Andy

We sat down to dinner that night in a quiet little restaurant. While we waited, Mom checked the weather on her phone. While scrolling through the reports, she started to frown.

“What's wrong?” Dad asked her, trying to see what on her phone had upset her.

“It's starting to flood in Pendant,” she sighed, holding up her screen to show us the photo of the big river that cuts through town overflowing. The marsh grass on the banks swamped in mud and water that had already climbed to the treeline.

“Oh man...” My Dad murmured to himself.

“Let me text Marcy to ask her how the roads are looking. I really don't want to get flooded out, and the house is by no means ready to take on water.”

I sat quietly while she wrote a message to our neighbor, until the thought hit me.

“What about the river behind our house?”

It was just a ribbon trail creek, sure, but when those flood, they get out of hand in a hurry.

My parents looked at each other in concern. Mom ditched the text to instead call. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the tabletop while it dialed.

“Marcy! Hi! This is Sandy Hunter,” she greeted her with as much enthusiasm as she could. Immediately, her expression became troubled. She nodded, as I assumed Marcy Greene had immediately started telling her about the weather.

“Oh no...” She murmured in reply, her brow creasing. “So the Riley's have already had flooding?... Their whole basement?... That's terrible.”

The Riley's were a young couple that lived seven houses down from us on our right. They had two kids, James, and Nora. They were both my age and went to my school. We don't visit their house often, but from what I can remember, the river that runs behind the neighborhood came much further up into their backyard than ours, but that didn't discount their tragedy. It just meant part of our neighborhood was already having a shit time with the rain, and our house was inevitably on the list.

Luckily, our house kinda sits on a hill, with a long sloping backyard to the base of the woods where the creek was. We need to get back as soon as possible.

After a few more minutes of nodding, she began to wrap up the call.

“We'll be praying for you all. Let me know if anything changes, please... We will, thanks... Bye.”

Setting her phone down, she wore a troubled expression. Me and my dad both remained quiet until she was ready to share, but we were both giddy with worry.

“She said the creek has already started flooding, in fact, it was the first thing to flood since its down in that ditch, so a lot of the run off had collected there. The Riley's, the Martin's, and Bethany Cowler have all had excessive flooding in their cellars.”

She looked at my Dad in concern, and they made a silent agreement.

“What do you want to do?“ he asked as calmly as possible. “We can leave first thing in the morning and be there tomorrow evening, if you want to.”

She nodded slowly in deep thought. “I think that would be best.”

