PRETTYMUCH a Lie [n.m]

Eighty-Two

Amelia

Everyone around me was freaking out. Nick, my dad, Alison's mom, and even Zion. We should be the ones freaking out. We waited till the last minute and now it was Tuesday night and we were stuck in endless traffic. It was pretty windy but it was barley beginning to sprinkle.

Hurricane Michael was supposed to hit early tomorrow morning sometime, and it was predicted to be a category five. I don't think we have had a category five hurricane hit land ever and if we did it must had been a long time ago. The national hurricane center had changed the models to hitting directly between Mexico Beach and Panama City.
They were expecting the worst, which was really bad.

After thirty minutes of taking backroads, we finally crossed the Georgia-Florida state line. Once we got to Albany, the traffic started up again as we had to pull back onto the interstate.

"We are never going to get home," Alison sighed from the drivers seat.

"I know," I replied.

We were both frustrated and tired of driving. It was getting pretty late too as the sun had begun to set.

"My mom wants to talk to you about the house and finances and stuff," she turned to me while we were dead stopped in traffic.

"Okay, I wonder if it's good or bad?" I asked rhetorically.

"We will see," she sighed again and inched forward following the cars in front of us.

After another four hours of driving, we finally arrived home after midnight. It was oddly calm outside. I knew we were in Georgia, but it just seemed weirdly chilly outside and it gave me goosebumps. Not because it was cold either, I just had a really bad feeling.

"Hi girls! I've got some hot chocolate in the kitchen for you. I'm going to watch a few more minutes of this update and then head to bed," she chirped from the couch, her eyes glued to the news channel.

We grabbed our hot chocolate mugs and joined Mrs. Smith back in the living room. The only light shining in the room was that from the kitchen and the dimly lit TV screen.

"I'm so glad you girls came home. The hurricane is already creating awful storm surge. It's looking pretty bad," she stated.

She had a worried look evident on her face as her eyes continued to scan the screen. The predictions were now a bit later on into the morning. We should be up by then, so I suggested we head on to bed and luckily Alison and Mrs. Smith agreed.

"Hey babe, we got in pretty late last night. Traffic was horrible, I sent you a text but you're probably still sleeping. Just wanted to say I love you, we are okay and call me when you get up." With that I hung up the phone and placed it back on Alison's nightstand.

I slept pretty good last night despite the stress from the hurricane. I got up around eight and met Mrs. Smith in the living room once again glued to the TV. Winds were already reaching breaking highs and damage was already starting to show. I couldn't watch my college town, my home, get torn up and blown away by a hurricane, so I headed back upstairs and got back into bed.

I decided to call Nick, but he didn't answer. I was fine, I just wanted to talk to him. I felt my anxiety creeping up on me like Halloween. I turned on my side and tried to close my eyes for a few more minutes, or at least till Alison got up.

The worst thing thus far about being pregnant was not being able to sleep on my belly. Earlier in my pregnancy, it was hard not to, but now, I physically couldn't. My belly was too big. I was around twenty-five weeks pregnant, but showing like I was pregnant with twins. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I thought the same thing, and I got it checked. My doctor just told me that baby B was just a big boy, the only big boy.

He was bigger for some reason, but she told me not to worry, that he was healthy. That's all that mattered.

"Amelia, get up hurry!" Alison slid into her room scaring me.

"Shit! Shit! What?" I stuttered out frantically blinking my eyes open.

"It's awful, it's tearing everything up!" she yelled.

She turned around and jogged back down the stairs. The hurricane? Oh shit.

I grabbed my phone and booked it down the stairs. I sat beside Alison on the couch and immediately locked my eyes on the screen. The outer bands of the hurricane were hovering dead on top of Panama City.

"Holy shit," I whispered.

"It's destroying everything. I'm so glad we didn't stay," Alison stated making my stomach turn.

My heart ached for the people who did stay, or maybe had to stay because of family, lack of money or stupidity. You might think that 'stupidity' was a rude thing to say, well it's wasn't. There were some people who stayed merely for the social media impact that it would have on them.

As funny as some of the videos were of people in dinosaur suits dancing on the beach with the wind whipping around them or the ignorance of the people looting stores in the rain while the owners were taking shelter, it was idiotic. I looked down at my phone clicking the home button and seeing Nick's name pop up. Every time his name popped up on my screen, I always got a fluttering feeling in my stomach, something I would never get tired of. I also noticed it was almost noon.

Nick asked me to give him updates throughout the day, he said he would keep his phone on him all day just in case I needed him. Although, it seemed as our world was falling apart in Florida and Georgia, they were having a normal Wednesday in California. I texted my dad last night when we got in and then again this morning letting him know we were okay.

"Oh Amelia, I almost forgot to tell you, the house sold for twenty-five thousand dollars, someone wants to flip it, and we scrapped your moms car for a few hundred. I got the lawyer to open you a savings account to put the money in," she smiled at me.

"Well that's really good, um, thank you so much. Can I pay you? You've helped me out so much especially letting me stay here, it's the least I can do," I replied.

I did not expect that much money to come from my mother's house. It was old as hell and not taken care of at all. But people were getting into flipping houses lately, so I guess you could make a good profit that way.

"Absolutely not, you're like my third child. I am so happy that I could help you sweetie." She gave me another warm smile.

I couldn't help but walk over to her and pull her to me.

"You're so sweet. Now sit down next to me and tell me about this sweet baby."

Upppppdatteeee. :)

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-Tay