21 Morning
Jim sat in his room for about a half an hour before he got the strength to face the world. He never felt so hurt and so alone. He needed Stacy, but he wasn’t going to have her. He decided to keep her last wish and get on with his life no matter how hard it was going to be. At this moment, he couldn’t stand the thought of being alone. He decided to tell Amanda about the dream and hope for the best.
Jim reached the cafeteria seconds before Amanda and Linda. He sat there with Tony and Christine and watched them cross the room. Jim took a deep breath and thought about what he was going to say. Linda looked as if she was crying all night. “I don’t know if I’m coming with you guys,” Linda said when she reached the table. “John said he traded in his ticket and is going to spend the weekend with his new girlfriend.” It was hard to make out the last few words with all the sobs.
“Fine with me,” Tony said, uninterested.
Jim was about to speak when Amanda shot Tony a foul look as she turned back to Linda. “Come on,” she said, urging Linda on, “we already talked about this. You’ve got to come. We’re going to have a blast. You and I can shoot the breeze or something while we’re out there.”
Those words suddenly filled Jim with anger. He needed Amanda more than Linda did. “Wait a second,” Jim blurted out, unable to hold back. “This weekend was supposed to be for us. You’re not telling me that you’re just going to leave me stranded, to hang out with your friend?”
Amanda gave Jim the dirtiest look of all time. “We’ll talk about this later,” she said, remaining calm.
“Fuck no,” Jim screamed, “we’ll talk about this right now!” He didn’t want to wait. There was just too much pain.
“FINE!” Amanda roared. She grabbed Jim by his arm, and led him into the hallway. “What was the meaning of that outburst?”
“You know damn well what the meaning of it was,” Jim said, not taking his eyes off her. Jim felt a strange feeling of Deja Vu. Like he’s been through this before, and he remembered where. The dream. What was it Stacy had said? “It was more than just a dream.” Could it be possible that it was a prediction of things to come?
Amanda took a deep breath to keep her cool. “Listen,” she said, calmly, “Linda is my friend, and I can’t leave her alone now.”
Everything was happening all over again. Would he be reunited with Stacy? It was a long shot, but some hope is better than none. “I understand,” he said so quickly that it surprised Amanda.
She looked confused for a second but then she just smiled. “Thanks,” she said, still sounding surprised. “I knew you would understand.”
“Try to save some time for me?” Jim asked, in a low voice.
“I’ll do my best,” she said as she hugged him. “I’ll go talk to Linda now, and finish this that much faster.” She kissed him on the cheek and ran off into the cafeteria.
Jim sighed, lowered his head, and began to follow her. Tony met him by the door and pulled him out into the hallway. “Are you out of your mind?” He screamed. “I’m sorry for ease dropping, but you’ve got to get some balls when you talk to her.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jim soberly said. He wanted to tell Tony everything, but now wasn’t the time.
“Well, I do,” Tony said clearly upset. “This is a romantic getaway and you’re going to let your girlfriend spend it with her friend?”
Jim gave Tony a crooked smile. “Will you lighten up man,” Jim said, strength in his voice. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
Tony looked at Jim as if he had three heads. “If you say so,” he said in disgust, “but I still don’t like it. I’ve got to get to class, I’ll see you later, Okay?”
“All right,” Jim said as he watched his friend walk away. This was strange. Jim didn’t know what to think. It was a premonition. It had to be. Jim’s heart filled with joy as he knew he was going to be reunited with Stacy. Just a couple more hours. He turned toward the cafeteria.
He came face to chest with this brute of a man trying to walk out. Jim looked up at this monster and saw it wasn’t friendly. “You’re in my way,” it spoke in a deep scary voice. Jim, politely moved out of its way. “Pussy,” he said as he walked past Jim.
Jim looked at him as he walked down the hallway. “Right,” he whispered to himself.
22 Arriving There Again
When the school day was finished, everyone met in front of the school. There was excitement in the air. There was plenty of talk about how everyone was going to have fun and get really smashed. It was going to be the greatest weekend of everyone’s lives. It was prophesied to be the party that ends all parties.
Jim felt excitement flow through him. He knew what was going to happen. How he longed to feel Stacy’s touch, to smell her hair, just to be with her. He wasn’t going to let her go.
