Chapter 36 - The Summer Trip: A Wet Reconciliation

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*2 hours later…*

You may ask yourself:

Why is everyone bringing a bag full of clothes?

Well, that's for our next destination. We arrived at a water park named: "Water Slidin and Wavin". It has all sorts of recreational water enjoyment.

Slides, lazy rivers, and even a big wave pool that activates its waves at certain times. There are even some ziplines and rock climbing as something entertaining if you need a break from the waters.

Since I can't even swim, I'd like to give a zipline a go.

"Everyone, wake up! We're here!" I woke everyone up and they all looked at the water park.

"Carlos and I will go to this big slide that goes around and around!" Vance was excited himself.

"We'll go too!" Cherry and Allison were excited, jumping out of the van. Carlos and Vance were judging them with doubtful eyes as they looked at one another.

"You both probably couldn't handle that slide." Carlos giggled.

"You wanna go, bro? I'll get down that slide and have fun like you! I'm no coward!" Allison put on a brave face against Carlos, who was all smug.

"I'll go, I can't wait to see the look on your face when you get scared and create an "accident"~" Carlos was really stepping his game by retaliating against her. We all just watched as the two became rivals. Everyone else couldn't help but laugh.

Except Serra, of course.

"Alright, since you two are seriously challenging each other right now… I will challenge you two to partner up and prove that you two are up for the slide!" Suddenly the two went silent and were in shock and looked at Vance who made that suggestion.

"Bro, are you for real?! A kid like her being my partner?! No way! She's a meanie." Suddenly Carlos went from smug to suddenly rejecting the challenge, shaking his hands and head with a pout on his face.

"I would think twice before I'd partner up with this dude. I don't think his image will allow it…" And the smug energy got switched to Allison pointing her thumb at him.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Carlos immediately turned away.

"Alright, let's get down and actually have fun in the water!" We all went inside on stepdad's instructions and went to the changing rooms.

Me and the boys are together changing into our swimsuits. I wore a wetsuit because I thought it looked nice on me.

"Whoa! Not bad, Alrose!" I looked at Carlos who was wearing swimming trunks. His six pack abs are on display.

Now I really wonder where the hell his girlfriend's at because she's missing a lot from this guy over here.

"I never knew you were a wetsuit kind of guy." Vance was wearing the same swimming trunks back when we had a family outing at the beach.

"I just thought it looked cool on me…" My new wetsuit felt VERY comfortable to wear. I was happy with it.

"No arguments there, Mr. Alrose. It suits you very well." Vance gave me a thumbs up.

"Thanks! Let's meet up with the girls." We all went out of the changing room and waited for the girls.

They then went out wearing their swimsuits. Syrra and Serra were wearing wetsuits. Lisa, Allison, and Cherry are wearing one-piece swimsuits.

"Sorry for the wait!" Cherry and Lisa quickly approached us, while Serra, Syrra, and Allison were behind them.

"Hmph. For someone who was quite feisty earlier, you sure look good in a swimsuit like that." Carlos somewhat complimented Allison, crossing his arms along with a fierce smile on his face.

"Oh? Are you gonna give me bonus points for that compliment? Either way, I won't lose to someone like you! Anyway, look who's being feisty crossing arms towards me. Ironic, isn't it?~" She grinned playfully, posing with one hand on her hip.

"At least I'm not a kid anymore like you who still has a lot to learn when it comes to this world…" And here they go again. Carlos is acting high and mighty right now.

"Au contraire, you're probably sitting around playing games all day, am I wrong?" Carlos was then taken aback by her comment.

"Don't suddenly talk about that!" She started laughing. Yikes, she has pulled a nerve.

"Well, it looks like you're such a dweeb… See you at the slide." She went ahead.

"Hey! I'm not done with you, you little bitch!" He followed her.

"They sure are getting well..." Cherry giggled, but is a little weirded out by their rivalry.

"They formed a bond through rivalry. Surely things will go well between those two." Somehow, I happily agree with Vance. Some friends started by being rivals. Though most of the time it doesn't end well, Carlos and Allison aren't the type of people who will fight unreasonably. It's mostly for their own basic satisfaction, not the extremes.

"Anyway! Let's go have fun!" Lisa went to the slides as well.

"Lisa, don't run!" Syrra caught up with Lisa.

While they were running, I looked at Serra. She was looking away from me.

Actually, she was looking away from everyone. I noticed that since the moment she got out.

"Not used to being in that outfit?" I asked and she nods.

"Well, I think you look good in it. You handpicked that wetsuit for this very day. But do you… Not like wearing other swimsuits? I don't think I asked that while we were picking our wetsuits." It's the only reasonable explanation other than "I like it".

"I don't like revealing that much skin… I'm also honestly scared of what would happen if all eyes were on me." That kind of situation... She definitely doesn't want so many eyes on her. So she has a little fear from men who could potentially get their hands on her. I don't blame her.

"If ever they'd bat an eye on you, I'd glare at them to keep them away from you." I assured her safety with a confident smile.

"A weakling muppet like you? Acting tough? Remember, the last time you tried that, you got shoved by those boys back at the bowling alley." She slighty turned her head, judging me with her piercing eyes. My confidence level rocket dropped to zero... Let me have my moment, Serra…

"What else could I even do…" I sighed.

"There's a way without acting like you can solve it all. You don't need to just stand up and be high and mighty like me." I reluctantly rubbed my arm, feeling speechless. She's right… Not everything can be solved by being tough.

"Well, I guess I gotta work with my brain… But anyway, where do you want to go?" I asked where she wanted to go, and she pointed to the long lazy river.

We quickly went to the lazy river, grabbed our floaties and laid down on it as the river dragged the both of us.

