Creep

It rained hard (ch. 1)

That evening I had stayed at school later than usual to finish a project for history. I'm finally heading home now. I decide to stop at the gas station to get a drink. The coolness of the AC falls on my back as I walk inside the store. I linger to the back and pick out some weird iced coffee I've never tried before.

The place is empty so i don't need to wait in line to check out. "That will be $4.50" The cashier says. I look up to see a man with dirty blonde hair and an arm full of tattoos. He seemed oddly familiar to me. "You going to pay sweetie?" I hear and realize I have been staring at him. "R-right" I reach into my bag, pull out the money and hand it to him.

I hear a faint tapping sound on the roof, realizing that it is beginning to pour rain. "Shit" I say under my breath. "What time does this close?" I ask and prevent myself from looking into his eyes. "Hmm... approximately two minutes ago. You're wasting my time." He grunts. "Oh.. I'm sorry." I say and angrily glance out the window again. What a jerk. "What? You afraid of getting a little wet?" He asks. "No, it's not that but I live pretty far from here and it'll be impossible to see when its so dark and rainy." I sigh and grab my drink. "I can drive you home." He says. "WH- no way! I don't even know you, you could be a rapist or something!!!" I exclaim. "Fine.. I can't keep the shop open but I can stay with you somewhere dry." He says. Why was he being to nice to me all the sudden? "Stay here while I turn the lights off." He walks away. I stay frozen in place.

I couldn't believe I was trusting some stranger. The lights turn off but luckily the street lights illuminate the store so I can see him walking my way.

"Ok follow me." He motions to the door and opens it up. I shiver as a few drops of water hit me. He locks up the door and I follow him to the back of the building. We both crouch down in a dry area, covered with wood creating a roof.

"Did you make this?" I ask. "Yea." He says and looks away. I shiver again and regret leaving my jacket in the lockers.

He passes me an old blanket. "Oh.. thanks." I smile a little bit. He slides closer to me and wraps the blanket around him too. I look at him and blush slightly. "What? You're not the only one who is cold."

He laughs quietly.  He tries to light a cigarette and grunts. I assume that his lighter is out. "You got a lighter?" He asks. I pull it out of my bag and hand it to him. "So I'm guessing you smoke too." He says as he lights up the cigarette. "Nope I just like to burn shit." I smirk. "Oh. You should try it" He says taking a hit. "You're encouraging a high school student to smoke?!? I laugh. "Sure why not." He says.

"My names Jonah by the way." He adds. "Oh I'm Cassandra but please call me Cassie." We begin to talk about our childhood, but most of our conversation is about how much of a klutz I used to be- and still am. I would usually be embarrassed to talk about myself so much, but for some reason I wasn't .

He starts telling me a story about how he got expelled from preschool but I feel myself drifting off...