BEAUTIFUL CRAZY

three. look at us

Wren pulled up outside the combination gas station and diner, parking her truck next to a few cars that were decked out with equipment and on the side they read Storm PAR -- just as Javi had said.

She hoped Javi was there already, but she had yet to see him. She let out a breath as she slid out of her truck, her boots squelching in the mud as she slammed the door and made her way towards the white cars. She pushed her sunglasses into her hair as she took in the rest of the parking lot, it was packed with people and cars, all rigged to go storm chasing.

“Hey,” she called out, gaining the attention of a guy that leaned against the closest car. He wore a white shirt, a ball cap and sunglasses.

“No.”

“I said hey, didn't ask a question.”

“Still no.”

“Prick,” she muttered as she rolled her eyes and he forced a sarcastic smile before dropping it. She turned away from him and made her way towards the gas station, she hummed along to the Luke Bryan song that played quietly through the store. She quickly grabbed a red bull and a bag of Hot Cheetos before making her way towards the counter.

“Thank you,” she smiled at the lady behind the counter, dropping her change into the plastic tub that had a sign on it about helping a small town nearby rebuild. “Have a nice day.” She waved before leaving, tearing into her Cheetos as she crossed the muddy parking lot. Just as she reached her truck, a white dodge ram spotted the Storm PAR logo pulled up. “Fucking finally.”

“Cortez!” Javi smiled as he slid out of the truck.

“Javi,” she met him in a hug, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

“It’s good to see you,” he mumbled, squeezing her a little tighter.

“You too,” she managed out as she squeezed her eyes closed. It was kind of a lie, she did like him and she had really appreciated him in the past several years… but seeing him always reminded her of that day.

“You look good,” he mused, pulling back to give a once over. His eyes momentarily rested on the scars that traveled down her right arm, since all she wore was a tank top and shorts. She shifted uneasily and he quickly turned back to Kate, a warm smile on his lips.

She looked over at the girl, shifting on her feet, “hey.”

Kate managed a smile, but the sadness was there, like she was reliving it as she looked at the girl before her. And Wren knew that all Kate saw when she looked at her was that day… the loss.

“Hey, Wren.” She stepped towards her and surprised her by wrapping her in a hug. “I-it’s good to see you again.”

“Y-yeah,” Wren mumbled, squeezing her for a moment before they pulled back.

“Aw, look at us,” Javi mused, throwing an arm over each girl. “Um, you two are gonna get the chance to talk, but first, um, why don’t you come meet the team.”

“You guys go, I’m gonna ea-”

“Nah, come on,” Javi kept his arm around her shoulders.

“Okay, this is happening,” she muttered, getting a small chuckle from Kate. Wren had always been good at that, even when the last thing Kate wanted was to smile, especially because of Wren.

“Bring it in, team,” Javi called out, getting the attention of the rest of the Storm PAR guys. Then he smiled at Kate, letting his arm fall from Wren’s shoulders. “All right. You guys have all heard me talk about Kate. How no one has better instincts. She’s the smartest person I know. She’s the best.” Kate shifted on her feet, looking down bashfully. “And you will never work with a more talented team than this one. Look, we got PhDs from NASA, FEMA, NOAA, NWS.”

“Oh, you’ve got the whole alphabet.” Kate mumbled.

“Only the best.” Javi shrugged, “Except for Scott, my partner here. He went to MIT instead of Muskogee State. But, uh, he makes up for it with his beautiful, amazing personality.” Scott then proceeded to smile, the same sarcastic smile he gave Wren.

“Still a prick.”

“And who’s she?” Scott asked, nodding towards the girl.

“She’s Wren,” Javi told him, patting her shoulder.

“She’s also hungry, so bye,” she turned and walked away, munching on her Cheetos as she neared her truck. She heaved the door open and lifted herself into the seat, humming to herself as she put the bag down and opened her red bull.

She hummed a little, pulling her phone from the seat. A sigh left her lips at the messages on the screen.

SAV
where are you these days?

haven’t talked in a couple weeks,
just checking in

WREN
I’m fine.
With Javi and Kate, actually

She looked up as a horn blared, followed by obnoxiously loud music. She stood up, still in the truck, her hand on the roof as she watched a huge red dodge roll in, followed by another truck then a camper – it was all decked out in storm chasing gear.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” She knew that truck. She’d know that truck anywhere, even if she had only really seen it twice. It was huge, obnoxiously so. It had all terrain tires, a roll-cage framing it, what she knew were launchers on the sides, and storm chasing gear attached to the top.

