We Come Alive 5

Lake House Day Three

Wednesday morning, Manny rolled over in bed and expected to bump into Clover's body, but she wasn't there. She opened her eyes and saw Clover was gone. The Mexican girl sat up in the bed and smirked to herself seeing Ricky admiring a photo Manny had sitting on top of her suit cases of Esmeralda.

In the photo, Esmeralda was smiling widely at the camera, her first tooth on display. In her hands was her favorite stuffed bunny that Ricky had actually given her. Her hair was pushed back by a purple headband with a flower on the side.

Ricky smiled at his goddaughter as he dropped the photo back down on the suitcases and walked out the room without noticing Manny watching him.

~**~

That early afternoon, Mila was following Manny downstairs when they heard the boys yelling downstairs. The two Hispanic girls rushed into the kitchen to be met with Stephen freaking out with Diego trying to console him while Jose, Andrew, and Colby were standing around laughing and yelling.

"Hey!" Manny screamed, getting them to be quiet. "What is going on?"

"Why are y'all screaming?" Mila sighed, flipping her hair over her face.

Stephen shook his head in shock. "The...I came down here." He whispered. "And then...poof. All the food in the house is gone. We have no food!"

Mila glanced over her shoulder when she saw Madison shuffle into the room with her hair in a bun, Andrew's sweatpants covering her lower half, and a sports bra.

"Just go out to eat." Madison yawned, clearly having just woken up for a nap. "Just go to lunch, go to the grocery store, and bring food back. It's simple as that."

Andrew nodded his head, agreeing with his fiancée, before looking back at his friends. "I'm down. Everyone get dressed and let's go."

Stephen smiled widely and lead the pack to break apart to change, get their wallets, and go out to eat. He sprinted upstairs where he nearly bumped into Ricky who was turning the corner to come downstairs.

"Watch it." Ricky mumbled. "The hell are you doing?"

Stephen noticed his friend was sweaty and his hair was sticking to his face. He was shirtless and had on a pair of shorts and sneakers on. "We're getting lunch and going to the grocery store. You coming?"

"No." Ricky replied quickly. "I just came back from a run and I'm probably gonna finish my workout. I'll just eat whatever y'all bring back. I might be asleep when you get back though."

Stephen frowned. "Why?" He asked, slowly walking around Ricky while Ricky went downstairs.

"Probably take a shower then nap." He called out, jogging downstairs then going outside to the backyard to do a makeshift workout.

~~

An hour later, Ricky had just gotten out the shower after swimming in the lake for a while. He held on tightly to the towel that was wrapped around his waist as he made his way back to his room. He could hear the entire house was silent, so he assumed everyone was still out.

Ricky closed the door behind himself but then stopped in his tracks when he noticed someone in the room with him. He frowned seeing Clover laying on her and Manny's bed with an empty beer bottle beside her.

"What're you doing?" Ricky asked roughly, grabbing the pair of sweatpants off his bed.

Clover groaned as she threw her arms over her head. "I'm...I don't know." She whispered. "Hangovers suck."

"That's what happens when you drink away your life." He pointed out, putting the pants on then sitting on his bed.

Clover rolled her eyes and slowly pushed herself up. "Something happened." She slurred. "And all y'all know what it was. No one will tell me! What happened to me?"