Hydrophobia

The 10 O'clock News

                                                                    *Jack's POV*

Once I'd driven home and Rose and Amada had gone up to the room I was forced to "lend" Rose, I put some popcorn in the microwave and turned the TV in the living room on. Normally I would use MY TV but the girl's were upstairs and I figured it would be better not to bother them. The news wasn't very interesting for the 3 minutes it took to pop my popcorn. Just stuff about a forest fire and a masked burglary. The microwave went off and I grabbed my popcorn and poured it into a bowl then grabbed a Dr. Pepper and jmped over the back of the couch to see if something better was on. As I grabbed the remote the weird news lady's face poped up and she started talking about a missing person. It went something like this,

                                                                *Breaking News*

"Earlier today we recived a report for a missing teenage girl. Authorities have told us that no leads have been found other then a tipped bucket on the crime scene. Her parent were killed in a boat accident around 14 years ago and she has no siblings. She lives alone with her unmarried Uncle.  The girls home is next to the Francito Aquarium where her Uncle is the owner. Her Uncle is convinced she fell into the sea. If that's the case police aren't  very convinced that she is still alive. The Chief of Police, Steven Willson, has a team out searching the waters near the shore and the coast guards are on a 24 hour shift. If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of this teen please call."

It showed a picture of Rose and gave a breif discription, her weight,  and what she was wearing before she disappeared. There was a phone number under Rose's name.

"Her close friend, Bobby Springferd, tells us that Rose Francito couldn't swim but that she is most likely alive despite what the police are saying. Rose's Uncle says that he has high hopes she hasn't gone further then Rhode Island and askes that we all keep an eye out when at the beach. This is Sunny Fridge reportng to you live from Francito Aquarium."

I stared at the screen for a few seconds as the fat lady, Sunny Refridgerator or whatever her name was, disappered and a man came on to talk about the Economy. Who was this Bobby person? Was it Rose's boyfriend? Some dude she'd known since forever who just happened to stay her friend? My head hurt trying to think of all the possibllities. There was NO way Rose could have survived in the water from Fancito Aquarium to here. No way.... unless.... No never mind. It wasn't possible. I switched the TV off as Amanda came downstairs and told me Rose had gone to bed.

"Amanda. I need to talk to you about something." I said seriously as she sat down beside me, stole my popcorn, and fussed about me eating junk food.

"What's up?" She asked her mouth half full of popcorn.

"I know where Rose is from and how she got here." I said sadly.

"OK....?" Amanda asked. "You sound sad."

How was I supposed to explain how I felt finding out Rose had a boyfriend. I'd just met her and I was upset she had a boyfriend! Of COURSE she'd have a boyfriend. He was proobably out there looking for her right now.

"Well, I just think it's sad that she lives with her Uncle." I said.

It WAS kind of true. She only lived with her Uncle and that in itself was really depressing.

"Ok?" Amamda asked unconvinced.

"You know that aquarium we went to with mom before she left?" I asked.

"Yea...." Amanda answered.

"What was it called?" I asked.

"The France Eto Aquarium or something like that." Amanda said in a "Duh" voice.

"It was the Francito Aquarium. That's where Rose is from!" I explained.

Amanda stared at me in disbeleif so I proceeded to explain further what I'd heard on the TV.

"So.. She lives here in Rhode Island too? She survived because of what we saw when we found her up on shore didn't she...? But then why did she not just go somewhere elses? And why does she have amnesia?" Amanda said talking to herself.

"Look, I don't know. But are we going to tell her? If we do then she'll leave and we won't have to worry bout her. Not to mention you can return all the clothes furniture and paint you bought. If we don't then we risk getting caught with her here and we could get thrown in jail. I don't want to have you getting thrown in jail again." I said.

I needed an answer from her. I didn't really want Rose going back to that Bob guy or whoever and I also wanted to figure out what exactly she was.

"She stays here until she finds out herself or until she decides to leave." Amanda said finally. "It's her choice. We can't make her do anything."

"What are we going to do? If the police see us with her they'll come snooping for info. If they don't do that they'll arrest us on the spot."  I questioned.

"She'll just have to come with you to your swim meet then with me to my surfing practice. She'll have to come with us everywhere if both of us are going to be out of the house. If not she stays in the house." She answered.

That sounded kind of cruel, keeping Rose locked in the house like some kind of animal.

"That sounds mean. She'll wonder why she can't go anywhere." I said.

"She'll just have to deal with it. She is under our care." Amanda said harshly.

"It sounds like we're keeping her prisoner. I don't agree with this plan." I said matter of factly.

"Jack. We can't afford to be arrested. Mom will get really mad and who knows what dad'll do. we could get killed!" Amanda said trying to talk me into it.

"No. I'm not keeping her prisoner. That's just mean. You can go try and explain this to Rose if you want but I'm staying out of this." I answered.

That settled it. Amanda got up from the couch and anounced that she was tired and was going to take a shower and go to bed. I said good night and went upstairs and turned my Xbox on and sat down to play Drew from across the neighborhood.