Chapter 3
Power had returned, but for how long?
Amelia looked to the clock. She had fallen back asleep, and had just awoken. The clock blinked continuously, annoyingly. She smacked it, but it wouldn't stop. She was too tired to mess with it right now.
Her cell phone would give the right time. She flipped it open. A little bit after one o'clock? The sky was so dim that it appeared else wise. She had slept until one, though?
She pulled back the drapes that hung over her window. Everything seemed so calm and still. Still as death, she thought. Branches had been forced off of large trees and leaves were scattered in blankets across the yard. The grass was probably well saturated, but since she did live in a bit of a higher elevation, she worried not about flooding.
She faintly heard her mother as she ascended the stairs calling to her. "What?" She mumbled.
"Aren't you forgetting about something?" Asked her mother.
"That there's no school? Trust me, I figured that out well by now," she said after pulling the covers over her head. She yawned.
"I know that, but you have Driver's Education. Don't you remember?"
Amelia blinked, and sat straight up. "They didn't cancel it based on the weather? School was closed, so why is Driver's Ed. open?"
"They're rescheduling it at the DMV up the road from the school. It's on high enough ground, and they're willing to let the students drive down any roads that aren't washed out. You completed the book work last week, did you not?"
"Yeah, but I kinda felt like sleeping today," she said groggily.
"Well, do what you wish, but I would try and take this opportunity to get your driving out of the way. You're already far older than the other students."
"Am I being lectured?" Amelia scoffed.
Her mother turned her heels at the doorway, and looked back at her. She placed her hands on her hips. "Don't have any attitude with me today, Amelia. I know you're tired and all of this is craziness, but that doesn't give you any excuse to disrespect me."
Amelia had pulled the covers back over her head, and rolled her eyes since her mother couldn't see her do it. "Sorry, didn't mean to sound so harsh," she said sincerely, hiding the sarcasm.
"Well," her mother continued, "It won't start for two hours, so sleep for a little while if you wish, but I really think you should get this out of the way." Her mother left, and descended down the stairs. Amelia reached over for her phone, dialed a number, and listened as it rang.
"Hello?"
"Alyssa? You doing okay out there?"
Alyssa, her sister, had been out in Weaverville, which was twenty miles from Asheville, and in lower elevation. Fortunately, Alyssa had been staying at her friend, Devon's, house that was on higher elevation. "I'm okay. All the wind last night scared me. Since the house is a trailer, I was afraid it would blow away."
Amelia smiled. "Well, as long as you're not up in the clouds somewhere, I won't worry about you. You don't have any problems with flooding?"
"No, but the roads below us do. Since the roads leading out of here are flooded, I may not be coming back home for a while."
"Does mom know?"
"She knows. She called me this morning when you were still asleep. Of course, I don't mind staying out here for a little while. I don't think there's a danger of the waters coming this high."
"Well, I don't worry about that. Just make sure Devon's mom doesn't try to drive through water on roads, okay? I don't care how deep it is."
"Alright. I have to get off now. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, bye."
"Love you."
Amelia hung up. She and her sister weren't that close, and for some reason, she could never get the guts to say she loved her back. How did a fourteen-year-old seem like a threat?
Well, she would start driving this afternoon, and she shouldn't be worrying about anything. The instructors will always tell you to keep your mind only on driving, and that's what she had to do. She rested her eyes up a bit longer before the drive.
(Not much, but I'll guarantee you that the next chapter is going to have some action. You'll see what happens)