2.

I doodled in the margins of the paper I should have been taking notes on. Unfortunately, biology was the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t help but just wanting to get up and leave�"just to drive far away from everything. I wanted to go somewhere that no one knew my name. And, as the bell rang, I was trying to envision a map of the state in hopes of actually taking a break. I stood up reluctantly, kicking my chair underneath the table, and grabbed my bag without bothering to put my notebook back inside.

As I was making my way out of the class and onto fourth hour, one of my friends from sophomore year, one that I barely ever talk to, raced up to me, sliding gracefully in front of me to open the door for me. As much as it irritated me, I bit my tongue and smiled at her as I walked out into the hall.

“So, what happened?” she asked, her voice innocent and genuine, as we made our way down the hall. I weaved between a barricade of people, all laughing loudly, and hoped I was able to lose her in the crowd. But, she met me as I was about to turn the corner and looked up at me with curious eyes.

“I don’t know. Do we really have to do this?” I tried to not hiss at her, but I don’t think I achieved that. I pushed the door to the courtyard open violently and walked out into the covered area, hearing the rain bounce off the top of it.

She caught up with me and mumbled, “How many people have talked to you today?”

“Four.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that,” she said as she fell behind and turned the opposite direction. I exhaled, starting to feel a little bad about shutting out the questions, and I raced up the few steps.

Just as I was about to enter the building, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I stepped aside, not wanting to run into anyone, and pulled it out, unlocking it at the same time. It was a text, from an unknown number, that simply stated: Parking lot, right now? Deciding it was better than helping out in a math class, I stuffed it back in my pocket and walked into the building, making my way to the end of the hall. The second bell rang moments later and the entire hall cleared out within seconds. I made my way slowly, deciding it was not urgent enough to make haste. Outside, I could hear thunder rumbling and it sparked a smile across my face. Just the thought of a thunder storm could make my day a few times better.

I opened the door, walking out into the light rain, and pulled down my sleeves as chills pricked my skin. Since the parking lot was just a little ways away from the building, I leaned on my tip toes to try to see if anyone was in fact out in the lot. Leaning against a familiar old truck, was a figure I didn’t recognize. It was obviously a man, by the way he was standing, and he had a phone in his hand. At once, I was able to conjure up an idea or two about who sent the text. Slightly frustrated, I trudged my way over to him, slinging mud behind me as I went.

He turned around before I even made it halfway. Ferris looked almost exactly like Lewis, only just a year older and black hair and blue eyes. His face lit up the same way when he smiled and I could remember the rare times I’d catch him smiling while I was over. I saw that crooked smile once I reached the asphalt. I crossed the spots and stopped a couple of feet in front of him.

“You got my text,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Yeah,” I bluntly replied as I met his gaze. “I almost didn’t want to come. I had a feeling it was you.”

He laughed, short and almost cold, and I crossed my arms. “So, there are still hard feelings there? I thought you were the one who was going to be able to get past that.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t really know me then, so I don’t understand why you would have thought that.”

“I knew enough.”

I rolled my eyes, starting to wish I hadn’t come. Listening to the same lesson I heard a week ago sounded a lot better. I rubbed my eyes, still wearing off the headache, and I could feel my heart beat pound in the back of my head. Looking up, I watched lightning crack across the gray sky. I could feel a heavier rain loom closer. “What do you want?”

“Thought maybe we could catch up. Maybe, you could sell me the details everyone else wasn’t allowed to buy,” Ferris shrugged, crossing his arms, and raised his eyebrows.

“Why?” I glanced up at the sky again, feeling the rain grow heavier as it pelted my shoulders.

“Just get in,” he said, patting the cab of the truck as he got in. I stood in the same spot for a moment, debating whether or not to go back, and slowly got even more soaked. I huffed and walked around the truck, yanking open the passenger door.

Ferris turned the heat up as I shut the door and he glanced over at me, face an expression that I couldn’t decipher. I buttoned up my flannel, hiding the Led Zeppelin shirt I was wearing, and turned the air vents towards me.

“Promise ring?” He asked, eyes darting to the thin silver band around my ring finger. I withdrew my left hand, just fixing the vents with my right, and nodded slightly. Lewis gave it to me four days before our two year anniversary, during the time that Ferris had been away. I always wore it, but I never told anybody what it was actually for. People never asked, for one, and I never wanted questions in the first place. Or the lectures. “When did that happen?”

“July,” I muttered, pulling my sleeves down and tucking my hands between my thighs.

“So, what happened while I was away? Besides that,” he said as he leaned back into the seat, fingers dancing on his thigh. It set me on edge, for some reason, and my thoughts scattered. I inhaled deeply, feeling the heat kick on.

“Well, the break in. Lewis finally decided on what he was going to college for. I don’t think much else has happened. Oh, Ella got pregnant and decided to get engaged with him,” I listed off the things that popped out as most prominent in my mind.

“Ella, my sister?”

“Yeah,” I replied as I remembered the news. I was the one she told first after she found out and he asked her. She was completely thrilled and asked me to be her maid of honor.

“That’s unexpected.”

“Well, what’s new with you? Lewis said you’re finally completely clean.” I looked over at him, deciding I’d jump out the window if he said he wasn’t. He didn’t look armed, or dangerous, but I still didn’t want to take any chances.

“Yes, I am. It didn’t take as long as they had expected, but they still kept me for the extra time just to be sure. To be honest, I’m really glad that I’m finally clean. I wasted too much of my time and money on that. It was never worth it,” Ferris replied, his voice lighter, and I thought he seemed a little more free. I always saw him with an invisible anchor attached to his foot while he was doing drugs. Now, it seems like that anchor was entirely gone.

“See? Everyone was right.”

“Yeah, I know. I wish I had listened more often than not. It would have been nicer to quit a lot earlier than I did. But, we all learn lessons a little too late sometimes,” he twisted slightly to face me more and leaned forward for his cup of coffee sitting on the dash.

“Do you want to go driving? I haven’t been doing much since I got back from the airport and I’m really in the mood to go out to see the town,” Ferris set his cup back on the dash after taking a drink from it.

“I have this test in English in an hour that I really can’t miss, though. Plus, I have to make up a lot of other work in my other classes…” I sighed, looking over at him with irritation on my face. Your house gets broken into, and you get injured, and the school just barely extends the due dates for your work.

“At least let me take you to get coffee? Mine is cold now and I really could go for more, especially with the weather today. You can skip this period anyways, obviously.”

“Sure,” I shrugged, deciding it wasn’t that harmful. Lewis said to give him another chance, right? I guess I could get coffee and count that as a chance.

He half smiled and twisted the keys in the ignition. The old truck grumbled to a start and he pulled out of the spot. I yanked the seat belt across my shivering body and watched the rain crash onto the wind shield as he drove along the driveway. I wrenched open the glove box, pulling out the CD case, and flipped through the slips, looking for any familiar CDs.

“Get the second Sublime one. You do like Sublime, right?” he asked, his voice slightly frightened to hear that I didn’t.

I flipped over a few more slips and found the second CD. Gently taking it out, I looked over at him with my eye brows raised and put it in the CD player. “Of course I do.”

He grinned widely, that genuine smile that was hard to pull out of him, and turned the corner onto the main street with the coffee store slightly masked by the sheeting rain.