They can smell it before they see it. Burning wood, diesel fuel and ash like an extreme bonfire.
As they approach the corner of Mulberry and Cornwallis, the heavy black clouds indicate that something is burning. The whole town is camped out on the street. The police and fire trucks make it impossible to pass through. Mike quickly makes the next turn and goes down Cherry Street instead to get closer.
"I don't think it's your house Dustin," Will says craning his head out the window. Dustin notices it too.
"It looks like the Holland's old house," Mike notes. "Do you know who lives there now?" he asks no one in particular. They're all vaguely aware someone lives there now, but not even Dustin knows who.
Mike turns into the driveway of Max's home.
"Do you think your stepdad will mind if I park here for a minute?" he asks.
"It's your funeral," she says already jumping out of the car before it's fully parked. The rest follow her out. They run as close as close to the fire as the police enforced perimeter will allow.
The firefighters have not yet given up, but they don't seem to have the morale to stick to the end. They already know it's a hopeless cause. The house is going to crumble. The fire has not died down at all. As they watch, the glass in the front windows shatter from the thermal stress inside the house. The crowd collectively gasp and stand back. The police are loudly barking at the bystanders to back away in case it goes down in an explosion.
"Do you know if anyone was inside?" Max asks the nearest policeman.
"I don't know for certain, but no one was taken to the ambulance. I don't think there was anyone inside. It was probably that damn earthquake that started it. Their boiler, or what-not, exploded."
"Thanks!" she shouts. The emergency sirens are extremely loud, piercing the air and keeping the neighborhood awake.
Max looks behind her carelessly and sees her mom and stepdad in the front door of her house. They make clear eye contact with her and she knows she's busted.
"Shitshitshitshit," she says in one breath.
Lucas looks behind him to where she was looking and is equally caught. Her parents don't like him very much from the few times they've seen him, but they also have no idea she is dating and she wants to keep it that way.
"I got to go! Mike, you may want to get your car out of the driveway before my stepdad hangs you," Max warns him and runs ahead. "Let me know what you decide to do tomorrow. I'll keep my radio on." Lucas gives her a knowing nod. Max smiles back at him.
"I'm going to walk home. My mom must be freaking out," Dustin says ducking under some police tape to take the short cut to his house just three doors down. "I'll talk to you guys tonight or tomorrow."
"Guess that leaves us…" Mike packs them all in his car and waves at Max's stepdad who is still standing in his front door. Mike keeps his head down, drives up Cherry Street and gets onto Maple Street. He stops to drop off Lucas. There is silence as he gets out.
"Look if we're going to do something tomorrow, I want to know about it. I'm sorry about today. I'll talk to Dustin. I may have overreacted."
"Maybe?" Will teases him.
"Go take a shower," Mike chuckles. Lucas still looks soggy.
Mike wishes there was a way he could park his car quietly in his own driveway; they're just far enough from all the hubbub surrounding the Holland's old home that he could attempt to be stealth, but his old jalopy won't allow it. It makes a sound like a dying whale when it sputters to a stop. His speedometer runs as if it ran ten thousand miles in under ten minutes, clinking and clacking before coming to a stop.
He knows his father would sleep through an alien invasion, but his mom might have stayed up waiting for him. He isn't thinking about Nancy ratting him out anymore because she's away at college. He prays to the god he sometimes visits in church when his parents are feeling extra religious that, just for tonight, his mom is not awake. He may have mentioned Will spending the night, but he never said anything about a girl. Just in case his mom is awake, he tells El to wait out front while he and Will head in. As he predicted, his mom is camped out in the hallway.
"Where have you been, Michael?"
~A.N. Introducing Mrs. Wheeler- I'm so excited. Leave a comments on your favorite mom :)