"As if!" I swatted him on the arm and he laughed.
The rain continued to batter the truck and I considered my options. If I went home it would be as good as letting them win the argument and I refused to move into the city for the isolation trial.
"Thanks for the lift," I said as I prepared to dash for Ryan's porch through the downpour.
"No problem."
"Would you mind waiting until he answers the door?" I asked. "Just in case he isn't home."
"Sure."
"Thanks. See you later." I opened the door and leapt out of the truck, flinging it closed behind me. I ran up the front steps and took cover in the porch as I rang the doorbell. I waited for nearly a minute before I heard footsteps approaching.
Ryan opened the door and looked at me in surprise.
"Hey," he said with a huge grin. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Oh I thought I texted you?" I asked innocently as I ducked under his arm to get out of the rain. I turned back to look at Linc, raising a hand to wave goodbye.
"See you later Katy!" Lincoln called before blasting the horn and driving away.
I waved at the retreating truck even though I doubted he could see me in his mirror through the rain.
"What was he doing here?" Ryan frowned, leading me inside.
"He took pity on me and gave me a lift," I said, pointing at my saturated clothes. "Any chance you've got something dry I could borrow?" I was so cold that I was beyond caring about what I looked like and would happily wear Ryan's clothes so that I could feel warm again.
"Yeah, come on up. We've got the house to ourselves." He caught my hand and I followed him up to his room. I'd never been to his house so I didn't really know what to expect but everything that we passed seemed very… tidy. If I had to bet on it, I'd guess his mom might have a bit of OCD.
"Won't your mom be angry if she catches us upstairs?" I asked.
"She'll be at work all day so we won't be interrupted." Ryan smiled at me shyly and squeezed my hand a little tighter.
His room was pretty much what I'd expected. Blue walls were plastered with various sports posters and a large TV sat at the foot of his double bed. It was tidier than I'd have thought it would be though, especially knowing he hadn't been expecting me.
He crossed the room to his dresser and rooted around before handing me a pair of navy sweat pants and a white t-shirt.
"I can put your things in the dryer once you're changed," he offered. "The bathroom is straight across the hall."
"Thanks." I leant in to kiss his cheek but he turned towards me so that our lips met instead.
I let the kiss go on for a few seconds before pulling away. "I'm freezing," I admitted. "Hold that thought?"
He smiled at me and I scampered out of the room to get changed. The bathroom was big and his mom's hairdryer was sitting on the side just begging me to use it. By the time I was out of my wet clothes and my hair was dry, I started to feel a lot warmer again. I slipped into Ryan's shirt which fell to my knees and tried the sweat pants on too. I looked in the mirror but couldn't face him wearing them so took the pants back off, leaving me in the shirt. It was longer than a lot of my dresses so I figured it didn't matter.
Ryan was sitting in his bed watching the TV when I returned and I climbed in next to him, pulling the covers up around me.
"You mind if I watch the rest of the game?" he asked as I settled in.
"So long as you don't mind if I end up falling asleep?"
He laughed and put his arm around me, letting me lean against his chest. I felt a little uncomfortable being so casually intimate with him but he didn't seem to notice. As he switched between cheering on his team and swearing at the opposition, I slowly relaxed and let my eyes fall shut.
I wasn't sure if I actually slept or not but the game ended and Ryan jolted me awake with a kiss as he celebrated his team's win.
"Yay," I mumbled as he hopped out of the bed.
"Would you like a drink?" he offered. "And I'll chuck your stuff in the dryer too."
"Sure. I'll have whatever you're having," I said. My cellphone rang as he was leaving the room and I glanced at the display before answering to Lacey.
"You called?" she asked as I answered.
"Oh yeah, it doesn't matter now. I went to Ryan's instead."
"Oh really? Having fun?" she asked suggestively.
"Yeah,” I replied vaguely. “What are you up to?"
"Mom dragged me to visit my aunt Claudia." I could hear the boredom in her voice.
"Does she still have all the dolls?” I asked. I'd been with Lacey to visit her aunt once and I'd never forgotten the creepy china dolls that sat on every shelf, staring down at me.
"Of course she does and she still refers to them by name as if I'm supposed to know which one she's talking about."
"Has she ever broken any of them?" I asked.
"I don't think so - I probably would have had to attend the funeral," she laughed. "Why the need for a last minute visit to me anyway?"
"Mom and Dad are trying to make me move into the city for the isolation trial so we're in a disagreement. I kinda stormed out into, well, a storm, and I needed somewhere to escape to."
"Oh that sucks. It's a long way from yours to Ryan's in this weather though, you must have been drenched."
"Well I got drenched on my way to yours but then luckily I was offered a lift after that."
"By who?" Lacey asked curiously.
"Err, Linc actually. He was on his way home and he spotted me."
"Oh really?"
Ryan reappeared with a can of soda for me and I accepted it with a smile. "Yeah. I can't really talk now-"
"Was he all wet too?" she asked excitedly. "Did he have to take his shirt off?"
"What? No! Lacey I need to go now." I pressed the phone to my ear, hoping that her voice wouldn't carry to Ryan.
