Chapter 2
Packing
"Mexico to Venezuela to Brazil to Chile and back" Mom announced looking up from the brochure. I choked on my soup. The chicken flew out of the bowl smacking me across the face before it landed on the floor.
"Chile?!!" I demanded standing up and knocking my chair back. Everyone got quiet. Ash stared at me from across the table with food half-way to his mouth. Jasper was shaking his head. Mom just looked plain concerned and Dad had finally looked up from the newspaper. Seth and Hannah both stopped mid argument and were now looking at me expectantly. Even Iris stopped crying.
I blushed and quietly sat down. I could feel their eyes on me but I refused to look up. I sat there like an utter moron twiddling my thumbs.
A couple painstaking seconds went by and no one said anything. Finally Dad cleared his throat.
"Is something the matter Jezebel? What's wrong with Chile?"
"Oh no! Chile is fine! In fact it's perfect. It's just that...I had a...what I'm trying to say is....never mind." I said stupidly. Why was I so freaked out about the dream? Zombies weren't real. They couldn't exist. They were just myths. And it was better if they stayed myths. No need to let them run my life, or worse yet, ruin my vacation.
"Are you okay honey? If something's bothering you about Chile then you should tell us. We won't go." Mom said putting her hand over mine. I fought to keep my calm and come up with a rational explanation.
"It's nothing Mom. I...uh... Lily told me that Chile doesn't have any good shopping malls and stuff so..." I trailed of leaving them to decide whether my response was credible or not. I crossed my fingers. I doubted they wouldn't believe me. After all, everyone knew how much I loved shopping.
"I don't think we'll make it that far inland to see any real malls, Jez. The ship docks in Chile for a day." Ash put in.
"Huh, well. I guess that's too bad. I'll probably just spend the day snorkeling or something." I said.
"Speaking of which..." Ash said leading the topic to a whole new subject. The attention removed itself from me and latched on to him. I shot Ash a grateful smile across the table.
"Thanks." I mouthed. Part of me wanted to strangle myself at thanking him. Ash didn't deserve it. But this time he really saved me from a humiliating faux pa.
"Anything for you." he said out loud. Apparently he had forgotten that this was a silent conversation.
"Did you say something Ash?" Mom asked looking up from the brochure for a second time. Her dark eyes scrutinized him.
Ash started coughing theatrically. "Jaz could you..." cough "get me a glass of water?" cough" Thanks." Jasper glared at Ash, sighed and went to get him some water. Ash grinned and launched himself into another conversation.
I rolled my eyes at him and he winked in return. Ash. He got away with everything. No matter how difficult the situation was to get out of. I envied him. I never got away with anything. Maybe this was just one of his talents.
After dinner I drifted off to my room to finish my packing. It had been a long day of travel plans and pre-vacation anxiety, which meant the whole house lay torn apart. And who got the worst of it? Me. Obviously. I was perhaps the messiest person on the planet. My room looked like it had just been hit by an F5 tornado. Not that I knew what a tornado of that magnitude could do. Here, in South Florida, the weather remained relatively sunny and hot. Very hot. Occasionally, you'll find yourself in the middle of bi-polar weather, but that was spring. One second it will be raining like the end of the world, and the next, sunny like nobody's business. It gets quite monotonous after a while but you get use to it. I definitely did. I was one hundred percent Floridian; born and raised in the good old sunshine state. Maybe that's where I got my bright and happy personality from...
