Mallory Fitch Saves the World

Watered Down

I sit in my living room, mesmerized by the storm outside. The rain is coming down in buckets, pelting the roof with heavy droplets. The plinking sound of stray raindrops making their way under the overhang to the windows, drumming a distracting melody for my ears. This weather does wonders for my already somber mood.

I look to the large oak tree in my yard, dancing along to the sound in the wind. Underneath, I notice two small squirrels huddling together, trying to stay dry. I bet they've never taken each other, or that tree, for granted.

"Sure is coming down out there." Fin shakes his head and whistles in disbelief, moving to search my pantry.

I just continue to stare out the window, leaning against the edge of the couch. "Mm," I hum. This is followed by a sigh, before I rest my chin on my hand. Suddenly a stroke of lightning, accompanied by an ominous clap of thunder, illuminates the sky. I nearly fall off the couch, startled by the sound.

"It's just thunder, Mal," Finley laughs as he enters the room, coffee cups in hand. I struggle to flash him a small, half smile. He gives me a look, one that says 'oh gee, I feel so bad for this puppy. She just keeps getting kicked, then going back for more.'

"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine," I mutter, pulling my mug from his hand.

"Look at you like what?" He questions, feigning ignorance.

"Fin, you don't have to feel sorry for me. I'm fine. Anyway, I did this to myself." I shuffle into a comfortable position before reaching for the remote. I notice Fin about to open his mouth to speak, and stop him immediately. "Don't." He nods, and settles onto the couch next to me. We sit in silence for a little while, just watching some movie.

Finley has been helicopter friending me this entire week. I took his advice and went to see Oliver. To put it lightly, things didn't go well, and I've been a little down. It just keeps playing, over and over in my mind...

As I walk towards the building, the dread grows in the pit of my stomach. I can't stop myself from thinking of the worst possible outcome, from him kicking me out on site all the way to him yelling like a crazy person. Not that either of those things would ever happen, because that's just not Oliver.

I walk through the doors and head straight to reception. Before I say anything, I hear a voice call my name. "Mallory?"

"Mallory!" Fin yells. I hadn't noticed that I strayed from the movie back to the window, until I had to flip my head around to look at him. "Stop. Thinking. About him," he scolds, little pauses in between his words.

"How do you know I was thinking about him? Aren't I the mind reader here?"

He rolls his eyes and gets up from his spot on the couch. I hear his voice from behind me, as he enters the kitchen. "You get this sad little pout on your face, every time one of us mentions him. And when your head is somewhere else, you just stare off into the distance and ignore everything around you. So, when you do both of those things, it's pretty easy to deduct that he's on your mind. I don't blame you, I know how close you two got. Honestly, I thought he was the one, but I guess it wasn't meant to-"

"Okay, thank you for...whatever that was. But, I'm fine and I don't need to hear anymore." I get up and move to sit at the island in the kitchen, near Fin. "Tell me about Mia or something. Haven't seen her in a while," I mumble, picking at the bowl in the center of the countertop. Obviously, you've been avoiding her, idiot. Finley sighs and stops rummaging through the pantry. He turns around and just shrugs at me, then goes back to looking for...whatever he's looking for. "What are you looking for? Oh, and shrugging your shoulders at me is not a response."

"Do you live in a dry county? There's not a drop of alcohol anywhere in this house," he complains.

I just laugh as he continues on to the next shelf. "No, but this is a dry house. Since when have you known me to be a drinker?" I hop off my stool and start moving things around in the fridge. When I finally find what I'm looking for, I turn around and hold it up triumphantly. "Ta dah! Oliver brought this over one night, and we never drank it." I set a bottle of wine on the island, just smiling to myself as Fin grins like a kid in a candy store. He reaches to open the bottle, and I quickly slap his hand away.

"What was that for?" He whines.

"Tell me what's up with you and Mia first. The second I mentioned her you looked like you saw a ghost, then immediately dismissed it to look for a drink. So, spill, Bennett."

His green eyes roll around and he drops onto the stool next to me. "I don't really even know."

"You don't know what?"

"I don't know what's going on. I mean, I thought everything was fine. I even asked her to be my girlfriend. Then, just out of the blue, she stops responding to anything. No texts, no calls, emails, nothing."

"You emailed her?" I question.

"Really, that's what you got out of that?"

"Right, sorry. Did you go to her place?"

"Yeah, no answer. I don't know what I did, I really thought things were going great," he says with a sigh.

Is it just me or does something smell...fishy? "Fin, when is the last time you talked to her?"

"I don't know. I guess about a week or so? Maybe a little longer. I know it doesn't seem long, but, we normally talk every day. Even if it's just something little to check in with each other, it's something every day."

"Do you think...I don't know, maybe something...do you think something happened to her?"

His face pales as he turns to face me. "Oh, no. I- I didn't even think of that. What if-" He's cut off by a knock at the door. We both whip our heads towards the sound, then back to each other. "Were you expecting anyone?" He whispers. I shake my head.

Fin slowly gets up and walks toward the door, nearly falling as a loud clap of thunder startles the both of us. He looks through the peephole and opens the door as fast as possible, revealing a feeble, dripping wet girl. He pulls her into a tight embrace without thinking twice, his hand tangled in her fiery hair.

When he let's her go to shut the door, she turns to look at me, her ivory skin looking even lighter than usual. "Mallory," she says, her voice hardly audible. "Something's happened."