Outliers [L.S]

27

I rake my hand through my hair. It felt terribly dirty. The urge for a shower returned. I pulled a strand of my hair from my shoulder, looking at the split ends. I knew I needed a haircut too, but my usual hairdresser was burnt to a crisp. I bite the inside of my cheek, dropping my hair strand.

I tapped onto Liam's contact. Promising this was the last time I would call him. With the phone ringing in my ear, I watched the sleeping guy's chest rise and fall. He hadn't lied when he said he snored. He sounded like a pig suffocating.

"Hello?" I jump at the sound of Liam's voice. The guy sleeping stirs, his head twitching. I wait until he stills to answer.

"Took you long enough to answer. Are you with Zayn? Or do you know where he is? I got this thing with Nathan today so I need you guys watching over here," I explain. I look at my hands. I completely forgot to wash the dried blood off. I scrub it off with my nails, leaving my nail beds to be caked with dried blood.

"Yeah I know where he's at. I'll wake him up I suppose. When you leaving?"

"As soon as Nathan is here to get me. I couldn't take a chance taking one of our cars," I answered around my finger. I successfully bite one of my finger nails short, spitting the piece to the ground.

"Do I have to rush? We had a long day yesterday."

I hum, biting off another fingernail. "No. Everyone else is sleeping anyway."

"Sounds good. See you when you're back." The line goes dead.

I spit the last finger nail piece, clicking my phone off. My fingernails were stubs, but at least they were clean. I run my tongue over the back of my front teeth.

The front doors were broken, letting a cold breeze in. I shivered against the sudden cold, my sleek black shirt not being much of a help. The holes in my skinny jeans doing nothing against the cold. I wrapped my arms around my waist, pressing my back to the wall. The sleeping guy didn't so much as stir in his sleep. His mouth hung wide open. I was sure he was drooling all over himself. He looked comfortable, despite how he had complained about sleeping in the chair.

Goosebumps rose across my forearms. The quiet patter of rain echoed into the room. I glanced at the shattered glass doors. The sky was a bright pink. The trees are silhouettes. The driveway pavement blackened with the more wet it got from the rain.

My phone vibrates in my hand. I glance at the screen. It was a text from Nathan telling me he was a few minutes away. I stuffed the phone into my back pocket.

The sound of water splashing against the ground sounds. I'm quickly looking back to the door. A black Volvo swerves into the driveway, water spraying in the air. The tires sliding across the wet blacktop. When the car parks, the headlights dim.

When Nathan texted me 'minutes' I didn't think he meant 'milliseconds'.

I jog to the door. A light clicks on inside the car, the silhouette of Nathan appears. The silhouette waves.

A strong gust of wind blows over me, making my clothes  ripple and my hair to fly from my face. I angrily fix my hair, shaking the slight bit of rain from it. I suddenly realized how wet I was about to get.

With a deep breath, I sprinted from the building. Rain splashing against my skin. My hair is already being plastered to my head. I gritted my teeth, slowing down as I reached the car. I ripped the door open, quickly getting in.

"Why didn't you bring an umbrella," Nathan asks, as I slam the car door shut. The dim light of the car lights up his smile.

"Does it look like I fucking got one," I bark, gesturing to my clothes. My sleek black shirt was the most sleek it was ever going to get, it was almost see through. My black jeans soaked, making them uncomfortably tight. My brown boots black around the bottom. My hair matted to my head.