They got on the bus and headed for pure adventure. Of course, Amanda sat with Linda and Jim got the pleasure of sitting next to a fat obnoxious kid. The kid spent a lot of time screaming with the rest of the crew. There was alcohol being passed around and Jim refused it. He wanted to be completely aware of everything that happened.
The bus ride was longer than he remembered. As a matter of fact, this ride was damn long and uncomfortable. Everyone was singing badly, which gave Jim a headache. He just couldn’t get into the spirit of things. He was anticipating every moment he was going to have with Stacy. He would pray for every embrace and cherish every kiss.
When the bus finally arrived at its destination, he got up and exited with the rest of the crowd. Amanda approached him, as he knew she would. “Listen, I’m going to go with Linda to her room. See you tonight, okay?”
“Don’t make it too late,” Jim said with a smile.
“You got it tough guy,” she said as she gave him a little punch on the arm. She kissed him on his lips for a full thirty seconds. “Just a preview of things to come,” she devilishly whispered in his ear.
With that she ran off with Linda and carried her things with her. Jim sighed and shook his head. He started to feel guilty. “Amanda,” he called out.
She turned around. “Yes,” she asked plainly.
“I need to talk to you,” Jim said, straight forward.
“All right,” she said, walking backwards toward Linda. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Jim just watched them walk into the hotel.
23 Prepare for Battle
Jim sat there and watched TV. The place was as beautiful as it was in his dream. But its beauty didn’t impress him much. He was too concerned about what he was going to tell Amanda. He loved Stacy with all his heart and had no doubts about getting back with her, but he didn’t want to hurt Amanda. She was a good girl - when she wanted to be - and didn’t deserve to be hurt. He didn’t know how or when he was going to tell her. Telling her now would ruin her weekend but waiting seemed wrong too.
When there was a knock on the door, a new feeling of excitement filled up inside of him. He jumped up and opened the door, knowing it was Tony. The time was approaching.
Once the door was opened, Tony walked in holding a brown paper bag. “Oh, good you’re in, I thought you might be out having fun or something.”
Jim took the bag from Tony’s hand. He pulled out a water gun and looked at Tony. “Let me guess, you and some of the guys decided to have a water gun fight with the kids in this place,” Jim said, excited. “Sounds like fun.”
Tony looked confused. “How did you know that?”
“Life is but a dream,” Jim said with a smile and walked out the door.
Tony stood there for a couple of seconds, then shook his head. “Lucky guess,” he concluded, as he followed Jim out the door.
24 The Water gun Fight Revised
The water gun fight went as it did before, except for the water being a lot colder. They used the whole hotel grounds as a battlefield. There could have been a drought with all the water they used. The kids were better equipped than the college kids. They had guns that held gallons and a couple of feet shooting range. The college kids, however, had little rinky dink water pistols that held only a couple of shots at close range. It was a massacre.
It’s needless to say, they were getting their butts kicked by twelve-year-olds, again. It was Tony’s idea to split up. That was a bad mistake since these kids traveled in packs of a hundred.
It was only a matter of time before the battle made its way into the hotel. Now adults were chasing after everyone, threatening to throw them out. That was when the college kids’ numbers started to rapidly decline. It was like a game of tag. If Hotel Guy caught you, you were out of the game.
So far it was down to just Jim and Tony - the sole survivors. Tony was running around somewhere, and Jim found a nice safe spot next to the main flight of stairs. It was only a matter of time before they were kicked out of the game.
Jim was catching his breath when he heard the children coming. He held his gun close to him like a cop hiding out in a movie. When he heard the children running up the stairs, he made his move.
He jumped up and grabbed onto the handrail. At first, since his hands were wet, he almost slipped and fell, but he was able to keep his grip. “AAHH!!” He screamed in victory. The kids turned around, shocked and stunned. He had the perfect shot, but he didn’t take it. Something made him freeze and stare. Something made his heart fill up with extreme pain.
Stacy wasn’t there. It was just a dream. He looked around but she was nowhere to be found. Loneliness filled his heart. The kids opened fire.
Stunned by the sudden coldness of the water, he lost his grip and fell over. He landed on his back and felt a sharp pain go up his back. He looked up to see Hotel Guy.
“I don’t think I have to say it,” he said plainly.