For the rest of the school day, Bree is pissed off at me and I can't figure out for the life of me why. Every time I try to talk to her and ask, she just gets angrier.
I thought that I had a chance after she met her old friend, Patty Spivot, a nerdy girl that has grown to be quite cute, but Bree's good mood ended the moment I opened my mouth.
It almost seems like nature is taking a page from Bree. A rainstorm seemed to build up out of nowhere over the course of the day and it is coming down pretty hard. Lightning has started to crackle across the sky followed by the concussive force of the resulting thunder.
We are in the last period of the day and the class is practically over. The teacher let us do whatever with the time left until school let out.
"Why won't you tell me what I did wrong?" I ask for what has got to be the hundredth time today. "Whatever it is I did, I can't make it right until you talk to me."
She just stares straight ahead. If anything, she is even more unreasonable now. Over six years living together and I am still no closer to figuring out why she acts the way she does. I could just try to wait it out until she returns to normal, but I am done being confused about what she wants me to do.
Luckily, the chance that I had been looking for comes running up once class is released. My saving grace is in the form of Patty.
"Hey, Bree," she says. "I forgot to close up the sunroof in the chemistry lab because i didn't think that it would rain today. I would do it myself, but I am already late to a dentist's appointment. Can you do it for me?"
"Sure," Bree says. When Patty is handing over the keys, I snag them instead of Bree.
"Thank you," I say. "We will get the lab sorted out."
"Give me the keys, August," she says, her voice low and carrying a threat that makes me cautious.
"No can do," I say before running off. "Bye, Patty!" I call back over my shoulder as Bree chases me down.
I make a sharp turn down a hallway, my shoes sliding on the linoleum floor before catching and taking me towards the stair case for the second floor. Bree is just a couple steps behind me, so every moment is crucial.
At the staircase, I take the steps two at a time and gain a slightly larger lead on Bree. I lose this lead upon reaching the second floor and tripping over the final step. However, I recover and stay out of Bree's reach.
I push forward with a burst of speed that carries me to the chemistry lab with enough time to unlock the door and slip inside before Bree comes rushing into the room as well. She slams the door closed behind her.
"Why did you take the damned keys?" she asks in a growl.
"Because at least you are talking to me now," I say. "I have been trying my hardest to figure out what pissed you off and I don't have the faintest clue."
"You know what you did," she says.
"I am tired of this shit, Bree!" I shout in frustration. "You do this all of the fucking time and I can't stand it anymore. You push me away out of nowhere, then you try and act like nothing happened when you calm down. Why?! And you better not just fucking say that I already know."
"How can you be this infuriating!?" she shouts.
"Me?" I ask. "You are the person that won't speak her fucking mind and has me stealing keys for you to even speak!"
"Okay!" she shouts. "You want to know what my problem is? It's you!"
"I know that your problem is with me, so what is it?" I ask.
"Goddamnit, how are you this stupid?!" she shouts before making a scream of frustration.
"Why won't you just say what is wrong!" I shout.
"I'm in love with you!" she finally says. She seems to realize what she said right after the words leave her mouth.
"I love you too, Bree," I say. "So, what is your problem?"
"I didn't say that I love you, you fucking idiot," she says. "I said that I am in love with you."
"Why didn't you say anything?" I ask.
"I tried," she says. For one of the few times that I have known her, she is truly vulnerable. While I can tell she is angry, her anger seems diluted by sadness. "But every time that I was about to tell you, you were off trying to get some other girl. I didn't want to lose being your friend by trying to be something that you didn't want me to be. After you were open to someone new, the spot got filled too quickly for me to slip in. First, it was Kara. Then, it was Dinah. Then, Harley. Now, Iris. You never seemed to notice me."
"Why didn't you ever try to tell me this?" I ask.
"You never noticed me," she says, her eyes starting to glimmer with unshed tears. "I tried to get you to notice me as more than your live-in best friend, but you just ignored me."
"When did this ever happen?" I ask. I wrack my brain for times that she has done stuff to get me to notice her.
"This morning," she whispers.
Then I get slammed with the memory of her standing before me, looking like a vision from the dirtiest dream that I have ever had.
"Oh my God," I say. "How did I never realize?"
"It's because I am nothing special," she says. "I never and I never will. Let's just do what Patty asked and close the skylight."
