Expect the Unexpected

Chapter 11: Thunder and Rain Equals to Gone

I crouched down until my knees were touching on the soft most soil and crawled into the tent. No, it can't be. Where are they? And where are the materials from last night's camp? I didn't find anything. Where are they? Those words kept repeating in my minds. Where did they go? 

I stayed inside the tent and shakily got my IPod out of my back pocket of my pants. I silently dialed Dad's number and waited the connection between my IPod and his IPhone were connected. Five minutes have passed, still no connection. I tried two more times, and there wasn't any answer from him. I got worried. Are they safe? Are they injured? I thought that the connection wasn't really good from inside the tent; I headed outside and dialed his number again.

The clouds cried harder and harder by the minute, and Dad still wasn't picking up his phone. I went inside the tent, and prayed that my family was safe and that nothing happened to them. I prayed until I drifted off to sleep. 

"Mom, Dad," I screamed at the top of my lungs in the middle of nowhere. "Katie, James? Where are you guys?!" I ran as fast as I could to any direction. I ran north, south, east, west, northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest, and anywhere you named it, I'd go there. 

"You guys, this is not a game!! We're not playing hide and seek again, are we?" I asked the empty space surrounding me. I was worried; I was scared, because they were gone, no where to be seen. I kept running faster and faster for every five minutes. My heart rate accelerated every time I increased my speed. 

"Mommy and Daddy!" I screamed, and fell down to my knees. I sobbed, until I can cry no more. "Why are you doing this to me? Am I in trouble? Is this some kind of joke?"

I shook my head by the time I was saying this. How could my family do this to me? Why would my family do this to me? A sudden movement on the solid ground, made me jump. I stood up, trying to move away from the crack that was forming beneath me. 

"Could this situation get any worse?!" I shouted at the dark blue sky. The small crack that formed under me when I was cried formed into an earthquake. Everything shook back and forth. I needed to hide, but there was no hiding place. I needed to find my family, but they weren't anywhere to be found. I was hopeless, miserable, and dumped. 

Immediately, the ground shook hard and fast. I guess it's time for me to be gone, I said to myself. "Goodbye world and the family that I never got to meet again." I said softly. The second after the last word I said, I fell down to the ground, where no one can find me ever again...

I was awakened by the shaking of Mrs. Sanders, with Sarah and Alex by her side. "Honey, wake up dear."  

I was relieved that it was just a horrible dream, and that it didn't really happen. But what I needed to know was if my family was really gone and had left me behind with the Sanders. I pretended to stay asleep, and listened to the conversation of Sarah, Alex, and Mrs. Sanders. 

"Do you think she's fine?" Alex asked, sounding serious. Whoa, Alex cares about her frenemy. Is this day getting more suspenseful by the second?  

"Don't worry, she'll be awake. We'll tell her the news as soon as she gets up." her mother replied, pressing my right hand hard. Ouch, that hurts, but I appreciate her for caring about me. I wanted to wake up, but I was afraid of the news. Was it good news or bad news? I thought for a while if I should just wake up and know the surprise, or if I should just rest for a while and take a break from this suspense.

I decided that I should just wake up, because I can't take the suspense anymore. I opened my eyes gently, letting the picture move in front of me. 

"She's..." Sarah started, sounding startled. "She's awake! Amanda's awake!!"

"Shh, be quiet." ordered Alex, sounding soft and at the same time harsh. "Let her rest, would you?"

"Fine, whatever. I'll be getting Mom and Dad and tell that she's awake already." Sarah said, as she stomped out the tent and ran to get her parents.

"You okay?" Alex asked me, as I sat up from laying down on a comfy surface. Alex's parents must've given me a sleeping bag while I slept, I thought. 

"No, I'm not okay. I don't know where my family is. What I do know is that they disappeared after I went outside from the camper this morning, and found out that they weren't there." I said solidly.

"I can't imagine being like that." Alex said, looking away from me. "I never left my family away, even during important moments. Remember the time I said to everyone that after the eighth grade graduation, I would go out and celebrate with my friends?" I nodded truthfully. "Well, I wasn't exactly hanging out with the popular ones."

"So who were you with?" I asked, frowning. I was curious. I needed to know about the day after we did our graduation. 

"I was with my family. I wanted to celebrate my middle school graduation with them since sixth grade. I made my promise to them, and didn't break it; that's what a true family does." she said, smiling a little to me. Her face had a mixture of happiness and embarrassment. 

I had to swallow up this information step by step. Alex wasn't with her popular friends, I thought. She went with her family, because of a promise. I started to sniffle a little. It was truly a nice thing for someone to do; she made a promise to someone, and promised to do that promise. It was emotional.

"Are you crying?" she asked, touching my knee.

"No, I just had some onion in my eyes." I said, trying to make a joke. I rubbed my eyes a few times, so she wouldn't notice that I'm really crying. 

After I stopped sniffling, Alex hugged me. She literally hugged me. My eyes opened wide. A few seconds later, I asked her, "Why'd you do that?" 

"Because we're friends now." she said, smiling widely. Is this some kind of joke, I thought. 

"No, it isn't a joke." she said, not hearing a chuckle from her.  This is getting awkward.

"So where's my family?" I asked, frowning a little.

"The answer to that question," Alex said slowly, "is that I don't know."

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A/N on end of chapter: Hope you like this chapter!! It was pretty suspenseful, wasn't it? ;) If I'm telling you this, then the next chapter will be even more suspenseful!! xD 

*[Making Dramatic Sounds] {DUN, DUN, DUUUHHHH!!!!}

** [From the Last Chapter] The "butt" conversation from last chapter was hilarious wasn't it? I kept laughing when I wrote that, and I still laugh whenever I read it!! :D