Moments (A Before You Exit story)

Chapter One - Alexa McKormack

Riley’s POV

                The faint sound of a car door slamming sounded through the closed window of my room. Aside from that, the only noises that could be heard was the rhythmic rotations of the ceiling fan, Thomas’s light snoring, and the steady pounding of fingers on a laptop keyboard.

                My eyes never left the computer screen as I spoke, “I think mom’s home.” Connor simply grunted in response, his fingers continuing to scroll through his Facebook page. Chris didn’t respond either; he was too engulfed in his texting conversation with Savannah.

                I kept scrolling through my twitter feed, expecting to hear the front door open at any moment. That’s weird, I thought after ten silent minutes passed by. Mom had left nearly an hour ago to pick Toby up from a friend’s house, as well as some dinner. She should be back by now.

                With a sigh, I closed my Mac and slid off the bed to look out the window.

                A car I didn’t recognize was parked out front by the curb. Next to it, a brunette-haired girl paced back and forth with an iPhone pressed to her ear. She wore tattered denim shorts with a gray t-shirt- an American flag printed on the front- and a pair of converse. Distress was clearly splayed on her face, her light pink lips turning into a frown as her perfectly etched brows furrowed. She dejectedly pulled the phone away and sunk down against her car in frustration, her head buried in her knees.

                “Hey guys?” I asked, my eyes glued to my window. “Who is that?”

                Several pairs of footsteps padded up behind me, following my gaze.

“I don’t know,” Connor said. “I’ve never seen her before.”

                “She looks upset,” Chris commented.

                “Well what should we do?” I asked.

                “Boys?” My dad’s voice rang out clearly from the hallway before any of us could answer. “Do any of you know who the young lady out front is?”

                “That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out,” Thomas admitted. Concern bubbled in the pit of my stomach as I watched her rub her face tiredly and pick up her phone again.

                “Well-“ Dad stopped, listening to the Bluetooth hooked onto his ear. “Yeah Dave, I’m still here. Give me two seconds.” He hit the mute button quickly. “Do you think you guys can handle this? I have to take this call.”

                “Yeah, sure,” Connor answered, but Dad was already on his way back to his office.

                I let a few more minutes pass in silence, but the girl remained by the curb. With one last glance out the window I headed downstairs, the guys trailing right behind me.

                She had begun to pace again when I reached the living room window. Connor had barely opened the front door when I noticed the white, furry body trailing at his feet.

                “Connor, wait!” I tried to warn, but it was too late. Tank barreled toward the mystery girl as fast as his little legs could carry him, barking the whole way there. Her eyes widened as she whirled around, phone clenched in her hand like a weapon, but relaxed a bit when she noted his size. Tank stopped short in front of her, watching with cautious, alert eyes. Every hair on his body was standing on end. Classic “big dog, small body” scenario.