Authors: Michele G Miller
"Where's Stuart?" asks Candy Crenshaw; her curly brown hair flying around her face in the light breeze.
"On his way," she replies with a shrug. This is the typical hello she receives nowadays. Anywhere she goes, it’s, 'Where's Stuart?' It’s aggravating to be Stuart Daniels’ girlfriend. She supposes it’s harder being Stuart. After all, in the state of Texas where the only things bigger than high school football are beef and God, being an All-American QB on his way to a second division-one state title makes you a celebrity.
Jules yelps as strong arms wrap around her body; locking her arms to her sides as the big body behind her lifts her feet off the ground. She takes in the thick, dark brown arms squeezing the life out of her and howls, "Let me down, Ruben!"
"Shoot, girl! How'd you know it was me?"
"Dude, I can smell you. Didn't you hit the showers after the game?"
"Damn, baby. Why you gotta be so cold?" he whines; setting her down and spanking her rear as he asks the million dollar question of the night. "Where's Stu?"
She spins around with a frown, but can’t dig up the energy to yell at him. He’s a three-hundred pound teddy bear with a heart of gold, so instead she repeats the generic, "He'll be here soon,” again and leans against the tailgate next to Candy's swinging legs.
Tanya, with Tommy following closely behind her, finally joins them ten minutes later as Jules and Candy are discussing the opposing team’s cheerleaders.
"How do you play nice with them, Jules? That redheaded chick resembled a raccoon with all her sloppy eyeliner. I could see it all the way from the stands…"
Candy keeps chirping away as Jules takes in Tanya and Tommy's entwined hands.
'T & T'
, she chuckles to herself.
"This humidity is downright miserable," complains Candy as she keeps talking and talking, and Jules feels her brain turning to mush. She switches her attention to Ruben and a few of the other football players the first chance she can, preferring to listen to anything they are saying, compared to the whiny, high-pitched tone of 'Randy Candy'. The guys are engrossed in recapping their individual highlights from the game tonight, and she eavesdrops.
"That holding call on Marco was bunk, man. You kidding me? But when number eighty-eight blasted D-man with that late hit? Nothing!" Grunts of agreement go out.
And so the conversations continue; on one side of her the girls gossip, and on the other the boys compare game notes. That’s until the deep bass of a rap song vibrates through the air and everyone swivels to see a black sports car turn into the parking lot, followed by a white pick-up truck. Tanya curses when she spots the car and knocks her shoulder into Jules.
"Rossview players," she whispers, and Jules peers at the cars; wondering how she knows who it is. She turns a raised brow to Tanya, looking for an explanation.
"That's Carter's car."
"Carter?" she mumbles thoughtfully and then, "Oh! Carter."
Carter was a summer fling of Tanya's who she kept pretty secret. They met back in June and had two hot and heavy weeks before BAM! they were done. Just like that. Tanya didn’t mention him until cheer camp a few weeks ago, much to Katie and Jules’ surprise, since they typically share everything.
The two cars roll through the lot slowly until they pull up to where Jules and her friends are hanging out. All around the Ice Shack, people stare and conversations stop as the Hillsdale players realize who the occupants of the vehicles are.
"Hey Ruben," the passenger in Carter's car calls out, and all eyes go to the teddy bear as the person in the car waves him over.
"What? We played Rec together, don't get all excited."
"Hey, losers — go back to your own town," someone in the crowd heckles, and the three guys sitting in the back of the truck behind Carter's car stand with their chests puffed out.
Acutely aware of the fight coming on, Jules decides to remove herself from the over-hyped crowd.
Making her way to the Shack, she is about to approach the window and order a cone before she remembers she left her bag and money in Stuart's car back at the school. Frustrated with how long he is taking, she stomps her way to the picnic table sitting to the side of the Shack, pulls out her phone and throws herself down on the bench.
Jules: Where are you?
She stares at her screen, expecting a quick reply. It is almost eleven o'clock. Too late for them to have time to go back to his place now, unless she wants to break curfew. She's done it before, but hates to start the school year off in trouble if she gets caught. With a sigh, Jules crosses her legs and flicks her long hair over one shoulder; absently twisting a piece around her finger as she looks across the lot. The Rossview students’ cars are now surrounded by her friends. Ruben is hunched over, talking to the passenger in the sports car, and Tommy
—
with Tanya in tow
—
is laughing at the driver, Carter.
"Poor Tanya, that can't be comfortable," she mutters out loud.
"You always talk to yourself, cheerleader?"
Startled by the voice behind her, Jules checks over her shoulder. "Excuse me?"
Sitting there, alone in the dark, is West Rutledge; his dark shirt and hair blending in with the shadowed surroundings as he gives her the once-over.
"You're excused, Buffy," he drawls; tipping his head to the side.
Jules fights the urge to laugh at his comment. She's barely spoken to West since middle school. Once upon a time they were friends, but then the hormones hit, cliques formed and West quit football. A Rutledge boy who doesn’t play football is a rare commodity in Tyler, Texas. His father and two older brothers are all former Hillsdale players, and the middle son is currently a sophomore star at A&M.
"Does that make you Spike? Sitting here brooding in the dark with your flask?" she inquires; raising her brows with a nod to indicate the small flask he holds.
A sly grin slips across his lips and Jules can’t help but fixate on them as West takes a long sip from the flask. He is sitting on the opposite side from her, on top of the table, with his heavy boots on the seat. Clearly he'd been facing out away from the parking lot when she first walked up, because while she noticed someone's presence, she didn't notice it was him when she first sat down. His body is now angled towards hers, with his arms resting on his knees and the flask dangling from his fingertips.
