It was almost 4 o’clock and we were still stuck in that house because of the unforgivable weather. Lily and Rose helped themselves by taking pictures with the boys and uploading them on social networking sites, blogs and videos to be uploaded on youtube.
I was just sitting there and doing nothing until Cody invited me for a fine conversation.
“How’s the party so far?” Cody asked.
I wasn’t actually paying much attention since I was very worried of getting detention for cutting classes.
“Oh.” I pretended I didn’t listen. “What was that again?”
“No, never mind.” He said. “How are you with the boys?” he asked. “Are they treating you right?”
I smiled. “Of course, they are. I mean, they do. I have no problems with them. In fact, I love hanging out with you guys.”
“Glad to hear that.” He said. He took a bottle of champagne and poured it on a martini glass. “Can I interest you with some…”
“No thank you.” I resisted. “I don’t actually drink and I swore to God, no liquor will kiss my lips.”
“Very well,” he said. “I will not drink either. If that’s your rules.”
My phone rang without a notice. I checked it out. Some unregistered number was calling. I doubted that I had to answer that call but it was worth a try. I answered it anyways.
“Hello?” I asked who was calling.
“Nick?” said a familiar girl’s voice.
“Yeah? Who’s this?”
“It’s me, Romane. Where are you?”
“Somewhere. What’s with the call?”
“You will never believe what just happened in school.”
I kind of got curious and my worry level rose high.
“What about the school?”
“A hurricane just passed by our school. It’s completely destroyed.”
I was completely surprised. Not with joy but with despair.
“What about soccer practice?”
“I guess, soccer practice can wait.”
“And coach?” I asked. I was concerned if there’s any chances of us having soccer practice.
“Coach? He’s in the hospital.”
“Hospital? What happened?”
Cody got a feeling of something was wrong. He managed to listen to our classified conversation.
“Car accident. He was on his way home when the hurricane passed and another car was flown by it. Then, there it went. A car crash.”
Cody stood up. He was worried of what was happening.
“What hospital are you talking about?” Cody was getting worried.
I raised my index finger and placed it on his mouth indicating 'hold-on-a-second''. He silenced himself.
“Can I call you back, Romane? I need to deal with something first.” I told her.
“Yeah. In case you’re still wondering, turn to channel 9 right now.” Romane then hung up.
Cody was still bugging me. I couldn’t tell him everything because he might freak out. I immediately went to the living room where they all enjoy watching Titanic wearing their 3D glasses. I interrupted them a bit so Cody can satisfy himself.
“Guys, turn to channel 9.” I asked them.
Zweig automatically turned it to channel 9. Then, we started to know how devastating the heavy rain was.
A hurricane struck the city of Danville which devastated a lot of property in just a matter of time. A lot of building structures especially, Tomlinson East High School was terribly affected by the calamity which damaged a cost of more than $30 million. Jane Dominica reporting on RIverdale News.
Rose was terribly shocked, I could see her covering her mouth with her hands. Everyone just couldn’t believe it. It was so unimaginable.
A phone rang during our sudden grief. It wasn’t a cellphone but a telephone. Zweig went to answer the call.
“Hello?” said Zweig. Everyone of us just stared at him as if there was something we’re waiting.
“Yeah?” He nodded. “Uh-huh.”
I bet there was something not good about that call.
“Yes, he’s here.” Said Zweig. Then, he covered the telephone's receiver with his hand and called for Cody.
“Cody.” Zweig handed him the telephone. Cody took the phone and went to talk to that someone who’s calling.
“Hello?” greeted Cody. “This is Cody.”
I can see agony on Cody’s face. He had this intense worrisome that was bugging him.
“What?” Cody raised his voice shockingly. “Where?”
All of us were in a silent mode. We were observing Cody. I was so worried. I couldn’t imagine how Cody will react to what had happened. Liam didn’t even have any idea what was going on. I even thought that Cody and Liam’s birthday could have had saved our lives from a great calamity.
“We’ll be there in 10 minutes.” Cody’s last statement before he hung up.
I took a deep breath. Finally, Cody didn’t actually rampage the place. He kept calm but he was onto something.
“Liam,” he said. “We need to go to the hospital, right now.”
Liam was surprised. He didn’t even know how a hospital had to do with anything. But he kept silent and calm. Both of them went to the garage. Yes, garage because it was too predictable. And probably, drove themselves to that hospital.
Of course, we didn’t let ourselves be left. We also went to the hospital. Thanks to Don, he had a black BMW. He drove us to that hospital they were going.
“Zoom!” the car was driving so swiftly. We were in our seatbelts because we couldn’t hold on much longer. Some roads were closed due to that tornado disaster. We didn’t even have any idea what hospital to go to. Luckily, we spotted Liam’s car and we followed along the way.
We could see debris all over the place. Wrecked cars and working ambulance spread on various streets. So many devastated properties were undeniably spotted everywhere.
“Wee-woop! Wee-woop!” Behind us was a rushing ambulance. We immediately went out of the way and tend to make way for the ambulance. Then, the problem started. We couldn’t spot Liam’s car anywhere.
“Did anybody see where Dan was going?” yelled Don because the speed of the car made a loud noise.
