Chapter 15;The storm
1194 Words
The sky went wrong at exactly 6pm.
I was in the kitchen.Water for my noodles boiling over.I was wearing my favorite black hoodie.The house was empty.David was in Denver for a business trip since he finally got promoted. He’d been gone a week. Before he left he put Xavier’s number in my phone and told me to use it in case anything happened.
Lightning hit the window. No sound yet. Just white light. The glass shook.
My chest went tight and didn’t let go.
I hated Storms since I was nine. Three days no power. Water in the walls. Nobody came. I still sleep with a flashlight under my pillow. It practically traumatized me.
The wind hit. The whole house moved.
My phone buzzed. Mom. Storm warning. Stuck at the hospital. Two hours. Lock the doors.I hated it when she pretended like she cared.
I turned all three locks.
The lights flickered. Died.
I hated it when power goes out.it made the house seem like a hunted castle.
The stove beeped and quit.The water spilled and hissed on the burner. Steam filled the kitchen.
I reached for the drawer. My hands wouldn’t work.
Damn it was happening again.
Thunder cracked right over the roof.
I hit the floor.
Then My phone buzzed again. David . Flight’s grounded. Are you okay.
I stared at it. My thumb didn’t move.
Another buzz. Xavier was driving.He’ll be here in twenty minutes.it turned out David told him a week ago to come if there was any problem.
I didn’t want him here.
But I don’t care cause I’m over him.or am I?
The signal died.
So it was just me. The dark. The steam. The noise.
I sat against the cabinet. Hoodie over my head. I was shaking so hard my jaw hurt.
The water kept boiling. Nobody turned it off.
I couldn’t.I felt vulnerable.
Few hours later headlights swept the window. A car door. Then I heard Footsteps.
The front door opened.
I didn’t unlock it. The deadbolt was old. The power cut must’ve killed it.
“David told me to check on you .”
Xavier
He stepped in. Rain on his jacket. He stopped right inside the door. Didn’t come further.
I couldn’t look up. My eyes were on the floor. On my hands. They were fists.
Lightning lit the room white.
A sound came out of me. Not a word. Just air.
Xavier shut the door. Locked it. Then he stayed by it.
I tried to stand. My legs didn’t answer.
I accidentally knocked the counter. A mug fell. It shattered.
I stared at the glass but I couldn’t move.
Blood on my ankle,I was really scared but I didn’t feel it.
Xavier’s flashlight clicked on. Low. At the floor.
He didn’t look at me. He went to the sink. Got the dustpan.
He swept. Slow. Every piece. Then he mopped. Then he did it again.
The whole time he talked to the room, not to me.
“Storm’s going to pass. Just wind. Walls hold. You’re inside.”
When the floor was clear he bagged the towels. Set them by the back door.
He came back. Stopped three feet away.
He crouched. First aid kit.
I didn’t pull my foot back.
I couldn’t
He cleaned the cut. Bandaged it. His hands were steady. He didn’t touch anything he didn’t have to.
He stood up.
He looked at me.
I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t talking. I was just there.
“Can you stand.”
I didn’t.
He waited.
I didn’t move.
He shook his head.He nodded once.
He went to the living room. Came back with my shoes. Set them down. Stepped back.
I didn’t stand.
“Okay,” he said. “We’re not doing the floor.”
He crouched again. He didn’t reach for me. He just looked at me.
I couldn’t walk. I knew it but I wasn’t sure that if he knew it.
I didn’t expect what happened next.
He slid one arm under my knees. One under my back.
He lifted me swiftly.
I didn’t fight. I didn’t have anything left.
He carried me out of the kitchen.
He didn’t hold me tight. He held me like something that might break.
We went down the hall.Into my room.
My room was dark. He set me on the bed.
He pulled the covers back. He laid me down.
He took his hand back right away.
He went to the dresser. Set the flashlight on it and aimed it at the ceiling. Soft light.
He pulled the blanket up to my chest.
Then he dragged the desk chair to the bed. Not the door. The bed.
He sat down. Close. Not touching.
I flinched.
He stopped moving.
“I’m not going to touch you,”Xavier said.
I closed my eyes.
He stayed there.Xavier was doing things I didn’t expect and it was affecting me.
The rain eased.
My teeth were chattering.
He reached for my drawer. Pulled out a dry hoodie. Gray.
He laid it on the bed next to me.
I didn’t take it.
Then Xavier pushed it an inch closer with his finger. Then he took his hand back.
After a while I pulled it on over mine.
It was warm.
He nodded.
The thunder was far now.
My breathing was too fast.
He didn’t tell me to breathe.
He just sat there.
After a while I shook my head. Once.
He saw it.
“Water,” he said.
I shook my head again.
“Okay.”
He didn’t push.
He stayed.
At some point my eyes closed.
After what seemed like a decay I woke up
The storm was gone.
Xavier was still in the chair. Elbows on his knees. Head up.
He saw I was awake.
Then he quickly stood up. Went to the kitchen. Came back.
He set a cup on the nightstand. Far side.
He stepped back.
I reached for it. My hand shook.
I didn’t want to drink it what if it contained something harmful.
I drank it carefully watching him at the Same time.
He went back to the chair.
I lay back down.
He didn’t leave.
Sunlight.
Xavier was gone from the chair by the time I woke up.
I sat up. The bandage on my ankle was fresh. The floor was mopped.
There was a note on the dresser.
Soup’s on the stove. Socks in the bag. I carried you to bed. I didn’t touch anything else. Lock the door.Stay safe— X
Under the note was a paper bag. Dry socks. Another first aid kit.
I put the socks on.
My phone buzzed.It was David
“You alive.”
“Yeah.”
“Xavier said you were scared,” he said with a tense tone. “Said you couldn’t even walk.”
“Yeah.”
“Good,” he said. “But you’re fine now right?
“Yeah.”I replied.
“That’s okay.”David concluded with a sigh.
I hung up.
I went to the kitchen.
The Soup was warm.
The floor was clean.
On the counter was a mug.
I finally realized it.The reason I liked him.
- Writer
