Terror By Night

Chapter 3

The morning starts per usual. Chores, shower, and waiting for Nolan. The only oddity to be found is the television's not working. Usually Grandpa Ben watches the news while he has his second cup of coffee. For whatever reason, every channel is black. No static, no white noise, no emergency alerts. Nothing. At first, I'm not even sure the thing is on. Whatever the meaning, it isn't going to stop me from going to school. Short of an actual apocalypse, I refuse to miss.

I wait on the front porch with my hands tucked inside my oversized jacket. It's Florida, so the weather is a mild 50 degrees for November. But I'll be happy when it's summer. I miss the heat, the suns burning rays. You'd think I'd be tanner from all the time I spend outdoors. Unfortunately, I just wasn't designed that way. My fair skin will burn and instantly return to it's natural shade of pale shortly after. If I move someplace like Seattle, I'll blend right in. I'd just have to adjust to the constant cool dampness. I reflexively shiver. 

I check my watch. Nolan should've been here by now. I start to stamp my feet. Thank goodness, I see the jeep turning into the long driveway. As soon as he pulls up, I jump in and am rewarded with a hot caramel macchiato. God bless him. My hands wrap around the warm travel mug. I lift the lid and peer inside. "Umm, did you put extra whip on?"

"Of course. What's a good macchiato without extra whip cream? I do aim to please you know," he says with a slight offended tone. 

I attempt to smooth his ruffled feathers. "You're the best. Who needs overpriced coffee houses when I have Nolan "Mean Bean" Reed?"

"'Mean Bean'? I hope that doesn't stick." We both laugh at the absurdity.

On the drive I ask, "Was your t.v. being weird this morning?"

Nolan glances over then focuses back on the road. "Define weird."

I sip my drink and tell him about the blackout. Nolan says, "I was too busy making the special for her majesty," he gestures to my mug. "I didn't have time to look. I don't know, maybe something happened to the local station."

"Then it would've been just the one or a couple channels, right?" I'm mildly intrigued. But without Nolan turning his tv on at home, I have no way to know if it was just ours out or more widespread.

"Don't know what to tell you Layken except we both know something weird is going on around here. You can act all nonchalant if you want, but I know you. You think something's up too," he says as he gives me a brief glance from the corner of his eye.

I don't argue. Nolan knows me too well. "If the teachers are still acting weird today, we'll know something's going on. Something they aren't telling anyone, even the parents."

"Because the school knows the quickest way to start a panic is to tell the parents some big thing is about to go down and it's happening with us," Nolan adds. His attention is split between watching the road intently and glancing frequently at the sky.

What's got him so curious about the sky? I try to see what he's seeing, but the only thing abnormal is a slight purple hue to the clouds. I wonder if maybe I was right yesterday about there being an issue with the weather. This whole thing might literally blow over in a few days and we'll have all gotten scared for nothing.

We ride the rest of the way mostly silent, lost in our perspective thoughts. As we pull into the school lot, I realize there are a few cars missing. Apparently, some students took the teachers distraction yesterday as an opening to ditch. Why come to school if you don't get homework assignments and are just going to sit and read all day? I don't blame them, I just can't afford to join them. Katie's breathing down my neck for Salutatorian and I'm not going to hand it to her on a silver platter because the teachers are being sketchy.