The ride to Kingsley High was not a smooth one, to say the least. The wind was unforgiving, leaving broken branches on the soaked streets of our town while roaring loud enough to hear through the thick windows of the squad car. It was hard to believe the skies were clear this morning, seeing the dark blanketing clouds that covered it now.

"Now, I can't be with you all day, kiddo," Dad said as he pulled into the not-so-full parking lot of my school. I wish I could, but I've got a lot of responsibilities."

"I get it," I nodded, looking out the window at the full raindrops as they splattered against the car.

"I know you do. I promise to let you know if I have to leave the school, but hopefully I won't have to," he added, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Alright, let's get inside."

It was weird being at school after hours, especially this late. It was nearly eight o'clock, and everything looked different when I kept that in mind. The grey and maroon lockers looked taller in the shadows of the halls, and the tiled floors reflected the dim lights in an eery way.

"This place is spooky at night," I muttered, but my dad heard me.

"They should be turning the main lights on again soon. They're just testing the generators right now, in case we lose power...which is a big possibility."

Nodding, I followed him into the gymnasium, where families were littered across the bleachers and along the walls. Almost everybody seemed to have a bag, and some people were even setting up tents in the middle of the floor. What do they think this is, a camping trip?

"I'll be back," Dad said, patting my shoulder as he walked further in, grouping up with the other officers at the back of the large open room.

Glancing around, I took in quite a few familiar faces. A lot of people looked like I'd seen them during school, or in classes. Some I even thought I might have known from middle or quite possibly elementary school, but they'd gone to different high-schools. One thing I did notice, was how most of them were huddled around their families, talking animatedly, or being comforted because they were afraid. Looking back at my dad, I realized I probably wouldn't be given that luxury, but that was okay. After all, this was what I signed up for.

Not knowing what else to do, I just leaned against the wall behind me, drumming my fingers against my thigh and wondering if Mom and Brynn were still on the road or not.

"Bee?" a familiar voice questioned.

Spinning on my heels, I smiled from ear to ear when I saw Oli at the door of the gym, with Naomi next to him.

"What are you guys doing here?!" I asked, walking over to them.

Naomi held a bright magenta sleeping bag under her arms, with a white duffle bag slung over the other, while Oli just had a suitcase resting next to him, along with a backpack strapped across his chest.

"We tried texting you," she explained. "In my neighborhood, the power's already out, and my phone is dying, so I called Oli and asked if he wanted to go to the lock-in."

"And I don't have anything to entertain me at home, so my mom said sure and now here we are," he added on, sharing his side of the story. "Now, what's your excuse for not answering our calls and texts?"

Pulling my phone out my back pocket, I held it up sheepishly. "Airplane mode. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to use the outlets, so I was trying to save my battery life."

"Dammit, that's a good answer," he whined. "Now I can't guilt trip you."

"Shut up, dork," I said playfully. "But God, I'm so glad you guys are here. It's just me and my Dad so you're saving me from complete boredom while he's off working."

"Oh, Brynn's not here?" Naomi asked, puzzled when I shook my head.

"She left with our mom. I was supposed to go with them but, you know me, always the rebel," I smiled proudly.

Finding an empty spot on the floor near an outlet, we sat our stuff down and charged our devices while talking about any and everything on our minds. An hour had passed, and nothing eventful happened, aside from the main power coming back on, getting rid of the creepy lighting. Thank God I had my friends here.

"How long do you guys think we'll be in here? A level four hurricane is nothing to scoff at," Oli wondered, his brows furrowing as he looked out the slender windows lining the top of the tall walls.

"My dad said we could be looking at a week, but hopefully not," I shared, dipping my hand back into my bag of hot cheetos.

"That could be fun," Naomi smiled, looking around the room. "Like a community sleepover or something."

That's sounds terrible.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" the familiar voice of my father projected from the center of the room.

All chatter stopped as people showed respect to their police chief. That fact alone made me smile. I'm not sure if I'd be able to stay polite if someone disrespected him in front of me when I know how much he's sacrificed for this city. A part of me thinks his marriage was among those things, but I've never had the nerve to ask him about it.

