The phone in his hand lit up again, and he eagerly pressed it to his ear.
"Hullo?"
He held the phone out to me, and I grabbed it hopefully.
"Kota honey? They won't be able to get plows up there until it stops snowing, and even then it'll be hard to get you guys because of the layer of ice beneath the snow. A couple days, at least." he finished, and I clenched my fists.
"What are we supposed to do until then?" I breathed, watching as Sean's eyes flickered to the windows.
"I suppose you need to just stay alive. The school should still have power. I doubt it'll go out, but you never know. Find a warm place and sleep there. Love you."
I ended the call.
"A couple days." I said quietly, before pushing myself up off the ground and striding back to the library. At least there were comfortable couches and stuff to sleep on, and a fireplace if I could find wood to burn.
Sean followed after me.
"Did you check the whole school?" I asked hesitantly, wondering how I was going to go about speaking with him. What would we do during those couple days? I suppose we were about to become acquaintances, at least. Another person to speak with while we were stuck here.
"No one else is in here." he answered, and I closed my eyes tightly.
Once in the library I dropped my stuff on a couch and plopped down next to it.
Sean followed, sitting across from me in the chair I had been sleeping on. The cloth underneath me was cold, and I just wanted to be home. Spending time here, with someone I didn't know or like was going to be really tough. I didn't know this popular kid, we lived in two different worlds, and he wouldn't understand me.
This experience would give us something in common. If we passed one another in the hall, he won't look away. He'll know that we shared a traumatic couple days locked away in this place.
I took a deep breath and pulled the hair tie from the end of my braid. It was loose anyway, from having been slept on, and pieces had started slipping out. Long pieces that just made me look awkwardly hobo-ish.
On their own account my feet tucked themselves under me. I ran my pointer fingers under my eyes to get rid of any smudged mascara, and popped in a piece of gum.
All of those things were necessary for me to think straight again. I had been in a groggy state, a stupid state for a short period of time, and I didn't want to freak out the boy across from me any more than I probably already did.
"Alright. Uh, first I think we need to go over a couple things, and then we can... eat lunch." I decided "I'm starving."
He chuckled from across me and straightened up in his seat. He had nice white teeth, perfectly straight. This guy was the topic of freak-outs for girls all over the school, and here I was telling him what a fatass I am.
"So if we're gonna be here for a few day I think we'll need to get into a few places, like the Home-Ec room. I think they lock those up after everyone leaves. And depending on how many days we get stuck in here, showers." I blushed a little bit at the mention of showers.
This guy was oddly quiet, and that's coming from me, the intentional outcast.
"I have a key to the boys locker room." he reached into his pocket and retrieves a little silver keying, stuffed with about six different keys. One was probably a house key, another a car key, and the list goes on.
"Why?" I was baffled, I mean, what kind of teacher or coach just gives a kid the keys to a place that holds personal belongings? Some of those lockers had deodorant and stuff in it. High value items, obviously.
"Team captain." he flashed a smile, and I bobbed my head in understanding. I will not be woo-ed, I chanted to myself.
"So first thing on the list: food." I hopped up out of my seat and almost ran out of the library, trying to escape the awkward silence that waited behind me. He probably thought that I had no life, and therefor nothing in common with him. Pretty much the truth, now that I think about it.
But inside, I knew that I couldn't escape talking to him for the rest of the next couple days. I had to think about a topic that he would know about. Soccer? No, I knew nothing about that, and wold probably end up looking like an idiot. Movies? The last movie I went to was the first Shrek movie when I was a lot younger, so that one was out.
"So how are we going to break in to this door?" he asked, his deep voice coming from in front of me. In my muddled string of thought I hadn't realized that I stopped walking, leaving him to lead the way, the culinary hall of the school looking dark and abandoned. The lock looked pretty generic, though, so I guess we had a good enough chance of getting in.
I studied the locks, trying to imagine how they would work.
When I came up with nothing, he shook his head and laughed, pulling a pocket knife from his pocket. I took a small step back, before reprimanding myself. He wasn't going to stab me.
A couple seconds later, Sean Bode, the most popular guy in school, was down on his knees in front of the home economics door, picking the lock. I was staring in surprise, my mouth hanging open like a fool. It literally took him a total of three minutes, and I was still gaping. He got up from his spot on the ground after hearing that satisfying little click, and yanked the door open like he hadn't just committed a small crime.
He strode through the room confidently, and I followed behind meekly.
He opened up the pantry as well, and I grinned hugely when I saw that inside was everything you would need to survive for a couple days, food wise anyway. Spices and food galore, all waiting to be cooked. Had I have been stuck in this damn school by myself, I would have died the first night.
At that point in time, Sean became useless.
"Uh, I can get us into places, but cooking really isn't my thing." he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. But he had already done more than enough.
This was my thing: cooking.
I may not have liked art, and all the other classes I was taking may seem useless, but I do have a passion for something.
I smiled reassuringly at him, and got to work, washing my hands first before striding over to the rows upon rows of refrigerators, yanking one open at random. Chicken. Shelves and shelves full of chicken, and I laughed aloud with glee.
My cooking world swirled around me, and I set the oven to the correct temperature before opening one of the cabinets and retrieving a pan large enough to fit the whole thing. Unwrapping the chicken was easy, mostly because it wasn't a full one that could feed ten people. This would be perfect for Sean and I.
The giblets were removed first, before I rinsed the whole thing.
My hands shook a little at the cold water temperature, but soon enough they were busy again, sprinkling the meat with salt and spreading butter over the cold surface. More butter went into the pan, before I left my working station to return to the pantry to retrieve more ingredients.
Mr.Frot, the culinary arts teacher, had an array of different spices, and I decided that some rosemary would add a nice flavor. Also on the shelves were vegetables I assume he intended to use this week, but never got the chance to.
I knew they would go bad if I didn't use them, so I grabbed carrots, onions, and garlic to add to the pan. Once those were chopped up nicely I stuck the whole thing in the oven and glanced at my phone for the time. Sean had taken a seat at the teachers desk and was spinning around in the spinny chair, a huge shit-eating grin on his face. I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face, and he grinned at me.
"So, Dakota, tell me about yourself." he called over the classroom, and I glanced over my shoulder to see he hadn't as watching me.
"I like cooking." I supplied, and he snorted.
"Really?I couldn't tell." I stuck my tongue out at him, before realizing what I was doing and turning my back on him, trying to make it look like I was busy at the counter.
I was acting silly, like a regular teenage girl. I was only this way at home, with my family, but he was bringing it out like a shepherd with his sheep.
Inside my head, I knew that I probably shouldn't get too attached to this guy that was acting nicely towards me, but the feeling of talking and getting to know people was addicting, especially a person who didn't seem incredibly mean.
Sure, he probably had a couple dirty little secrets he was keeping from everyone, but who didn't?
"I live with my dad, step-mom, and step-sister." I turned around to see he was still watching me.
"How old is your sister?"
"Our age. She actually goes here." he seemed very surprised at that, so I continued "Maggie Ulliel."
His face twisted in surprise, and I looked down. My hair was no longer trapped in the braid, so it fell around my shoulders.
"Really?" I had never told anyone that I was related to her, but here I was spilling my guts to him within the first hour of being trapped.
"Yeah, ever since we were ten." I smiled at him, and he seemed taken aback
"I never would have guessed, Dakota." he confessed, and I snorted.
"Call me Kota, I hate the name Dakota."