Page 49 of Alice & Meg: Summer Vacation
She stared at it for a second and then narrowed her eyes.“Put that down right now.I have a freakin’ collection of them back at the motel.”
By the time we left, arms full of souvenir mugs and candy from the checkout display, we were all exhausted.We piled into the Bronco and the bikes, still laughing about Adley’s deer debacle.
And maybe that was the whole point of this vacation.A little chaos.A lot of laughter.And memories we wouldn’t stop talking about for years.
Even the deer attack.
Especially the deer attack.
Meg
The chaos had died down, but the turtles had not.
It was Sunday night, and I was honestly trying to relax.Our last full day of vacation had been everything we wanted.
Lazy, sunny, full of laughter, but now, as we tried to wind down in the motel’s courtyard with a few drinks, the turtles were taking over.
And I’m not talking aboutactualturtles.
I’m talking about little plastic turtles.Every color you could think of, teeny tiny hard-shelled menaces that were apparently multiplying like they were on some kind of resin rampage.
“I swear,” Alice muttered as she opened the cooler and pulled out another bottle of lemonade, “this wasn’t here earlier.”She held up a lime green turtle that had been sitting between two cans of La Croix like it was keeping them cold.
“That’s the third one I’ve found tonight,” I said and held up the one I’d discovered in my shoe earlier.“How are they still showing up?”
“I found one in my bra,” Cyn deadpanned.“Like, tucked inside the cup.I mean,respectto whoever managed that.”
“Don’t look at me,” Greta said quickly.“I’ve been turtle-free all day, thank you very much.And I’ve got witnesses.”
“She does,” Bear grunted.“She’s been too busy trying to figure out how to open her own wildlife sanctuary in our backyard.I caught her googling fencing options.”
Greta didn’t even look guilty.“Those alpacas at the zoo wereprecious.Don’t come for me.”
Wrecker reached under the bench and pulled out another turtle.“I think they’re evolving.They’ve started hiding better.”
“This is absurd.”I stood up and put my hands on my hips.“Who is doing this?Be honest.We won’t be mad.We’ll just maybe slightly judge you.”
Everyone looked around suspiciously.Adley pointed at Hero.“He’s sneaky.I bet it’s him.”
Hero blinked.“I’ve been with Reva all day.And besides, I thought it was Greta.”
“Why does everyone assume it’s me?”Greta asked, offended.“Just because I once tried to liberate a penguin and am a fan of animals.”
“Obsessed,” Bear corrected.
Greta rolled her eyes.“Fine.Obsessed with animals, but this is not me.”
“Maybe they’re cursed,” Raven offered.“Like, little omen turtles.”
“Oh god,” Alice said with a gasp.“They’re the spirit of the penguin Greta never got to save.”
Greta held a hand to her chest.“Little Quincy.He lives on.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Lo muttered under his breath.
“What?”I narrowed my eyes at him.He was leaning back in one of the lawn chairs, arms crossed, expression far too neutral.
“Nothing,” he said quickly.“Just… can we all agree this is getting out of hand?”