She watched as they pulled past the Storm PAR guys and a smile tugged at her lips when Boone leaned out the window with his camera.

“Hey, Storm PAR, we’re live on YouTube. Say somethin’.”

“Blow me, Boone!” One of the guys in blue called out, only to have Scott shut him down.

Boone just grinned, “Hey, smile, man! Science is fun, right? Whoo!”

Wren cupped her hands over her mouth, bracing herself against the seat so she wouldn’t fall out of her truck, “No, blow me, Boone!” She shouted and surprisingly he heard her over the music and all the people clamoring about.

He grinned and waved, making the girl laugh as she wiggled her fingers at him. Then she dropped down to the ground and made her way towards Javi and Kate.

“Who are they?” Kate asked, just as the girl reached them.

“Chasers out of Arkansas,” Javi answered, unimpressed by the show

“Hillbillies with a YouTube Channel,” Scott muttered.

“Every time you open your mouth, I wanna punch you,” Wren muttered, starting across the parking lot but he stopped her. She turned, her eyes narrowed as she looked from him to his hand.

“You wanna keep that hand?” She asked slowly.

“Yeah, dude, bad-bad move,” Javi patted his shoulder and he pulled his hand back, but his eyes lingered on her scars – he had felt the raised skin under his finger tips.

She rolled her eyes and started across the lot, making her way through the crowd as the truck stopped and Tyler stepped out, his huge cowboy hat on his head and sunglasses covering his eyes.

Boone rounded the truck, his camera aimed at Tyler, “Hey, T, tell the folks how you feelin’.”

“I’m feelin’ pretty good, Boone. And if you feel it–”

The crowd chimed in, “Chase it!”

Wren laughed as she pushed forward, squeezing past people.

“I said, if you feel it-”

“Chase it!” the crowd shouted again, only louder as he stepped down from the truck, and Boone turned to camera so they were both in frame.

“Oh, it’s a beautiful day!”

“Beautiful day!”

Tyler grinned as he turned towards the crowd, shaking hands and greeting people, Wren made her last shove forward, “Hey, green eyes, sign this!” she grabbed the tail of her shirt and pulled it up to her chin, successfully getting his attention.

How eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he jumped towards her, yanking her shirt down. “We’re live!” but she just laughed as she looked up at him, his smile just as wide as hers.

“Oh, it’s alright, Boone was lookin' the other way.”

“Did she just-”

“Yes, yes she did.” Kate nodded, cutting Javi off.

“What are you doin’ here?” he asked the girl as Dani opened the door to the camper with merch, getting the attention of the people around them long enough for him to pull her to the side for a moment. “You didn’t tell me you chase, too.”

“I don’t. I'm just a bartender, I just like to look at ‘em from a distance. But, uh, I have friends in the storm chasin' business.”

He smiled at her, his hands on her hips as he tugged her closer to him, “it’s really good to see you again.”

“You, too, cowboy.”

“Cortez!” She looked over her shoulder to see Javi waving her over.

“That’s my cue,” she mumbled, looking up at him again but she didn’t move as her eyes soaked him in.

“Storm PAR?”

“Right, apparently we’re enemies, or somethin',” she mumbled, stepping away from him. “Later, cowboy.” She turned and made her way back towards the others, a smile on her face as she glanced over her shoulder to see Tyler’s eyes still on her.

“You two know each other?” Kate asked, though she was more amused than anything.

“Nope, just met the guy.” She shrugged, but her smile gave it away.

“Wren, no.” Javi shook his head.

“Last I checked, you’re not my dad.” She shrugged, “you don’t get a say. Now, do your storm thing, so we can talk later.” She turned and made her way towards her truck, climbing in behind the wheel but she let her legs dangle as she watched the sky.

It was bright out, and if she didn't know better she would've thought that it'd be a slow day for storm chasing. But she watched as the clouds moved, how they shifted, and she just knew something was coming.

Then Kate caught her attention as she made her way towards a grassy area, a tablet in her hands, so she jumped down and followed her.

“How do you even read that thing?” Wren asked, stopping at her side and looking at the tablet.

Kate only hummed in response, passing her the tablet before she bent down and grabbed a dandelion.

“It looks like gibberish,” Wren mumbled, her eyes squinted at the tablet before tucking it under her arm and looking up at the sky. She pointed to the west, “those clouds are pretty, though.”

