Raven

Chapter 13 - Hurricane Lucas

"I have to go," I blurt suddenly, pushing my chair back and swinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"Wait, why?"

"Because, I need to talk to Ashley, I need to apologize," I respond quickly.

"Well, you could just tell her on Friday when we meet up with Ezra, Amy, and Ashley for pizza."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to the pizza place to hang out a bit before the dinner party on Saturday."

"I love pizza! Alright, sounds like a plan."

"Cool."

**Lucas POV**

I am staring out of the foggy glass window, watching the blur of green trees and billboards fly by. I am skipping school today because my parents are driving me to pick up Ezra and his new girlfriend, which I honestly can't believe he has already. Just a few months ago, he was dating Ashley and now he is dating some other chick he picked up at his new school. These thoughts cloud my head as my mom pulls the car into the driveway of Ezra's house. The house is a decent sized house for California, with a large porch in the front and a pool glistening with the morning sun behind the tanned and stoney building. I pull open the car door to meet a smiling Ezra who leaps off the porch and runs into my arms.

"Ezra! I'm so glad you're here! It's been so long!"

"Yeah! You look older, not as hot as me still though!" We both laugh and he slaps me on the shoulder.

"You're so much taller now!" We pause for a moment, allowing my gaze to linger on Ezra's girlfriend who is standing awkwardly on the porch, watching us talk. She has longer dirty blonde hair with golden highlights, a pretty typical hairstyle for California girls. Her eyes are an ocean of blue color which pops out against her creme colored skin. Suddenly, she gallops off the porch and approaches us.

"Hi, I'm Amanda," She introduces herself.

"Hey, I'm Lucas, Ezra's favorite friend," I laugh awkwardly, not knowing what to say in front of Ezra's replacement girlfriend. It becomes silent for a moment, so I decide to say something.

"We can put your bags in the trunk," I suggest, pointing at the car, trying to save myself from this awkward silence.

"Come on in guys, let's drive home!" My mom shouts after I have assisted placing the bags in the car. We all climb into the back seat, making it a tight fit, Ezra sitting in the middle.

"So what's your school like?" Amanda speaks up and asks. The conversation continues and I find out that Amanda is actually a pretty outgoing person. She is going to be attending a new school this year and it sounds pretty cool. As much as I hate to admit it, I think Amanda and Ezra are the perfect couple. Amanda seems really interested in my passion for skiing and I inform her about my annual trips up north in the winter. Amanda's family are big skiers as well, making skiing a shared passion between Amanda and I. I never thought that a stereotypical popular girl who happens to be my best friend's girlfriend would be so interesting.

As we continue to wind our way through the charcoal colored roads, a storm starts to brew above us, the pattering of rain heard all around, and several raindrops start slide down the cool glass windows. I look up at the cloud forms and my brain starts to buzz with my previously acquired knowledge about storms. When I am older, my dream is to become a meteorologist, so that I can study the clouds and weather. Maybe I will even have a hurricane named after me.

"Wow, look at those cumulonimbus clouds!" I blurt excitedly, pointing out of the window. Amanda becomes suddenly quiet, but I think nothing of it, probably just a minor fear of storms. When I look over at Amanda again, staring ahead with a cloudy gaze. I pull out my phone and quickly shoot a text to Ezra.