"Grace, you have some mail," Mom said.
"Really? Whose it from?"
"Mike."
I ran to her and I grabbed the envelope. I ripped it open and I pulled out the letter.
"Dear Grace,
Hey, how's it going? Things are quiet here. You've been gone for a day. The gang and I are going to go do something tonight, probably go to Tee Time or Swing Around Fun Town. How are your cousins? I hope things are going better."
The letter went on to tell me about things that had been going on. I smiled and went downstairs to my room. I put the letter in my bookbag. I started to write Mike back, but Taylor came running down the stairs.
"Grace, lets go do something," he said.
"Like what?"
"The air hockey machine is broke. You don't have to pay to play it, you just push the quarter slot in and you get a free game."
"Sweet! Lets go!"
"All right, we got a tournament going down there. Me, you, Isaac, Aidan, Zac, Jessie, and Avery are playing."
"Cool, lets go!" I said. I ran up the steps behind Taylor. We ran all the way to the game room. Isaac and Zac were already facing off in a game. Jessie, Avery, and Aidan were half watching. They were more interested in the other games they had down there. Soon, Aidan was playing Mario Brothers, Jessie was playing a car racing game, and Avery was waiting for the Mario brothers.
"Hey guys, what about our air hockey tournament?" Taylor asked.
"Huh? Oh, well, maybe later," Aidan said, engrossed in his video game.
"All right," I said. "Taylor, I'll play you, the table's open now."
"Okay," he said. He stood at one end of the table and I stood at the other. I put in a quarter in the maching, and the air vents started to kick in. I picked up the puck, set it on the table, and grabbed my shooter thing.
"Lets rock," I said. I shot the puck down the table and immedietely scored a goal.
"No fair, I wasn't ready!" he complained.
"Hey, I said lets rock," I countered.
"Okay," he grumbled, but I could tell he wasn't really mad. He shot the puck down to me. We kept on playing for awhile. Taylor was a good player, but I still won, 7-3.
"Good game," I said.
"Yeah, for you!" he replied. "I want a rematch later."
"You're on," I said. We noticed everyone left the game room.
"I wonder where they went?" Taylor asked.
"Beats me. I'm going to go back to my room, put on my swimsuit, and probably go down to the dock. Want to go with me?" I asked.
"Nah, maybe later. I'm going to go check out the TV. Later."
"Later," I replied. I half walked, half jogged back to our room. I opened the door with a key and let myself in. Nobody else was there, but there was a note saying that Mom and Dad were at the Hanson's room. I went down the steps to our room and I put on my suit. I grabbed one of our beach towels and I put on my Adidas sandals. I left the room, remembering to lock it with my key, and I walked down to the dock. I sat down by the space where our boat was being held. I flipped off my sandals and put them next to me. I kicked my feet around. I didn't really see anybody else that I knew around. Good, this would give me a little time to think. I'm glad that we're not fighting with my cousins anymore. Taylor really does seem like a nice guy from his letters, and from what he told me, the rest of his family was pretty nice too. I know it sounds weird to not know how his family acts, but not seeing them for five years, there can be some changes that occured. I can't believe we patched up that fight we had so quickly, but I guess nobody really wanted to be mad at anybody for the whole trip. It really would have been a waste. I'm glad that we got to do some stuff together already. Maybe this won't be a bad trip after--"
I suddenly caught my foot on something and I fell into the water. I kicked my foot free of a plant that had entangled its way around me. I kicked myself back up to the water's surface. I realized I had no way to get myself out and I had no life jacket on. I kept sinking and coming back up.
"HELP ME!" I screamed. "HELP!!!!"
I kept screaming. I heard a person tell me to stay calm, and they're coming as soon as they found me. I flew under the water again. I had been using more strength than I thought to stay above the water. I kicked back up. I wasn't sure how much more I could take. I suddenly saw a hand attatched to a tanned arm reach out for mine, presumably the hand of an adult. I grabbed onto it and the hand pulled me out of the water.
"Thanks," I said. I looked up at the person. It wasn't an adult as I had thought. The person looked like he was about 16 or 17 years old. He was well tanned, and had a build that was just starting to show through. He wore dark blue swim trunks and a rawhide necklace.
"You're welcome, are you okay?" he asked me.
"Yeah, just really tired. I had no clue how much kicking and pulling I was doing in there," I replied.
"You were in there for about 3 minutes. It doesn't seem like much, but you'd be surprised," he said. "I'm Max."
"I'm Grace," I told him.
"Like the actress?" he asked.
"Huh?" was all I could ask. Very smart sounding.
"Grace Kelly, she's an actress from a long time ago. I'm a big movie fan," he replied.
