Hamilton Road Trip

Crocodiles

(Lafayette POV)
    "Alright everyone" Angelica said as we all climbed out of their cars at the rest stop. "I've looked on google maps, and there's a small lake nearby. Get your stuff and let's go check it out!"
    "Is it far away?" Thomas asked, picking out the last pieces of tissue from his ear. It had been a longggg hour for all of us in Alex's car.
    "Not too far, only a couple of minutes. Come on! It'll be fun!" Angelica said, smiling brightly.
    We all agreed, eager to do something other than sit in a car or eat snacks.

    The lake turned out to be very very muddy. As in, mud everywhere.
    "Yuckkkkk" I said as I stepped carefully through the thick squelching muck.
    "Well this is soooo much fun" Thomas said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
    "Oh be quiet you guys! As soon as we swim around it'll be fun!" Angelica said, and we stared at her in disbelief. I looked back at the lake. It was a thick brown color, and there were logs and random plants drifting everywhere.
    Near the shore, a tall teenager waved to them. He was holding a fishing rod, but I couldn't see how we would catch any fish in this horrible muddy lake. "Hello!" He said, "Are you guys from around here?"
    Angelica shook her head, "Were just traveling through" she said.
    "Were going to Yosemite!" Peggy piped up.
    "Yosemite huh?" The teenager said. "I have a stuffed deer named Yosemite"
    "Cool!" Peggy said.   
    The teenerager went back to fishing, and we walked closer to the water.
    "I think I'll stay on the shore" Maria said, carefully edging away as Angelica glared at her. I looked around at the others. Hercules looked at the boats at the dock longingly, but he was the only one. Everyone else was also backing away.
    "I'm going to go on the boat" Hercules suddenly said, and walked through the thick mud toward the tiny little canoe.
    "Wait! I think you have to pay for it, or something-" Angelica started to say, but Hercules had already undone the knot that tied the boat to the dock, and was picking up the oars.
    "Anyone coming with me?" He asked, looking around. John started to step forward, but then stopped.
    "But there's crocodiles!" John said, pointing to a clearly fake sign near the shore, saying 'Beware of Crocodiles"" I rolled my eyes as everyone laughed.
    "There's no crocodiles John!" Hercules said, exasperated.
    John cast a wary glance at the sign but the finally stepped forward and got on the canoe.
    "Anyone else?" Hercules asked, looking around. We all shook our heads. He shrugged and pushed off, handing John an oar.
    Looking back at the sign, I carefully slide up to Alex.
    "Hey Alex" I whispered in his ear, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I pointed to the sign, and then to all the logs floating around.
    "I have an even better idea" He whispered back, then turned to me and held up Bubbles.
    "ALEX!" I whisper-shouted. "John is gonna kill you for bringing him here!" He rolled his eyes and shoved the turtle closer to me.
    "It's not Bubbles. I found it sleeping on a rock here" Alex said. I leaned in closer, and sure enough, the turtle wasn't Bubbles.
    "But listen. If you thought it was Bubbles, then John might too. And with that log, we could totally freak John out..." Alex said, smiling mischievously.
    I grinned, and high fived Alex. "Let's do it"

    A couple minutes later we were swimming at the edge of the lake, hidden by the plants. Alex held the turtle, while I carefully pushed the log forward. John and Hercules were in front of us, paddling with their oars.
    "Go!" I whispered to Alex. He nodded and carefully swam closer to the canoe. Taking a deep breath, he dove under the water.
    I could see his faint outline swim under the canoe and let the turtle go in front of it, then swam back over to me.
    "Hey John?" I heard Hercules say, "Isn't that Bubbles?"
    "WHAT?" John said. "OH MY GOD BUBBLES HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!!!" John started leaning over and trying to grab the turtle frantically.
    "Go" Alex whispered to me, and I took a deep breath and went under. Holding the log above my head so it floated on the water, I swam up the the boat carefully, taking small gulps of air whenever I could. Above me, I could hear John gasping.
    "Look! LOOK HERCULES IT'S A CROCODILE!!!!!" He yelled.
    I let out a tiny laugh, resulting in little bubble floating up the surface.
    "Calm down John it's obviously just a log" Hercules said, and I frowned. John had to think it was a crocodile. I started carefully twisting the log back and forth to make it look as though it was swimming toward the turtle.
    "LOOK ITS SWIMMING!!!!! HERCULES LOOK ITS SWIMMING TOWARD BUBBLES!! IT'S GOING TO EAT HIM!!!!" I started to swim faster, coming closer and closer to the poor turtle.
    "NOOOO!!!" I heard John scream, and then all of a sudden something huge landed on my back.
    "DIE CROCODILE DIE!!!" John screamed, punching me. Panicked, I surged upward, gasping for air.
    "Its me John calm down!" I yelled at him, and he froze, staring at me. He looked at me, then looked at the log, then looked back at me.
    "LAFAYETTE!" He yelled, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!" I started laughing, and Hercules joined in. Alex came out of the plants laughing so hard he was struggling to breath.
    "That was hilarious! Good work!" He said to me, and we high-fived.
    "WAIT WHAT ABOUT BUBBLES?" John suddenly screamed, looking around. The turtle had vanished.
    I grabbed his arm. "Relax! That wasn't Bubbles, it was just a random turtle Alex found!"
    John turned to glare at Alex, who was still trying very hard to stop laughing.
    "Ugh! I hate you guys!" He yelled, and swam back to the canoe.

    After we came back to the shore, John stormed to the car to check on Bubbles while Alex and I told everyone about the prank.
    "I can't believe John thought that was a crocodile!" Hercules said, laughing.
    "Alright guys, that's all very nice, but now we really have to get back on the road" Angelica said bossily, looking at her watch.
Thomas glared at Alex. "I refuse to be in a car with him again" He said, glaring at Alex.
"Fine. You can switch with Peggy"
Thomas seemed content, and I smiled. Peggy and I were going to be in the same car! I couldn't wait.
    "Well, if that's settled, let's go!" Angelica said, and we headed off again.

A/n: So well this was a random chapter that I decided to put in for no reason. Thanks so much for 50 followers!!! I honestly can't believe it. Also, thanks to @Hamiltonwithalaptop for the "i have a stuffed deer called Yosemite"- I just had to inculde that in there :)