Chapter 39
We all stood frozen by the door, watching the rain slam against the windows like an angry tide. Rachel let out an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up.
"I swear, this island has a personal vendetta against fun," she muttered.
Charlie stepped back from the door, shaking his head. "We were this close to a perfect beach day."
Monica mumbled something under her breath as she headed toward the mini-fridge. "If we're stuck inside, we might as well hydrate and snack like it's summer."
Rachel collapsed onto the edge of the bed. "I packed six bikinis for this trip. Six! And so far, the only thing I've tanned is my patience."
"You could show me," Charlie said with a smirk.
"Hey, I'm still here," I chimed in, raising an eyebrow.
Chandler raised his hand. "I brought three bottles of sunscreen and now I'm considering using them as coffee creamers—just to feel something."
We all stood in silence for a moment, listening to the rain pound on the roof.
Charlie sighed and clapped his hands once. "Well, looks like we're doing some learning today."
Rachel groaned. "You know I didn't come here for paleontology."
"Who did?" I mumbled.
Charlie gave me a playful smirk. "Jake, you're starting to sound like me."
"Careful," I replied, "you might start sounding like Dad."
Charlie recoiled dramatically. "Take that back."
Laughter filled the room as the rain continued to fall.
"Alright," Monica said, adjusting her hair in the mirror. "If we're going, we go in style. I'm not letting a little water ruin my outfit coordination."
Rachel arched an eyebrow. "Oh no. We're seriously going to a dino-convention now?"
Charlie wrapped an arm around Rachel. "Hey, just think of it as Jurassic Park—but with more graphs."
"Worst sales pitch ever," she said, rolling her eyes.
———
Still, we gathered our things and headed toward the hotel's main hall, hoping to make it in time for Ross's presentation. As we stepped into the lobby, we were greeted by the sight of three very familiar figures dripping wet, looking like soggy cats.
It was Mom, Dad, and Grandma—completely drenched from head to toe.
Their clothes clung to their bodies, shoes squelching with every step. Grandma's hair was plastered to her face in dramatic, windswept curls.
Charlie burst out laughing. "Okay, maybe this rain wasn't so bad after all."
Judith shot him a glare while Alan tried to shake water off his sleeves. "We just wanted to take a short walk on the beach..." he muttered.
"Looks like the beach walked you," I said with a grin.
Even Evelyn, usually poised and sharp-tongued, looked like she'd just survived a tropical car wash. She gave me a slow blink and said, "Not. A. Word."
"Too late," I whispered to Charlie, who was still chuckling.
With that, we pushed forward toward the hall.
———
Inside the conference room, the crowd was already settling into rows of cushioned seats. A small stage had been set up in front, with Ross standing near the podium, nervously tapping his notes.
As we took our seats, Ross adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here. Today, I'm thrilled to share with you my latest paper: Dino-Dating: The Social Behavior of Late Jurassic Herbivores."
There were polite chuckles around the room, mostly from the academic crowd. Our group, however, remained awkwardly silent.
Chandler leaned over and whispered, "I thought 'Dino-Dating' was a new magazine."
Joey stifled a laugh. "Date on a Triceratops."
Rachel gave them both a look. "Shh, he's trying."
Ross, undeterred, continued, "Now, when we examine the fossil records, we can see distinct patterns in mating behaviors. For instance, did you know that the Stegosaurus likely used tail posturing—"
I leaned over to Charlie and murmured, "Are we really doing this?"
Charlie whispered back, "I've had root canals more entertaining than this."
Still, we sat through it—out of politeness, mostly. Every few minutes, Ross would make a pun, and the paleontologists would laugh. The rest of us just exchanged looks of mutual pain.
"Finally, factor in the profusion of new species recently discovered. Giganotosaurus. Argentinosaurus."
Ross paused dramatically, then added, "Not to mention Coldsaurus."
A wave of laughter echoed through the room. Chandler laughed too
"And that's just the herbivores," Ross continued. "I'm not even going to discuss the carnivores. Their heads are already too big. Which is ironic, considering their stunted cerebral development."
More laughter. Enthusiastic even.
Our group stayed silent.
"Really?" I muttered under my breath, looking around at the sea of delighted nerds.
———
After the presentation ended and the crowd dispersed, Monica, Mike, Phoebe, and Chandler decided to go check out the hotel's game room for some ping-pong.
Charlie, Rachel, and I lingered behind, chatting as we wandered through the lobby.
That's when we spotted Joey—standing near the snack bar, all alone, staring thoughtfully at a vending machine like it held the answer to the universe.
Charlie nudged me. "Looks like Joey's having a deep philosophical moment with a bag of chips."
Rachel tilted her head. "That or he's deciding between chips and a Snickers."
"Either way," I said, "we should probably go say hi."
As we walked up to him, Joey didn't even turn around. He was uncharacteristically still, hands in his pockets, gaze fixed ahead.
"Hey, Joey," Rachel said gently. "You okay?"
He turned slowly, his eyes a little glossy. "Charlie broke up with me."
There was a beat of silence.
Rachel blinked. "Wait... what?"
Joey nodded solemnly. "Yeah...Charlie. She said it wasn't working."
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Wait, she actually said that?"
Joey sighed. "More or less. She said we were in different chapters of our lives. I thought that was a metaphor for a sexy librarian thing. Turns out... not."
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