The rest of dinner was a quiet, stressful event. We were all worried for what was to come.

~~~

Those grey clouds that had stalked me on my hike had finally consumed the sky above Berkeley, and with it, came a light dusting of rain. I watched the landscape blur outside my window on drive back to the hotel. Part of me was excited to go home, to see all my friends again and to be settled in where I feel comfortable, but on the other hand, who knows what horrific things were waiting for us in Pendant.

We got back to the hotel, and made a mad dash for the front doors to get out of the rain.

Almost as if nothing had changed from that morning, the receptionists greeted us as we crossed the lobby to the elevator.

I split from my parents to go up to my room, feeling all worn out and drained. I unlocked my door and pushed it open to find it dark and empty inside. My hope dwindled as I stepped in and shut the door securely behind me. Where was he?

I searched the vanity again for a note, any sign that he'd returned while I was gone, but there was nothing. His clothes hadn't moved, and every possession he'd brought back from his dorm still sat in a strewn mess across the green recliner by the window.

With a tired sigh, I walked towards his belongings, picking up a charcoal grey t-shirt, turning it around in my hands. To occupy my mind, I tidied up his pile, nearly folding his shirts, jackets and jeans, setting them on the recliner for when he returns.

I moved on to packing my own items, folding up my dresses, shorts and tops, stuffing them back in my suitcase.

I looked up from my work when my phone rang. I grabbed it and checked caller ID, it was from CC.

“Hello?” I answered, listening to a scratching sound in the background before he replied.

“Ash!” He greeted me cheerfully, with just the perfect amount of sunshine to brighten my shitty evening.

“CC!” I greeted him with equal enthusiasm that was not artificial. During that plague week, he became my new source of friendship.

He laughed for a bit before sighing, “Sorry, this isn't a leisure call.”

“No? Then what is it?” I was still semi-joking, mostly to ward off what he would inevitably say.

“It's about the floods, actually. Things are getting bad here... Like, *really* bad.”

“I'm coming home tomorrow,” I told him with a sigh, sitting at the end of the bed. “We saw the reports, we're leaving in the morning, I should be there by tomorrow night.”

“Okay,” he agreed, “make sure to text me when you get in, okay?”

“Sure, of course.”

“I won't tackle you when you get back then, if it'll be that late in the evening. Hey if you're not busy on Saturday, want to meet up?”

I smiled to myself, “That sounds awesome right now. I'm so sick of these artificial California people.” I laughed “everyone's either a Barbie, or they're trying too hard to be. I could use seeing some genuine faces.”

“Jake and Jinxx want to see you, too... Hey, did you ever tell them about Andy?”

“No, I didn't get the chance. Did you?”

“No.”

I absently picked at a thread at the edge of the bedspread while I thought. “I saw some pictures of the damage, a couple houses on my street have already had basement flooding. How is it where you are?”

“The streets are creeks now.” He chuckled, “shit, if I had a rowboat, I'd have a great time.”

I laughed with him “You could give rowboat rides, be Captain Christian Coma.”

“That's not a bad idea... Wait, do you need a license to drive a boat?”

“Maybe if you live in a pineapple under the sea.” I responded sarcastically, to hear an astonished gasp on the other end.

“You made a Spongebob reference!” He accused me in a surprised tone, I laughed.

“Aye, bud. Ah, well, I should probably be getting ready for bed soon if I have to leave early. I'll see you Saturday, though. Where do you want to meet, and what time?”

“I dunno. Why don't we play it by ear until you get back, kay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Don't do anything I wouldn't do!” He warned in a laugh, “see ya later, Ash-igator.”

I snorted “Bye, Animal.”

We hung up not too long later. I took a shower to wash the sand from my hair, then I changed into some comfortable jogging sweats and a white tank top, settling into bed to check my Facebook while I wound down.

It was almost ten at night, and he still wasn't back... What if he wasn't back in time before I leave in the morning? I have no way of looking for him, and what could I tell my parents? 'Stop! No! I can't leave, I've lost my ghost!'

That'd go over real well.

I sighed and tossed my phone to the other side of the bed, and lied down. I wouldn't be able to sleep, though. I lied there for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. I pulled myself up from the mattress with a small twinge of hope. Only to pull the door open and find my parents. Ever since we'd gotten here, only one ever visited, never both. They gave me calm smiles and I gestured for them to enter my humble abode.

“We just came to share the travel plans with you.” My Mom said as she went to sit at the edge of Andy and Ashley's bed. My Dad said beside her, looking worn down.

“Okay.” I replied, remaining standing. I didn't feel like I had a place in this room anymore, a temporary home away from home where I did not belong.

“We're leaving first thing in the morning, probably at four to make good time home. I just spoke with Marcey again, she said the water is still rising, but it's still manageable.”

I nodded slowly while I took in her words.

