I should feel numb. I screamed again, but another wave came over me and I hit my head on the ground.

I woke up in explicit pain and coughing up seawater. "Please, help me! Please, I- my abdomen is on fire!" "Ma'am, it's okay, my name is Natasha, and I will be taking you to the hospital. Your friend Caspian is here too, do you see him?" I looked around for Cas and panicked. "I can't see, please help me!" Someone held my hand and rubbed my knuckles. "Prudence, it's Caspian. I'm right here." "If we don't get her to calm down, then she will go into shock," the female voice exclaimed. I kept trying to sit up, but I couldn't move. The hand from my wrist moved to my face. "Prudence, I know you can't see right now, but I need you calm down and just breathe. Remember your last birthday when we went to the park with Shelly? Think of when you pushed her on the swing set and she shrieked with laughter." I closed my eyes, and tried to think of that day. Shelly is Caspian's seven year old sister. My birthday was the first day her doctors would let her go outside; she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of five and has since recovered. I remember Caspian telling me it was the best day of his life when I road in the backseat with her asleep on my lap. "She is stable. Fifteen minutes until we reach the hospital, and sir, when we take her out, I will ask you to stay in the guest lounge." "Thank you!" I still couldn't see when I opened my eyes, but it didn't stop me from grabbing the hand nearest me. "Caspian, please, call my mom. Tell her I'm fine, tell her I love her..."