1.1 The Chronicles of Us - Vice & Virtue

Chapter thirteen

A loud bang wakes me. Wide-eyed and with my heart in my throat, I stare at the dark space above me. Rain pours down, rhythmically patting on the roof.

A thunderstorm!

Excitement roars through me. The same excitement I felt when I was a little girl who sat in the cushioned windowsill to watch vein-like flashes light up the night sky. It never scared me. If anything, I was intrigued.

I grab my phone and tap the screen. It's close to four in the morning. Everyone but William—who's driving the bus to our next location—is asleep. I'm sure he won't be able to see me from all the way up there.

As quietly as I can manage, I tiptoe to the back of the bus. I'm not exactly decently dressed, but the shirt I never gave back to Tex reaches the middle of my thighs. Besides, no one will see me.

With my legs tucked under my butt, I observe the darkness outside. The only thing visible are the white marks on the asphalt while we speed along the highway.

Strange, how I'm not homesick; how I'm not wishing to be in my own familiar bed. Stranger so, I'm comfortable around my  newly acquired friends. Especially after today. Tex has been nice to me all evening. Well, he didn't say a lot, but he wasn't scowling at me from a distance. I swear, one time he smiled for no reason! Maybe we can finally get along now.

I catch my own smile in the reflection of the window, right before lightning bolts illuminate the inky sky. Spectacular! I press my hands and nose against the glass and count the seconds before the thunderclap. "One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi—"

"What are you doing?"

I wait for the ear-deafening rumble to be over and then turn around, smiling excitedly. "I'm watching the storm."

Tex stands at the foot of my bench. It's dark, but the passing orange highway lights provide enough light to see that he is shirtless. His eyes rests on the empty seat next to me for a second, but he sits down opposite of me.

"I can see that, but why? It's the middle of the night."

"So? That's the best time for a thunderstorm. A battle between light and dark, free for us to witness—" I tilt my face teasingly. "—if you can manage to keep your eyes open past bedtime."

He stays silent for a moment, looking at me from the coverage of shadows. I think I caught a glimpse of a quizzical frown before he turned to look outside. "I'm no stranger to the night."

I'm not sure what he means. For all I know, he's trying to tell me he's a vampire. I suppress a laugh. That would be impossible. He doesn't sparkle in the light of the sun. A memory pops up. One where I sneak the entire box-set into my room as if it were contraband. My parents didn't approve of stories about the supernatural. I felt like an outright rebel, then.

I shake the thoughts away. He was probably just referring to late-night parties. With his profession, he must be awake after hours all the time.

Still, he was asleep moments ago, so I ask, "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I don't know. I heard you get outta bed. Thought you might be scared or something."

I chuckle softly. "Why would I be scared?"

More importantly, why does he care?

He shrugs. "Some girls are."

I guess, that could be true. Not everyone likes the sound of the sky cracking open. As on cue, a multitude of blazing zigzags brighten the sky, briefly changing the black of the night into a purple hue. It's magnificent. "Oh! Look how beautiful."