Ricky parks the car in front of Rachel's home feeling divided between calling her or going to the front door.
A moment later, Ricky rings the door bell.
Rachel pauses brushing her hair and looks up at the clock in her room. It's early. She resumes what she was doing.
"Rachel, your friend's here!" Her mother's voice booms from below.
Rachel hurries up and starts getting ready. Fortunately she had picked the dress to wear today the night before.
When Rachel enters the living room, she sees Ricky talking to her dad. They laugh.
"I'm ready. Let's go," Rachel says.
"You haven't had your breakfast yet," her mother says.
"We'll eat outside, mom."
"Bu—"
"Let the kids go," her father says, "They will eat out anyway."
"Don't skip the breakfast," her mom warns.
"Don't worry, mam, I'll make sure she doesn't," Ricky says.
"Let's go," Rachel says, holding the front door open.
In the car, she tells Ricky, "You're early."
"Only a little," Ricky says, "So what would you like to have breakfast?"
Rachel smiles. "Pancakes?"
"Pancakes it it."
A while later, the two of them order pancakes and coffee at the diner. It's still early in the day and only a few customers are here.
After breakfast, the pair of them travel an hour before they reach their destination — the SSG Hall.
A large helium balloon of a spaceship is floating at the front, greeting the visitors of the Space Expo.
The parking is right by the corner. "I thought we were early, but there's already so many cars here," Rachel says, looking at the nearly filled parking space.
"A little longer and we would have to park on the other block and walk over to here," Ricky says.
Ricky and Rachel show their passes at the gate and enter the gigantic hall. Rachel happily smiles at the atmosphere and decorations.
The stars speckled ceiling, rocket buntings, LED screens showing promotional videos of different stalls, everything fills the hall with an irresistible atmosphere for space enthusiasts.
"Where do we start?" Rachel excitedly asks. Ricky proudly takes out his phone and shows her the floor plan. "We've a map," he says.
WHEN HECTOR ENTERS the bar, the men break out in a cheer. He laughs. "Finally," Jay says, "our boy is here."
Hector sits down next to the middle aged man. "Sorry for running late. Thought you guys would've left without me."
"Never," David says coming over to them and patting on Hector's shoulder. "Now let's get going. We can still reach there by afternoon."
The men in leather jackets stream out of the bar and climb onto their bikes. Hector does the same. Soon the herd of two wheelers sweep over the roads, cars moving out of their way, with some drivers looking at them with disapproval, others with admiration.
By afternoon they reach the midway point to the summit. A large tent is put up for the travelers to eat and take a break.
After making their orders the bikers occupy the largest table. "So how have you been? School's been keeping you busy?" Jay asks Hector.
"Good. Football practice took most of my time. But now that the season is over, I've some free time."
"Got no girl to fill that time with?" Lil' Joe asks from across the table.
"Not really," Hector says.
"It's either yes or no," Jay says, "What does not really means?"
"It means there's a girl our boy likes," David says. "By any chance could it be Agatha's little sister I met that day?"
YOU ARE READING
RAINSTORM
RomanceEverything changes the day she sees him in the rain. Teenager Rachel's life takes a turn one night when she catches her school's bad boy Hector under the rain in an act that no one would ever believe he did if she told them about it. As if that's n...
