How To Be The Best Third Wheel

Original Edition - Tip 25: Face Your Fears

"Did you guys have fun?" Mr. Kennington asks the little ones.

"Yeah!" both Hannah and David cheer.

Mr. Kennington takes the kids and their belongings. As they walk out, the kids wave goodbye to James and I. We wave back. It's around 6 now and he picked them up right after they woke up from their nap.

While they were asleep, James and I just talked in his bedroom. It reminded me of old times, when we were close. It was, I can't believe I'm saying this, nice talking to him.

"Have a safe drive!" I call. I close the front door and turn to look out the window. The weather has been utterly ridiculous. The strong winds and heavy raining makes the outside world look like a warzone.

"I should get home too." I tell him.

"Yeah, yeah of course." he replies, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants. "I'll drive you?" he asks.

"Yeah, that would be really nice. Thank you." It's raining like cats and dogs out there and I do not have an umbrella. Even if I did, it would probably break from the strong wind.

Suddenly, I hear the sound of loud tapping. It continues on and on. Frowning, I look out of the window and see hailstones. They're not quite the size of golfballs but they're getting there.

He turns on the T.V. and flips to The Weather Network. "A hailstorm is expected this evening with thunderstorms to follow into the morning. The GTA is put on alert. Everyone is advised to stay indoors due to flooding."

James walks up behind me and looks out. We look at each other and he shakes his head, "Sorry De la Cruz, I'm not driving you home in this weather."

"I can't just stay here until the storm passes! It's not going to end until tomorrow!" I complain. I look at James but he's already on the phone, ignoring me.

"Yeah...yeah...she's here...okay I'll give it to her." he gives the cell phone to me.

"Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Ara. Mag palipas ka ng gabi diyan. Baka ano pa ang mangyari sa inyo pag nag drive pa kayo." (Ara. Stay there for the night. Something might happen if you guys drive." my dad tells me.

"Okay."

"Okay. Bye!"

"Bye."

I stick my hand out, handing him back his cellphone. "Well I guess I can stay here until the storm passes."

I hear someone opening the front door. Tita Gia and Tito Danny run in. "Thank God that all the other cars were in the garage! My car has a huge dent!" she exclaims.

Wow. That hail must be really dangerous if it made a dent in her car.

Tito Danny sees me and waves. Tita Gia realizes that I'm in the room. "Oh! Hon, you need to stay here. It's way too dangerous to go out. I heard that this rainstorm is going to cause quite a bit of flooding."

I nod politely.

"We'll be having dinner in a few minutes." Tita Gia states, heading upstairs to change out of her uniform. As she heads up, someone sprints down the stairs.

"Hey Ate Lara!" Gabe greets. I think he's been upstairs for the whole time that James and I were babysitting.

"Hey! Were you upstairs for this whole day?" I question.

"Yeah. Seb and I were re-decorating our rooms! We ordered a bunch of cool stuff yesterday so we replaced our old stuff with new things. Want to see?"

Woah. My room looks almost the same as it was when I was five. The only difference is the lack of toys and a bigger bed.