PRETTYMUCH a Lie [n.m]

Eighty-Three

Amelia

As Hurricane Michael continued to roar through our town, Alison's mom and dad drove down to the store to pick up some food and water bottles. As much as Florida's panhandle was getting destroyed by the weather, it was coming directly across middle Georgia. The good news was that it would soon die down before it hit us, but we would definitely get a lot of wind and rain from the outer bands.

The day consisted mainly of being curled up on the living room couch and watching movies, occasionally flipping back to the news channel for more updates. Mrs. Smith bought us a bunch of 'hurricane snacks,' as she called them, for us to munch on throughout the night. We had popcorn, hot pockets, chips, and a bunch of candy.

"B is going to get a kick out of all of this junk food," I laughed to Alison.

"Babies like junk food," she smiled biting the end off of a twizzler.

The rain was getting hard outside as dinner time approached and Mrs. Smith made us some chicken noodle soup.

"Girls we have to be careful, we don't want too many things plugged in if the power decides to go out. Something could blow up. Only use lights that you need and make sure you're phones are charged," she advised.

We nodded and continued our movie.

By nine o'clock, the tornado threats and flood warnings were dying down. When we turned back to the news channel for Florida, there was an unspeakable amount of damage. Houses were torn down, eighty percent of the trees were uprooted, and there was flooding. Looking at the camera men scanning over neighborhoods that had houses collapsed made my stomach turn and my heart ache. There was already seven confirmed deaths from the storm and I was mentally praying that would be it. The Pineapple Willies and Club LaVela took serious damage. I wondered to myself if our dorms were even standing.

"My mom wants to drive back with us tomorrow to see if she can help out," Alison spoke up from beside me.

I turned myself over under the covers and faced her.

"I think that would be great. I want to help in any way I can," I replied.

Nick

"Did you see this?" Zion showed me yet another video from the hurricane in Florida.

"Holy fuck," Brandon gasped next to me.

I just watched a video of a house falling apart and getting blown away by the wind. I'm so glad Amelia and Alison went back to Georgia. This hurricane was a serious threat. I didn't mean to say I was right, but I was right to freak out.

"Amelia and Alison are still there?" Brandon questioned.

"Oh no, they evacuated to Georgia. They're okay, they're just getting the aftermath of the hurricane. It's died down to a tropical storm now. Just a lot of wind and rain they said," I answered.

Amelia hadn't texted me in almost two hours, so I figured she had fallen asleep. It was pretty late anyway. I thought about flying out to Florida to help with the damage, I wanted to help. Those people, their city was destroyed. Houses were gone, businesses were gone, and family members were lost. It was hard to believe the fatality count was already nearing twenty. I couldn't imagine what they are going through. I wanted to do everything I could to help.

After speaking with Amelia's dad, he agreed that it would be a good idea to help Amelia out in Florida. We all bought our plane tickets and got on a plane two days later, Mr. Parker joining us. Alison's mom had already been to visit the girls and help all she could as well.

After speaking with our manager and Simon, they thought it would be a wonderful idea for us to help out. Amelia knew we were coming, but what she didn't know was that her dad planned on bringing her back with us. When we arrived in Panama City, we were all shocked. The damage looked worse in person. The whole community really came together to help each other though, it was heart warming to see. The first place we went to was Amelia and Alison's college. It looked like it sustained minimal damage, and her dorm room was fine. The places closer to the strip and further in town were the ones with trees uprooted and houses missing.

"Are you okay?" I ran to hug Amelia.

As she hugged me, I felt her hum and nod into my chest. Her belly was getting bigger and I loved it.

"How is he?" I asked pulling away from her to scan her stomach.

"He's been kicking a lot, maybe you'll get to feel him," she said and smiled at me while rubbing it.

"Hey sweetie." Amelia's dad butted in and pulled her into a hug as well.

"Hey dad." She closed her eyes while taking in the hug from her father.

"Well, what can we do to help?" He propped his hands on his hips and raised his blue sunglasses to his forehead.

The book is almosssttttt over!!!

What has been you're favorite part so far?

Also, when I finish I will go back and do a final edit, adding in more details and fixing my grammatical errors, don't worry! It will be worth the reread! Plus you won't have to wait for me to post a chapter!

Thanks for all the support, 14k means the world to me!

-Tay