"Ohh. Yeah, kinda like that, I wish I was as pretty as her," I said.
He grinned.
"I need to sit down," I said.
"Not where you were before," he said. "There's a swinging bench over here, follow me."
I took my towel and I followed him. There was a swinging bench set up, overlooking the water.
"I don't remember seeing this here the last time I was here," I commented.
"They just put it up pretty recently," he said.
"Then no wonder I didn't see it," I said. "So, how old are you?"
"I'm 16, you?"
"Oh, I'm 15. My birthday's not until October."
"That's cool. Tell me about yourself, I want to find out more about the person I rescued," he said with a grin.
I went on to tell him a little about myself. I told him about the sports I play, some of the music I like, and a few other things. Max told me that he loved swimming and he swims on a team at school, and he was a lifeguard at an indoor pool during the school year. So that's where he got his muscles.
"What room are you staying in?" he asked me.
"I'm in room 19," I replied. "You?"
"Oh, I'm in room 2," he replied.
"Lucky, you're close to the pool."
"I know, I love it. Sometimes, I'll just wake up early and I'll go in the pool and just swim laps. It's so quiet and relaxing."
"I bet. I'd never have enough willpower to get up early and do that."
"It's worth it. Things can get so hectic sometimes."
"I hear ya."
"So, did you just come down with your family, or with some other people, or what?" Max asked me.
"Well, my family came down, my mom, my dad, my older brother Aidan, and my aunt, uncle, and their 7 kids."
"Whoa, that's a lot of kids!" Max exclaimed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that, it just took me by surprise."
"That's okay, I'm not offended," I replied. "I guess I should tell you something about my cousins that came down here."
"Oh, come on, there can't be anything that bad about them!" Max said. "Are they monsters, or psycho maniacs on the loose?"
"No," I said, laughing.
"Darn, I was hoping for some excitement."
"Well, what I say could be exciting news for some people. My cousins that came down here are Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson, and their brother and sisters and parents."
"Oh, so that's who's staying in that big cabin! My family and I were wondering about that. You guys just got here a few days ago, didn't you?"
"Yeah....you're not mad that I'm related to Hanson? You're not leaving, or calling them queer or anything?" I asked him.
"Nah, I mean, I may not be fond of their music, but you can't judge someone about how they are simply by the kind of music they play or like."
"I like your attitude!" I said with a grin. I saw Aidan coming down to the dock. Great. He's probably going to yell at me now.
"Hey Grace, come on, we're going out shopping," he said. Then he saw Max. "Who's your friend?"
"Aidan, this is Max. Max, this is my brother Aidan."
"Hi," Aidan said.
"Hi," Max replied back.
"Maybe I'll see you around," I said.
"I hope so. Bye Grace."
"Bye Max! And thanks," I said. I grinned at him. He flashed me a grin back.
"Anytime."
I walked away from him with Aidan and I remembered to grab my sandals. I slipped them on and I walked up to the room with him.
"So, how'd you meet the guy?" Aidan asked.
"Well, he was at the dock, and I was at the dock, and things just happened," I replied.
"Okay," he said. We walked back up to the room in silence.
"Why are you wondering about the guy?" I asked.
"I gotta keep the tabs on my little sister," Aidan said, giving me a noogie.
"Oh please, you're acting like Greg Brady! There are very few older brothers who act like that to their little sister," I told him.
"You'd be surprised," he told me.
"Why do some older brothers act like that?" I asked him. "I've always wanted to know. I always thought it was an act, but by the way you talk, it's not an act at all."
"Well, when little sisters are around guys, older brothers feel they should be on alert, because we know how guys act."
"Even if the guy's just a friend?"
"Yeah, because 9 out of 10 times the friendship'll turn into a relationship."
"Is that a fact?"
"Yeah, sure is."
"Wow. But, if you're worried about little sisters being around guys, and guys act so bad, and you have to watch out for us around guys, isn't that basically like putting yourself down?"
"Shut up smart ass," Aidan said, grinning. "Come on, race you back!"
"No fair! I have sandals on!" I screamed. I did my best. I lost, though. Aidan's a decent runner. We made it back up to the room and collapsed on the couch, laughing.
"Seriously, though, going back to our talk on older brothers watching out for younger sisters, it basically comes down to that we feel it's our job to warn our sisters of things, and we gotta take care of our sisters, because we sure as hell can't cook."
"What does cooking have to do with it, and watch your language!"
"Well, if we are bachelors, we're going to need someone to cook for us!" he said with a cocky grin. I smacked him with a pillow and I left the room.
Chapter 8
Chapter 6
Vacation
Kelly's Hanson Stories