"Thank you," he smiled, momentarily looking to his left, letting his eyes land on me. "Now, I know it's late in the evening, and some of you are already sleeping," he pointed, causing the room to chuckle when we noticed the cute elderly man he was referring to, completely unconscious on his blow up mattress. "But I just wanted to fill you in on a few ground rules while we wait out this storm."

While my dad explained things—like how we would have three meals a day, served in the cafeteria, that all of the exits would remain locked until it was safe to go outside again, and that everyone was to report back to the gym by eight each night, where we would remain (with the exception of bathroom breaks of course), I focused on the sad sight of my chip bag so close to empty.

Man, they never put enough chips in these things.

Standing up, I licked the hot powder off my fingers before saying, "I'm going to the bathroom."

"I"ll come with," Naomi said, grabbing her bag of toiletries as she stood up. "Gotta wash my face."

"Well, I'm not sitting here by myself, like some loser," Oli stated childishly, following us to the doors.

After explaining to the officer guarding it where we were going, we casually walked out and down the hallway, only to break out into sprints for no reason at all—something about running in the halls without having to worry about some tightwad of a teacher scolding us like we were breaking the law was exhilarating. The high-pitched squeak of my sneakers against the recently waxed floors echoed off the walls as I turned the corner.

"I'll wait out here," Oli said when we stopped in front of the girl's bathroom and Naomi and I went inside.

She wasted no time turning on the water at the sink so it could warm up, and I went into one of the stalls and squatted over the toliet. While I peed, I trailed my eyes over all the graffiti around me, littered on the dark maroon stall.

I hate KHS!

H + V = ♡ Forever

Mr. Dealy can suck my non-existent balls!

Chuckling at the last line I read, I finished up my business and went to wash my hands.

Naomi was already scrubbing her face, cleaning off the little bit of makeup she wore. I didn't have any on, but the last thing I wanted was to risk a breakout that could have been prevented.

"Can I use some?"

"Do you even have to ask?" she grinned through her soapy lips.

Following her example, I lathered the citrusy face soap in my hands, feeling a cooling sensation as it kissed my skin before rinsing it off.

"Oliver! My favorite wide receiver," a voice cheered from outside the bathroom. "What's up, man? Think Coach is still strict enough to expect us at practice even with this storm raging?"

"Oh my God, that's Cooper," Naomi said with a nervous panic. "And I just washed all my makeup off and took my contacts out. My glasses make me look dorky, Bee."

Rushing to the mirror, she inspected her skin, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout.

"Calm down," I coddled, patting her shoulder. "You look cute. Adorkable is the new sexy."

Not looking convinced, she sighed. I didn't get why she didn't believe me. Naomi was one of the prettiest girls I knew, and she had a beautiful soul to match. I guess fear of rejection can make even the most confident person feel insecure.

"Let's just get this over with," she said, taking a deep breath before walking out with a soft smile.

"Be glad your crush is here," I whispered into her ear, following right behind her. "You and him trapped in here for a week? Sounds like a good thing to me."

"Um, yeah...but, Bryce?"

"What?" I asked, looking up in the direction she nodded. The contentment on my face dropped when he filled my vision. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I groaned.

Whatever fun I thought I was gonna have seemed highly unlikely now that I realized I'd be locked in here with Matty freakin' Ellington. Why was he even here? I didn't remember seeing his parents in the gym. Ughhh. I couldn't help but look to the heavens in agony.

Hello, darkness, my old friend.

"Bryce," he said in an empty tone. This was pretty much how we "greeted" each other. "Gotta say, you don't look too happy to see me."

"I'd be happier to see my period's started," I deadpanned.

And, considering my period cramps made me think I was giving birth to octuplets, that said a lot.

"Sure," he simply replied with a grin as he brushed past me. "Let's go, guys."

Following after him, Cooper and Reese left, and I just watched on, wondering what the hell he meant, with that stupid smirk on his face.

Blah blah blah. Har har har. I already know this chapter was kinda boring, but heyyyy, it had to be done!

At least I've provided a cute, strategically timed, graphic change to satiate your humor hunger 🙌🏾. There should be more comedic moments in the next chapter...so long as what I find funny counts as comedy 😅.