An Alien Summer (Jake Pearson x O.C.) (Aliens in the Attic)

Chapter 3

The Pearson's, along with Rayah, finally made it to their destination. They all looked simultaneously out the window to get a good glimpse of the two-story house they would be staying in for the next week.

On the outside, Rayah found it extremely inviting. It needed a good paint job, but otherwise it seemed to not be too bad of a place to stay.

As soon as Mr. Stuart put the van in park, Bethany jumped over the seat, and proceeded to climb over the top of Rayah. A scuffle broke out between the two before Bethany was able to open the door and jump out.

"And there's the pool. See ya!" Bethany said taking off, not giving anyone a second glance.

"You couldn't wait five seconds, could ya!" Rayah irritably shouted out after the blonde teen. Tom couldn't help but snicker at the sight of his brunette friend. Somehow during the skirmish, her hair was ruffled and now looked more like a bird's nest.

Hannah, on the other hand, didn't notice Tom's imminent death at the hands of Rayah and excitedly buzzed around them and the two adults.

"We beat Uncle Nate! Yeah!" She cheered when she made sure there wasn't another car in the drive.

By this time, Tom had scuttled out of arm's reach from the sour brunette and opened the trunk of the minivan. His signature frown had graced his face yet again at the thought of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

While Rayah walked to the other side of the van to see if Mrs. Nina needed help, Mr. Stuart joined Tom at the trunk.

"Anything I can grab, Mrs. Nina?" Rayah asked the matriarch.

She turned to the young teen with a smile. Rayah couldn't help but giggle at seeing the woman literally up to her neck in bags. She had at least three bags of snacks on each arm, her fanny pack around her middle, her sunhat temporarily perched on her head, and Hannah's swimming goggles hanging around her neck.

"I think I got it, Rayah," Mrs. Nina beamed at the girl. She was quite proud of her feat at the moment. "They boys might need a little help, though. Men can be a little lost without a woman's help."

"I know what you mean," Rayah responded as Mrs. Nina gave her a wink.

With that Rayah, walked up to Mr. Stuart and Tom as they were unloading the cooler.

"I hope there was a discount for booking us into the most boring spot in the whole country," Tom drawled as he handed Rayah her backpack.

Mr. Stuart ignored his son's pessimism in stride. "We're only a stone's throw away from at least a half dozen top-notch fishing lakes."

Tom rolled his eyes at that, in which Rayah caught. In defense of Tom's dad, she reached over and have Tom a pinch on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I'm not really sure. It seemed like a fun thing to do at the time."

Tom simply narrowed his eyes at his friend. Turning back to trunk to unearth his duffle, he rhetorically asked, "Are we near a time machine so we can go back five years to when I thought fishing was cool?"

Without missing a beat, Rayah responded, "like how you think flannels over graphic tees are cool?"

"Whose side are you on anyway?"

"The side that is cooking hot dogs this evening."

"What kind of reasoning is that?"

"Hey, I bought us all new Sidestab reels. Anti-Reverse technology," Mr. Stuart interrupted the two teens. He knew they weren't actually bickering, but it was better to end it now because those two could go on forever. Literally.

"Lame," Tom deadpanned. With that, he slung his duffle over his shoulder, and then grabbed Rayah by the back of her jacket as he walked past to drag her with him.

"Let me know if I can help with anything, Mr. Stuart," Rayah called out as she back-peddled away. It was hard to turn around and walk straight with Tom still dragging her along.

"Will do, Ray!" Mr . Stuart yelled out after them before chuckling at their antics.

Rayah and Tom had finally made it through the front door into the cabin. In unison, they came to an abrupt stop at the sight of the decor spreading over every inch of the place. It was very...rustic?

Rayah especially cringed at the mounted fish on the wall, which had probably been caught out of the lake by which the cabin stood.

Tom shared Rayah's wariness of the decor, if you could even say that. Where Rayah was just slightly perturbed, Tom was repulsed.

"So lame," Tom groaned out before heading up the stairs to the second story.

This time, Rayah didn't chastise Tom for his moody attitude. She just hoped that the bedrooms weren't as bad, so she followed Tom up the stairs as well.

The first room that they passed on the second landing was very much feminine. A mixture of florals and pastels decorated the space. It did not take much thinking to know that it would be the girls's room.

"Well, at least I know Hana will love it," Rayah says old Tom who was eyeballing the room mercilessly.

Seeing as how Tom wasn't going to provide any input, Rayah pushed him away from her and down the hallway saying, "I'll leave you to it, good luck on the room hunting."

Rayah watched for just a moment as Tom sulked away, grumbling to himself. She couldn't help but let a smile stretch across her face in amusement at her best friend.

In one way or another, she knew that this was going to be an interesting vacation.

Rayah turned into the room and tossed her duffle onto the nearest bed. She was more of the type to live out of her travel bag rather than unpack it, so she just simply left it there.

Right before she decided that she was already bored, she heard the crunching of gravel beneath tires coming from the front of the house. It only took a moment for her eyes to comically widen.

The only other people that they were expecting to arrive was Tom's uncle, nana, and cousins. That meant Jake Pearson had arrived as well.

"This is going to be a joy," Rayah mumbled to herself before rushing from the room to find Tom. There was no way that she was going to allow any chance of Jake finding her alone. At least with Tom, she would have an ally against his incessant teasing that she remembered all-to-well. She had zero expectations that he had changed much from back then.