“Dan?” Rose yelled back.
“Liam.” Jesh corrected.
“Oh. I don’t know where they went. I was quite busy.” said Rose.
“Could anybody just contact Cody and ask what hospital they’re heading?”
“Will do.” I said.
I immediately dialed Cody’s number. Placing my cellphone on my left ear, I waited for Cody to answer the call.
“Ring” I couldn’t wait to ask them. we were in such a rush, there was no time for wasting anything.
Call accepted, finally.
“What’s wrong?” Cody knew it was me, calling.
“Where in the world are you going?” I put force on that question. The pressure was just so out of hand.
“Easy.” Cody said. “Denver General Hospital. Why?”
“Alright. Thank you.” Finally, we knew where to go.
“Denver General Hospital guys.” I told everyone.
Cody’s phone call still wasn’t dismissed so I left him something to wonder.
“Meet you there.” I said then I hung up the phone.
We never had to follow any car. We just rushed heading to that hospital. We could even have exceeded the speed limit but time was gold. The sun was almost down so we better get going.
At last, we reached the hospital. I saw Liam’s car parked but it was all too muddy. I never realized, Don’s car was as well, very dirty. We got out of the car. People could see us. They saw Zweig, Don, and Jesh. A couple of those EVOL bandmates. But we didn’t mind how the world saw us. We just rushed to the hospital, asked the nurse what room to go and rushed ourselves to that particular room.
We ended up seeing Cody and Liam crying at a mummy patient. Covered with bandages, they seem to have grieved on that patient so much, I even thought they cried at a corpse. I very well knew who the patient was, it was my coach.
My eyes began to gloss then tears went running out of my eyes. I patted Cody’s back. They were so sad, they couldn’t stand not sobbing. Everyone of us did. It was so sad. I was so sad for both Liam and Cody. I never saw guys cry except for Niall when he wanted something and wasn’t granted.
Suddenly, all of us were shocked. We all heard a familiar voice. A voice I recall as my coach’s. A voice they recall as their dad’s.
“Why are you all crying?” said my coach’s voice, their father’s voice.
Cody started to respond. His despair seemed to have faded away.
“Dad, is that you? You’re alive?” He asked.
All of us went silent as Cody started to converse with that mummy corpse.
“Of course, I’m alive. I just broke both of my legs and temporarily stuck on this wheelchair.”
We all turned around. There we saw Mr. Schmuckz sitting on his wheelchair with a nurse. The grieving story went into comedy. We all thought Mr. Schmuckz was as vegetable as that patient who was covered with bandages. He was only just bound of walking.
Cody and Liam were so much surprised. They both hugged their dad so tight. They were so worried of losing him.
“Easy with the hugs and kisses. I’m not that well yet.” Mr. Schmuckz said.
All of us were glad that everything was okay. Well, not literally everything. But love ones count.
Everybody were desperately worried but now, it turned out as a joke. But the accident wasn’t a joke. I heard there were two people who lost their lives because of that accident.
Mr. Schmuckz was confined in the hospital that day. He wasn’t allowed of leaving the medical premises until he was completely recovered.
All of us including five boys and three girls faced paparazzi and news media. Flashes of lights glanced towards my eyes. Our eyes. Then interviews and various questions followed. I never really knew how it felt of being crowded by lots of people until that moment.
“How’s your father? Is he doing fine?” inquired a newscaster.
Cody smiled despite the fact that his father was suffering from not being able to walk. “Fortunately. He’s perfectly fine. Only that he’s not able to walk at this moment.”
I was stormed. Cody can actually talk like a knight like Liam. That made me chuckle a bit.
Snapshots and cameramen seemed so surreal. Until someone asked me a question which made me feel nervous.
“Are you dating Cody Schmuckz?” asked a woman journalist.
That made me smile and worry. I never knew what to answer. Maybe, I’ll give the wrong information and could ruin Cody’s reputation.
“No, we’re just friends actually.” I answered the woman.
A guy journalist followed a question. “How do you know EVOL or how did they know you?”
Cody and his bandmates seemed to depart the area and headed to the parking lot. Zweig grabbed my hand and we went inside their car. I didn’t get the chance to answer the question. But it was alright. At least, we’re gonna escape the consequences of some celebrity issues.
They dropped me home and returned Lily and Rose to their own homes. I was a bit tired so I never hesitated to knock on our door. It was still raining. It never stopped raining. It just went heavier and heavier.
“Knock, knock, knock.” I was so tired and cold. The door suddenly opened. I was a bit guilty of what I went up to but it was fine. My mom was worried about me. She even saw me on TV. Both Niall and her. Niall was so excited, he asked me so many questions but I was just so exhausted, I couldn’t entertain a single question of his.
I went straight to my bedroom and fell onto my bed. I felt like I was dead. The softness of its covers made my eyes pull down and I suddenly slept.
[4/14/13]
[Hey guys. So this chapter was kinda depressing considering the fact that I have only slept for a span of an hour which is really not cool. I feel so sleepy but I had to finish so as far as anyone is concerned, if I finish 23 chapters, It'll be done. So, wish me luck.]