"And did he have to wrap his arms around you because you'd both gotten so cold and you had to share body heat-"
"I'm hanging up."
"And then he-"
I hung up on her and I looked up at Ryan, feeling my cheeks heat with embarrassment.
"What was that about?" he asked, pointing at my cellphone.
"Just Lacey checking in. She was teasing me about... getting caught out in the rain." I finished lamely.
"What was the sharing body heat thing about?" he asked with a half smile.
"Oh you know, survival one oh one, staving off hypothermia, she was just winding me up for going out without a coat." I shrugged.
"Why did you come out without a coat?"
"Well I left in a kinda hurry. I'd had a row with my folks."
"Oh." Ryan looked a bit uncomfortable and ran a hand over his fair hair before continuing. "So do you think you might have hypothermia?" he asked as he joined me on the bed.
"I doubt it," I laughed, wondering why he hadn't asked me what the fight had been about.
"Maybe I should warm you up to make sure." He leant forward and kissed me and I tried to cover my surprise at the sudden turn in the conversation as I kissed him back.
He moved forward pushing me back down onto the bed and kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer as I willed butterflies into existence in my belly.
Ryan's breathing hitched up a notch as he kissed me with more urgency and his hand traveled to my bare thigh before starting to slide upwards.
I pulled back suddenly and caught his hand.
"Um Ryan, I'm not ready for that," I said gently, hoping not to piss him off.
"Right. Sorry, I just got a bit caught up," he replied with a grin as he sat back, leaving a small space between us on the bed.
"Maybe I should get my clothes from the dryer?" I asked. Covering up would probably help to drive the message home, although he didn't seem to be too upset by my rejection.
"If you have to," he agreed as he glanced at my legs.
"I'm sure you've seen me in much more attractive clothing than
your old t-shirt," I joked as I tossed a pillow at him and climbed off of the bed.
"Possibly, but I haven't gotten you in my bed before."
"There is that," I agreed as I headed for the door. He joined me and led the way downstairs to grab my clothes from the dryer.
I pulled my jeans on as he left me in the utility room and quickly swapped his shirt for mine. The clothes were warm from the machine and I wrapped my arms around myself hoping to preserve the heat for as long as possible.
I found Ryan back in the kitchen, searching through the cupboards. "I wasn't sure if you wanted anything to eat?" he asked.
Thunder crashed so loudly overhead that I could have sworn the window rattled. I leant forward to get a better look out at the pounding rain. The sky was so dark it almost seemed like night had fallen.
My cellphone buzzed loudly on the worktop and I answered it without checking the caller ID.
"Kaitlyn?" My mom asked anxiously. "Where are you? Please tell me you've taken cover somewhere?"
"I'm fine Mom," I sighed, wishing I'd checked who was calling before I’d answered. I geared myself up for round two of why I didn't want to stay in the city with them.
"This storm is turning nasty. They've put a warning out, can you get to a shelter?"
"Is it a hurricane?" I asked as fear knotted in my stomach.
Ryan stopped rummaging in the cupboards and looked up at me with concern.
"It looks like it's heading that way. Can you g-" The phone suddenly cut off and I stared at it in frustration. My cell service had dropped out and I smacked my phone against my palm with frustration, willing it back again.
"There's a storm shelter in the back yard," Ryan said as he closed the distance between us and took my hand.
"Okay, I just wanna try and call my mom back." I glared at my phone as I tried to dial out but the call failed to connect.
"Send her a text. We should get into the shelter," Ryan insisted as he looked out of the window again.
I followed his gaze to the window where the rain was still hammering down beyond the glass. I wasn't looking forward to going back out into it but I had to admit I'd feel safer inside the shelter.
Ryan tugged on my hand and pulled me towards the back door. He tossed me a large coat and shrugged into another himself. I pulled the hood over my head and zipped it up to my chin as he opened the door.
The wind howled outside and rain pelted us before we'd even stepped out. I waited while Ryan locked the door behind us and we jogged to the end of his back yard where a steel trapdoor was peeking out between the shrubs.
Ryan fumbled with the key in the lock before pulling the door wide and ushering me inside. I headed down a short flight of stairs as Ryan slammed the heavy door behind us and slid two bolts into place to keep it shut.
We were plunged into darkness and I fished my cellphone from my pocket and used it as a torch to illuminate the small room.
The shelter was cramped but seemed to have everything we should need to wait out the storm. There was a collapsible cot bed to the left of the space and a storage chest on the right. Beside the storage chest was a battery powered lantern and Ryan quickly switched it on so that I could return my phone to my pocket.
"We'll be fine in here," he said reassuringly. "My dad will be gutted when he realises we used the shelter though - he bought it last year but there hasn't been a hurricane since. He's been dying to make use of it and won't believe his luck that I had to use it while he was at work."
"I'd switch places with him happily," I said as I glanced up at the steel door nervously. I trusted that the shelter would protect us but it was hard to just shut off my fear.
"Here, sit down and we can eat these." He produced a handful of chocolate bars from his pocket and dropped down onto the cot.
I shrugged out of my raincoat and joined him. Ryan pulled a blanket over our legs and I huddled under it as I took a bite of chocolate.
