Katherine lunged for the ball as Rocky spiked it over the net. She and her friends were in the park playing volleyball. Kat, Adam, and Aisha were on one team while Rocky, Tommy and Billy were on the other.
"You guys, I think I'm going to take a break," Tommy said running over to the sidelines and sitting on the grass.
"You can't do that, it makes the teams uneven!" Rocky yelled after him.
"Afraid we'll start to beat you?" Aisha asked him.
"It's ok, I don't mind taking a break," Kat told them and ran to join Tommy.
"Alright Rocky, the teams are even now," Aisha said as the game resumed.
"You looked really great out there," Tommy said once Kat was seated next to him.
"Thanks, you didn't look so bad yourself," Kat replied.
"So I haven't seen you much lately," Tommy remarked.
"Yeah I know, I've just been busy with my ballet classes, the instructor asked if I would help with some of the younger dancers," Kat informed him.
"I'll bet you're a great teacher," Tommy told her.
"I could probably teach you a thing or two," Kat joked.
"Are you trying to say my dancing needs some work?" Tommy questioned with a laugh.
"Well everyone could always use some improvement," Kat told him and smiled.
"Oh well, it's a good thing you were able to come today or else I might never see you," Tommy quipped.
"Missed me that much, huh," Kat joked.
"Actually yeah, I've missed talking to you," Tommy admitted.
"I've missed our talks too," Kat said.
"In that case, I may have a way that we can talk for hours," Tommy decided.
"Oh yeah and what way is that?" Kat asked.
"My Uncle John needs me to drop some stuff off at his cabin and I was thinking that maybe you'd like to ride with me," Tommy explained. "It's only a few hours drive and if we go early enough we can be back here by nightfall."
"Hmm, you and I trapped in a truck for hours," Kat pursued.
"If you don't think you can handle it, I could always ask Rocky to go," Tommy teased.
"Oh I can definitely handle it, just tell me when," Kat replied.
"I have to stop by his house in the morning to pick up the stuff and he's letting me drive his truck, so I should be by to pick you up in the mid-afternoon," he concluded.
"Great, I can't wait," Kat decided.
Tommy awoke the next morning and headed over to his uncle's house. He pulled up to see his uncle already loading the back of the truck.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," John Rush said as his nephew approached him.
"Don't mention it, I'm glad to do it, by the way Mom wants to know when you're coming over for dinner" Tommy told him.
"I'm not sure but you give that sister of mine a kiss for me," John replied.
"I will Uncle John; I can't remember the last time I was at the cabin," Tommy responded.
"Are you planning on staying there?" John asked him.
"Not this time, I asked a friend to join me on the drive, I hope that's ok," Tommy told him.
"It's fine with me," his uncle replied giving him the keys to the truck. "Just be careful, if anything happens I'll never hear the end of it from Lily." John said referring to Tommy's mother.
Tommy parked the truck outside Katherine's house and walked up the driveway. He rang the doorbell and after a few minutes Katherine opened the door.
"Thanks again for coming with me," Tommy said once they were both inside the truck.
"Thanks for asking me," Kat said and smiled. "Have you heard anything from Kim?" she asked.
"Not since a week ago when she called to let everyone know that she made it to Florida safely," Tommy told her.
"Do you and your family use the cabin often?" Kat asked changing the subject.
"When I was younger, my mom, dad and I went there as a family, and sometimes they would send me during the summers to stay with my Uncle John," he informed her.
"That makes me think of my Aunt Miranda, I spent so many summers with her in Sydney," Kat said.
"You miss Australia a lot, don't you," Tommy concluded.
"Yeah, I do but living here's not so bad and my Aunt promises to come and visit as soon as she can," Kat told him.
"I know how you feel, I missed my hometown when we first moved here too, maybe that's why it was so easy for Rita to get her hooks into me, I was too depressed to try and resist her," Tommy declared.
"Guess our loneliness for home made us both easy targets," Kat agreed.
They had been driving for a couple of hours when Tommy noticed that the sky was turning an eerie shade of grey and it wasn't long before the rain started to pour.
"Good thing you thought to pull the tarp over those boxes," Kat said referring to the back of the truck.
"Yeah, me too, I'd hate to think of my Uncle's things being ruined," Tommy replied.
"This is some storm," Kat remarked as she watched the lightning flash through the sky.
"My uncle's cabin is only another mile or so away and we can wait out the storm there," Tommy said trying to reassure her.
"Tommy watch out!" Kat yelled noticing that there was a fallen tree trunk in the road. Tommy slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel to avoid a collision but the road was slippery and sent the truck sliding into a ditch.