A Storm's Brewing

It was Monday, and I had just pulled up in the school carpark. I turned the car off and opened my door to hop out. When my feet hit the ground, I closed the driver door and moved to the backseat door, opening it. I reached in and grabbed by bag before closing the door again.

I glanced up to the sky and saw that it looked dark and cloudy. A storm is likely on its way. I turned to look at my surroundings. There are people pulling up and heading into the school, but I can't see Skylar. I looked around a bit more and see her car pulled up not too far from mine. I look closely and see she isn't with her car meaning she is probably already inside.

I let out a small sigh before I start to head towards the school. My eyes skimming everyone until I notice a group of boys. I knew who they were, everyone did. They were large Quileute guys who everyone thought were in a cult and did steroids. Skylar told me about them when I first moved here, but it was the first time I've actually had a good look at them.

All the girls wanted them, and all the guys wanted to be them. I watched the group with fascination. Suddenly, I made eye contact with one of them. He wasn't as buff as the others, but he was still tall. His hair was dark and a little messed up, but he looked so attractive. We kept eye contact for a while before I averted my gaze, cheeks getting hot from the staring. It's one of those awkward moments where you make eye contact with strangers.

I made my way into the school building and walked to my locker, opening it and getting my books for the day.

"You were a little late today." Skylar appeared out of nowhere as she leant next to my locker.

I gave a small chuckle before putting my bag in my locker and shutting it. "No, I wasn't. You were early." I held my phone up to show her the time.

"Oh… I guess I was." She laughed, making me smile. "Come on, let's go to Chemistry before Mr Wyatt bites our head off." She said while grabbing my free arm and dragging me behind her.

The day was flying by quickly. All our classes were mostly independent work, so we just sat doing our own work while quietly chatting. Soon enough, it was lunch time and we were in the cafeteria getting some food on our trays.

I placed my food down on the table and sat down as Skylar did the same across from me.

"Eh, I am so sick of sandwiches." Skylar complained as she stared down at her sandwich.

"That I can agree to. I wish they'd switch it up a bit. Soon just the thought of sandwiches will make me gag." I grimaced at the thought.

Skylar smiled. "Which is why I also grabbed some yogurt." She held it up, shaking the container slightly, as if proud of herself.

"Wow, I'm so proud of you." I laughed at the girl as she opened the yogurt and picked up her spoon.

A moment of silence passed as Skylar scanned the cafeteria. "Hmm… That's weird."

I looked at her with confusion. "What's weird?"

Skylar rested her chin on her free hand and used her other hand to point her spoon at me.

"Excuse me? And what's weird about me?" I commented not sure what she was getting at.

Skylar's eyes flicked to mine. "Oh, no, no. I'm not pointing to you. I'm pointing behind you." She clarified.

I furrowed my brows before turning around to see what she was talking about. There wasn't much to see, just tables with people eating. I turned back to face Skylar. "It's lunch. People eat. What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"The cult. They were looking over here." Skylar answered.

I glanced behind me again to find their table where they always sat. Skylar was right, they were looking this way, but they weren't looking at us, were they? When they saw me looking, they all turned back to each other, as if nothing had happened. All except one. The one I made eye contact with earlier was looking directly at me. Now it was my turn to awkwardly turn away.

"They're not looking at us, were they?" I questioned Skylar.

"Looked like it but I'm not sure." She paused looking behind me. "Well, it seems they've stopped now."

"Thank God." I mumbled.

Skylar looked down at my tray. "You done?"

I look at my half-eaten sandwich. "Yeah."

"Me too." She held up her empty yogurt container. "Let's go." She said as she stood up.

I followed her lead and stood up, grabbing my tray and following her to the bin. We dumped our food and headed out of the cafeteria. I gave one more glance to the Quileute boys, seeing them watch us leave.

I leaned back in my seat as I watched Skylar assemble her materials for her project. School had already ended about an hour ago but Skylar and I were in the library so Skylar could continue her project. I was sitting at a table, finishing some homework in the meantime. I glanced around the library and saw there were still quite a few people studying.

I looked out the window to see that my early prediction this morning came true. It was raining heavily, a storm was here. I sighed as I glanced back at Skylar. "Hey, how much longer are you going to be?"