Ryan used his cellphone to play some music which didn't quite cut out the howling storm but helped to take our minds off of it.
I still had no cell service but sent my mom a quick text to tell her I was alright and hoped it would send when the signal returned.
"I heard from Devlin's brother last night," Ryan said quietly.
"And?" I asked, afraid that something serious might have happened to him.
"He's fine. They just kept him in longer because he was attacked by someone affected by the water pollution. They had to question him and debrief him about the situation. Looks like he might even get some compensation from the water company."
"That's great news." I smiled widely and Ryan put his arm around me as we settled back onto the cot.
"How was the city?" he asked.
"Good. We had showers and got some new clothes. The mall is absolutely massive, they’ve got everything you could ever think of there-"
"Like prom dresses?"
"Err yeah, we may have tried on a few of them."
"I liked the blue one."
"What? Were you spying on us?" I asked, feeling weirdly irritated at the idea.
"Someone was." He quickly unlocked his cellphone and scrolled through his messages until he found what he was looking for. He showed me a group of photos of me and Lacey in various dresses as we came out of the changing rooms to model them for each other.
"Who sent you those? That's so creepy," I said as I snatched the phone and scrolled through them.
"Demi. I think she wanted to remind me that I hadn't asked you yet."
"Oh," I said as I handed the phone back. I wasn't sure if I could complain about Demi to Ryan or not. Her sway on the group was pretty concrete and I didn't want the drama of anything getting back to her.
"She's a bit of a head case," Ryan said. "I think she likes to take credit for our relationship."
"Yeah, she definitely likes to get involved in everyone's business," I agreed.
"So I've decided I'm not going to ask you to prom," he said. "Out of principal."
"I can't go with you anyway, I've already agreed to go with someone else."
"Wait, what?" Ryan sat forward and frowned at me.
"Yeah, why do you think I was trying on dresses?
"Who?"
"I'd have thought you'd have figured that out by now," I replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you annoyed?" I asked. "We never said we were exclusive..."
"You're seeing someone else?" Ryan asked incredulously. "Who the hell-"
I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into laughter. Ryan stared at me for several seconds before chucking a musty pillow at my face. I batted it away and shoved him playfully.
"You're a bitch," he joked as he caught my arm and pulled me closer to kiss me.
"And you're too easy to wind up," I said just before our lips met.
The wind howled outside as the storm raged on and I let Ryan hold me close to keep warm whilst trying to convince myself that I didn't wish he was someone else.
Chapter Twelve
Lincoln
The Quarterback seemed surprised to see Katy when he opened the door. She stepped under his arm as he leant forward to kiss her and he almost tripped as he righted himself, looking embarrassed. She didn't seem to notice and turned back to wave at me. He tried to recover quickly and followed her gaze to my truck. I couldn't help but smirk at him, knowing he'd realised that I'd seen him looking like an idiot.
His jaw tightened and his gaze turned steely as he glared at me.
I couldn't help but rise to the bait and hit the button to drop my window.
“See you later Katy!" I called with a wide smile which she returned.
The Quarterback scowled and I blasted the horn before driving away. I couldn't help but laugh as I glanced in my mirror and saw her waving through the rain while he tried to usher her inside.
The rain pounded against my windshield and the wipers struggled to clear it even on the highest setting. I took the roads slowly, taking e
xtra care as I cruised through giant puddles which split apart in waves around my tyres.
The store was just outside Orville, a journey which should have taken twenty minutes but ended up being more like forty. My detour with Katy had given the storm a chance to kick up a notch and I was starting to wonder how much worse it was going to get.
I pulled into the deserted parking lot and picked a space as close as I could get to the store.
As I shut off the engine, the sound of the rain seemed to build, hammering on the metal roof loud enough to make my head hurt. The idea of heading out into it wasn't appealing and I wished I'd thought to grab an umbrella before I'd left the house.
With my only other option being to return to the house with nothing to eat, I pulled my collar up and made a dash for the store.
Rain pelted me, soaking through my clothes easily and sending a chill down my spine.
I ran through the automatic doors and stopped beside the carts as I shook the water from my hair.
The satphone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, hoping it hadn't gotten wet.
Kai 10:04 - Don't eat any chicken
“Great work on the explanation there Kai,” I muttered as I grabbed a cart and started down the first aisle. I tapped a one worded reply.
10:05 - Why?
The shelves were weirdly bare. I headed through the fridges meant for fresh fruit and veg, finding half of the stock missing. I grabbed some apples but there weren't any bananas or grapes. I had to make do with only potatoes and carrots from the veg section too.
I frowned as I headed down the next aisle only to find more missing stock.
Kai 10:07 - Nothing's confirmed yet but Hawker thinks it should be avoided. Just trust us.
By the looks of it, I doubted I'd be able to buy any chicken even if I wanted to. I put the phone back in my pocket and made my way around the store, picking what I could from the meagre supplies available. It wasn't as if there wasn't enough food, there were just a lot of gaps where things were missing.
Luckily, the cleaning aisle didn't seem to be missing much so I was able to stock up on everything I needed to sort out the house.
I pushed my cart down the last aisle just as a message played over the tannoy.
Afflicted Page 10
