Chapter Four: Nobody Leaves

Inside the shelter, Noodle placed me down near the bunk beds. He sat on one, pulling me towards him, but I pulled away. He was shocked, a hurt expression on his face. I didn't mean to pull that hard; I guess over-thinking about how I felt and how things were going between us makes me irrational. I didn't want things to get complicated like before. "Sorry, it's just that- ridding on your back makes me just wanna stretch my legs. You're not exactly the smoothest ride, monkey." I smiled, trying to make him see that everything was okay between us. He smiled back as he wrapped his arm around me. I leaned against him, enjoying his warmth and comfort.

Zoe came in before Barrett, we went ahead of them after their little bickering about dinner reservations and getting in to parties. Clearly pissed, she stormed towards us looking for some way to get rid of the computer geek. We chuckled at the blonde's annoyance; it wasn't everyday she gets to brush him off without LeShaen glowering at the guy. I was about to comment about her great luck getting stuck with the computer geek, but I was an idiot. I stepped on my left foot trying to meet her half way. My fucking ankle made me moan out of pain, good thing Noodle was still holding on to me.

Zoe rushed over, "Cleo! Why are you standing up? You should've been lying down, resting your foot already." Zoe, the ever so great mother hen. Funny though that she was glaring at Noodle instead of me. Zoe got me quickly out of his arms and brought me to bed.

"Hey, I was trying to pull her down the bed earlier" said Noodle as he raised his hands as if to signal surrender. Knowing him, he did not want to experience Zoe's wrath more than once. No one wants a repeat performance of that.

"Trust me, I'd let Noodle pull me in bed if I was in the mood." My voice was bitter, not really thinking what I just said. I was just really annoyed at them, treating me like some sort of fragile child. But come on, it's a twisted ankle. I wasn't stabbed through my leg or anything. I was waiting for a retort from either person, my smart mouth already reloaded, but they just stared at me speechless.

Ohhh yeah, I forgot I needed a filter sometimes. Did I just said that out loud? It sure was good timing that LeShaen came through the door after Barrett. Not so good that he got to hear what I said just as he entered the room. LeShaen stared at me with mischief in his eyes as he stared between me and Noodle, "Damn, Cleo. Didn't know you and Noodle were getting freaky behind our back!" LeShaen said a little too loud, the whole room practically heard his big mouth. The stupid grin on his face never left even when Zoe ran to his boyfriend, smacked his arm out of jest, then embraced him tight like they haven't seen each other ten minutes ago. "Zoe, control that boy, will you. I'm too tired to smack him from here." Zoe laughed at that, and as a true friend would, she smacked him with her lips right on the pecker. "Wasn't what I was thinking, babe." I glared at the couple, they just smiled back.

"How 'bout you smack me? Will that make you feel better?" Damn it, Noodle! Stop being adorable! He winked at me, smirking as he stared. I'm pretty sure I was blushing at this point. With those eyes staring at me like that, and that sexy smirk of his, I needed Zoe's help. I glanced at the blonde, hoping I got the message through her. Thankfully, she got the message. She elbowed LeShaen then stared at me and Noodle, back and forth. With a smirk, LeShaen knew what to do, "Hey man, what do you plan on doing with your shitty throw? Zoe here can probably throw a three-pointer better than you." Noodle turned around, ready to defend his "mad skills" with their playful banter.

The teasing continued between the guys. I, on the other hand, laid myself down properly on the mattress, stretching my legs, tuning out the noise from the guys. Zoe walked over to me, leaving the guys alone with their basketball talks. She sat near my foot; she held the ice pack LeShaen brought from the infirmary in place. I can see the worry in her eyes. I care about the twin just as much as she does. As bad as it sounds, I worry more for those kids than I do with my mother. My mother can take care of herself, she was a grown up, but the twins had no chance if Mrs. Parker wasn't with them.

"Hey" I whispered at Zoe. She raised her head, looked at me with tears near to spill, "They're gonna be okay." I had to say it even if I didn't know. She smiled at me. She knew it was a lie, how could I know? But right now, that small lie made her feel less crappy from staying here than charging outside through whatever mess.

Ten minutes passed, everyone was inside the shelter. We didn't know what to do. Some of the people started pacing around, most were checking their phones trying to contact their family. My phone was with Zoe right now, no use when it's dead. I tried to keep myself calm. Noodle rested his head against my shoulder while we sat on the bed. He was on his phone trying to contact his folks while I played with his hair, wearing his cap on my head just because. Zoe moved over to LeShaen, standing by the bed trying to contact their parents in each other's arms, making each other feel less alone. How long are we supposed to stay here?

"My mom was at the plant, and said there was some kind of explosion!" Murmurs filled the room, all worried about their families near the plant. Wouldn't blame them though, an explosion at Keller- was it some sort of terrorist attack?

"Did she say what caused it?" Someone from the crowd asked. Violet? I knew her from Chemistry class last year, but we got to know each other more from detention.

"My dad said it was a huge fire" LeShaen spoke out. His voice sounded haunted, like he couldn't believe this was actually happening. I looked worriedly at him. I stood up from the bed, Noodle next to me wrapping his arms around me as we walked closer to LeShaen and Zoe. I can see the worry in their faces. Noodle looked close to panicking himself, he hasn't had contact with his folks since we got here. I leaned my head on his shoulder, brought my hand to his chin, turned his head away from his phone and towards me, "Hey, I'm sure they're okay. It's a weekend, I doubt they were in Keller." He stared back at me, gaining some resolve from my words. I smiled and kiss his cheek. He smiled at that, I got to give him at least a tiny bit of hope, that's all we could ask right now. His hold around me tightened, he smiled as if to reassure me, rather than himself, that he was okay.