With a small shake of her head to remove the pleasant vision of his lips from her brain, she forces herself to look away and stands as she finally spots Katie and Jeff in the crowd. She can barely make out Jeff's raised voice over the crowd, and notices how he is between Tommy and Carter with a hand on both of their chests. A few steps behind him stands Katie; her hands fisted on her hips, looking pissed. Deciding to rescue both of her best friends from another Friday night fight scene, she begins to take a step forward when West speaks up again.
"I think I could live with you calling me Spike."
The wind picks up and blows Jules’ tiny skirt up in the back. Stupid outfits.
"Really? You
do
know Buffy and Spike hated each other?" she reminds him. Deep down, she wonders if he actually feels that way about her. Sure they don’t speak anymore, but she's never done anything to him personally. She always tries to be nice to everyone. Her mission has always been to debunk the stuck-up cheerleader stereotype. Lord knows Tanya and several of the other girls already have that market cornered.
The lights in the Shack flicker as West grins at her.
"At first," he points out; his voice dropping to what could only be described as stomach-flipping hotness.
"At first?"
"Jules!" shouts Katie; jogging her way. "Can you believe this? Every freaking weekend they do this crap. Can’t we just get Tanya and go? I'm so tired of all the pissing contests."
Katie grabs Jules’ hand and gives it a tug as she stands there with her eyes locked with West's. Suddenly her brain realizes what West said about Buffy and Spike.
"Oh, at first," she stammers; a blush creeping up her face.
The lights flicker again and all three of them glance around with curiosity as the entire parking lot goes in and out of darkness. The air has thickened in the twenty minutes they've been there, and Jules feels a trickle of sweat run down her back as her pulse speeds up.
"Come on," begs Katie.
"See ya around, Buff." West chuckles and sends her a small salute as he slides down from the picnic table.
Jules can feel Katie's curious eyes boring holes in her back, and she turns with all intentions of grabbing Tanya and leaving when all hell breaks loose.
Across the lot, Tanya's angry screams pull their attention. Tommy and Carter are on the ground rolling around, each one taking swings as Tanya stands over them trying to kick at their backs. The rest of the team stands by, watching. Perhaps they are waiting to see who has the upper hand so they can join in and help if needed.
Jules hears West mumble something about "Stupid pricks" behind her before she and Katie start towards the fight. They don’t have time to take a single step before a shrill siren sounds into the night and everyone freezes. Fifty teens stand in a gravel parking lot and watch as the lights down the street, toward the more saturated downtown area, flicker on and off. Somewhere an emergency management message starts blasting on someone's car radio, but it is the loud, early warning siren that catches the most attention. In the oppressive wet heat of a late August night, the wind picks up again and Jules looks at Katie, whose face has turned pale, and they both recognize what is coming.
Four
Jules stops talking to the camera for a moment; pressing a palm to her chest as her pulse begins to race. Her heart pounds as if she’s living that moment again. She's had enough nightmares over the months to recall every last detail. Confusion turns into complete panic as people start to put two and two together. Shouts of "Tornado!" and "Run!" swirl around her.
Jules closes her eyes and remembers the thick heat in the atmosphere. Opening them, she speaks to the camera.
"People ask how in this day and age a storm could catch our town so unaware. For those who weren't here, you have to know — there was no rain, no thunder or lighting; nothing that would have warned us of the fury heading our way. I think for the first minute when the sirens sounded, most people just assumed it was a false alarm."
* * *
Jules and Katie stand rooted to the ground as a strong gust sweeps by them, kicking up dust and flicking their short skirts. In the distance a loud pop sounds, and the Shack is engulfed in darkness as the power goes out. Turning, Jules realizes the entire downtown area is black. In the parking lot, headlights flip on as people jump in cars. Their wheels spit up gravel as they try to exit the parking lot, and the mass exodus causes a sudden gridlock while horns blare.
The sudden movement of the vehicles pulls them from their frozen state. Katie yells at Jules and clasps her hand tightly. "Come on! Let's go!"
In a panic, Jules moves to follow her when a hand wraps around her other arm. Her head whips around to see West's silhouette; his head shaking vigorously.
"No! We need to find a safe shelter. You can't outrun a tornado!" he shouts and starts to tug her the opposite way.
"Katie!" Jules cries. She looks over the scene before them and takes in all of the other patrons and schoolmates who scatter resembling ants at a picnic by either foot or car. A deep rumbling sound begins to fill the night air.
"Come on!" West pulls her arm again and Jules follows, dragging Katie behind her.
"Tanya!" Katie shouts. "Jeff!"
Bodies run everywhere. Screams of terror, shouts for help, people trying to tell others what to do.
"Get low!" Ruben shouts; coming up behind them and grabbing Katie's free hand. They are now a human chain.
"What?"
"Get low! Remember the safety instructions? We need a ditch or basement."
The wind whips everything around. Jules’ skirt flies up and her hair slaps across her face. She looks at Katie, whose braid has come loose. She reminds her of Medusa now, with her hair flying all around her.
The trees in the area groan and snap as fierce gusts tear through them. The tornado, wherever it is, is getting closer. Jules hears the telltale sound of a train chasing after them. She hears the pops of generators off in the distance and Katie’s scream when something explodes nearby. Car horns blare.
They look back to see the damage and Jules makes out something large being hurled through the sky towards them. It crashes to the ground and the metal scrapes along the street, which causes sparks to fly as what looks to be a car barrels into a tree across the street with a deafening crack.
The Ice Shack is situated on the outskirts of town, off the main highway but on a straightaway section that contains mostly fields and farmland. There are two houses on this side of the street, and they run towards the closest; a sprawling farmhouse that has been vacant for years. Jules looks around her again to see the shadows of others running with them towards the house.