I am still trying to come to terms with the reality that was just revealed to me when I notice that Bree is trying to pull the chain for the skylight. She is getting wet from the pouring rain coming down from the open section of ceiling and I realize that I have been an idiot.
I have been searching for the right girl for years and I never noticed that I had already met her. Any girl that can put up with me for six years is special in a way that only happens once for someone. I can't let her slip out of my grasp.
"Bree, can you stop for a second?" I ask.
She doesn't even listen to me and keeps trying to work the chain.
"Bree, listen to me," I say.
She just keeps trying to ignore me and pretend like I don't even exist.
"Bree, turn around," I say, touching her shoulder.
"What?!" she shouts as she turns. But as she spun to face me, her shoes slipped on the puddle of water that had collected on the floor of the lab.
As she falls, I step forward and catch her. She tries to push me off, but I pull her close and wrap my arms around her. Now, I am standing under the flow of rainwater, but all of my attention is on the warmth in my arms. She wraps her arms around me in support.
"Why won't you just go?" she asks in a whisper as she rests her head against my chest. "You don't want to be with me so there's no point in staying."
"Who says I don't want to be with you?" I ask. "Why wouldn't I want to be with the greatest girl in the world?"
"Don't say things you don't mean," she says.
"I mean every word," I say. And I do. With all the memories that I have of spending time with Bree, I know that she is, without a doubt, my favorite person on the planet. I would never let anything harm her and I would protect her to my dying day.
She looks up at me in almost disbelief over what I am saying. From the look in her eyes, she is hopeful, but afraid it is all too good to be true.
So, I do my best to clear her of any lingering worries. I brush a wet strand of blond hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear. Cupping her cheek, I lean down and capture her lips with mine.
Now, while I was nowhere close to a virgin, I had no frame of reference for the perfect moment that began when I kissed Bree for the first time. That might seem sappy and overly romantic, but this it the reality.
When I kissed her, it was like a jolt of energy shot through every nerve in my body like a shot of adrenaline. At the same time, there was a stillness that came over me because I knew that there was nowhere I'd rather be and no one I would rather be with. It didn't matter that we were in a dark chemistry lab, soaking wet from the rainwater pattering down on top of us. For me, that was heaven.
After an eternity passed in a few moments, we pull away and take deep breaths. I looked deep into Bree's eyes and I know. This is the woman that I want by my side from now on.
"I love you," I whisper. Bree's eyes light up as I see the love she has for me as well.
--
The storm was not entirely natural. It had formed quickly from a weather system that should not have changed anywhere close to that quickly. It had changed from a cloudless day to a raging thunderstorm filled with pouring rain and crackling bolts of electricity.
One bolt of lightning did not dissipate in the storm. It would shoot from one part of the cloud cover to another, almost like it is searching the city from above. It appears to be disconnected instances of lightning, each jump would continue from the place where the previous one ended.
It roved across the storm, shooting from place to place, hunting for the proper target. Finally, the lightning stops moving. For a moment, it seemed to have dissipated.
Then, it shot directly down from the sky. As it arced down to the earth, it traveled towards a school. Its trajectory was clear to see that it was soaring down at a skylight. Upon reaching the pieces of glass, it shattered them all into minuscule fragments.It continued its motion without the slightest change in velocity.
The room it entered appears as though the laws of physics that are supposed to govern matter have ceased to function. Droplets of water have begun to raise off of the floor and float unaided through the air.
As it coursed through the air, the energy's destination is revealed to be a couple that was holding each other close with their gazes locked on their partner.
The almost sentient electricity slams into both of them with a blast of force. They are thrown off of their feet and hurled into freestanding shelves filled with chemicals. Glass jars and bottles shatter as the shelving units come crashing to the floor with burned bodies on top of them.
The liquid that had begun to levitate comes crashing back to the floor with a splash. Everything is still except for the staccato rhythm of the water striking the laboratory floor.
Then, the man of the pair struck moves with a groan of agony. He turns to see the woman lying on another shelf, her form seemingly still. The burns that scorched through her clothing are as clear as day, despite the dulled senses that he possesses.
"Bree," he whispers out in a rasp. In a Herculean display of effort, he pushes through the pain that is screaming from every cell in his being. He moves his hand until it rests against the extended hand of Bree. A small flicker of yellow electricity jumps between their hands.
Succumbing to the pain after making contact with his love, August's body comes to a stop as well.