Kate chuckled quietly, making the girl smile, then she pulled the fuzz from the flower and opened her palm, watching as it spun on the breeze. Wren just watched in awe, she’d never seen Kate’s process before.

“You know,” the moment was broken as Tyler approached them. “I used to do that, too.”

“What?” Wren mumbled, glancing over at him. “Pick flowers? How cute.”

He chuckled, smiling at the girl, “no.”

“Lame,” she huffed, looking back at the tablet with a confused look on her face.

"Compare the wind direction to cloud movement,” he continued. “Get you a feel for the shear.”

“I just don’t get it,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head a little and he couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Sometimes the old ways are better than the new.”

Kate ignored him, her eyes on the sky. But Wren smiled a little when his arm brushed against hers, she playfully rolled her eyes,  glancing over at him.

“Now, I know where Wren’s from,” he went on, smirking at the girl as he licked his lips, and she wanted to kiss him again. “Where you coming in from?” He asked, looking over at Kate.

“New York.”

“Well, you’re a long way from home, city girl.”

“You say that like you’re from here,” Wren mumbled and his eyes met hers again.

“I thought you didn’t chase,” he glanced at the tablet. “Done told me you didn’t.”

“Cause I don’t.” She told him, “Her, on the other hand…”

“So, you like working for Storm PAR?” He asked, looking over at the blonde again.

But before she could answer, a man walked over. Glasses rested on his nose, his hair was thinning and a camera hung around his neck, “Tyler, do we know which storm we’re going after yet?”

“Well, why don’t we ask…” Tyler trailed off.

“Kate,” she offered.

“Hi, Kate. I’m Tyler.”

“And I’m Ben,” the nerdy guy added. “I’m a reporter, doing a piece on American storm chasing. Tyler’s letting me ride along.”

“Yeah, Ben just had to promise to write nothing but good stuff about me,” Tyler joked, patting the reporter on the chest.

“Good luck with that,” Wren hummed, smirking up at him and his eyes met hers. Every time she looked into his eyes, she swore she had never seen anything so beautiful.

“Wren.”

“Yep,” she mumbled, following the blonde.

“Hang on,” Tyler stopped them. “You didn’t say which way we were going yet. Now, from what I gather, west, we double our chances. East, well, it’s high risk, high reward.”

"Well, go for the reward,” Kate told him.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want Ben, here, to think you’re boring,” Wren added.

“No, boring is not usually a problem for me, baby,” he told her, loving the way she blushed and her eyes dropped to her feet.

Kate broke the moment, “the two cells to the west are fighting over the same inflow. They’ll choke each other out. This one to the east has the sky all to herself. Moisture, wind shear, instability.”

“I only know what half of that means,” Wren added. “But sounds like all the things you need to give Ben, here, a good show.” She gave him a little smirk before following after Kate.

“How exactly do you know him?” Kate asked, once they were a good distance away.

“I’ll put it this way, I’ve worn his hat.”

“What does that-” Kate trailed off the moment realization hit, her eyes went wide but a smile pulled at her lips. “Wren!”

Wear the hat, ride the cowboy.

The girl shrugged, “met him at a bar last week.”

Kate smiled over at the girl, hating that she had let her grief keep her from getting to know the girl that stood to her left. She seemed like a good person, a person that liked to have fun. And she had heard all of Javi’s stories about the girl, at least from within the first year, until she stopped answering calls.

“I’m sorry I pushed you away.”

“No, I get why.” Wren gave her a soft smile as they approached Javi and the rest of the Storm PAR guys.

“Talk to us,” Javi probed as Wren handed him the tablet.

“We want the cells to the west,” Kate told him, making Wren’s brows pinch.

“Um, the one to the east has much better numbers,” Scott argued.

“Every single time,” Wren mumbled, getting a glare from the boy.

“Conditions don’t feel right.” Kate shook her head, “Cap is too strong, it’ll never break.”

“You heard her,” Javi handed the tablet to Scott. “Let’s move. Alright, let’s move, fellas!” He got everyone's attention and they all climbed into their cars, as Wren made her way back to her truck. “Cortez,” Javi stopped her. “Wanna join?”

She hesitated, looking up at the sky again. She was scared, sure, but the part of her that longed to see the beauty and the destruction was stronger. “I don't know what I’m doing.”

He smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, “don’t worry. You’re rollin’ with the best.” He told her, and she laughed as he led her towards his truck. Tyler watched her, mesmerized by her even from a distance. But he was also confused, if she didn’t chase, why was she getting into a storm chaser's truck?

And why the hell wasn’t it his?