“But, with it still raining nonstop with no sign of stopping, things could spiral out of control very quickly. Just make sure you're all packed and ready to go.”

“Who's stuff is that?” My Dad asked suddenly, I followed his gaze to Andy's pile of belongings in the recliner.

“Mine.” I lied without wavering, “I bought them at an Indie clothing store the other day.”

He continued to stare at them for a few minutes before replying. “They look like boy clothes.”

“They do?” I frowned, walking towards the pile, pulling his black cut up Kiss shirt off the top, holding it in front of myself, pretending to look for the flaws he saw.

“Do they really sell clothes all cut up like that?“ my mom asked in low key disgust. “It looks like someone got excited with the scissors.”

I frowned and shrugged, “I think it's just a thing for California. I've never seen anything like that in Pendant.”

I tossed the shirt aside, hoping to make this conversation a distant memory. “Anything else?”

They shrugged and looked at each other, then at me. “No, that's pretty much it... As far as travel stuff goes.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion, “What else is there?”

“We just wanted to check in with you.” My Mom said calmly, which made me worried.

“About what?”

I noticed my parents were holding hands securely, as though they needed a lot of support from one another right then.

“We just need to talk about you.” She assured me, but I did not feel more confident. “The last few weeks, you've changed a lot. We know that leaving things like this untreated can cause major problems in the long run, so we're just going to nip this in the butt and check in with you. What's been up? What's changed?”

My head was spinning with the words. I already knew what changed everything, but if I said his name, they'd think I was crazy. It killed me to think that I could never trust them with the truth.

“Nothing, really.” I lied. “I guess I've just been experimenting with different things, that's all.”

“So you call skipping school and hitting your friends 'experimentation'?” My Dad replied, a twinge of annoyance and hurt in his voice. I looked him in the eyes and I could tell that he could see right through me. I've always been closer to my Dad than my Mom, so everything hurt more when it was hurting him. Lying to him was like shooting him myself.

“Things just got out of hand.” I whispered, walking towards the other bed to sit there cross legged.

“What do you mean?” They asked in confusion. “Did something happen? Did you do something you thought we wouldn't like? You can tell us, honey.”

I looked them both in the eyes. They were sincere but concerned.

“You didn't...” My Dad trailed off, making suggestive gestures with his hand “get into drugs or something?”

I shook my head sharply, “No, no, that's the furthest thing from my mind.”

They exchanged another look, as though to mentally ask the other if the next question they were thinking of asking was appropriate.

“You've been very different ever since... That day after church. We assumed it just hit you pretty hard witnessing it, but damn...” My Dad shook his head in disbelief, “the signs just kept spinning out of control and you were changing right in front of us. Made us start to wonder if there wasn't something else, y'know?”

I nodded sullenly.

“You would tell us if there was something else, right?” My Dad pressed.

*another lie*. “Yeah,” I replied, wringing my fingers, “I don't know how to describe what I'm going through, and it feels easier not to, you know? I'm just working things out in my own way.”

They looked very worried, but they didn't pry.

“As for that day, the day he died, it was just a shock, that's all. A shock, that slowly over the course of the week, began to make me question a lot of things in my own life, which then made me tired and irritable. I'm sorry everything happened the way it did, but I was just trying to figure it out. And it was made a lot harder with all the unnecessary peer pressure.”

They frowned simultaneously, looking at me sincerely while I spoke, taking in every word for careful cross examination later.

My Dad's next words surprised me. “Did you... Did you know him?”

I looked at him, trying to quickly conceal any shock or concern that could give me away.

“No.” I replied quickly, “though, during the week of his funeral, I met his friends, his family, saw photos of him and listened to his music, and then it was almost like I had. It's very strange.” A long pause followed while I carefully chose my words.

“Though, I wish I had. He seems like he was really a bright, amazing person to be around. Always a ray of sunshine for those who needed it. We need more people like that.”

My Dad looked at me for a long moment before nodding thoughtfully. “Yes, we do.”

They lingered for a little while longer, watching the weather on TV before kissing my forehead and saying goodnight, letting themselves out. I locked the door, and pressed my back against it, sighing softly.

The room was empty and quiet aside from the dull thudding of raindrops sliding down the window

Notes

I have a High School art symposium coming up on the 20th, so it's been a mad rush to get stuff done. I'm a terrible procrastinator, and as a result, my art is due the 18th, and I'm not done with anything yet. :P I'll share it here when I get it all done. In the meantime, I'll post the backlog of chapters I've already written.
Love you all. <3