Beach Week

Chapter 9- "You guys are ridiculous."*

"Did you guys raid my brother's room before coming in here?" Sara asked, pulling the towel tighter on her body when the cold air from the house reached inside the steam filled bathroom. 

The girls peeked into the bathroom behind the boys as she spoke. In their hands rested supplies from the kitchen and dining room. They glanced around the room looking for what had caused her scream. Taylor followed Sara's horrified gaze, which rested on the mirrors as she attempted to put as much distance between them and her as possible. 

"I needed something to defend myself with in case there was a a real reason for that scream," Brett answered with a hint of laughter in his voice. He pointed to the mirrors with a smirk and a playful gleam in his eyes. "Because you clearly did this. You did it for us to laugh at and break the tension going on downstairs. I almost bought it too, Sara. Good job. I love a good joke."

"I didn't do it though, Brett!"

"Come on, Sara." Aaron laughed lightly, tossing the bat onto the bed behind him. He took a deep breath to relax slightly now that he realized there was no danger. Just a poorly thought out joke. "Soon, and you know why, are the vaguest messages possible. If you wanted to scare us you should have directed it at one of us. That would have made for a better prank. Haven't you learned anything from me?"

"I didn't write them," Sara asserted, glaring at the boys for not taking her seriously. "Why would I do that and then scream bloody murder? I thought it had been one of you. Someone would have had to come in here while I was taking a shower in order to write those. It's more than enough to rattle anyone. I didn't do it, and I wouldn't do it as a joke because I hate when you do that to me, Aaron." 

"She's right," Taylor stated, tenatively stepping into the bathroom. "The handwriting is too neat. I can actually read it. Even when she takes her time Sara's handwriting is chicken scratch, never mind if she's in a rush then it looks like doctor's handwriting."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you actually believe this is someone else's handwriting!" Aaron cried, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation. "It's not possible. We just checked the house and didn't find a thing. If someone was going to sneak into the bathroom, they would have been looking at Sara, not writing stupid messages on the mirrors. I know I would have been," he added with a shrug.

Sara scrunched her face in confusion while giving  Aaron a sideways glance, confused by the backhanded compliment.  Taylor turned around, curious how Amy would react. She stood there stunned, allowing Taylor to take pleasure in her silence.

"Thanks Aaron, I'll take that as a complement and move on with my life," Sara replied cautiously. "Please just check the house again will you? There's three stories, and a lot of places to hide. Just make sure please, and someone check the security cameras for me while I get dressed. I'll meet you once I'm decent."

Aaron rolled his eyes, before grabbing Brett and dragging him along behind him. "Come on man, let's get the house checked out so the girls can shower, and know that they are perfectly safe in this big old house of theirs."

"But I don't want to. You're just going to force me to go into all the hiding places and eventually the attic. No thank you," Brett whined as he reluctantly followed Aaron through the house once again.

"I'm showering with the door locked now," Taylor stated, walking off toward her room.

"I'm with Tay on that one," Avery replied as the girls turned and left the bathroom so Sara could get dressed.

Once the door was seal shut, Sara checked the bathroom. It was a small room, no more than five feet by four feet, with little places to hide, and found no one. She locked the door before getting dressed and drying her hair. The whole time she could hear her phone buzzing loudly on the glass table top in the bedroom. She drowned it out with the hairdryer, and didn't hear it again when she left the room to look at the video cameras. She started looking back a few hours before they came home, but it didn't seem as anyone broke in. All of the tapes were clear and nothing seemed unusual.