On Strong Backs
A Collection of Short Stories
By
Ian Reid

Story 1: Lee and Tina: Alone In the Rain With You

"Keep running!" Lee Ping shouted, weaving through the trees. The heavy, tired breathing of Tina Kwee from behind assured him she was close, and the warped electronic garbling of the White Haz-Mat Cleaners fading assured they were almost clear of their pursuers. Considering the two have been running for their lives for the past five minutes, it was a possibility they were almost clear. On the other hand, Cleaners were notorious for their ridiculously large perimeters. The garbling ceased, and Lee slowed. Tina staggered her last few steps, leaning against the tree Lee stopped at.

"Are they… gone?" Tina gasped, her face red with the amount of running she had to do to keep pace with Lee.
Lee waited a moment longer. "Yeah," he said finally. "Coast is clear." Tina let out a heavy sigh of both relief and exhaustion.
"Thank god," she said. "Thought for sure we were done for back there." Lee's mind churned.
"So much for that lead," he sighed. "I was sure the second address in Lynch's wallet would have been his secondary base of operations."
"Too bad they got there before us," Tina added, feeling a little more rested.
"Those Cleaners scrubbed the place like they did with Barrage," Lee continued, "almost like it didn't exist." Lee punched the tree in quiet frustration, "And I had so many more questions for him! Damn it."

To rewind a bit, Lee spent lunch detention going through Lynch's wallet in an attempt to find a little more information to find him, coming upon a sealed pocket that hid another address. Going over it with Biffy Goldstein, the two agreed with the possibility it was a second base of command for the lunatic who framed Lee for the prank at the start of the school year. Hearing it from Biff after Lee passed her completely, Tina followed Lee to the address in question, a nearly run-down looking warehouse on the outskirts of the west side of town. Unfortunately, Lee's bewilderment of Tina's presence brings it all up to the present point.

"You'll get a chance at seeing him again," Tina said comfortingly. Lee glanced sideways, knowing deep down she was right. Lynch always found a way to get in touch with him, and no doubt have a ridiculous knock-knock joke ready (which Lee refused to play along with every time, unless the fate of someone's life hung in the balance). Lee and Tina jumped with a start as a cell phone rang.
"It's mine," said Tina after checking hers and showing it to Lee.
Tina answered. "Hello?" Oh, hey mom. I'm just out… for a jog. I haven't been home, yet. Is Ruby with you? That was this weekend? Oh, OK. I thought it was next weekend, that's all. I'll be fine. Have fun, then. OK. Love you too. Bye." Tina hung up
"So what's up with your parents?"
"My parents took Ruby to an academics convention out of town for the weekend, so I'm on my own," she sighed. "Thought that it was next weekend." Lee checked his phone again, noticing the time.
"That's something we have in common for this weekend," Lee said. "Parents are out of the house. Fortunately you have free reign. I'm still grounded." Lee turned to go. Tina went to follow, but her sore legs gave out under her and she collapsed.
Lee went back to check on her. "You alright?" he asked concerned. She shook her head.
"I'm not up to full strength," she said wearily. Lee turned around. Next thing she knew, Lee's back pressed into her and her arms wrapped around his shoulders. She blushed as he stood carrying her on his back.
"Wha—Lee!" she exclaimed, struggling to protest against this.
"My house isn't far from here," he said, shifting balance again and setting her more firmly against him. "Unless you want to be stranded out here in the rain?" The skies were overcast, certainly, but there wasn't a great chance of—
The first drops began trickling from the sky. How convenient. It seemed like the matter was out of her hands, altogether, whether that was just the plan of God or just a big fat platter of coincidence and a side of circumstance. Whatever the case, deep down, Tina was kind of glad this happened like it did. Lee's face, needless to say, was a deeper shade of red than hers, and deepened when she tightened her hold around his neck as he picked up the pace.

Tina was almost amazed at how well Lee moved, almost like she wasn't a burden to him at all. She held fast to him as he vaulted an overturned trash can. Again, he moved to avoid something out of her line of sight, the motion so sudden her heart skipped a beat. The rain above was coming down now, unrelenting in its hissing fall, not caring for either of them. Her shirt and vest clung to her back, but her front was warm and dry, safe from the wet, drenching onslaught of the elements; safe and dry against his strong back. His breath was more noticeably ragged, he was exerting himself even for this with her must have been an overestimation of his abilities. She questioned why he really did it. Did he like her? That was the only possible conclusion she could come to. Being with him at the dance was a better time than with Brad Von Chillstien. Why did she even fall for his good looks? He wasn't the sharpest tool.

But Lee…

Her consciousness began to slip. Through rain-blinded eyes, her senses grew dull to the cold wet air, but he was still warm. So warm and so protective. A light splash to her face tugged her from the edge of unconsciousness only for a while, Lee looking even more soaked than the rain was possibly capable of. Did a car drive past through a puddle? It was the only thing she could think of. Lee began to run again, and Tina was lulled back to her sense of safety. She grabbed a handful of his wet shirt, feeling it between her fingers, not wanting to let go, even when her fatigued body wanted her sore, cold muscles to relax and let slip the dogs of dreaming.

The rain was full-on coming down now, Lee sprinted the last few yards to make it to his front door, pushed it open and closed it behind him.
The house welcomed him with silence. It was dark and silent, an indication Mr. and Mrs. Ping were not home. Tina's head rested against Lee's shoulder, still gripping tightly to a handful of his wet shirt front. He carried her to the living room and set her down on the couch gently. She quivered slightly as the bond between them severed and the warmth of his back was replaced with a slight chill in the air. Lee went to a linens closet in the hall, pulling one of the spare blankets from it and returning. Tina remained still in slumber. He removed her hair-band, her short mousy black hair clinging to her head. It was a harder struggle to remove her vest, but he did eventually, and folded it and laid it on the arm of the couch. Lee drew the warm, soft blanket around her shoulders, setting her down gently to let her head rest against the pillow set on the couch's arm. She was so peaceful in sleep, Lee's heart thundered loudly in his chest just staring into her freckled face. Gently he pressed his lips against her bangs, and let the moment go by peacefully.

Tina stirred slightly, and shivered. She looked up to a soaked Lee leaning over her.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
"My house," he said smiling, "I said it was closest."
"I'm so cold," she shivered, drawing the blanket around her. Lee pulled the blanket open, and sat beside her, drawing it over the two of them. She leaned her head against him.
"Let's warm up together, then."

Author's commentary: This story was originally going to be a few chapters longer, Tina staying with Lee at his house and bond over the weekend and whatever. The original draft, I had Lee bringing Tina home to meet her parents, and Jenny chatting with Lee on Tina's computer while she was sleep and leading into a big mess of romantic comedy. Romantic comedy is not my forte. In fact, romance in general isn't my strongest genre. I've just never been able to write good romance so when I wrote this I didn't have romance in mind, but more of a means of what they'd do as friends. The idea, basically, is that if friendships develop into romance, the story eventually writes itself. I can say I'm kind of glad I didn't end the story with Lee just kissing a sleeping Tina, that seems cheap, and nothing is really gained from it. So the ending I added I was really kind of happy with and feel it's a little more conclusive. The kiss was in the original concept too, so leaving it out was out of the question.