Chapter Thirteen - Magic Summer

Off the boat, Mr.Morty was feeling better and took a few drinks at the bar as the rest of the group grilled the fish by the DIY barbecue stand near the peer as the twilight came. They all laughed and enjoyed themselves on this mini vacation. They shared stories about each other that made their bond as friends even stronger. Even Samantha got comfortable with Paul and Jeffery.

The night sky glistened the lake waters so beautifully with the sweet fresh water breeze cooling the air. The scenery had a certain nostalgia to it that no one could explain.

Mr. Morty's few drinks turned into bottles of whiskey and went on talking to the bartender about how he hated the corporate aspect of his job and Cindy, his girlfriend.

Klaus went to see if Mr. Morty was going to be fine, but Mr. Morty waved him off.

Klaus came back to the group with a grin, "Mates, Morty is pretty plastered. I think we should leave him for a while." He said.

Jeffrey got worried and asked, "Is Mr. Morty gonna be able to drive us back?"

"It's fine. I'll drive us back." Paul said.

He never looked at Jeffrey as he answered and stared at the fire pensively. His black hair and turquoise eyes gleamed from the light of the flame, as if reminiscing about the past. For a second, he looked a little like Jeffery.

"Nope. Not you 'Speedracer'. Can anyone else drive us or will we take a cab?" Jeffrey opposed with his arms crossing his face.

Paul pursed his lips and rolled his eyes, "It was just that one. Cut me some slack. You, of all people, know that I'm a safe driver."

"Okay, let's vote. In favour of a cab?" Jeffrey replied.

Paul looked at everyone as if saying, 'You want to listen to Jeffrey after he said he can barbecue?'. The other three stared at each other, worried about whether to side with Paul or Jeffrey.

"Okay, I see and all those in favour of Paul driving us?" Jeffrey said, disappointed.

Only Samantha raised her hand, and an awkward silence befell them.

Paul laughed, "Thanks, Samantha! At least I have one good friend here."

Samantha felt embarrassed being the only one to choose and asked Klaus and Nicole, "You two, why were your arms still down?"

"Well, we know what happens when you try to get into a Jones family feud," Nicole replied.

"Jones'? I thought Klaus was just saying that as a name for his ship as Captain Dinghy." Samantha asked, puzzled.

Jeffrey said, "We are brothers. Half brothers, to be exact." And Paul continued, "Same dad, different moms. Can't you see the slight resemblance?"

They kind of looked alike to Samantha as she stared, but the hazel and turquoise eye colours really made it difficult for her to notice it in the past. Klaus noticed Samantha was completely clueless about this despite her being in the same AP class with them since freshman year.

"Samantha, do you know anyone's full names here, other than mine?" Klaus asked.

Samantha realised that she never did know anyone's full name from her class, only Klaus'. Goes to show that she had an interest in him before she even realized it.

Samantha awkwardly laughed at Klaus' statement, "Not really." She said sheepishly.

An awkward silence befell them again and the rest of them had the exact same thought, "She really is an Ice Queen."

Jeffery stood, grabbing Paul by the arm, "Okay, allow us to reintroduce ourselves. I'm Jeffrey Jones and this is my lovely rude half-brother, Paul Jones. We share AP math, chemistry, and Spanish together," said Jeffrey.

"And I'm Nicole Fletcher and I'm your friend's neighbour gothic chick. We are in AP math, history, and geography classes." Nicole continued.

Samantha stood and introduced herself, "And I'm Samantha Diaz, the uh- Ice Queen? It's a pleasure to meet you... properly. I think."

Her introduction helped lighten the mood and the gang shared even deeper things about themselves, like how Paul and Jeffrey hated each other as kids or like how Nicole won the Miss Belmont county kid's beauty contest. This story reminded Samantha of how Nicole is so beautiful but hides it behind her fashion choice. Klaus shared about his first encounter with Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This story wasn't one he was proud of because it ended with him farting as he bowed before the Queen of England. And finally, Samantha shared about her times learning martial arts with her father and some of his platoon. It was difficult training with navy seals however, she ended her story about sparring with the platoons and winning when she was only 13 years old. You could hear the gulp in Klaus' thoughts.

______

Bags were packed and the day had finally come for them to return home after an unforgettable summer trip. They set off with Paul being the driver with no 'karaoke radio'. Mr. Morty sat in the front with his seat slightly declined and sunglasses on. He was hungover and reeking of whiskey. He moaned and groaned the entire drive back to Belmont whereas Samantha and Klaus got more smitten with each other. Nicole and Jeffrey spent the time talking about a science fair project hosted by a company called Google that was looking for young minds to mentor. They had to design a simple website with basic functionality, but in a different code than what they knew.

Suddenly, Samantha grabbed the front seat, "Shit! I mean- oh no, I just remembered we had math tutoring this summer, Klaus!" She said frantically.

"Jesus Christ Samantha! You want us to crash by shouting like that!" Said Paul angrily.

Mr. Morty just groaned and drank half a bottle of water.

"Sorry. It's just that the conversation about the science fair just reminded me of it." She replied timidly.

Paul let out a frustrated sigh, "whatever, just Don't do that again while I'm driving please." He said.

The thought of tutoring her classmates dawned on her heavily and so did many other things like her books, her summer homework, and Bridge. Oh no, she completely forgot to get in touch with Bridge about the trip. Samantha has a lot of explaining to do to her young friend.