▌Chapter 1 ─ The First Sign Of An Earthquake ▌

      ━━━━━ BASIL SAT NEXT to her sister, the two were sitting by the pool relaxing in the sun, Blake pulled her phone out and called their father. She placed him on speaker so Basil could talk to him as well.

"Hi, Dad." Blake said, starting the conversation.

"Hey, sweetie." He replied.

"I'm with Basil." Blake added.

"Hi, Bas."

"Hi, Dad."

"We were wondering if there was room for our bikes. Thought that we could ride it to classes, then we wouldn't have to buy a parking pass."

"That's a great idea. I'm sure I could figure out a way to fit it in."

"All right, great. I can't find the key to the lock at Mom's so it's either in the top left drawer of my dresser or on top of the wardrobe in my pink shoe box."

"Okay, no problem. I'll find it. I don't know if you have plans, but I would love to take you two to dinner. You could even invite your mom along. It'd be fun."

Basil and Blake exchanged a look with each other. "Oh, thanks, Dad. But we already have plans with Daniel. Dad?" Blake leaned forward in her chair, Basil stared at her sister.

"Are you okay?" Basil asked him.

"Yeah, of course I am. Totally cool. No problem at all."

"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Okay."

"Oh. And don't forget the bike key."

"I won't. I got it."

"Bye, Dad. We love you."

"I love you guys too."

"Bye."

"He was totally not okay with that." Basil said, as Blake leaned back in her chair. "Do you think he's gonna be okay, Blake?"

"I don't know. He still loves mom, you can tell in his voice."

"Yeah, definitely."

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The following day had quickly arrived, the sisters listened to the news as they talked about the earthquake that had happened at the Hoover Dam. They currently sat outside waiting for their dad to arrive. When he did arrive Basil and Blake both stood up and walked towards his truck as he pulled it to a stop.

"Hi, Dad." The two said, after he opened the door and climbed out.

"Hi, girls." He replied.

"We just saw the news." Ray hugged Blake first, then pulled away from her to hug Basil.

"I know. I'm so sorry. We're heading out tomorrow." Ray told them.

The three started to walk towards the front door. "No, we get it. This one's really bad, Dad." Basil said, looking at her father.

"Yeah, this one's tough." The two led their father towards the living room, the news was still on.

"Earthquakes can rise and fall in intensity during their duration..."

"Hey, Em." Ray said, as they walked closer to her.

"Hey." She spoke, turning to look back at the three. She sat next to Daniel, the two had been talking and waiting for Basil and Blake to bring Ray inside. She stood up from the chair and walked over to him.

"Good to see you." Ray told her, he proceeded to hug her as she hugged him. Both Basil and Blake smiled at their parents.

"You, too."

"Ah, Daniel." Basil switched eye contact between her father and Daniel.

"Ray. Good to finally meet you." He said, shaking his hand.

"It's good to meet you, too. Heck of a place you got here, man."

"Ah, thank you."

"Welcome."

"So, um, Dad is heading to Nevada tomorrow." Blake said, looking over at her mother and Daniel.

"Oh, it's terrible what happened. Please be safe over there, okay?"

"Yeah, we will. And I promise I'm gonna make it up to you girls." Ray looked over at both of his girls.

"Dad, it's really no problem." Basil said, speaking for both her and Blake.

"The drive is not that bad." Blake added.

"Wait, why don't I take you both up there. I'm flying to San Francisco. We can head to Seattle right after. Give me an opportunity to catch a volleyball game and a soccer game." Daniel said, his eyes on Blake, then on Basil. Neither Blake nor Basil were into the idea, but they would do it for their mother.

"That's a good idea." Emma said, smiling at Daniel.

Daniel then wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him. "And it'll give your mom a chance to get all her stuff moved in without me in the way."

"Right." Ray looked at Emma, then placed his eyes on Daniel.

"You guys moving in?" Ray asked them.

"Yeah. I was meaning to tell you, but we haven't had a chance to..."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

Basil leaned closer to her sister. "This is awkward." She whispered, Blake only nodded in response.

"That's great. Call me when you get there, both of you." Ray said, looking at his daughters.

"We will." Basil and Blake said at the same time.

"All right."

"We love you, Dad." The two pulled their father into a hug. He hugged them back tightly. "You be careful, please."

"I will, I will. I love you both, too." After they said their goodbye's Ray walked towards the front with Emma following behind him. "I'll get their bikes." Ray said, heading towards the back of his truck.

"I'm sorry you guys can't go up there together." Emma said, still following behind him.

"Yep. Me, too." Ray replied, he opened the back of his truck and pulled Blakes bike first and placed it on the ground and handed it over to Emma.

"Ray." He turned back around and proceeded to grab Basil's bike and pull it towards him. "Ray." He turned around to look back at her. "I was gonna tell you. We just decided to do it."

"Don't worry about it." He said, handing Basil's bike over to her. She now held onto Blake and Basil's bikes. Ray closed the back of his truck and proceeded to walk towards the front.

"Hey, if you want..."

"I'll get those papers signed for you, too." He climbed into his truck and drove away leaving Emma behind and holding onto the bikes. Seconds later Basil came out and took her bike from her mother.