At that moment, everything around us shook, like an earthquake struck our little valley, but it was different. It felt more like an explosion was set-off. It was short, but it was enough to get us all shaken as some screamed out of fear.

"Hey! Let's keep it together, people!" Coach tried to settle us down, but I'm pretty sure everyone's just about ready to shit their pants. Looking around, I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't know what the fuck we should do. Either go out and go to our family and walk through possible toxic air, or stay here in a room with only one exit, no windows, totally in the dark from what's happening out there. "Now this shelter was built a long time ago to withstand just about anything. Now we're gonna be safe no matter what happens down at Keller. We could last in here for weeks if we have to." True, of course there's a reason why this shelter was part of the drill whenever the plant had an actual melt down. But I guess I never expected to use the shelter for the actual thing.

"You really think we'll be down here for weeks?" I almost didn't hear Addie ask, but from the deafening silence after coach's not-so-reassuring speech, it was loud enough probably for the whole room to hear.

"I said we could be here, not that we will be." Coach was trying hard to keep us calm, I can see that. But the look of worry in his eyes made me sad for him. It was Saturday, he was supposed to be with his wife and kids on a weekend, and instead he got stuck with us. I know he's worried about his family just as much as we were.

"My cousin said the fire's been through three buildings" Noodle said, probably trying to inform only LeShaen, Zoe, and me, but the echo in this room reverberated his voice all around. Voices started up again, getting louder and louder. I buried my head on Noddle's chest as he took me readily in his arms; the sound of worry from everyone was drowning me.

"I'm sure they have everything under control." Coach announced, trying to regain some control in the room.

"The news said that there's report of a spill…" That got our attention. Coach quickly made his way to Natalie, trying to find out more on the spill. I squeezed my eyes, trying to figure things out. Maybe this was just a nightmare. But leaning against Noodle's chest was more of a dream come true for me than a nightmare. Staring up at Noodle, his brows were furrowed as he stare at his phone, waiting for his cousin's reply to his texts. I shook him out from his daze by lifting my hand to his forehead, pressing a finger right in the middle. He looked at me confused, and I just smiled at him, "Wouldn't want your forehead to get all wrinkly frowning like that." He chuckled, took his hat from me as he tries to hide his forehead under it, and with a smirk said, "Don't worry about it too much. My handsome self isn't going anywhere for another few years or so." I giggled at that, at least he's not so deep in worry that he can't lighten up the mood.

"What you lookin' at?" LeShaen glared at Barrett as he 'observed' him and Zoe. I can see LeShaen tightening his hold around Zoe, pulling her away from Barrett.

"Nothing." Was this guy stupid?

I can tell Noodle was already feeling the tension between the two. He needed to chill LeShaen out before he beats the crap out of Barrett. He lets go of me, careful to sit me down on the bed, then stalked towards LeShaen. "Hey, you're that kid that sold your app for a million dollars, but didn't share with the guy you made it with." I snickered. Well that's one way to have your best friend's back, "Asshole."

"That matter was settled, and it wasn't a million dollars" He looked smug. Million dollars or not, doesn't change the fact that he was a jerk.

"Oh, so it was less than a million dollars. Okay, that's cool." I snickered at that. Gotta give it to LeShaen, he knew exactly where to push Barrett's buttons.

"I didn't say it was less." Barrett wasn't gonna back down on this one. He may have the brains and the money, but I was hella sure he was far from what Zoe will ever want or need. The two stared down at each other. I can see Zoe trying to hold LeShaen back, whispering words in his ears, probably telling him Barrett wasn't worth it. Noodle was on the other side, ready if LeShaen needed a hand on whooping his ass. I sighed. Just when I thought a day would come where guys would grow up, I'd have to cut in as referee with a twisted ankle. Great.

I really wasn't in the mood to calm them down, getting my ass off the comfy mattress was too much work. Good thing Violet walked through, "Two alphas, and a dick fight. Good times." She commented as she stared them down like a disappointed mom would to her kids. Amazing enough, she got the 'kids' to simmer down. Gotta let her teach me how she does that sometime.

Just then, the whole place shook again; it was worse than the first. The lights started to turn off and on, and one thing I hated the most was the dark. I felt my heart quicken when the lights turned off longer than before. I struggled standing up, my arms stretched out in front of me, trying to find someone to hold on to. Suddenly, I felt arms around me. I shrieked at the sudden contact but was suddenly calm. It was Noodle. I'd be scared if it were any other, but I knew it was Noodle. He calmed me a bit, whispering nothings in my ear, knowing full well that I was scared as fuck of the dark, but the quake was getting stronger. I squeezed my eyes shot, buried myself in his chest, waited for the quake to pass. After a few seconds, it stopped. The lights blinked back on. Everyone looked frazzled, even the coach.

Everyone stared at each other, didn't know what to do at this point. "Yeah, I'm not staying." A guy with ginger hair said. Without another thought, he stood up from his place near the door looking ready to walk out.

"Where'd you think you're going?" Everyone was now staring at him. Was he crazy? We didn't know what was happening outside. For all we know, the campus was destroyed from some explosion.

"Out. I can't be stuck in here with all these losers." Excuse me?

"You can't leave here unless I say you can." The coach stared him down, adamant on keeping everybody safe inside.

The guy scoffed. "Watch me," he said. He opened the door, then walked out.