Chapter 5: The Storm .
869 Words
Friday evenings always felt lighter, like the entire week was finally loosening its grip. Everyone left school in a rush, as if freedom was waiting just beyond the gates.
I sat in the backseat of the rented car, already thinking about the weekend. Two days where I wouldn’t have to perform, wouldn’t have to match Chloe and Riley’s expectations, wouldn’t have to smile when I didn’t feel like it.
The sky looked heavy, clouds hanging low and thick.
Halfway down the road, the engine jerked suddenly.
Then again.
Then it died completely.
I leaned back with a slow breath. “Seriously?”
The driver tried restarting it, but the engine only gave a weak clicking sound. Horns from behind us filled the road within seconds.
My chest tightened. This was the last place I wanted to be stranded.
The driver stepped out and lifted the hood as light rain started falling. After a few minutes, he shook his head.
“It’s engine trouble. I’ll have to call it in.”
I stayed quiet, watching rain gather on the glass. Being seen like this, stuck, exposed, felt worse than the situation itself.
When the call came through, the driver turned back.
“There’s a garage nearby. Marcus’ Auto Garage. They said to take it there.”
The name hit before I could stop it.
Marcus.
Ethan’s uncle.
Of all places.
The rain grew heavier as we pushed the car down the road. The garage appeared simple, old, and slightly worn down. The smell of oil and wet metal hit me as I stepped out.
“Can we help you?” a deep voice asked.
I looked up.
Marcus stood at the entrance, wiping his hands with a rag. Before I could answer, a sound came from behind him.
Metal shifting.
Then Ethan slid out from under a car.
For a moment, everything in me paused.
He stood slowly, wearing a white singlet stained with oil, sleeves pushed up, forearms marked by work instead of effort to impress. A faint line of grease sat near his jaw, and his hair was slightly damp, curling at the edges.
Then he looked at me.
The surprise was quick, but what followed was harder to read.
“You,” he said quietly.
I lifted my chin. “Looks like it.”
Marcus looked between us. “You two know each other?”
“No,” I said too fast.
“Yes,” Ethan said at the same time.
Silence followed.
Marcus raised a brow but said nothing.
We moved the car inside while rain hit harder on the metal roof. I stayed off to the side, trying not to feel out of place in a space that wasn’t meant for someone like me.
Ethan worked without looking at me, focused on the engine, steady and calm.
After a while, Marcus stepped away to get a part, leaving just the two of us.
The air shifted immediately.
“You don’t look comfortable here,” Ethan said without turning.
“I’m fine,” I replied quickly.
He glanced at me briefly. “I didn’t say you weren’t.”
I exhaled slowly, arms folding. “It’s just a car.”
“Is it?” he asked.
That question stayed longer than it should have.
I looked away. “Not everything is as simple as it looks.”
He paused, then turned slightly toward me.
“I don’t think it’s simple,” he said.
Thunder rolled in the distance. I flinched before I could stop it.
He noticed.
“You don’t like storms?” he asked.
“I do,” I said quickly.
It came out too fast to be real.
Rain pushed harder against the roof. I stepped slightly closer without thinking.
Too close.
Our shoulders nearly brushed.
Even without contact, I felt it.
I noticed things I shouldn’t have. The calm in his movements, the focus in his hands, the faint scar near his wrist, the steady rhythm of his breathing like nothing around him ever shook him.
Unlike me.
My phone buzzed.
I checked it quickly.
The rental owner.
“Don’t scratch my car again this time,” the voice played before I muted it.
Again.
My grip tightened slightly.
Ethan didn’t react. He just looked at me, not judging, just watching.
I forced a shrug. “He exaggerates.”
“Sure,” he said quietly.
But he didn’t push further.
That silence felt heavier than questions.
Marcus returned shortly after. “It’s an easy fix. You’re good.”
I nodded quickly. “Thank you.”
Relief should have come. It didn’t fully.
As I moved toward the car, Ethan’s voice stopped me.
“You don’t have to prove anything,” he said.
My hand froze.
“I’m not proving anything,” I replied.
He held my gaze. “Okay.”
Simple. Calm. Final.
But it stayed with me anyway.
I got into the car and forced myself not to look back.
I still did.
He was standing under the roof, rain falling just beyond him, watching.
Not chasing. Not judging.
Just seeing.
And for the first time, I didn’t feel in control driving away.
I felt exposed.
And I didn’t like that at all.
- Writer
