Page 117 of Hate You, Maybe
“Then let me stay with you.”
“Stubborn woman,” Dex mutters, starting for the door. “Stick close to me. Right by my side.”
“Roger that,” I say, following him out into the quad. The rainfall is heavy and steady, the sky darkening by the minute. Together, we patrol the property, checking the lower parking lots and the buildings on the south side of campus. Since all practices and meetings were canceled due to early-morning rain, we find no signs of students or parents anywhere.
The winds pick up while we search, though, making visibility a challenge, which is why we almost plow right into Gordon coming around the side of the humanities building. He’s wearing a hooded raincoat and boots.
Smart.
“What are you doing here?” Dex shouts over a roll of thunder.
“Heard about the storm. Wanted to be sure there weren’t any kids hanging around. Even in the rain, they sometimes come by on weekends, looking for a place to be away from their parents.”
“We already checked the lower buildings,” I say. “If you want to cover mid-campus, Dex and I can take the back access road and swing by the playing fields.”
“Hopefully, we won’t find anyone,” Gordon says.
“Either way, let’s meet up after.” Dex jerks his chin in the direction of the gym. “If the storm gets too bad, we can shelter in the weight room. There are no windows, and the building’s solid.”
Gordon nods. “Good plan.” Then he heads off into the storm.
I reach for Dex. “See? We have a plan now.” I offer him a small smile. “We’ll reconnoiter here. Or we’ll connoiter. Or both.”
A vein in his forehead throbs. He’s unamused by mycallback to his joke from the retreat. So I just squeeze his hand. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
By the time we’ve checked all the playing fields, the wind is howling like it’s alive. Lightning jags across the sky in between bursts of thunder, and the trees along the access road are losing branches. As we make our way through the gym to meet Gordon, the windows along the lobby rattle in their frames.
We cross the basketball courts over to the weight room, shaking water from our rain-soaked clothes. By now, my pink sweatshirt is completely soaked through, sticking to my body like wallpaper. But I’m not any drier underneath, so I just leave it on and collapse onto a weight bench. Dex is about to sit beside me when the fluorescent lights flicker overhead.
“Well, that’s a problem,” he says, grimly.
I wince. “At least we have the flashlights on our phones.”
“Yeah, but we could be stuck here a while, and my battery’s low.”
“Ugh. Mine too.” I press out a laugh. “Not charging our phones was kind of a rookie mistake, huh? Kind of like leaving a cabin at night without a lantern.”
Dex furrows his brow. “We’ve got a few lanterns in the storage shed down by the football field. Maybe some flashlights, too.”
“Text Gordon,” I suggest. “He can stop by and grab some.”
“He’s coming from the other side of campus.” Dex pushes to a stand. “I’ll just run over there real quick myself.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“First of all, you don’t run, Kroft. And there’s no way you’re going out in that storm again. It’s not safe.”
“If it’s not safe for me, it’s not safe for you either.”
“My safety isn’t the goal. Making sure you’re okay is. Simple as that.”
Our phones buzz at the same time. An update from Gordon.
Gordon
Whole trees are coming down out here. Some buildings damaged. Broken windows. You two all right?
Dex mutters under his breath, while I text Gordon back.