Skylar didn't even look up from her masterpiece she was creating as she replied. "Umm, not sure. Probably a while." She added a little glue to her project before turning back to me. "I'm guessing you finished everything you've needed to at the moment."

"Yeah." I said while rubbing my eyes. "I'll probably head off now before the storm gets too bad. Will you be all good without me?"

"Of course." She smiled at me. "You make sure you drive safely and if I get into any trouble, I'll just ring you or something."

I stood up from my seat and gathered my books into my bag. "Okay, yell out if you need anything. If not, I'll see you tomorrow." I started walking away with a wave of my hand.

Skylar returned the gesture while shouting, "Will do."

Before I completely left the room, I quickly turned back to the girl. "And don't stay here all night. Go home and get some sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, Mum." Skylar joked as we both laughed.

I turned and continued my way to the school exit. I reached the door but didn't open it. Instead, I stared at the rain. It was pouring. I didn't have an umbrella so I would have to do a mad dash to my car, lucky it wasn't that far.

I reached for the handle, bracing myself for the run but a voice called out.

"Wait!"

I turned my head, wondering if that was aimed at me or not. I saw a girl running towards me. She stopped in front of me, panting a little. She was obviously a local Quileute with mid-length brown hair that was down. I recognised the girl. She sat with the boys who were staring at us today.

I was confused of what was going on and didn't really know what to say. "Uh, yes?" I asked politely.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could give me a ride home. See I didn't bring a car today and I was in the library studying and this storm is making the phones play up and I don't want to walk in a storm." The girl hastily explained to me in a quick rush.

I smiled as I held my hands up. "It's okay, calm down." I glanced out the door to look at the terrible weather again before looking back to the girl. I couldn't make her walk in the rain. "I guess I could give you a lift."

"Really? I promise it's not far. I'll even pay you." The girl said.

"There's no need for that. It's no problem, I wouldn't want to leave you walking in the rain and I'm not in a hurry anywhere." I smiled at the girl who broke into a large grin.

"But." I started, making the girl have a frown, scared I would suddenly decline. "We will have to do a mad dash to my car."

The girl chuckled a little. "A little run to the car is better than walking in the rain."

I chuckled along with her as we prepared ourselves. "Ready, set, go!" I cried out as I opened the door and sprinted to the car. Even though it was raining heavily, I could still hear the girl running behind me.

I reached the driver's side door as the girl ran around the other side. We both quickly opened the doors and jumped in. Our bags were now in our laps and we were drenched. I tossed my bag in the back while the girl placed hers at her feet.

"You would think I've learnt to bring an umbrella by now." I laughed to the girl.

"I thought I would have too." She laughed back. "I'm Kim."

"I'm Maddison. Nice to meet you." I smiled at her, a gesture she returned. "So, where's your house? You can just point out directions, I'm new here so I don't know the place well."

I fastened my seat beat with Kim doing the same. I started up the car as Kim spoke up. "Sure thing."

The car ride wasn't very long, maybe about 10 minutes. Kim seemed like a really nice girl. I briefly explained how I was new here while she had lived here her whole life. Overall, the two of us got on pretty well.

I pulled up in front of a house when Kim spoke up. "Thank you so much."

"It was no problem really." I replied.

"Please, let me make it up to you. Come inside and have something to eat and drink." Kim started.

"Thank you for the offer but you don't need to repay me at all." I explained.

However, Kim did not give up. "At least come in to warm up and get changed. You're soaking wet from the rain and obviously freezing. Plus, the storm is getting worse, so bad it's hard to drive. You can stay until it passes."

Kim was dead set on me staying for some reason. More than normal. I looked out the window to see the weather getting worse. I already struggled driving here let alone driving home now. With a sigh, I finally agreed. It can't be that bad staying with Kim for a while.

Kim held her bag close as the two of us did a mad dash to the front door which she slid open and we stumbled in, dripping wet. We were panting from the run while being cold, wet, and shivering. She slid the door closed as we got our bearings back. I wiped the water from my face. It was warmer inside as I turned to look around her house.

My eyes widened and I froze.

We weren't alone. Instead there was a table full of the boys from school.