"You don't want to try the slides?" I asked, looking at her staring up to the sky.

"I might fall." Oh, that was short.

"Sometimes it can go out of control… Don't blame you. Have you seen someone fall off a slide?" I asked further, looking back at the sky.

"Yes. Two adults on the bigger slide above ours. It was so high." If she can say it bluntly like that, then she must have been traumatized at the sight of it happening.

"A fall that high… I can't imagine how devastating that looked…" I shivered at the thought of it.

Not to mention the chances of surviving that are slim, unless they fell in the pool, which is lucky but still devastating regardless.

"I know…" She answered.

We then fell silent for a while. I stared at the sky for a while longer as I slowly closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

But then…

"Wake up, you ugly bug." I woke up to Serra splashing me with water.

"Ah! Hey! Cut it out! I might fall o- AAA-" I literally then fell off my float and sank being splashed by her. Luckily the lazy rivers are never deep so I walked back towards my floatie.

"Don't make me splash you back…" I walked and tried to get close to her.

"Good luck." She quickly started swimming away from me. What in the hell?!

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" And the race was on. Serra kept swimming forward while I tried to run closer to her and splash her face.

For a lazy river, we sure weren't feeling lazy today…

After a while, we left the lazy river, I was panting for air after the whole chase. Serra didn't feel tired.

"I didn't know you were a good swimmer…" It really caught me off guard… And I hate how slow I was because I don't know how to swim.

"My ex-brother was the one who taught me how to swim when I was a kid." That's one thing I'm happy about, but then again…

They never bothered to defend her from those nasty parents of hers… They just watched as they threw her sister away. They must have been happy to see her out of the family for good.

"Let's take a break?" I asked and she nodded. We then looked for the hut my step-parents currently stay in.

We managed to find them in a long hut. Stepdad was waving at us while stepmom was eating nachos.

"Here to take a rest? Sit down! We'll be having a barbecue in a bit!" We sat down and took a rest. I watch stepmom eat. Our eyes met but she looked away with an unsatisfied look on her face.

My relationship with my stepmother is falling apart. She doesn't want to see me at all… I want to know why…

Why… Why is she like this…

But as I was thinking this…

"Serra? I would need assistance for the barbecue, I know you're resting but I really need a helping hand." Stepdad suddenly called Serra to help out at the barbecue.

"Um... Sure." Serra then stood up and went with stepdad to prepare the barbecue.

I am now alone with my stepmom. Awkwardness filled the air. All that were here was the sound of nachos being eaten, and my breathing. I'm trying to muster the courage to talk to her.

"How have the 3 months been…" Suddenly I turned to her, asking about me.

"I'm okay… Just being alive during those days… What about you?" I asked.

"It went smoothly. Taking care of Cherry again has made me feel like a mother again. I've been working for so long since Vance had been taking care of both of you." Oh, so she had fun taking care of Cherry… Good for her.

"Great…" I forced a smile, fingers interlocked with one another.

Hang on… Now is the perfect time to ask her why she's been ignoring me for the past year. So the question now is…

Why am I scared of asking the question?

Is it because I fear the answer she's going to tell me…

Is it because she's going to ignore me…

Or both?

I don't even know… The words are just… Not coming out… Are we just going to stay like this…

"You know…"

And stepmom suddenly started talking again. I once again was surprised and looked at her.

"I was nervous on how to face you again… After that tragedy happened, I never wanted to regard you as someone with the Alrose name. "You brought shame to the family name!" is what I thought… But the moment the news popped up in my phone that those were false claims and false photos, I was shocked to hear I was wrong… I don't deny the photos were… Despicable, at best… I never made up my mind to listen to your side of the story." So this whole time, she was against me. She was unsatisfied and against involving me in the family. I don't blame her…

"During those months… I felt so… betrayed… I've been shunned by the people I cared about for so long… In my heart, I was convinced that the world was better off without me." I looked down with my hands clenched on my legs.

"… After hearing about the news, I regret ever leaving you alone. I was scared of how to face you. I thought you would shut me out. I adopted you, after all. I thought you would leave me alone… You've been someone I cherished the most, I was living in fear that I'd have no opportunity for forgiveness." Her tone shifted from serious to apologetic. I could hear her cry while still turned away from me. I was surprised to hear this from her. All this time I thought she was ignoring me out of hatred…

I never thought she's actually scared that I'd hate her for leaving me behind… The thought never crossed my mind at all.

"Mom… I… I was also scared that you hated me after all that… You're not aware of how much I wanted you to forgive me, just as much as you wanted me to forgive you!" I began tearing up, and cried out to her.

And she was in tears and hugged me, crying her heart out to me.

"My dear Alrose… How I've missed you so much!" She was very happy and very relieved, and so am I… I'm so happy my family isn't falling apart…

It's the best feeling in the world…

"Mom… I'm happy to be here again…" I kept hugging her, I didn't want to let go…

"Looks like your stepdad got you both on good terms finally."

I noticed Serra, who's holding a plate full of grilled pork, came in and began cutting it into little strips.

"Dad set this one up?" I asked.

"He said that he was longing for this day you two made up. He noticed that your stepmom wasn't acting like herself. He overheard her saying how shameful and regretful she was leaving you behind. I had to listen to all that while preparing the barbecue." She set the plate of grilled pork on the table. My stepfather… He really wanted both of us to get along…

"Anyway, the barbecue's ready. Go get the rest, muppet." Serra demanded.

"Ah, right… I'll go look for them!" I let go of stepmom and ran out to look for the rest.

"Be careful!" Stepmom waved at me and I waved back at her.

It feels good to have the family in high spirits again,

And my friends, I am unsure about Serra, are in higher spirits. Nothing can ruin this day.

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